Can Manas and Vijnana Be Conditioned by Only One Dharma?

The mental faculty (manas) cannot attend to only one or two dharmas, yet its objects of attention must have focal points and specific aspects—some it attends to, some it disregards; some it applies mental effort to, some it does not. In this way, key points are highlighted, enabling the six consciousnesses to discern the crucial parts. This is concentration (samādhi).

Consciousness (mano-vijñāna) also cannot attend to only one dharma; often it must extend beyond two or three dharmas, and so on. For example, when consciousness abides in the samādhi of Buddha-recollection (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi), its primary focus is on the Buddha’s name and the thought of the Buddha. Yet consciousness still knows day and night, still knows walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, still knows the four directions, still knows the surrounding circumstances, and still knows what to avoid. It is not like a fool who knows nothing except chanting the Buddha’s name. Nevertheless, consciousness remains in the state of samādhi. When the eye consciousness is in samādhi, it focuses solely on one object before it, yet it still knows light and darkness, and so forth.

This demonstrates that samādhi is not called samādhi only when attending to a single dharma. Concentration of attention, with sufficient focus, constitutes the state of samādhi. Some individuals with strong concentration power (samādhi-bala) possess strong focus; they can handle several things simultaneously without dispersing their attention to useless places.

Although the mental faculty (manas) has the nature of pervasive attending (vyāpakatva), it does not necessarily attend to all dharmas simultaneously. When its energy is insufficient, it must exercise selectivity. It attends to whatever it currently deems important and meaningful. Due to habitual tendencies, it inevitably attends to dharmas it is accustomed to, but it does not necessarily allocate much energy or attention to them; a mere light touch in the mind suffices.

For instance, I may have the authority to manage five hundred people, but at any given moment, I may not have the energy or interest to attend to all five hundred simultaneously. At every moment, there will be choices. The mental faculty is likewise: authority is authority, capability is capability, interest is interest. This is because the mental faculty lacks sufficient power of meditative concentration (dhyāna-bala) and energy, and its wisdom power (prajñā-bala) is also insufficient.

The eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), however, is different. Its unyielding great samādhi (śūraṅgama-samādhi), which is incomparable, and its supreme great wisdom (anuttarā prajñā), enable it to simultaneously attend to all dharmas and simultaneously process all dharmas, regardless of distance or time—past, present, or future—without obstruction by space or time. Therefore, the eighth consciousness possesses both samādhi and prajñā, utterly incomparable to the samādhi and prajñā of the seven consciousnesses, and beyond the imagination of bodhisattvas before the first ground (prathamā bhūmi).

The mental faculty (manas) corresponds with the mental factor (caitta) of concentration (samādhi), but for the vast majority of people, the mental faculty lacks samādhi. Only those who have cultivated meditative absorption (dhyāna) possess the mental factor of samādhi in their mental faculty. Those without meditative absorption lack this mental factor in their mental faculty. If even those with meditative absorption lacked the mental factor of samādhi in their mental faculty, how could their six consciousnesses remain stabilized?

For example, if the mental faculty is interested in the violet before it, causing the six consciousnesses to appreciate it, and simultaneously becomes interested in the bird singing nearby, the six consciousnesses must divert attention to listen to the bird’s call. Then, if the mental faculty becomes interested in a person, the six consciousnesses must scatter attention to observe and evaluate that person. In such a scenario, how could the six consciousnesses achieve concentration?