How to Mobilize the Deliberation of the Manas in Meditative Concentration

In meditative concentration, instead of using the mind consciousness's thinking, one uses the manas's deliberation (manasikāra/manana). This skill is quite profound and very difficult for ordinary people to achieve; it requires a very deep foundation of meditative concentration, as well as a certain degree of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). When meditative concentration and contemplative practice are cultivated to a certain level, one can shift from the mind consciousness's thinking to deliberation by the manas. The mind consciousness's thinking is relatively shallow, floating on the surface, and ordinary people can observe it. For example, by introspecting at this moment to see what thoughts are in the mind, one knows what one is thinking about, pondering, and planning right now. These thoughts generally float on the surface and are all the mind consciousness's thinking.

At the same time, behind this there is also the manas's support and guiding function. If one's power of concentration and wisdom are insufficient, it is not easy to observe this, and one cannot clearly recognize one's own innermost true thoughts. When the mind has been cultivated to be extremely subtle, one can observe that when the mind consciousness is thinking, there is a force behind it playing the leading role, and that force and stream of thought belong to the manas. Once one discovers that force of the manas behind the mind consciousness and can grasp the manas, one should gradually weaken the mind consciousness's thinking function. After weakening it to a certain degree, one then lets go of the mind consciousness's thoughts; but even after letting go, one must still keep thoughts in the mind, keep the manas's deliberative activity going, and not let oneself become completely without thought or perception. This is not at all easy.

In meditative concentration, one must learn to strive to discover that force deep within the mind. He actually has thoughts, has mental activity, and is capable of thinking—that is the manas's deliberative activity. After discovering it, strive to maintain that deliberative activity and not let it perish. Hand over the dharma principles that the mind consciousness has been pondering to Him, and let Him continue deliberating on His own. This constitutes a relatively deep state of meditative investigation; this is what Chan investigation is like. Deliberating that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are not the self is done with exactly this kind of skill. In this way, the manas's deliberation is mobilized. This mode of thinking, this kind of skill, is called the manas's deliberation.

To accomplish this, profound meditative concentration is indispensable; one's skill in concentration must be excellent, able to cast off coarse wandering thoughts, and at a certain point even the subtle wandering thoughts must be cast off. Wandering thoughts are thoughts that ponder other irrelevant dharmas—that is, scattered and proliferating thoughts. These thoughts are all interference to right mindfulness, so they must all be removed, leaving only the one dharma that the mind consciousness needs to ponder. Then even the mind consciousness's thinking is removed, letting the manas deliberate on this dharma, with the mind consciousness and the manas exchanging roles in thinking about the problem. At this point the mind consciousness still exists, performing a very light function of discernment, but it does not think deeply, analyze, or reason; rather, the manas is allowed to deliberate deeply, without language, words, or sound. This deliberative function is not easy to observe when meditative concentration and wisdom are insufficient.

The manas's function of deliberation is also called the thoughts deep within the mind. Everyone's mental thoughts are divided into two kinds: one floats on the surface, the shallow-level thoughts of the mind consciousness; the other is hidden in the depths, the deep-level thoughts—that is, the manas's thoughts deep within the mind, representing one's true thoughts. For example, when I tell others what I plan to do, in fact I do not have that thought; the thought expressed carries a perfunctory flavor, and there is another voice and thought within the mind. That thought is rather hidden and not meant for others to know, so the mind consciousness's language is used to cover it up or divert attention.

Continuously introspect on one's own manas and inner mind, grasp one's own manas and inner mind, then hand over the dharma that the mind consciousness originally dwelt upon and pondered to the manas, letting the manas dwell upon it. In this way, the manas can dwell upon this dharma at all times and in all places, and the manas's deliberative nature manifests. If the manas agrees, the impregnation succeeds; if the manas does not accept it, the impregnation does not succeed. Only when one's skill is in place can it succeed.

In daily life, we all make use of the manas and its deliberative function; it is just that we cannot observe it, cannot distinguish it, and do not know how to summarize it, so we cannot tell whether it is the mind consciousness's thinking or the manas's deliberation. This requires increasing one's skill in meditative concentration and the wisdom of contemplative practice in order to clarify these questions. Only when meditative concentration deepens can the mind become subtle, and only then can one discover the difference between the mind consciousness and the manas, and also distinguish the inner voice from the surface voice, thereby understanding the state of the manas's deliberation and grasping that deliberative nature of the manas; gradually one will know how to apply it.

To reach this level, one must strengthen the practice of meditative concentration, enhance the discriminating power of wisdom, subdue afflictions, reduce wandering thoughts, and keep the mind focused on the Buddhadharma without chasing after worldly dharmas. As meditative concentration is cultivated ever more deeply, the mind becomes ever more focused, wandering thoughts become fewer and fewer, to the point that one can cast them off whenever one wishes to. When the mind becomes ever more subtle and wisdom ever deeper, the manas's functions will operate very well.

When the physical body has been subdued and one reaches the level of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, one can directly use the manas's deliberation to solve problems. When one's questioning doubt about a dharma is quite strong, directly hang this dharma in the mind. At first the mind consciousness holds it, then the mind consciousness's role is lessened and lightened, letting the manas hold this dharma. At this point one enters a relatively deeper meditative concentration, letting the manas deliberate deeply on this dharma. The more focused the manas's deliberation, the deeper the concentration; the deeper the concentration, the more focused, profound, and detailed the manas's deliberation becomes. In the end, one can clarify this question, and at the same time enter a state of meditative absorption (samādhi), filled with dharma joy, with body and mind in tranquility, and meditative bliss arising. Meditative absorption is the state of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā. Once this state emerges, one's mental state for the whole day will be excellent, and both body and mind will be very tranquil.