Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter One: The Principle of Personally Realizing the Manas
I. Personal realization means the manas personally attaining realization
Personal realization does not merely refer to the realization of seeing the mind and seeing one's nature; many dharmas need to be personally realized, whether they are Buddhist dharmas or worldly dharmas—it is so in both cases. What the manas attains, what the manas personally proves, personally deliberates out, and personally verifies—not what the mind consciousness relays and instills, not what the mind consciousness hears secondhand, not what the mind consciousness learns—is called personal realization. Any dharma not realized by the manas is not personal realization or genuine realization. Because the manas is the master consciousness, it can govern all dharmas and can connect past and future lives.
Eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind to realize the tathāgatagarbha are both attained by the manas, personally realized by the manas; mere knowledge by the mind consciousness alone is false realization, not genuine realization. Even after seeing the mind, there are still many, many dharmas that need to be realized, but no matter what dharma it is, as long as the manas acknowledges and confirms it, it is genuine realization, including worldly dharmas. The operation of every dharma has the manas as its leader; if there is no operation and certification by the manas in the realization, if the manas has not realized it, then it is not genuine realization. When the manas still has ignorance present and its wisdom has not opened, one is still just an ordinary person. The manas is the most crucial link in attaining all dharmas, and therefore all genuine realization is related to the manas.
II. The true principle of genuine personal realization
How can we prove that the mind consciousness operates at the level of learning knowledge and theory, while the manas operates at the level of genuine realization? Take the dharma of cooking as an example: first the mind consciousness must learn the theory and techniques of cooking, but having learned the theory does not mean one can cook. Regarding the dharma of cooking, there is not yet any genuine realization. This level corresponds to the mind consciousness's understanding, not the manas's realization.
Then how does one genuinely realize it? After understanding the theory of cooking, one needs to personally enter the kitchen and personally cook according to the theory the mind consciousness has learned. Cooking with one's own hands is actual operation, and actual operation requires the manas to direct and supervise. If the manas does not understand the theory, it cannot supervise the six consciousnesses in cooking. Thus the manas must repeatedly direct the six consciousnesses to practice cooking; when something is done wrong, the mind consciousness must think and analyze what went wrong and how to operate, correct, and remedy it. This is the mind consciousness directing the manas to practice operation, which corresponds to the manas's conduct before and after eradicating the view of self.
When the manas has learned the operation, it no longer needs much analysis and supervision from the mind consciousness; the manas can very skillfully direct the six consciousnesses to cook, and thereafter will handle it with ease, with highly proficient technique—being "familiar with the road like a light carriage" describes the level of the manas's mastery of a skill. At this point it corresponds to the stage of the manas removing attachment, corresponding to the stage where the manas acts automatically and spontaneously without the mind consciousness's supervision and management.
Therefore, the mind consciousness corresponds to theory, and the manas corresponds to actual operation. If the theory the mind consciousness knows cannot make the manas also know and realize it, it is of little use; only after the manas actually attains realization does it have great use. Personal realization refers to the manas personally attaining realization, not knowledge and theory the mind consciousness learned from elsewhere.
III. After the six consciousnesses have all ceased and no longer exist, there is still a self at this time—the manas, which is the fundamental self. If the manas has not eradicated the view of self, then the view of self still exists, and one is still an ordinary person with the view of self; at this time the view of self is the same as when awake, with no difference. Because the manas has the view of self present, it thinks that the self no longer has seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, cannot perceive the six sense objects, and can no longer act within the six sense objects, and so it gives rise to the intention to perceive the realms of the six sense objects; the tathāgatagarbha cooperates and gives birth to the six consciousnesses, seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing manifest, the five aggregates appear, and the manas can again grasp the realms of the six sense objects, grasp seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, and grasp the activities of the five aggregates; thus one is bound within the world of the three realms and cannot attain liberation.
