Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Manas: Part One
Chapter 4: The Role of the Manas in Investigative Contemplation (2)
Fourteen: How to Apply Effort in Investigating Chan
When the mind consciousness has thoroughly understood the theoretical knowledge and views, and the power of meditative concentration is sufficient, one begins to investigate Chan and engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). Whether sitting quietly, walking, standing, or lying down, one should always carry questioning doubt in the mind, able at all times to contemplate, deliberate, and investigate. During the investigation, the mind consciousness first deliberates clearly on the framework of the dharma meaning, gets the general direction straightened out, clarifies the content of the deliberation, and grasps the basic information needed; then it condenses the dharma meaning into a single point and hands it over to the manas, with no more language or words in the mind, as if it were empty.
In fact, at this time the manas is not empty; the manas will suspend the dharma meaning in the mind, deliberating and examining it at every moment, with unceasing questioning doubt, extremely diligent. This requires quite good meditative concentration; if the concentration is not good, the mind consciousness's deliberation will appear, and the manas will be unable to enter deeply into the dharma meaning, unable to deliberate deeply, much less apply effort diligently and continuously.
Before investigating Chan, first settle the mind; cultivate the power of concentration to be sufficient for use. If the mind cannot be settled in a day, do not investigate Chan or engage in contemplative practice; if it cannot be settled in a month, even less can one investigate Chan and the Dharma. When you investigate with sufficient meditative concentration, the more you investigate, the deeper the concentration becomes; the deeper the concentration, the clearer the thread of investigation. When the concentration is very deep, and the manas has little dharma meaning left to investigate, it will enter into profound meditative absorption; after emerging from meditation, one continues investigating, and the skill is also very effective. Occasionally entering meditative absorption is also good—first enter absorption and then emerge from it; with the power of concentration in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, one can investigate and contemplate very diligently. The steps of investigating Chan must be taken one by one, pondered bit by bit; thus sufficient experience will accumulate, which can also be quickly put to use in future lives, and others can also draw on and absorb this experience.
All methods and means of cultivating concentration and gathering the mind are nothing other than enabling the manas to realize the Buddha-dharma. Of course, the mind consciousness must first have a certain wisdom and fully comprehend the Buddha-dharma, and then let the manas realize it. If there is no concentration, and one takes the mind consciousness's comprehension as realized wisdom, that is a great misunderstanding.
Wisdom not moistened by the water of concentration is called dry wisdom. Dry wisdom means the mind consciousness understands, but the manas does not realize or comprehend, and it has no actual effect. If problems arise in the course of practice, encountering bottlenecks, one must return to seek the theory, re-correct the principles, find the direction, and then practice again. Learning the Dharma must be actual realization; only through actual realization will the body, mind, and spirit of the living being be transformed, and thoughts and views be transformed. When the manas understands the principle, thoughts and views will certainly be transformed, the world will be transformed accordingly, and all conduct and attitudes in dealing with the world will also be transformed—this is also the purpose of practice. Do not think you already understand the principles and need not cultivate anything more. If one does not actually practice on the basis of the mind consciousness understanding the principles, in actual affairs one remains as before, still turning along with afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and the result is still entering the cycle of birth and death, without liberation.
Fifteen: What Constitutes True Investigative and Realization Skill
Contemplate the dharma that needs to be investigated and realized within meditative concentration; the deeper the concentration, the better. Forget everything around you; within, there is only the dharma meaning without language, words, or sound, only deep questioning doubt, deep deliberation—seemingly investigating yet not investigating, seemingly deliberating yet not deliberating, unceasing and inseparable, existing as if not existing, dim and obscure—cannot be picked up, yet cannot be thrown away. If one accomplishes this kind of effort, actual realization is only a matter of time. Avoid calling thought without meditative concentration "contemplative practice," or taking the results of the mind consciousness's shallow thinking as realization.
Sixteen: True Practice Is Like Rumination
An old ox eats grass standing and walking during the day, and at night, when quiet, lies down to ruminate, digesting and absorbing nutrients to sustain the material body. The rumination at night is the most important, for only then can the energy needed by the material body be supplied; eating grass during the day is merely a convenient activity providing fodder for nighttime processing. Likewise, the mind consciousness, in the activities of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), draws in large amounts of various knowledge, and when the manas quiets down, it deliberates carefully to digest and absorb. As a result, both meditative concentration and wisdom grow, and progress on the path advances. True application of effort should be like this; do not be satisfied with the coarse theoretical knowledge drawn in by the mind consciousness, which cannot nourish the mind. Knowledge is not equal to realization; actual practice is the right path; only actual realization yields realization.
