The Benefits of Deliberating with the Manas

Question: I seem to understand how to use the manas to deliberate (manasikāra); it is a mental activity that cannot be done by thinking, because as soon as one thinks, the mind consciousness gets involved, and once the mind consciousness is involved, that state becomes less deep and subtle. Is that so? This state lasts only a very short time; when the deliberation reaches a point where the problem gets stuck, I then use the mind consciousness to think, and immediately the state is no longer so deep and subtle. Also, when meditating, once I apply initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) to the state of the body, a feeling arises that this physical body does not exist—there is only a body constituted of slight sensations and the mind consciousness, very unreal. Suddenly a thought arose: the things we normally see are merely images, pictures manifested and displayed. With this kind of feeling, after emerging from meditation I look around and everything still seems so real.

Answer: You can now probably distinguish whether it is the mind consciousness that is thinking or the manas that is deliberating during meditation, and the method you are using is also correct; it is just that your skill is not yet proficient and effortless, so you need to take it slowly and gradually deepen your foundation. When contemplating the Dharma in stillness, it is indeed true that when the manas is employed, the thinking is very deep and subtle, whereas when the mind consciousness is used, it is somewhat superficial, as if separated by a layer, not deep or penetrating enough.

When observing the physical body during meditation with fairly strong focus, your meditative concentration (samādhi) will improve; and when the concentration deepens, the initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) actually become slighter, so the awareness of the physical body disappears and the mind becomes empty. Meditative concentration can make the mind subtle, meticulous, and precise; it often enables one to observe things that cannot be observed ordinarily, to discover the truth of things, and thereby to penetrate and thoroughly comprehend the truth. So when, in meditation, some things seem to be like images and no longer so real, this is a correct view. On the basis of this correct view, if you further make your practice proficient, there is hope for realization and enlightenment.

After realization and enlightenment, upon emerging from meditation you will no longer take illusory dharmas to be real; before realization, correct view is merely correct view and cannot change anything. Nevertheless, correct view has after all departed to some extent from false cognition and tends toward discovering the truth of things. If you maintain and deepen this state of practice, you will be better able to see through the extreme illusoriness and unreality of all kinds of matters and principles; when the causes, conditions, and season are complete, it becomes possible to realize emptiness. Therefore, the realization of all dharmas is accomplished within profound meditative concentration (dhyāna); even during activity, there is meditative concentration, and such concentration derives from the meditative skill of sitting meditation—it is the extension and continuation of concentration in stillness.