Therefore, in eradicating the view of self, one must make the manas eradicate it at the same time; only after the manas no longer has the view of self can its various grasping tendencies be lightened, can the mind be liberated, and can there be the wisdom of liberation. Even the view of self after death is the same as when alive; because of the view of self, one grasps at the body of the five aggregates, and the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) and the bodies of the five aggregates in future lives will continuously arise, and the view of self upon rebirth is still the same as in the previous life—still an ordinary person's body as before, and the manas still grasps and craves as before. Therefore, it is because of the manas's view of self that sentient beings cycle round after round through life after life, with karmic results unending and birth-and-death unending.
If the view of self disappeared as soon as the six consciousnesses ceased, how wonderful that would be! Unfortunately it cannot be so; therefore, merely having the mind consciousness eradicate the view of self is of little use and does not solve the fundamental problem—one must find a way to have the manas eradicate the view of self.
IV. Whether it is the Mahāyāna dharma, the Hīnayāna dharma, or the various principles of the world, attaining realization of these dharmas must be acknowledged and realized by the manas, confirmed by the manas; if it is not confirmed by the manas, it is all perceived by the mind consciousness, all feelings of the mind consciousness, and then there is no genuine benefit and enjoyment. Because the six consciousnesses do not act as master—the master is the manas—but even so, this plays a role in perfuming and leading the manas. The manas is the "self," and the mind consciousness is the function of the "self" grasped by the manas; therefore eradicating the view of self means eradicating the manas's view of self, and realizing enlightenment also means the manas realizing the true self—the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha.
The attaining of all dharmas lies entirely in the manas, not in the mind consciousness. The theory learned by the mind consciousness does not play a decisive role; it only plays a role in perfuming the manas. If the theory learned by the mind consciousness has not perfumed the manas and has not enabled the manas to realize it, then there is no merit and benefit. So where lies the difference between understanding-through-study and realization-enlightenment? Understanding-through-study has only the mind consciousness's understanding, without the manas's realization; realization-enlightenment lies in the manas's attainment and acknowledgment, in the mind consciousness perfuming the manas, transforming the manas, and eradicating the manas's ignorance—all dharmas are governed by the manas. Once the manas has realized, it can thereafter transform its mental conduct, and we can then attain buddhahood.
V. The realization of all dharmas should be the result of direct observation (vipaśyanā), not conclusions drawn from imagination and analysis. What is called direct realization? Direct realization is direct-perception contemplative practice, present-moment contemplative practice: at the very moment the six faculties face the six sense objects, one observes and experiences firsthand the arising, operation, and arising-ceasing changes of various dharmas. Whether the mind consciousness is observing with direct perception, and whether the conclusions it draws from thinking are facts—the manas must constantly make judgments, but sometimes it judges correctly and sometimes incorrectly, because the manas also has its own habitual tendencies, and coupled with insufficient wisdom, it easily judges wrongly. The manas generally only acknowledges the mind consciousness's direct-perception observation and thorough thinking and analysis; only when there is reason and evidence can the manas's wisdom be inspired, and only then can the manas confirm the results of its contemplative practice; it does not readily acknowledge the mind consciousness's non-valid imagination and inference. The mind consciousness's direct-perception observation is the evidence; only when the evidence is conclusive will the manas make the final call and agree.
Many times we cannot convince ourselves—why is this? Because the mind consciousness has not observed with direct perception, has no evidence or insufficient evidence, so the manas cannot recognize the reasonableness and correctness of what the mind consciousness has analyzed and thought, cannot be convinced by the mind consciousness, and cannot make decisions according to the results of the mind consciousness's analysis; thus the mind consciousness must keep thinking, analyzing, and reasoning until the evidence is conclusive and the manas acknowledges it.
Of course, this includes the mind consciousness's evil and erroneous direct-perception observation, which is actually non-valid cognition, but it can still be acknowledged by the manas, because it accords with the manas's ignorance and afflictions, and the manas is willing to agree—this is the person without cultivation. When the mind consciousness gives wrong instruction to the manas, the manas is kept in the dark, does not know the truth, and takes for granted the non-valid as direct perception and the imagined as fact, though the facts are not so; yet sometimes the manas also goes along with it and has no choice but to agree.
VI. How to prove that all dharmas are the manas's tools, that it is the manas that needs all dharmas to resolve all dharmas?