Seventeen: The Mind Consciousness's Cultivation and the Manas's Deliberation
Question: Are the following two passages somewhat contradictory? One says: "How to let the manas derive results and answers by itself? The mind consciousness should analyze and deliberate less, and let the manas deliberate and weigh things by itself more—this is the most effective. Once the mind consciousness knows the answer, it no longer wants to investigate, and the manas then has no opportunity to investigate." The other says: "The mind consciousness should analyze and deliberate more to permeate the manas."
Answer: The two passages are not contradictory. In the initial foundation-building stage, the mind consciousness must permeate itself with much theoretical knowledge of the Buddha-dharma; after thoroughly digesting and understanding the dharma meaning, the emphasis shifts to letting the manas also understand the dharma meaning. But to realize the dharma meaning, the mind consciousness must depart from the marks of language and words, condense these dharma meanings into a single point, and constantly suspend it in the manas's mind; at this time the manas's deliberative function must be greater than the mind consciousness's, and the mind consciousness must deliberate and analyze less, or simply not use the mind consciousness to deliberate and analyze at all—it is entirely the manas's deliberation and investigation.
The mind consciousness's permeation with dharma meaning is like an investigator collecting market information: the intelligence must be detailed. After collecting the materials, they are handed over to the boss—the manas—for review; at this point the subordinate has little left to do, and where the boss cannot see clearly, the subordinate appropriately explains and supplements. The dharma meaning condensed into a point suspended in the mind means the boss-manas is about to review the materials; at this time the employee should not disturb the boss too much; after the boss's review, the boss derives its own conclusion and makes the final decision. This is realization.
For example, in worldly law, to convict someone of a crime requires complete and sufficient evidence; therefore the manas (the judge) raises questioning doubt, and the mind consciousness (the prosecutor) is needed to search for evidence; only when the search reaches the point where the manas is convinced can sentencing and conviction follow.
Eighteen: Inference Is Not Direct Perception
The Buddha knows and perceives all dharmas through direct perception; what something is or is not, He knows immediately, without any need for inference. Only when one cannot know through direct perception does one resort to inference, which shows that the wisdom-power of the manas and mind consciousness is insufficient and must rely on inference to obtain accurate information. The Buddha, however, possesses the unsurpassed wisdom complete and perfect in both merit and wisdom; there is no dharma He does not know through direct perception.
The bodhisattvas at the causal stage and all sentient beings have wisdom that is not perfect; there are still dharmas among all dharmas that they cannot know and realize through direct perception, so sometimes they have no choice but to use inference. The more it is used, the more it shows a deficiency in wisdom. Those with sufficient wisdom know immediately, without obstruction. Therefore, in the process of investigation and seeking realization, if one uses the method of inference, it shows this person lacks the wisdom of direct perception and has no choice but to adopt a secondary method, an unreasoned method, to obtain information. Inference is similar to guessing and surmising; with insufficient powers of observation and judgment, one can only surmise and guess, making judgments in a manner that cannot be certain; the conclusions drawn are not of direct perception and cannot be entirely correct—even if entirely correct, it is coincidence and happenstance.
Those with the wisdom of direct-perception observation express their views very definitively; those with insufficient wisdom express themselves in half-affirmative sentences; those without wisdom express themselves in interrogative sentences, showing insufficient confidence. Those who use inference lack confidence; when others raise doubts and challenges, their minds will waver and shake, not firm enough—this shows the source from which they obtain information is not secure.
In short, in the process of cultivating and realizing the Buddha-dharma, inference is only an auxiliary means, used when there is no alternative; afterwards one uses the method of investigation to prove the correctness of the inference. Because inference uses the mind consciousness, while true investigation and real examination use the manas; the manas is the master, and the conclusions He draws are, of course, weighty and resounding, forceful and unshakable, beyond anyone's power to alter. Conclusions drawn by the mind consciousness are not like this—He does not preside; they must wait for the one who presides to approve before the gavel falls and the matter is settled, so the mind remains unsettled and anxious. At the final critical moment of cultivating and realizing the Buddha-dharma, it is better, more wonderful, and more ultimate to use the mind consciousness little or not at all—this is the conduct of a great person, not something petty-rooted, petty-vesselled people can match.
