Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter Four: Intellectual Understanding and Realization in the Mahāyāna
1. The Prohibition of Explicitly Revealing the Hidden Meaning Is Precisely to Enable the Manas to Realize It
All dharmas in Buddhism that require realization belong to the secret dharma. By "secret dharma," it means that these dharmas must be personally investigated and personally verified by oneself; one should not hope to obtain ready-made answers from others, nor should one use the mind consciousness to guess and imagine. Because ready-made answers obtained from others, as well as answers produced by guessing and imagining, only correspond to the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness may easily understand and grasp them, but the manas cannot understand and grasp them. For the manas to understand and grasp, it must go through the process of investigation; the manas must personally participate in the mind consciousness's deliberation and verification, understand every detail transmitted by the mind consciousness, grasp every piece of evidence, and carry out verification and deliberation (manasikāra). Only when the evidence is sufficient can the manas deliberate clearly and know conclusively. If the manas does not know, it does not realize; if the manas does not realize, there is doubt; with doubt there is no realization of truth, and without realizing truth, there is no liberating benefit and enjoyment.
Therefore, in Buddhism, not only is the Mahāyāna dharma strictly forbidden from explicitly revealing the hidden meaning, even in the Hīnayāna dharma it is forbidden to explicitly describe contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in excessive detail, to avoid the situation where the mind consciousness knows but the manas does not. If it is explicitly stated, the mind consciousness will quickly understand and can no longer investigate; without investigation, the manas cannot understand and cannot realize; if the manas has doubt and cannot resolve it, then there is no liberating benefit and enjoyment.
2. For any dharma in the Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna, not only must the mind consciousness realize it; most importantly, the manas must realize it. Because the manas controls body and mind, once it realizes the truth, it can accord with the truth and relax body and mind, thereby bringing about the liberating benefit and enjoyment of body and mind. The intellectual understanding of the mind consciousness has no liberating benefit or enjoyment, because body and mind are not governed by the mind consciousness; moreover, the mind consciousness cannot go on to future lives, nor can it exist and function at all times. When the manas realizes, body and world will certainly undergo movement and change; there will be corresponding behavioral manifestations and obvious changes; others can see from the outside that this person's mental state has changed—relaxed and at ease, spirited and vigorous. The Chan masters of the past had the dharma eye; when they saw a disciple who had been arduously investigating come over to report the result of their Chan investigation, without the disciple opening their mouth, the master already knew that this person had attained the Way, because they saw that the disciple's entire spiritual demeanor and temperament had changed.
From this it can be seen that the manas's crucial importance for realizing the dharma cannot be overlooked. Practitioners must never be satisfied with the mind consciousness's rough and shallow understanding while abandoning the manas's profound personal verification, thereby forfeiting the great benefit and true advantage of the Buddha's dharma.
3. The non-retrogressing stage of a Mahāyāna bodhisattva is precisely when the manas has realized the tathāgatagarbha and firmly believes without doubt; from then on, it never again retrogresses from unsurpassed bodhi, becoming a bodhisattva of the "non-retrogressing stage" (bhūmi-non-retrogression)—it is not merely the mind consciousness discovering the tathāgatagarbha. If it is merely the mind consciousness discovering the tathāgatagarbha while the manas has not realized it, the manas will certainly have doubt; if the manas has doubt and has not realized, it certainly will not firmly and unwaveringly accept the tathāgatagarbha, and sooner or later it will retrogress from the great path of unsurpassed bodhi. Because which path to take is, after all, decided by the manas; if the manas's doubts are not resolved, if the manas's ignorance is not eradicated, if the view-delusions are not severed, the manas will inevitably create karma of ignorance and delusion, and even slandering the dharma and disparaging the saṅgha is possible.