In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the World-Honored One spoke on this issue: before heaven and earth were born, there were only the manas and the eighth consciousness; the manas was in a muddled, chaotic state and wanted to understand the dharma realm, so it reached outward, clinging and seeking; thereupon the eighth consciousness, in accordance with this, gave birth to the physical universe of heaven and earth, the vessel-world, and subsequently gave birth to the five aggregates and six consciousnesses, with the eighteen realms complete. Thereupon the manas played about within these dharmas, never able to break through, tightly bound by these dharmas, unable to attain freedom and liberation. Finally, when the roots of goodness, merit, and conditions were complete, led by the mind consciousness, one explores the true reality of the dharmas of the three realms' world, explores the meaning of life, finds the path to escape birth-and-death, eradicates all ignorance, returns to true reality, attains great liberation, returns home and sits in stability—yet is homeless—and only then does peace begin in the world; all dharmas return to stillness, all is well, and there are not even any "affairs" at all.
The manas leads the eighth consciousness to create all the dharmas of the world of the five aggregates, and then uses the five aggregates and six consciousnesses to seek the true truth and break the darkness of ignorance; in fact, it is still using the eighth consciousness to accomplish this entire process. It can be seen that the eighth consciousness is played with submissively by the manas, but the grown-up is always magnanimous—what harm is there in accompanying a child at play? When the manas-child gradually grows up and matures, it no longer plays pranks, no longer drags the eighth consciousness into doing bad things, no longer craves play, no longer stirs up trouble out of nothing, and also learns the eighth consciousness's grown-up magnanimity, with a vast and broad mind; thus it becomes tranquil, and the three realms also become quiet. Then, learning the eighth consciousness's grown-up magnanimity, it helps other children all grow up and mature, and all worlds become peaceful.
In fact, all dharmas are needed and resolved by the manas; the mind consciousness is the manas's tool for solving problems, the five consciousnesses are also the manas's tools for solving problems, and even the eighth consciousness is the manas's tool for solving problems. The manas uses all these tools to meet its own needs and achieve its own aims; of course, all problems must ultimately be personally resolved and personally approved by the manas. Realizing all dharmas requires the manas to personally realize them; only then will the manas be reassured, and only then is the problem solved.
This has already brought the matter of the cultivation and realization of all dharmas to its very bottom; there is nothing more to discuss. As for whether one accepts it or not, that is each person's matter of merit and wisdom, and has nothing to do with the Buddha-dharma.
VII. The difference between direct-perception realization and emotional, intellectual understanding: for example, take the phrase "all conditioned dharmas are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows." If one has truly realized this phrase, one is a bodhisattva of the tenth dedication bhūmi, and will soon qualify to enter the first bhūmi and become a true child of the Buddha. Yet many people who have not seen the mind or attained enlightenment think they too understand this phrase, and everywhere publish their impressions and opinions, regarding their own views as direct-perception realization, and everywhere endlessly holding forth and debating with others; some even write books and compose treatises, with grand principles one after another, sufficient to teach others, while their own minds do not accord with it.
But the actual situation is that these people have only the mind consciousness's understanding of the surface meaning of the Buddha's phrase, still very, very far from realization; perhaps when they realize this phrase, they will still need to cultivate for nearly an incalculable eon, or perhaps for more than half an incalculable eon. Yet why are these people all so confident that they understand this phrase? One is ignorance, the other is arrogance—there is no other explanation. It can be seen that so-called understanding, so-called clarity, so-called comprehension is not realization at all, not direct-perception observation, not direct realization. The mind consciousness's understanding can at most be defined as understanding-through-study—and that is already being generous; perhaps it is still very far from even that, let alone realization-enlightenment—the distance from realization-enlightenment is even more remote.