Nineteen: A Relatively Effort-Saving Method for Thinking About Problems
When, for a problem, the mind consciousness's thinking has no clue yet, and even focused thinking feels very tiring, what to do then? Let the mind consciousness package and condense the problem, then hand it over to the manas, letting the manas constantly carry this problem and deliberate on it, while the mind consciousness does whatever it needs to do. One can do some light activities, such as moving the body, organizing clothes, tidying up, and so on, trying not to think about other things, so as not to overly divert the manas's attention and let the manas be too distracted to deliberate on the main problem.
During these light activities, although the manas is also somewhat distracted, part of its energy is still devoted to considering the problem. If the activities are too many and too large, the manas will be too distracted and unable to consider the main problem. When the manas becomes especially interested in this problem and wants to solve it, it may continue deliberating during sleep; perhaps dreams will appear, and in the dream it pulls the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) along to think and investigate together, while still sleeping—this is the best and most effort-saving; the mind consciousness does not feel tired.
If the mind consciousness is not afraid of fatigue, it should also focus on deliberating this problem during the day, tackling the difficulty together with the manas—this is the fastest method. If the mind consciousness, fearing fatigue, does not participate in the thinking, then after the manas works out a rough line of thought, the mind consciousness is still needed to deliberate carefully, still needing to solve the problem together with the manas. But one overall principle is that the manas must participate; if the manas does not participate, the problem cannot be solved.
Twenty: How to Guide the Manas to Deliberate and Investigate
Let the mind consciousness package and condense a problem, then hand it over to the manas—this method operates as follows. The mind consciousness transforms the entire meaning of the problem into a single thought, suspended in the manas, that is, in the depths of the mind; no matter what one is doing, the mind must carry this thought of doubt, carrying it deeply, without letting it go. If the mind no longer has that thought, no longer has the doubt, no longer deliberates, the mind consciousness throws that problem to the manas again, reminding Him. At the same time, the mind consciousness itself should not have excessive and complicated mental activity, so as not to disperse the manas's attention. This is exactly how Chan school practitioners investigate Chan and investigate the huatou—the method is the same; this is how the deepest, most subtle deliberation is done. Many people in worldly affairs have used it; they simply do not know how to summarize and generalize it for use in the Buddha-dharma.
Only when the manas can deliberate and investigate can there be realization and enlightenment. And to get the manas to participate in investigating the dharma meaning, there must be meditative concentration; only then can the dharma meaning penetrate to the manas; without meditative concentration, the manas cannot exert force. If one forcibly engages in contemplative practice without meditative concentration, that is called guessing and emotional thinking with intellectual interpretation—and what the result of that is, everyone already knows. Therefore, the relationship between meditative concentration and realization, and the relationship between the manas and realization, must be thoroughly understood and clarified before one can begin applying effort to investigate Chan.
Twenty-One: The Method of Deep Deliberation with the Manas
Sit cross-legged and still; exhale deeply and then inhale; after the mind has settled and become stable, begin to think deeply about a problem. At first it is certainly the mind consciousness thinking; as one gradually focuses on the problem, the mind consciousness merely watches the problem without the mind moving, and the deep deliberation and investigation is taken over by the manas. Although the manas moves, it moves extremely slowly, and in the end it seems not to move at all; the problem is suspended in the vast, empty brain, or in the supreme faculty (indriya), or what is called the black box.
With the mind consciousness's attention and the manas's deliberation, information without language or words will flash forth; the manas knows it and the mind consciousness also understands it, but not necessarily very clearly; if the power of concentration is sufficient and does not weaken, the information will subsequently come more and more, becoming clearer and clearer; the mind increasingly understands what the information is, the answer to the problem gradually presents itself, and the mind becomes relaxed and bright. After emerging from meditation, the mind consciousness needs to filter through, recall, and check the information that appeared in the brain from beginning to end, and finally confirm it; the manas confirms along with it, and the result is settled.
The whole process requires very deep and focused meditative concentration. During the deep thinking, the power of concentration may become better and better, to the point that the mind enters into absorption, relaxed, joyful, and comfortable—only there is not necessarily the manas's deliberation. After emerging from meditation, or after the concentration weakens, one continues deliberating and investigating, and the final result will also appear.
