The Principle of Mental Recitation

The manas is the governing consciousness, regulating and directing all bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Likewise, the silent recitation of mantras or scriptures in the mind operates under its control. When the manas intends to recite silently, the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) recites internally without producing sound. Even vocalized recitation is performed by the mental consciousness, initiated only when the manas desires to recite. Alternatively, it may occur when the mental consciousness wishes to recite and the manas consents. Ultimately, the decision to recite rests with the manas, while the mental consciousness executes the action.

Why does the manas choose between vocalized and silent recitation? This decision is profoundly subtle and difficult to observe. The mental consciousness often perceives it as automatic or natural—a perception revealing its coarseness and lack of meditative stability (śamatha), rendering it incapable of discerning such subtleties. The manas selects vocal or silent recitation based on physical and mental states, particularly the body’s vital energy (prāṇa). During meditative absorption (dhyāna), mental activity becomes fatiguing; vocal recitation consumes greater energy, causing the mental consciousness to feel weary, so the manas automatically opts for silence. When meditative stability is present yet the body is fatigued, silent mental recitation is likewise chosen. Though seemingly automatic, this occurs because the manas, relying on the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), perceives physical and mental states with extreme speed and precision, swiftly making decisions beneficial to the body and mind—a process unknown to most people’s mental consciousness.

Silent recitation enhances meditative stability. Alternatively, when stability deepens, vocal recitation becomes unsustainable, as it fatigues the mind, leading naturally to silent recitation. As stability further increases, even silent recitation grows taxing, prompting a shift to vajra recitation—forming words with the lips without sound, while mental vocalization becomes faint. When vajra recitation too feels strained, it transitions to mental recollection (smṛti). Ultimately, as meditative stability intensifies, even recollection becomes untenable, and one enters profound absorption (samādhi), devoid of all thoughts and mental formations.