What Is Uninterrupted Attention?

"Interval" (jian) means gaps or interruptions; "without interval" (wujian) means continuous and unbroken, neither spaced apart nor interrupted. Manasikāra (intentional attention) 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 of the conscious mind; all eight consciousnesses have manasikāra, and all can turn toward and focus on certain dharmas.

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 applies manasikāra toward a certain dharma, it no longer operates upon that dharma and does not output seeds for it, and so that dharma must 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 gives rise to them according to matured karmic seeds; second, they arise from the manasikāra and grasping of the manas. Thus, at times the eighth consciousness's manasikāra is triggered by the manas's manasikāra. Once the manas no longer applies manasikāra, the eighth consciousness also ceases to give rise to and uphold certain dharmas, and those dharmas necessarily disappear. So the existence of certain dharmas necessarily also involves the operation of the manas's manasikāra mental factor; 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 inevitably 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 uninterrupted manasikāra of the manas. Once the manas no longer applies manasikāra, the eighth consciousness stops outputting 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 uninterrupted manasikāra can the mind consciousness have uninterrupted manasikāra for a period of time. In fact, in the vast majority of cases, after applying manasikāra for a while, the mind consciousness becomes fatigued, becomes scattered and ceases, and cannot sustain manasikāra for very long; the manasikāra of the five sense consciousnesses is even more so. If there were no manasikāra of the manas and no manasikāra of the eighth consciousness, the six consciousnesses could 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 uninterrupted 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 does one need the mind consciousness's constant supervision, reminders, and regulation—because the manas is not spontaneous, has not been perfumed, and has not realized the dharma.