Twenty-Two: The Meditative Absorption State of Concentration and Wisdom Generating Each Other
This state arises from coarse, shallow meditative concentration giving rise to wisdom, wisdom giving rise to deep concentration, deep concentration giving rise to deep wisdom, entering meditative absorption (samādhi), thereby opening the realm of great wisdom.
After taking one's seat, cross the legs, breathe deeply several times, sink the breath to the dantian; after the mind has settled, empty the head, and contemplate the empty head as utterly empty. After the mind has further settled, raise questioning doubt—this questioning doubt is the question one now needs to solve, such as: why is the aggregate of form empty, why is the supreme faculty (indriya) empty, why are the six sense objects illusory, why are the six consciousnesses illusory, and so on. Each time only one simple question can be carried out; when concentration and wisdom are insufficient, do not greedily take on too much or too deep, otherwise the power of concentration will regress and there will be no wisdom either.
Carrying this questioning doubt, do not rush to investigate; the mind consciousness should not move, should not deliberate—just keep watching the doubt. As one keeps watching, the concentration becomes deeper and deeper; at a certain point, the mind will naturally stir, wanting to understand this problem—this is the manas gathering momentum to move. If there is obvious movement, it is the mind consciousness moving and must be stopped; do not engage the mind consciousness's shallow deliberation—it is of no benefit. The manas's mind stirring is extremely hidden, hard to observe, deep upon deep, but it can solve actual problems and open profound wisdom.
The manas's stirring of thought has no language, no words, no sound—silent and mysterious. Slowly, as if a small bright flame wants to appear, faintly emerging; light is about to appear on the screen of the brain, the answer to the problem is about to burst forth; then, vaguely and dimly, a bit appears, then another bit, until more and more answers are on the verge of emerging, though not yet clear, still hazy—but there is already light, and there is already confidence.
Continuing in deep concentration with subtle, hidden investigation, the thread of thought becomes clearer and clearer, the mind brighter and brighter, more and more lucid, more and more clear; the brain is clear and transparent, the heart joyful, entering into meditative absorption. Until finally the answers are fully out, the mind is clear, there are no more doubts; emerging from the absorption, hand it over to the mind consciousness to deliberate and organize the whole process, straighten out the content with rigorous logic; the manas confirms again, the matter is concluded, and concentration and wisdom are perfectly harmonized without obstruction.
With the power of this meditative absorption, one can exhaustively investigate all doubts and challenges, break all ignorance; buddhahood has its appointed time—let alone becoming a bodhisattva or an arhat. The only fear is that sentient beings' merit is incomplete; the more insufficient the merit, the harder to generate merit, the harder to generate concentration, the harder to generate wisdom—this is a vicious cycle; how to break through it, each person should deliberate.
Twenty-Three: Direct Perception and Non-Valid Cognition
Sit in meditation with eyes closed; after a period of time, as clinging gradually lessens, various images will appear—not thought up by the mind consciousness; when one tries to see them clearly with the mind consciousness's thinking, the images disappear. Sitting quietly again, various images appear again.
During quiet sitting, some images are thought up by the mind consciousness, and some images are not thought up by the mind consciousness—they emerge directly from the brain, that is, from the manas; they are realms of direct perception, the most real, usable, and wisdom-opening. When one observes with the mind consciousness, the power of concentration has already decreased and faded, and the realm will disappear. The mind consciousness has an interfering effect, interfering with the arising of the manas's wisdom.
What is thought up from the mind consciousness is the result of emotional thinking and intellectual interpretation, sometimes also random rambling, of not much use, and mostly realms of non-valid cognition. What is to be proven, what is to be personally realized, must emerge directly from the brain, with the mind consciousness knowing afterwards and then suddenly awakening—true enlightenment is precisely this situation. If there is no power of concentration, do not fantasize about having this fundamental enlightenment and most direct enlightenment.
Twenty-Four: The Manas's Deliberation Without the Interference of the Six Consciousnesses Is Equivalent to Being in Meditative Absorption
Question: In the early hours before getting up, in a dazed state, half-asleep and half-awake, the manas is deliberating deeply while the mind consciousness's function is very weak—this does not count as dreaming; is it being in meditative absorption?
Answer: In the state of seeming awake yet not awake, the manas can deliberate deeply; He can investigate and deliberate all night, and when about to wake in the morning, the mind consciousness appears and discovers the manas deliberating. In the state of seeming awake yet not awake, the mind consciousness is weak, and the manas is of course in meditative absorption without the interference of the six consciousnesses. In the middle of the night, when the manas deliberates and investigates without the interference of the six consciousnesses, it can also be said to be in meditative absorption. It is even possible that upon waking in the morning, the mind consciousness immediately knows the result of what the manas has been concerned with and deliberating.