4. Knowledge by the Mind Consciousness Alone Is Intellectual Understanding
In enlightenment, realizing the tathāgatagarbha, the mind consciousness necessarily realizes it, but if only the mind consciousness realizes it, it does not count as true realization; the manas must also realize it at the same time. If only the mind consciousness realizes it, that is intellectual understanding. If only the mind consciousness's realization counted, then hearing someone tell you which one is the tathāgatagarbha, where it is, and what function it performs would count as realization. If that counted as realization, we could simply tell all sentient beings which one the tathāgatagarbha is and what function it performs, and then sentient beings would not need to study and practice the Mahāyāna dharma, would not need to investigate Chan, and all sentient beings would directly become enlightened and become bodhisattvas. Then the hidden meanings at each gate and each level could also be directly told to sentient beings, and all sentient beings would directly realize them—how fast enlightenment would be that way! Why did the World-Honored One not adopt this method, and moreover prohibit explicitly revealing the hidden meaning?
For all dharmas, the mind consciousness first understands and realizes, and only then can the manas understand and realize. Because the manas's wisdom is insufficient, it must rely on the mind consciousness's capacity for deliberation. For many dharmas, the mind consciousness knows them, but the manas does not; the manas does not easily understand and realize them.
Modern people's mind consciousness is too clever and easily understands any principle, while the manas's afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are too severely obstructive, forming a strong contrast. If one is satisfied with the mind consciousness's understanding, problems will arise, and Buddhism might thereby perish quickly. Before the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch appeared, all Buddhist practitioners genuinely practiced; they all cultivated meditative concentration and investigated Chan, never engaging in "glib Chan." After the Platform Sutra appeared, the direction changed; when people gathered together it was all glib Chan, because after reading the contents of the Platform Sutra, everyone felt they understood the Chan dharma and no longer needed to arduously investigate Chan, that there was nothing left to cultivate; so they gathered together and talked eloquently without any actual practice. People today are even more so.
5. The Difference Between Understanding and Direct Perception
The difference between intellectual understanding and realization is great. Realization is truly having realized it, being able to personally and directly observe one's own mind's true suchness; what is observed is all fact, direct perception. Intellectual understanding is merely comprehending the principle, feeling that the tathāgatagarbha is like that, without having personally realized it; therefore one cannot directly observe true suchness. If one cannot genuinely engage in direct contemplative practice, there is no way to truly transform the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) onto the principle-body of true suchness.
To better understand where the difference between the two lies, let us use an analogy. Intellectual understanding is like studying theoretical knowledge about apples; the theory can be studied quite well and quite thoroughly, including the apple's place of origin, variety, transportation, storage, appearance, color and luster, and so on; but after all, one has not personally eaten it, so one does not know what a real apple tastes like, does not know how sweet and refreshing it is, and body and mind have not received real benefit. Realization is having personally eaten the apple, truly knowing the apple's sweet taste; one's experience of the apple is real and not false, and body and mind have already received its benefit.
However, it is possible that this person who has eaten the apple cannot yet express the apple's taste well, let alone know information such as the apple's place of origin. The person with intellectual understanding may know all the theories about apples but has not tasted a single bite; then all their theories are merely theories, and their body and mind have received no real benefit. It is like the dumbest disciple of the World-Honored One Śākyamuni who, after realizing the fourth fruit of arhatship, could not expound the dharma principles of the path of liberation, but he had already attained genuine liberation, could truly end birth and death, escape the cycle of birth and death, and in the future would not have the slightest experience of suffering. Whereas the ordinary people of today have flourishing theories; they can not only talk impressively and produce volumes of writings, expressing themselves like sages, but within their minds there is not a shadow of liberation; they speak like sages but act like utter ordinary people; the greed, hatred, and delusion in their minds have not been subdued at all, their arrogance blazes, and others dare not provoke them at all.
Understanding and direct perception are two levels, and the distance between them may be very great. It is like many people who know clearly the apple's concept, content, place of origin, and variety, and can even write papers about apples, but have not eaten one, and therefore do not know its concrete, real taste. Whereas someone has already eaten the apple, though much information about apples is still unknown to them, they can personally enjoy the apple and truly taste its sweet deliciousness. The difference between intellectual understanding and realization is likewise.