VIII. The distance between understanding and realization
When watching a horror film, the mind consciousness clearly knows it is fake, yet one is still afraid; when walking on a glass skywalk, the mind consciousness clearly knows it is safe, but inwardly one is still terribly frightened, and some people do not even dare lift a leg to walk. The mind consciousness simply cannot convince itself (the manas) not to be afraid—why is this? Because the conclusions the mind consciousness draws from discrimination and thinking do not gain the manas's acknowledgment. The mind consciousness urges itself (the manas) not to be afraid, saying all these horrifying scenes are fake, yet blood pressure still rises, the heartbeat quickens, and the body sweats—the body is all controlled by the manas, which shows the manas is still afraid.
Especially when watching a dome-screen movie, the mind consciousness knows all the images are on the screen and cannot come out of the screen at all, that the images are not reality, yet inwardly one feels the images are still so lifelike, afraid the car inside will drive into oneself, afraid the flying knives inside will slash oneself, that bullets will hit one's body, and so the body involuntarily tries to dodge as much as possible. The body's and mind's actions are all directed and performed by the manas; the manas directs according to its habitual cognition, and the consciousnesses will make corresponding reactions. Therefore, if the manas is not successfully perfumed, actual problems cannot be solved.
Knowing the skywalk is safe—is this one's own direct-perception cognition? What use is this kind of knowing? The mind consciousness clearly knows the people ahead have already leisurely walked across, with ready examples; why then does one still not dare stand up and walk across? The mind consciousness clearly knows the glass's thickness and load-bearing capacity are very reliable; why then can one not stand up and walk straight across? Because the manas has not yet accepted the principle analyzed and thought out by the mind consciousness; inwardly there is still fear toward the glass skywalk, and so the body is made to tremble, with sore soles, shaking calves, quivering, even crouching on the passage, unable to move a single step.
Some people, standing outside the glass bridge, make all kinds of remarks, talking at great length: "Walk onto the glass track and see what happens?" Whether the body faculty is controlled and directed by the manas can be seen clearly right here. The mind consciousness cannot direct the body; no matter how the mind consciousness deems it safe, it is useless—if the manas does not know, then one is still terrified and panic-stricken, all caused by the manas's severe attachment to the body.
From this it can be seen: the mind consciousness knowing that the six sense objects are one's own inner object-aspects (nimitta)—is it of any use? Without diligent contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the falsity and non-self of the five aggregates cannot be truly realized. Knowing and understanding are easy; realization is very difficult. The realization of the four fruits of the Hīnayāna all involves bodily and mental feelings; the realization of the various fruits of the Mahāyāna also involves bodily and mental feelings, including the proof and hints from dreams. Especially the arising of various meditative concentrations (samādhi) even more involves bodily and mental feelings; the deeper the meditative concentration, the stronger the feelings. At the second dhyāna and above there is no perception, and the five consciousnesses cease. But the material body also undergoes great changes, and after emerging from samādhi there are still bodily and mental feelings. Why do these feelings arise? Because the manas has realized the Buddha-dharma with direct perception and knows the true facts of reality, the body and mind undergo changes, as the result of the manas's holding and regulating.
The manas believes in direct-perception states and needs to personally know them for itself; others' proofs are useless—one must personally realize with direct perception, knowing truly and genuinely. The realization of the Buddha-dharma is the same; otherwise it is like talking of food and not being filled—self-deception and deceiving others. Many people know the five aggregates are false, yet deep in their hearts the manas still regards the five aggregates as real, cannot agree with and carry out the results of the mind consciousness's analysis and thinking, and still firmly grasps the self without letting go. Therefore the mind consciousness must think earnestly, with detailed contemplative practice upon contemplative practice, until the manas is talked through; only when the manas understands and is convinced is the direct-perception state present; otherwise it is merely an inference.
How can one walk across the glass skywalk without trembling with fear? One should do this: before stepping onto the skywalk, the mind consciousness must, by every means, analyze and think very comprehensively about the skywalk's safety, thinking it through as thoroughly as possible; having thought clearly through inference, direct perception, and non-valid cognition, with reason and evidence proving that the glass skywalk is indeed safe, without a shred of danger, then the manas can confirm the skywalk is safe, the heart can have confidence, and one can then muster the courage to walk across the skywalk. When the mind consciousness analyzes thoroughly and sees through the situation, putting the manas at ease, the mind can then be at peace. Feeling inwardly very safe, with confidence full and all mental preparation done, feeling no longer afraid—this is having persuaded the manas; then lift the leg and set out. How can one make the heart fully confident? Rely on the mind consciousness's thorough thinking and analysis, seeing clearly and firmly, being nine-tenths certain, before acting. Only when the mind consciousness has thought and analyzed thoroughly can the manas confirm, and only then can one appear calm and steady and boldly walk across.