Before falling asleep at night, set a problem that needs thinking about; if the manas pays close attention, throughout that night the manas will keep thinking and deliberating until waking. When the mind consciousness ceases, the manas still works, yet does not feel tired; thus much practice time can be saved, and it is direct and efficient, without needing the mind consciousness to permeate the manas again—one less detour—so the Consciousness-Only dharma is the most ultimate.
Twenty-Five: The Manas's Capacity and Vision
If one can fully and effectively utilize the manas's deliberation and form the habit, many highly sophisticated matters can be readily solved. We practitioners should learn to habitually use the manas; then all problems in cultivating and realizing the Buddha-dharma will not be too difficult. All great achievers use the manas, but even when using it they do not know they are using it—it is unconscious use, because they cannot summarize and generalize, and have no concept of manas and mind consciousness.
How good it is for those who often use the manas: deep, subtle, decisive, resolute, seasoned, substantial, simple, pure, appearing foolish yet greatly wise, commanding with composure, unflustered in the face of situations, calm and at ease, far-sighted. Whereas those who can only use the mind consciousness are superficial, restless, flighty and impatient. The mind consciousness is on the surface, so the energy is agitated, also floating; without concentration, neither mind nor energy can settle. Petty women and petty men—whenever there is pettiness, it stays at the mind consciousness, unable to go deep, unable to reach the manas, so both vision and capacity are small.
The mind consciousness's capacity is far smaller than the manas's, because the dharmas the mind consciousness takes as object are few and remain on the surface, whereas the dharmas the manas takes as object are extremely many, extremely broad, extremely deep—through ten lifetimes past and present, from birth to death, from inside to outside, pervasively imagining and taking as object, silently embracing all dharmas, and moreover able to preside and make decisions; it is the master of the mind consciousness, widely experienced and knowledgeable. So if we speak of vision and capacity, it lies in the manas; without cultivating to the manas, how can there be great wisdom?
Twenty-Six: True Wisdom Is the Manas's Wisdom
From what blurted out spontaneously, one can observe the manas's operation; the manas's functions and effects are precisely the manas's mental factors (caittas). What mental factors does the manas have, what psychological effects lead to blurting out spontaneously?
If someone, after a question is raised, answers right away without thinking, it shows one knows the problem very well, is very familiar with it, has frequently engaged with it before, and need not consider, ponder, or deliberate now. This "self" is the manas; for a person with quick reactions, the manas has experience and wisdom regarding this matter, without needing the mind consciousness's help to analyze. Conversely, if the manas is unfamiliar, or has not experienced it, when encountering the matter, the mind consciousness's help in deliberation and analysis is needed; the manas makes its own decision based on this—this process is slow, unable to answer and resolve immediately, with the mind consciousness's deliberation in between. Reaching a conclusion only afterwards shows the manas lacks wisdom, having not known or understood before.
Therefore the Chan patriarchs said: gaining through thinking and gaining through pondering is the ghost's trade. True wisdom is the manas's wisdom—no need to learn it on the spot, no need to buy and sell on the spot. False wisdom is obtained through the mind consciousness's on-the-spot pondering and analysis, obtained by relying on the mind consciousness to scout for information—it can hardly be called wisdom. Therefore, in ancient times, when the Chan masters saw students using the mind consciousness's deliberation and pondering, using the mind consciousness's dharma-language realms, they would strike them with a blow of the staff—not letting you use the mind consciousness, but making you depart from the mind consciousness to investigate and deliberate.
Twenty-Seven: The Ghost's Trade and the Enlightenment of Thorough Penetration of the Mind-Ground
The Chan patriarchs once said: gaining through thinking, gaining through pondering—that is the ghost's trade. The ghost is dark, not bright, with the meaning of secretly peeping—not obtained openly and honorably; the ghost here is a metaphor for the mind consciousness. What the mind consciousness likes is inference, guessing, speculation, peeping, emotional thinking and intellectual interpretation—not the bright realization of the mind-ground, not the opening-through from inside to outside.