In the Buddha's time, Cūḍapanthaka was an arhat of the fourth fruit yet could not expound the dharma principles of the path of liberation, whereas ordinary people today have countless papers and books yet do not even have the shadow of the first fruit. Now there are very many people who study Buddhist theory and can expound whole sets of principles, but after all they have not realized it; they merely circle outside the gate, like scratching an itch through a boot, like the person who studies apples—only the person who has eaten the apple can accurately describe its taste. Liberation is a realm of actual realization; it is not something that understanding can solve. Only one who has actual realization can have real benefit, regardless of whether they can articulate it. Liberation is not on the lips but in the heart.
The difference between understanding and direct perception is extremely great, though others cannot see it. One who merely understands can express things well, and others will think their wisdom is deep, but in fact it is not. One who has realized and seen the mind speaks of the tathāgatagarbha based on direct perception, whereas intellectual understanding contains an element of imagination. Intellectual understanding may be even worse; it would be better not to be enlightened for the time being, and to wait until conditions ripen to realize properly. The road after intellectual understanding is hard to walk, quite arduous—it is like picking unripe fruit; picked and then ripened at home, it still is not as tasty as ripe fruit.
6. "Where is the master when there is no dream and no thought?" is the content of the third gate of the Chan school. Regardless of whether the first and second gates have been broken through, this content cannot be discussed in detail or explained; otherwise it will fall onto the level of the mind consciousness—mere understanding—and it will be very difficult for the manas to realize it, and then studying Buddhism and investigating Chan would lose its meaning. After passing the first and second gates, cultivating meditative concentration until the first dhyāna arises and attaining the contemplation of [all things being like] heat-haze, one can then reach the third gate of the Chan school and begin investigating the third gate; at this time one must even more not seek others' explanations; after passing this gate one becomes a person of the third fruit [anāgāmin]. Whatever requires investigation requires the manas to personally investigate and personally realize it; if heard from someone else's mouth, it cannot be realized, and the Buddha path can no longer be practiced.
If one investigates out the content of the third gate oneself and also understands some of the theoretical knowledge of Yogācāra, one can enter the first bhūmi. But the gate of the first dhyāna will probably stump everyone. In the past I still harbored the hope that someone could cultivate the first dhyāna, sever afflictions, break through the obstruction of ignorance, and thereby have some qualification to enter the first bhūmi and become a true child of the Buddha; now it seems there is no hope. Cultivating meditative concentration is so difficult for people in today's world because the five desires and six sense objects are too attractive—in fact, it is that people are too attached to the five desires and six sense objects. The sense objects have no mind to cling to people, but people have the mind to chase after objects; no one is willing to settle the mind and depart from the five desires—what can be done?
The first gate, "Who drags the corpse around?"—if this conclusion were made public, even if you knew who drags the corpse, it would be of no use; you would still not know exactly how the corpse is dragged, and thus could not realize. If you do not personally investigate, if the manas does not correspond, then knowing all the answers, knowing the most detailed answer, knowing the Buddha's realm, is of no use. If it were useful, we would all read the Buddhist sutras, research out the realms of the Buddha stage, and all rapidly become Buddhas together—wouldn't that be wonderful? In fact, what we know is not what we realize; knowing is easy, realizing is hard. Knowing that all dharmas are dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows—does that mean one has realized that all dharmas are dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows? Does knowing the realm of the Buddha stage make one a Buddha? Neither. If an ordinary person understands and can describe the realm of practice of a fourth-fruit arhat, does that mean they have the attainment of a fourth-fruit arhat? If an ordinary person can explain how to accomplish the Buddha path, have they already become a Buddha? Neither.
To summarize: for many dharmas, it is useless for the mind consciousness to easily know, comprehend, and understand them; one must rely on the manas personally realizing them. Only with realization can there be the wisdom of liberation and buddhahood; without realization, however floridly one speaks, it is utterly useless and one cannot attain liberation.
