Can True Mind Be Measured?

In Tea Words Volume II, Master Sheng Yen continues his discussion of consciousness when he remarks:

By now we can see that the Western understanding of consciousness does not cover all of the meanings of consciousness in Buddhism. In Western science, mental activities are researched, analyzed, and recorded, but is true mind, the mind of wisdom, a mental activity that can be scrutinized? (p.10)

I found this to be a very interesting remark. So much of Western science and research is now trying to focus on the psychological and emotional benefits of meditation, using traditional measurements such as brain scans and MRI imaging to see what areas of the brain are most affected by meditation practice. Is there in fact a mental activity that cannot be scrutinized at all? This "true mind" is unobservable by methods precisely because it is always present; it doesn't fluctuate over time or based on phenomena. I think this is one of the reasons why Master Sheng Yen suggests that this true mind may not be analyzable in the way that moods, thoughts or stream of consciousness might be evaluated.
  Put it in this way: everything that can be measured is essentially a phenomena. To try to reduce mind to phenomena is to say that the mind actually fluctuates, when in fact, mind is the very basis for phenomena itself. Without mind, is phenomena at all possible? Similarly, it's impossible to measure true mind for exactly the reason that it is always present in the midst of all phenomena. Whether I am feeling ecstatic or depressed, angry or content, that mind is always the true mind, and it doesn't suddenly fade due to these ups and downs in moods. This is why we cannot say that the true mind "comes and goes" with phenomena since it is always with every phenomena. In meditation practice, we say that the true mind is always with the present, regardless of what is arising in mind. I need not seek such a mind nor try to capture it in any way since that very "thing" which seeks is still the true mind; there is simply no getting around it.
   If I could take such a mind and measure it, where would I most likely be able to see the true mind? Is it more prevalent in my happy thoughts, sad thoughts or no thoughts at all? Even trying to measure something so present as the mind requires a reference point for comparison, but can such a comparison be found for the mind? This is why science can certainly find advantages to meditation in terms of observable traits (such as blood pressure, serotonin levels, and so on), but it cannot measure the actual mind itself.

Sheng Yen Tea Words Volume II. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications