What is called uninterrupted attention?

"Interval" (间) means gaps or interruptions; "non-interval" (无间) means continuous and unbroken, neither spaced apart nor interrupted. Manasikāra (attention, 作意) means directing attention toward a dharma, the mind turning toward a dharma and focusing on it. Manasikāra is one of the five universally associated mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga) of the conscious mind; all eight consciousnesses possess manasikāra, and all can turn toward and attend to some dharma.

Among these, is the manasikāra of the eighth consciousness continuous or intermittent? We know that all dharmas are born and upheld by the eighth consciousness. Once the eighth consciousness no longer directs manasikāra toward a certain dharma, it no longer operates upon that dharma and no longer outputs seeds for it, and that dharma must then vanish and perish. Therefore, as long as a certain dharma exists, there must be the continuous, unbroken operation of the eighth consciousness's manasikāra. However, the existence of all dharmas arises in two ways: first, the eighth consciousness spontaneously generates them according to matured karmic seeds; second, they arise from the manasikāra and grasping (upādāna) of the manas. Thus, at times, the eighth consciousness's manasikāra is triggered by the manas's manasikāra. Once the manas ceases to direct manasikāra, the eighth consciousness also no longer gives rise to and upholds certain dharmas, and those dharmas necessarily disappear. Therefore, the existence of certain dharmas necessarily involves the operation of the manas's manasikāra mental factor as well; as long as a certain dharma continues to exist without interruption, the manas's manasikāra mental factor must be operating continuously and unceasingly; otherwise, those dharmas would necessarily vanish.

Therefore, it can be said that the manasikāra of the eighth consciousness can be continuous, and the manasikāra of the manas can be continuous. Can the manasikāra of the mind consciousness be continuous? We know that the mind consciousness is interrupted during much of each day and invariably ceases involuntarily. Even if the mind consciousness has continuous manasikāra, it lasts only for a period of time; it is impossible to sustain it unbroken twenty-four hours a day. Even when the mind consciousness's manasikāra is unbroken for a period of time, it is entirely due to the unbroken manasikāra of the manas. Once the manas ceases to direct manasikāra, the eighth consciousness no longer outputs the seeds of the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness necessarily disappears with respect to that dharma.

Therefore, only under the condition of the manas's unbroken manasikāra can the mind consciousness have unbroken manasikāra for a period of time. In fact, in the vast majority of cases, the mind consciousness becomes fatigued after directing manasikāra for a while, and then becomes scattered and ceases; it cannot sustain manasikāra for very long, and this is even more so for the manasikāra of the five sense consciousnesses. Without the manas's manasikāra and without the eighth consciousness's manasikāra, the six consciousnesses would not have even a moment's manasikāra. All six consciousnesses depend on the eighth consciousness and the manas in order to manifest and operate; they cannot exist independently and cannot be the master.

Once the manas has formed unbroken manasikāra toward a certain dharma, it means the mind consciousness's perfuming has succeeded; the manas will then automatically and spontaneously direct the six consciousnesses to act in accordance with the principles it has realized and known. Its mental activities will necessarily change, and its bodily, verbal, and mental actions will also necessarily change, without the mind consciousness needing to supervise and remind it any longer. Only when the manas has not been successfully perfumed is the mind consciousness's constant supervision, reminding, and regulation needed—because the manas is not spontaneous, has not been perfumed, and has not realized the dharma.