Therefore the Chan masters said that true enlightenment cannot be obtained through the kind of thinking done by the mind consciousness, nor through the mind consciousness's kind of analytical deliberation; the mind consciousness's deliberative activity cannot obtain true enlightenment—it is not an open and honorable enlightenment. The Chan masters tell us that in investigating Chan we should not apply the mind at the mind consciousness, but should go deeper, cut off emotional thinking, cut off guessing and interpreting, enter into meditative concentration, investigate deeply, carrying questioning doubt, applying effort in the Path solidly and steadfastly; only then can one realize openly and honorably, and only then enter the Way. This is the heavenly ladder leading to the great Way, the cloud-ladder for plucking the treasure.
Twenty-Eight: Only When the Mind Consciousness Deliberates Subtly Can the Manas Be Permeated
If a person knows they are wrong, what determines where to go from here and how to treat the error? After the mind consciousness knows the error, the manas must also be made to know the error; once the manas knows the error, things become easy. The mind consciousness must convey its errors completely and in full detail to the manas; then the manas will raise the mind to deliberate on right and wrong.
After the mind consciousness knows simply and roughly, it must still deliberate and engage in contemplative practice, knowing in finer detail; in this process, the manas can raise its own deliberation and is easily permeated. The mind consciousness must deliberate and know in fine detail, with more conclusive evidence, so that within meditative concentration it can deliberate subtly and thoroughly. For the manas to deliberate clearly and plainly, it must be within meditative concentration, free from interference.
The mind consciousness knows it must use itself to permeate the manas, but the manas at this time does not necessarily know that the mind consciousness wants to permeate Him and is permeating Him. First, it depends on whether the manas has the wisdom to understand the mind consciousness's thoughts and ideas; second, it depends on whether the mind consciousness can deeply understand the content of the dharma meaning in the mind, whether it can deliberate very clearly; third, it depends on whether the manas, in ordinary times, knows the mind consciousness well, and whether the two communicate and coordinate well.
When the manas discovers that the mind consciousness wants to permeate and change itself, if the manas's habit-energy of self-grasping is very heavy, and the mind consciousness's ideas strongly contradict the manas, the manas will be displeased, feel very uncomfortable, and may even want to avoid and resist. If the mind consciousness's ideas do not too strongly contradict the manas, the manas can accept them; after the manas has been subdued, the more it understands the principles, the more easily it accepts permeation and persuasion and education.
Twenty-Nine: The Manas Keeping Something Constantly in Mind Is the Best Investigation of Chan
Question: Sometimes when something has not been used for a long time, one forgets where it was put; deliberately searching, one can never find it; having no choice, one gives up searching for the time being, but inwardly remains concerned, because the thing is important; a few days later one suddenly remembers where it was put, and the thing is found—is this also the manas's credit?
Answer: It is the manas's credit. The mind consciousness has no way to keep thinking about one matter continuously; matters the manas attends to will be thought of from time to time, and usually the mind consciousness does not know the manas is thinking about them. Finding things and solving problems are like this; dreaming of school events from many years ago and old friends from many years ago is actually all the manas's credit—the manas's keeping matters in mind is not limited by time.
The manas keeping something constantly in mind—this is the principle of investigating Chan, the method of applying effort. This is the heavenly ladder, not a heavenly secret; it is the fishing, not the fish. How to make the manas keep something constantly in mind is a very important question, but ordinary people's manas mostly dwells on worldly matters. Many people like to talk about the merits of the eighth consciousness, but it is all the mind consciousness's imagination and inference; the manas dwells on things all over the map, but does not dwell on or think about the matter of the eighth consciousness. The manas has dwelt on worldly matters for many kalpas; turning it around all at once is impossible—unless one is a person who has come again.
Thirty: The Relationship Between the Manas, Meditative Concentration, and Realization
The manas's deliberation is deeper, subtler, and more ultimate than the mind consciousness's deliberation; therefore only when the manas also simultaneously deliberates and investigates the dharma principles can realization be possible. And to get the manas to participate in investigating the dharma meaning, there must be relatively deep meditative concentration; only then can the dharma meaning penetrate to the manas and induce the manas to focus its mind on deliberating and examining; without meditative concentration, the manas cannot focus, and cannot exert force on the investigation. If one forcibly engages in contemplative practice without meditative concentration, that is called guessing and emotional thinking with intellectual interpretation—and what the result of that is, everyone already knows. Therefore, the relationship between meditative concentration and realization, and the relationship between the manas and realization, must be thoroughly understood and clarified before one can begin applying effort to investigate Chan.