This issue is the same in principle as contemplative practice to eradicate the view of self; eradicating the view of self is likewise so: the mind consciousness must think and analyze thoroughly, without a single loophole, so that the manas fully acknowledges it without doubt; only then can the view of self be eradicated. In contemplative practice to eradicate the view of self, the mind consciousness must, by every means, think about and contemplate the falsity and unreality of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, successfully perfuming the manas, letting the manas confirm from within that the five aggregates are truly not the self. Only then is the manas's confidence full; no matter who says the five aggregates are real, the manas will not agree. To achieve this, the mind consciousness must first understand the principle itself and think clearly, and must also give the manas a period of time to adapt and confirm, letting the manas adapt to the fact that the five aggregates are truly not the self, not real.
When the manas has completely eradicated attachment to the five aggregates, in the Hīnayāna this is the arhat of the fourth fruit; in the Mahāyāna it is at the full mind of the seventh bhūmi, entering the eighth bhūmi. The liberation realization of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva is equivalent to that of a great arhat of the fourth fruit who is liberated in both ways; the full mind of the first bhūmi is equivalent to an arhat liberated by wisdom, but a first-bhūmi bodhisattva does not take the fruit of the wisdom-liberated arhat, and the afflictions of delusive thinking must not be completely eradicated. The state of the manas having completely eradicated attachment to self regarding persons—we can know something of it through inference and imaginative reasoning, though without realizing it. As for the manas having completely eradicated attachment to self regarding dharmas, we can think about it with inference and non-valid cognition and know roughly, though even less can we realize it. This gap between knowing and realizing may be nearly two incalculable eons and three incalculable eons. The distance between knowing and realizing is simply unimaginable.
Some people always become proud and complacent just from knowing a few things; in fact that is nothing at all—even truly realizing very profound Buddha-dharma is not worth pride and complacency. Looking across the worlds of the ten directions and the three times of past, future, and present, even if we cultivated to the level of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, it would still be nothing. Only people of shallow wisdom and little experience easily give rise to pride and complacency, and only then is arrogance heavy. People with brains and wisdom, with broad knowledge and experience, do not easily give rise to arrogance, because they have seen or know of countless people who are countless times superior to themselves; their horizons are very broad.
IX. The manas is the deep and subtle self; it takes all dharmas as itself, and of course all dharmas are for the use of the manas, the manas-consciousness. It takes the five aggregates as itself, so the functions of the five aggregates are its own functions; it takes the functions of the eighth consciousness as its own functions, and takes the functions of the six consciousnesses as its own functions, so all dharmas are for the use of the seventh consciousness, the manas. Moreover, it is imperishable life after life, so all karmic retribution is of course enjoyed by it. At all times it is "me, me, me"—a very quick-witted consciousness, with habitual tendencies and afflictions gathered into one body. Without the participation of the manas, the manas-consciousness, no matter what the matter, nothing can be accomplished—and Chan investigation is no exception. If the manas does not decide as master to investigate Chan, the mind consciousness cannot investigate; so the dharma of investigating Chan is also for the manas's use. Arouse the manas, and everything is accomplished with half the effort and twice the result. Present facts and reason to the manas often, letting it realize that all dharmas are without self; when the manas understands the principle, everything will be fundamentally resolved, all the way to buddhahood.
X. Many people talk about genuine realization every day—what is meant by "genuine"? Genuine means actuality; actuality is the manas's direct-perception state. Whatever state the manas reaches, that is the level of one's cultivation; the mind consciousness's state is illusory, vanishing in a blink, like flowers in the sky that never touch the ground. The manas is the master consciousness, commanding the six consciousnesses' bodily, verbal, and mental actions; the mind consciousness's understanding is not genuine realization, because the mind consciousness cannot act as master over bodily, verbal, and mental actions.
