What is the relationship between the reflection in the mirror and the mirror?

When the mind consciousness directs its attention toward material form sense-objects, the consciousness seeds flow forth onto the material form sense-objects; when the mind consciousness directs its attention toward sound sense-objects, the consciousness seeds flow forth onto the sound sense-objects. When the mind consciousness simultaneously discerns various sense-object realms, it must constantly switch between sense-object realms to direct its attention, or it can also direct attention to them simultaneously; without meditative concentration (samādhi), the mind becomes chaotic. When the discernment of two mental sense-objects has a distinction of primary and secondary, the primary aspect receives more attention, and the secondary aspect receives less. When the mind consciousness switches its attention and discernment, there is knowing and not-knowing; but when it directs attention and discerns simultaneously, all sense-object realms are known, with differences of knowing more or knowing less.

When the eyes see forms, can one not simultaneously hear sounds? Can one not simultaneously smell scents? Can one not simultaneously feel touch? Can one not simultaneously walk? Can one not simultaneously speak? Can one not simultaneously recall? All are possible; the discernment must have primary and secondary, with some clear and some unclear. When the switching of attention is very, very fast, the conscious mind does not perceive that the discernment is intermittent, just like watching a movie. The consciousness seeds of the mind consciousness can arise simultaneously upon the six sense-objects, which is like the branching of a river's water—the power is weak, the discernment is unclear, and wisdom cannot arise; this is when there is no power of meditative concentration. When the power of concentration is quite good, one can use one mind for many tasks; the mind consciousness is powerful in every aspect, the discernment is clear in all, and there is wisdom in all.

The mind consciousness can simultaneously produce two or three attention mental factors; the five universally present mental factors can operate upon two or three mental objects—this is no problem, and the arising of multiple attention mental factors is all possible, but the power will be weak, and the discerning power will not be strong; especially when relatively subtle discernment is needed, its power becomes weak. The mind consciousness can simultaneously direct its attention on sound sense-objects and material form sense-objects, and can also direct its attention on touch sense-objects, scent sense-objects, and taste sense-objects, with the consciousness seeds flowing forth simultaneously. If one wants to attend to all of them well and discern them clearly, that requires quite skilled technique and quite excellent meditative concentration (samādhi).

For example, an acrobat must not only balance on a rolling wheel underfoot, but also balance a water cup or something on the head, and also keep the rings in hand spinning; to attend well to several things at once, coordinating and unifying them, requires a certain amount of training. The training trains not only the six consciousnesses, but in fact also trains the manas, enabling the manas to coordinate all the movements, planning comprehensively and giving consideration to all. Not only must the consciousness seeds of the mind consciousness flow forth simultaneously, the consciousness seeds of the manas must also flow forth simultaneously upon several objects, like the branching of a river's water, yet without diminishing its power—this requires a high degree of coordination and focus. Therefore, focus does not only mean concentrating attention on a single object; one can focus on multiple objects, attending to all of them thoroughly and handling them well.