7. The Importance of Personal Realization
Many people, before enlightenment, have all kinds of imaginings about true suchness and Buddha-nature; but after enlightenment and personal realization, they discover that so this is what true suchness and Buddha-nature are—all along they had misunderstood. What is heard and learned from elsewhere, plus the mind consciousness's processing through deliberation, differs from the real realm by no small margin. How many people since beginningless kalpas have happened to imagine correctly? I think not even one. So what the manas personally verifies is the most reliable. To personally verify, one must personally deliberate and weigh; one cannot directly accept the results of the mind consciousness's deliberation as one's own conclusion of direct perception. This point is extremely important for studying Buddhism and practicing.
8. The Levels of the Manas's Personal Realization
When the manas personally realizes the Mahāyāna dharma of the tathāgatagarbha, the degree of its realization varies greatly, and the levels of wisdom differ greatly. At the stage of the seventh abode, the mind consciousness and manas have only realized an extremely tiny portion of the tathāgatagarbha's functions and operations; the mind consciousness can only observe the tathāgatagarbha's functioning very roughly, knowing some of its simple properties; its level of wisdom is very shallow. As practice continually advances, continually observing the tathāgatagarbha's functional characteristics, realizing more and more of its functions, the wisdom grows deeper and deeper; the mind relies on the tathāgatagarbha's unconditioned and selfless nature, and the afflictions and afflictive obstruction (kleśāvaraṇa) become ever lighter.
All the way until attaining the contemplation of [all things being] like a dream, entering the various wisdom realms of the first and second bhūmis and so on, observing the portion of seeds contained within the tathāgatagarbha, the manas's degree of personal realization of the tathāgatagarbha becomes very deep, and the wisdom very deep and broad—but still not the deepest, broadest, and finest. Continuing contemplative practice to observe the tathāgatagarbha's seed functions, the realized dharma becomes ever deeper and finer; when all the seed functions of the tathāgatagarbha have been observed, all personally realized, known without remainder, then the wisdom is perfectly complete; the wisdom of all seeds is fully possessed, ignorance is utterly severed, birth and death are finished, liberation is thoroughly attained, and the practice of the Buddha path is concluded. Thereafter, all undertakings are entirely for the sake of liberating sentient beings, for sentient beings to attain liberation.
9. The "wisdom of one-thought correspondence" refers to the manas's wisdom, not entirely to the mind consciousness's wisdom. Therefore, when the Chan school speaks of sudden enlightenment, it is the manas suddenly understanding and realizing. The mind consciousness understands gradually through deliberation, analysis, and inference; the two are different. The mind consciousness's understanding is quite unremarkable, whereas the manas's understanding is like a sudden breakthrough—He suddenly discovers a new continent, very novel, very astonished, penetrating to the marrow; that is why bodily and mental reactions appear. Of course, the manas's understanding and realization also have levels—some substantive, some non-substantive. When the manas suddenly realizes or understands some principle, it is deeply moved, but it is not necessarily the final realization.
Everyone knows the principle that the body is impermanent, arising and ceasing, suffering, empty, and not-self; yet severing the view of the body and realizing the fruit is extremely difficult. It is because of the manas's habitual cognition since beginningless kalpas that the body is the self; this notion is deeply entrenched. Without direct contemplative practice, the entrenched notion cannot be overturned, the body's non-self cannot be accepted, and the manas cannot accept it. This requires the manas, based on the mind consciousness's deliberation, to initiate its own deliberation (manasikāra) and personally verify; only when the evidence is sufficient does He have no choice but to confirm this principle.
