How the Mind Consciousness Hands a Question Over to the Manas for Deliberation

After the mind consciousness has thought through a problem and roughly understands where the issue lies, with only the solution remaining to be found, the problem can then be handed over to the manas for deliberation (manana). At the very beginning, when one is not yet skilled in this method of transferring a problem and lacks technique, the process goes like this. Once the method becomes familiar, the manas can directly enter a mode of deep deliberation. After the mind consciousness has clarified the ins and outs of the problem, it tells the manas that this is extremely important and must be figured out, then deeply hangs the crux of the problem in the mind and hands it over to the manas. The manas will then deliberate continuously until a result emerges. Very often, while the mind consciousness is thinking, the manas is deliberating at the same time; the better the meditative concentration (samādhi) and the more attentive one is, the more deeply the manas participates. And when the mind consciousness fails to think out a result, the manas will not give up; it will deliberate on its own, and at some point a result will surely emerge.

When the manas is engaged in continual scrutiny and deliberation, are there any thoughts in the mind? Only when the manas has dharmas it is mindful of does it deliberate and examine; first there is a thought, then deliberation and examination; without a thought there is no deliberation. If the manas' mind is empty, mindful of nothing, there is no mental activity, no need to examine anything or deliberate on anything; at that time the manas is pure. But when the manas has not been subdued, its grasping is rather heavy and there are very many thoughts in the mind, so the mind will endlessly deliberate, ponder, examine, judge, and weigh things without stop—if it cannot figure things out during the day, it continues examining and deliberating at night; in severe cases one wakes up in the middle of the night unable to sleep. This is why it is said that sentient beings' manas has the nature of continual scrutiny and deliberation. For arhats whose manas has already been subdued, there are almost no thoughts left in the mind; they do not think much about anything, and the manas only deliberates occasionally, not constantly, so it cannot be called "continual." Therefore, as long as the manas deliberates on a dharma, there is a thought; the dharma being deliberated is the thought, the object the manas is mindful of.