Genuine realization requires the manas to realize, and for the manas to realize, meditative concentration is indispensable; when meditative concentration is insufficient, the manas cannot deeply and subtly deliberate on the data provided by the mind consciousness, cannot attain determination (adhimokṣa) regarding what the mind consciousness thinks and understands, and therefore cannot realize—it can only be the mind consciousness's understanding alone. So apart from meditative concentration, do not talk about genuine realization. And if the mind consciousness understands but the manas does not realize, there is no liberating merit and benefit—it is virtue not matching position.
XI. Only when the manas realizes enlightenment can wisdom be born
Regarding the issue of the manas's power of wisdom: all the wisdom of the mind consciousness must land on the manas to count as success, to store seeds, to be useful in future lives; ultimately it is the manas's power of wisdom that performs all functions. For the manas to attain the fruits, from the first fruit to the fourth fruit, and if it is to see the mind, from first seeing the mind to becoming a Buddha, it is all the manas's wisdom at work. The result of the mind consciousness's wisdom is to make the manas have wisdom, to make the manas transform consciousness into wisdom, to be endowed with great wisdom, and ultimately to become a Buddha.
The difference between the mind consciousness's wisdom and the manas's wisdom is that the mind consciousness has the function of logical thinking, analysis, and reasoning, and can think rather abstractly. The manas cannot think abstractly; it must be concrete, with plot, with images—the more direct-perception the better, the more realistic the better. The manas has difficulty with analytical thinking ability and has difficulty performing logical reasoning and judgment; in this respect it relies on the mind consciousness, while other direct-perception measurements it can do entirely by itself—though of course with the mind consciousness's assistance is best and fastest. Therefore, things with pictures and images, with present plot and scene, the manas corresponds to relatively well, the mind consciousness's memory is firm, and it is also very easy to understand—that is the reason. When the six faculties interpenetrate and function mutually, the manas replaces the mind consciousness and also replaces the five consciousnesses. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra speaks of Mahākāśyapa's "perfectly clear knowing, not depending on mental thought," which illustrates this principle.
XII. In discovering the truth, it is not enough for only the mind consciousness to discover it; the manas must also simultaneously discover the true reality of the dharma realm, the manas must realize it, and only then can one depart from false appearances. Only the manas can direct the six consciousnesses not to acknowledge false appearances and to depart from false appearances; the mind consciousness has no such authority and cannot act as master. When the manas realizes the false appearances, it can simultaneously act as master to depart from them. Realization by the mind consciousness alone is still useless; the manas is with the false appearances every moment, every second, every instant, so the mind consciousness cannot leave the false appearances, and bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change.
The manas is like a hitching post: even if you, the mind consciousness, are allowed to run east and west, you must still run around the manas post, not permitted to run far. If the manas hitching post keeps moving and shifting here and there, can the wild horses of the six consciousnesses stay fixed in one place without moving according to the manas's movements? Absolutely not. Therefore, only when the effort of studying the Buddha-dharma is applied all the way to the manas is it true effort, and only then can one transform one's own body and mind.
XIII. Someone says: Uninterrupted attention (manaskāra)—it seems that after the dharma meaning has penetrated into the manas, only the manas can achieve uninterrupted attention, never abandoning it thought after thought. In fact, merit is the inevitable product of the manas's acknowledgment or transformation; as long as the manas truly acknowledges and takes responsibility, the merit of attaining the fruits naturally comes, and wisdom also comes; this is a series of naturally occurring events—the root of realizing the dharma still lies in the manas.
This view is very good. Uninterrupted attention: "uninterrupted" means without pause; only the manas can be mindful of the dharma meaning without interruption, through the six periods of day and night, from morning to evening, thought after thought without cease. This requires the mind consciousness to cultivate the Buddha-dharma, successfully perfuming it into the manas; when the manas regards the Buddha-dharma as important, it will be concerned with the Buddha-dharma thought after thought, its mind never leaving the Buddha-dharma, and one day it will surely realize the Buddha-dharma. If the manas is not concerned with the Buddha-dharma, the mind consciousness's thoughts of the Buddha-dharma will inevitably break off and cannot be mindful of the Buddha-dharma without interruption.