The wisdom of one-thought correspondence: on the surface, it is the mind consciousness finding the eighth consciousness, realizing the eighth consciousness, and giving rise to wisdom; in actuality, true wisdom must include the manas's wisdom. The manas should have been investigating Chan together with the mind consciousness all along; if the manas does not participate in the investigation, it is not true practice; false practice cannot realize, cannot have the wisdom of one-thought correspondence. Wisdom arises automatically by itself under corresponding conditions; when the opportunity arrives, one suddenly understands and realizes the eighth consciousness, knowing where it operates and roughly how it operates. This knowing is most evident as the mind consciousness's knowing, the mind consciousness's power of observation; but if the manas does not know and realize, the mind consciousness dare not affirm that what was found is the eighth consciousness; the doubt in the mind persists, and only the manas's affirmation can sever the doubt.
Within the mind consciousness's surface wisdom, there is always the manas's wisdom and function; no dharma can depart from the manas's function; it is only that in the operation of each dharma, the manas's role differs in magnitude, in being active or passive. When the mind consciousness engages in contemplative practice to sever the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and to see the mind, it of course also cannot depart from the manas's simultaneous operation. During contemplative practice, when severing the view of self, when the one-thought wisdom correspondence occurs in investigating Chan—what is the manas doing, what is its mental state and mental activity, what is its relationship with the mind consciousness's contemplative practice, what role does it play—these questions are all extremely important and crucial; once understood, one's realization-attainment of the Buddha dharma becomes remarkable. Do not casually say, "It's all the mind consciousness; the manas has nothing to do with it." To speak like this shows no wisdom at all, no contemplative practice.
How does the mind consciousness's corresponding wisdom arise? For example, a Chan master has been investigating Chan without enlightenment; under certain conditions, a singing girl sings, and a phrase in the lyrics touches the master's mind consciousness—in fact, it mainly touches the master's manas—then inspiration arises, and from the lyrics he realizes which one his own eighth consciousness is, where it is, and how it functions. Then, organizing his thoughts, he can observe the eighth consciousness's simple operation, its coordination with the five-aggregate body, its coordination with the seven consciousnesses; thus prajñā wisdom manifests.
Another example: a disciple has been investigating Chan, and the master has been using every opportunity to inspire him—hitting or scolding, hinting—but the disciple just cannot awaken; the conditions are not ripe. But one day, the master observes the disciple's state of investigation and feels it is about right, and suddenly gives the disciple an unexpected blow or scolding, some such zen repartee; at this time the conditions for the disciple's enlightenment have arrived, the questioning doubt in the mind is very heavy, wisdom is about to open, and because of some hint from the master, he suddenly awakens and enters. Ordinarily, no matter how the master inspired, there was no result—only a cause was planted; now the disciple's conditions have ripened, and slight inspiration enables awakening. The questioning doubt here includes not only the mind consciousness's doubt; the very deep doubt is certainly the questioning doubt arisen from the manas. As long as the manas gives rise to questioning doubt, it will be extremely diligent and single-minded, investigating day and night, and only when conditions are complete can the eighth consciousness be realized.
10. When investigating Chan reaches the end, when the questioning doubt is very heavy, sometimes the mind consciousness seems unable to even deliberate on the doubted question, but the manas has been deliberating all along. When an external condition appears and touches the manas, at this time it should be that the mind consciousness and manas simultaneously realize the location of the tathāgatagarbha. When the questioning doubt is very heavy, it is precisely when meditative concentration is very deep; the manas is deeply settled on the problem to be solved, deliberating unceasingly. When meditative concentration is deep, the mind consciousness's superficial deliberation is gone; its deliberation is very deep and fine, its movement very slow; at this time the manas's grasping is also extremely minimal, and its active deliberative capacity is activated; the two cooperate closely. If at this time conditions are complete and a condition that promotes realization appears—although this condition is first discerned by the manas, the discernment is unclear and requires the mind consciousness's clear discernment, which then transmits the discerned information to the manas, and the manas then discerns and chooses.
