The previous thought has ceased, the next thought has not yet arisen—what is the state in between?

The moment when the preceding thought has ceased and the subsequent thought has not yet arisen does not mean that the seventh consciousness has ceased or that the seventh consciousness has not arisen; on the contrary, all seven consciousnesses exist and are all operating. Among them, the seventh consciousness can only cease when an arhat of the fourth fruit enters Nirvāṇa without remainder; no one else is able to forcibly terminate it. Ordinary beings lack the ability to extinguish it, and although bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and all Buddhas have the ability to extinguish it, none of them are willing to do so; therefore the seventh consciousness does not cease. When we occasionally have no thoughts, or in the intermediate state between the arising of thoughts, the mind consciousness or the consciousness of the five senses has not ceased and is still operating; at this time there is still a knowing present, knowing that one temporarily has no thoughts at this moment. This knowing is the arising-and-ceasing deluded mind with the mind consciousness as the principal element. If one takes this mind to be the eighth consciousness, then one has mistakenly realized it.

In this state, the eye consciousness can still see forms, the ear consciousness can still hear sounds, the nose consciousness can still smell scents, the tongue consciousness can still perceive the tastes in the mouth, the body consciousness can still perceive whether the body is comfortable, and the mind consciousness can still know whether one has thoughts or not. At this time all six consciousnesses are present, the manas is also present, and the eighth consciousness necessarily exists. It is thus evident that when there is no thought, all eight consciousnesses are present. Then, when the preceding thought has ceased and the subsequent thought does not arise, what exactly is in between? This is a temporary meditative concentration in which the mind consciousness does not engage with the mental sense-objects; there is still the existence of the mind consciousness within it, not only the eighth consciousness. Therefore, realizing at this moment does not necessarily mean realizing the eighth consciousness. If the mind consciousness is without thought and does not know or recognize the eighth consciousness, then realization is even more impossible.

When there are no thoughts, or at least when the sixth consciousness, the seventh consciousness, and the eighth consciousness—all three consciousnesses—are present, it is possible to realize the eighth consciousness at this time.

However, most people lack the ability to realize the eighth consciousness, because they do not possess the conditions for enlightenment. The mental nature of ordinary beings and non-Buddhists (pṛthagjana) has been far from subdued, and they are not yet qualified to be ultimate-truth bodhisattvas; therefore they cannot see the eighth consciousness clearly within this state and thereby attain realization. Consequently, they often take the mind consciousness in the state of no thought to be the true mind, the eighth consciousness, and this becomes a mistaken realization—an erroneous misunderstanding.

The true mind and the deluded mind exist simultaneously. Finding the deluded mind is easy, but wanting to find the true mind is very difficult; this requires certain causal conditions. If the causal conditions are not complete, one cannot realize the true mind, the eighth consciousness. Without realizing the eighth consciousness, one cannot begin cultivation from the eighth consciousness; only after finding the eighth consciousness can one cultivate after enlightenment. The thought-free mind consciousness is especially easy to confuse with the eighth consciousness. Many people think that a thought-free mind consciousness is the eighth consciousness, but in fact, regardless of whether you have thoughts or not, He has always existed; He did not come into existence only after later cultivation.

When the ancient patriarchs investigated Chan and became enlightened, some were enlightened upon seeing forms, some upon hearing sounds, some upon being struck or shouted at, and some upon being squeezed by a door; the ways of enlightenment were varied and extremely flexible. It is not necessary to be without thoughts in order to become enlightened; in fact, trying to become enlightened when there are no thoughts is extremely difficult. Therefore the patriarchs did not permit their disciples to cultivate thought-free meditative concentration; even if thought-free concentration is successfully cultivated, one still cannot become enlightened.

By reading many Chan public cases (gong'an), one can know that most of the patriarchs' enlightenments were true realizations, and therefore they were all people who had attained the Way. People of modern times lack sufficient wholesome roots and merit, and often transmit the Buddha-dharma incorrectly, causing sentient beings to take detours in their practice. Our ability to discern is still insufficient, and we cannot distinguish right from wrong. If the state of no thought were the eighth consciousness, then when thoughts appear again a moment later, would the eighth consciousness have disappeared? Would not the eighth consciousness then have become something that arises and ceases? "Liao liao fen ming" (lucidly clear and distinct)—"liao" means knowing, and "fen ming" means clarity, which is also knowing. As long as there is knowing, it is the deluded mind; the true mind does not know and is not lucidly clear and distinct.

The mind that is lucidly clear and distinct can know various states; it is not that it does not know. That which can know the states of the six sense-objects is not the true mind; the true mind does not know the six sense-objects. What state one is currently in—the true mind does not know; this is precisely what the mind consciousness is able to know and discern. This is the key to true realization! The mind consciousness is sometimes free of thought—it is "numinous knowing"—but this is still knowing; a mind that can know the six sense-objects is not the true mind. Everyone should compare this with the ancient Chan teachings and see how the patriarchs realized, at what moments they realized, and what the content of their realization was.

When the Sixth Patriarch realized, he came to know the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)" statements. If he had realized the thought-free numinous-knowing mind, there would be no way he could have known the five "how unforeseen is self-nature" statements. Compare this with the Heart Sutra: the true mind neither arises nor ceases and never changes, whereas this numinous-knowing mind is subject to arising and ceasing, constantly changing, and cannot remain forever unchanged. Whether the numinous-knowing mind is the true mind or the deluded mind should then be perfectly clear in one's mind. This issue is extremely crucial; one must be careful. The great matter of birth and death cannot be treated vaguely. In studying the Dharma, one must be cautious and prudent, and verify through many sources. If one happens to learn wrongly, that is not a matter of just one lifetime!