XIV. Eradicating the view of self and attaining the fruit is the manas's acknowledgment that the five aggregates are not the self. At the time of enlightenment and seeing the mind, the manas not only acknowledges that the five aggregates are false and not the true self, but also realizes the tathāgatagarbha, knowing that the tathāgatagarbha is the true self and that the manas itself is not real. The manas at this point has found the master, but afflictions and habitual tendencies are all still there, though they can be somewhat lighter. After the manas knows that the tathāgatagarbha is the true self and that all dharmas are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, all being its functions, it gradually no longer appropriates the tathāgatagarbha's functions as its own, and its attachment to self gradually lightens; later it can not only eradicate attachment to self but also eradicate attachment to dharmas; when both attachments are completely eradicated, one perfectly attains buddhahood.
XV. Making offerings to a first-fruit person who has eradicated the view of self yields immeasurably multiplied retribution; if it is merely the mind consciousness that has eradicated the view of self while the manas has not, then when the first-fruit person is unconscious without the mind consciousness, or after falling asleep at night, he regresses to the ordinary person's position; at such a time, making offerings to him and rescuing him yields only a hundredfold retribution. The gap between the two is so great—such a situation cannot exist; a person cannot be a sage by day and revert to an ordinary person at night, a sage while awake and an ordinary person as soon as he faints from lack of oxygen.
At the time of attaining buddhahood, if it were again the mind consciousness becoming a Buddha, then by changing to another set of five aggregates one would be an ordinary person; the buddhas could not descend into Sahā, accomplish the eight marks of a great being, and attain buddhahood—they could only become ordinary persons. Then what meaning would our pursuit of buddhahood over incalculable eons have? Eradicating the view of self and attaining the first fruit would be even more meaningless—one goes to sleep and reverts to an ordinary person; if one does not wake for a year, then one is an ordinary person for a year; if one becomes a vegetative patient, would one not be an ordinary person for a whole lifetime?
If seeing the mind were the mind consciousness seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment, then after fainting or falling asleep, when the mind consciousness ceases, one becomes an ordinary person who has not seen the mind. Even a bhūmi bodhisattva, even a bodhisattva who already possesses the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), upon changing to another body of the five aggregates, with new six consciousnesses, likewise becomes an ordinary person. If so, what meaning would seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment have? When could one ever enter the first bhūmi and become a true child of the Buddha? How then could one ever become a Buddha?
XVI. The tathāgatagarbha cooperates with the manas to manifest all dharmas; only when the manas understands the principle and realizes enlightenment can ignorance be eradicated, defilement removed, and buddhahood ultimately attained. The tathāgatagarbha does not cooperate with the mind consciousness, because the mind consciousness is born after the manas's decision; it does not appear without cause, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot cooperate with a consciousness that does not yet exist.
The mind consciousness is not the master consciousness; if the mind consciousness wants to go east while the manas wants to go west, does the body of the five aggregates ultimately go east or west? It certainly goes west. Because if the manas wants to go west, once its mental factor of volition decides, the tathāgatagarbha knows it and will cooperate with the manas to give birth to the body consciousness and mind consciousness to walk westward. The head of a household is one with majesty, authority, opinions, and decision-making power—who can shake him?
When the mind consciousness wants to change habitual tendencies, it can only think about it but cannot act as master to change them, because the afflictive habitual tendencies after all belong to the manas and require the manas itself to change; the mind consciousness cannot substitute for it. What if the manas has habitual tendencies of which it is itself unaware? The mind consciousness needs to understand the principles more, reason with the manas more; one day when the manas can listen and can reflect, recognizing its own afflictive habitual tendencies, it will of course correct them. The realization of the Buddha-dharma is likewise so: the mind consciousness needs to understand the principles, and then help the manas understand them; then both are awakened, both have eradicated ignorance—especially the manas's beginningless ignorance—and then both give birth to the great wisdom of prajñā.
