“I was trying to ask (in an unclear way) whether or not we can be conscious of mano sankhara (as in whether or not mano sankhara is noticeable)..”
The easiest way to remember is as follows. If one starts thinking about something that means those “thoughts” are vaci sankhara.
Another way to look at it is the following. Mano sankhara are DEFINED as “vedana and sanna” in the Cula Vedalla Sutta (MN 44.) We know that both those are “universal cetasika” meaning they are in ALL citta.
– Thus all our thoughts (other than vaci sankhara and kaya sankhara) are mano sankhara.
– We MAY NOT even be of AWARE of some mano sankhara. The transition from mano sankhara to vaci sankhara is a grey area.