The knowing of consciousness is divided into many levels.

Jun Ruolan's contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā): Sharing the process of contemplating how the mind consciousness functions upon the manas.

Closing my eyes, quiet. The mind consciousness clearly understands that seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are not the self; understanding this is easy. So the mind consciousness throws out a sentence: Are seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing the self? This sentence, clearly understood by the consciousness, slowly descends, falling onto an infinitely large and solid energy body. One can perceive that this energy body, since beginningless kalpas, has taken seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing to be itself; that grasping is so solid, as if it had permeated every single cell.
That slowly descending sentence caused the energy body's interior to stir slightly, but it still could not peel away that grasping.

Are seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing the self? The mind consciousness keeps asking in this way. Then there seems to be panic within, doubt, and also unwillingness to accept it; the back begins to tremble slightly, and tears want to fall. When such strong emotional feelings emerged, at first I thought they were entirely a manifestation of the manas. When I continued to deepen the contemplative practice, I then understood that although these feelings involved a stirring of the manas, they were still mostly the feelings of the mind consciousness.
Because when I once again calmed my mind and felt that enormous energy body, I discovered that it still grasped seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing as the self, just as before. This grasping is not expressed in language and words; it is presented as a kind of feeling.

Only then did I understand that many times, when we think we have greatly stirred the manas, although there is a very strong feeling and experience, it is still mostly the feeling of the mind consciousness. Because the manas's grasping since beginningless kalpas is engraved in the bones and permeated into the cells—how could it easily undergo a huge change through a single session of contemplative practice?

This discovery is just as observed above: after a great feeling emerged, when I again calmly contemplated that enormous energy body, I found its grasping still there, and still so deep and heavy. Perhaps it had a trace of stirring, but that trace of stirring, relative to its overall grasping, was insufficient to bring about a great change in it.

In sharing this passage, what I want to express is that this kind of stirring contemplative practice needs to be carried out again and again, countless times. One must never lightly assume that because a great feeling or experience has appeared, the manas has completely accepted the correct cognition. We need the spirit of the Foolish Old Man who moved the mountains; we must not be excessively optimistic and self-confident, but neither should we stop moving forward. Because the manas's grasping will, under our deepening contemplative practice, gradually diminish bit by bit.

Assessment: The wisdom-cognition of the mind consciousness is divided into many levels. As meditative concentration (samādhi) progresses, the wisdom-cognition of the mind consciousness continuously strengthens, deepens, becomes concrete, refined, and precise. The true wisdom of the mind consciousness is also the wisdom after enlightenment/realization; before that, none of it is ultimate and it will be changed and corrected. The deeper the meditative concentration, the wiser the mind consciousness, and the greater its perfuming and inspiring effect on the manas. The more concrete the mind consciousness's cognition, and the more evidence and realization (证量) it has, the greater its perfuming and inspiring effect on the manas. Therefore, the mind consciousness's vague, superficial knowing has little effect, like scratching an itch through a boot; only deep knowing can stir the manas.

The wisdom-cognition of the manas is also divided into many levels. As meditative concentration deepens and as the wisdom of the mind consciousness becomes perfected, the manas's wisdom becomes ever deeper. When it deepens to a certain degree, it will decisively sever the former cognition, completely reverse the views, transforming them into insight (见地), and enlightenment/realization is attained. Many people, when the mind consciousness's knowing is still very shallow, believe they have realized it; in fact they are still very far from realization—perhaps many kalpas must pass before they reach the edge of realization. One must know that the deep wisdom of the mind consciousness does not easily arise either.

A case like Jun Ruolan's belongs to using wisdom to lead into concentration: with super-strong wisdom of the mind consciousness, fixing the mind on the dharma being contemplated in the present moment, without distraction and without scattered thoughts, so that the mind consciousness's cognition of the dharma gradually becomes deep and penetrating, driving forth the manas's cognition; then continuously strengthening the cognition of both the mind consciousness and the manas, from which still further wisdom arises—this is called advancing level by level. A person with strong wisdom can use wisdom to lead into concentration; a person with weak wisdom can only cultivate concentration step by step, and then practice contemplation to generate wisdom. But because the wisdom is weak, it is not easy to fix the mind in concentration; it requires repeated pulling back and forth before the mind can be temporarily fixed. Therefore, as long as there is wisdom, anything can be managed; the prerequisite is having merit (福德), for merit is the foundation of all cultivation.