The mind consciousness's understanding of principles is extremely important; the mind consciousness's having skillful means is extremely important; the mind consciousness's being clever and quick-witted is extremely important. Everything the mind consciousness does is ultimately to change the manas; if the manas does not change, what the mind consciousness does is temporarily all wasted effort.
Attaining the fruits and seeing the mind are both about letting the mind consciousness lead the manas to understand the principles; in this process, it is always the mind consciousness that studies the dharma, thinks, and contemplates, transmitting all the data and the content of its thinking to the manas, letting the manas itself weigh, deliberate, and investigate; only then does the manas truly understand the principles and truly realize enlightenment.
XVII. The actions of the body of the five aggregates are led and governed by the manas; when the manas's afflictive defilements have not been perfumed and subdued, all bodily, verbal, and mental actions are led by the manas's afflictive habitual tendencies. The mind consciousness wants to control its own bodily, verbal, and mental actions but cannot; therefore, upon seeing its own unreasonable bodily, verbal, and mental actions, it feels shame and self-reproach—in fact it is still blaming the manas, only the mind consciousness does not understand that this is the manas's problem and thinks it is its own problem. If it were the mind consciousness's own problem, the mind consciousness, upon becoming aware, could immediately correct it, which is not difficult. But for the manas's problems, the mind consciousness sometimes feels helpless and can only study the dharma more, understand the principles more, and master more skillful methods to persuade and perfume the manas; only then will the manas's afflictive habitual tendencies gradually be restrained.
Therefore, in awakening to the Buddha-dharma, awakening to non-self, and awakening to the tathāgatagarbha, it cannot be only the mind consciousness that awakens; the manas must awaken; only afterward can it spontaneously perform bodily, verbal, and mental actions according to the principles it has awakened to, gradually removing defilement, returning to the true dharma, and the mind-ground attaining permanent purity.
XVIII. Without knowing dependent arising, how can one break the imputed grasping? Once one knows dependent arising, one gradually no longer grasps. Knowing the true reality, the grasping nature gradually loses its power. Realizing dependent arising, one gradually deepens one's thinking and observation of all dependent-arising natures, knows they are conceptual proliferation (prapañca), no longer becomes stained, and the grasping nature grows ever lighter until it is exhausted without remainder. After eradicating the view of self, contemplative observation is still very important. Because the manas has not realized the dependent-arising nature, it universally measures and grasps all dharmas as real and unarising-unceasing; because it grasps them as true, it acts as master to perform wholesome and unwholesome bodily, verbal, and mental actions, leaving karmic seeds, receiving retribution in future lives, and thus birth-and-death is unending.
To break the manas's imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva), one should be clear about why the manas has the imputed nature. Because the manas does not understand the true reality of the dharma realm and does not understand the essence of all dharmas, it mistakenly grasps all dharmas as real, as self, as belonging to self, and thus universally measures and grasps all dharmas. If one can reveal what the essence of all dharmas ultimately is, and the manas clearly understands the true reality of all dharmas, then what would it still have to grasp and fuss over? The imputed nature would then gradually be eliminated, and thus the fundamental problem is solved.
If the manas does not realize the dharma and does not understand the essence of the dharma, how can it break ignorance and exhaust the imputed nature? All the dharmas the mind consciousness cultivates and perfumes, all the dharmas it understands and realizes, have as their fundamental purpose to let the manas realize them and break the manas's ignorance; only then can one turn the situation around and attain ultimate liberation.
XIX. Using the method of hypnosis can also make the manas recognize the truth, after which the manas can undergo a transformation. Each person's manas differs in the degree to which it acknowledges and realizes the Buddha-dharma, so the触动 it receives differs, the transformation differs, and the wisdom differs. Therefore, the fundamental wisdom is still brought by the manas. The manas's wisdom is called the faculty of wisdom; the manas's faith in and reliance upon the Buddha-dharma and the Three Jewels is called the faculty of goodness; the manas is the root.