Because the manas at this time grasps very little and is deeply deliberating on the doubted question, it easily understands the question that the mind consciousness has discerned and investigated; when the mind consciousness realizes, the manas simultaneously accepts and realizes, because the manas has been personally deliberating on this question all along, and thus can easily accept and realize. At this time, the manas gives the final verdict: "It is He, no mistake"—this is the wisdom of one-thought correspondence. Of course, this final verdict first comes from the mind consciousness's cognition and decision; it is the result of the mind consciousness leading the way.
If the manas grasps much, does not value investigating Chan, does not actively and proactively participate in the investigation, has no questioning doubt and does not deliberate on it, then the manas cannot clearly discern the information transmitted by the mind consciousness, cannot accept and make the choice; at this time it is in a state of half-belief and half-doubt, or complete disbelief and non-correspondence, and the eighth consciousness cannot be realized. Therefore, for any dharma, only when the manas and mind consciousness cooperate closely can the discernment be clear and without doubt, can there be direct-perception realization, deep affirmation without doubt. What the Chan patriarchs of the past called "deep affirmation without doubt" means precisely this. Definite certainty without doubt means the manas has accepted and the mind consciousness does not hesitate; if the manas does not accept, there is hesitation and indecision, ambiguity. Many Chinese words and phrases contain the principle of cooperation between the manas and mind consciousness; it is just that people in the world do not know it. Only one day, after people in the world open the twin eyes of wisdom, can they clearly understand the mystery within.
11. Deliberating on the tathāgatagarbha and understanding the tathāgatagarbha are not realizing the tathāgatagarbha; only personally discovering and finding the tathāgatagarbha is realizing the tathāgatagarbha. Because knowing where He is and being able to directly observe what specific functions He performs—this is actual realization, not something produced by deliberation, understanding, and imagination.
12. The method of deep pondering, the method of fully exercising the manas's function, is: the mind consciousness analyzes clearly the dharma principles that need deliberation and investigation, then condenses the problem into a single point and suspends it in the mind—this hands it over to the manas; the subsequent work is handled by the manas, and the mind consciousness can cooperate.
Case: I have a certain problem; after entering a state of meditative concentration and posing the question, I directly watch for the solution to the problem. The solution is not the result of thinking, but the result of direct observation.
Case analysis: The "thinking" here refers to the mind consciousness's surface deliberative function. But as long as the problem is handed over to the manas and the mind consciousness does not think on the surface, the manas has its own unique deliberative capacity and thinking power, which ordinary people's mind consciousness cannot observe or know. Although the mind consciousness does not deliberate, at a certain point an answer still comes. Where does this answer come from? It is what the manas itself deliberated out; the manas's deliberative function is remarkable. In the final investigation of Chan, it is mostly the manas's deliberative function at work. Whether or not most people acknowledge this fact, it is a fact. The wise would never be one of that majority.
13. Since the manas has the nature of attachment, attaching to the self of persons and the self of dharmas, does the manas have a self-nature? The manas has had self-nature since beginningless kalpas, called innate self-grasping, attaching to the self of persons, taking the five-aggregate body as self, taking the six consciousnesses as self, taking the six consciousnesses' discernment as its own discernment, the six consciousnesses' functional characteristics also being "me and mine," and also attaching to the eighth consciousness's functional characteristics as "me and mine." Its imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) determines that it attaches to everything; among these, the grasping at the self of persons is the manas's self-grasping, the manas's self.
After cultivating to the stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva, the manas extinguishes a portion of ignorance, such as the innate ignorance, reaching the untainted; then it little by little contemplates the non-self nature of all dharmas. For example, because it knows that all dharmas are manifested and transformed by the eighth consciousness, the bodhisattva begins to contemplate: this material sense-object and that material sense-object are all transformed by the eighth consciousness transmitting the seeds of the four great elements, and the eighth consciousness is transmitting the four great-element seeds moment by moment, constantly changing and maintaining the existence of material form; therefore material form is not self.
At the same time, the manas can also know that the functional characteristic of "my" discernment of material sense-objects arises from the eighth consciousness transmitting consciousness seeds; therefore it is also not self; all are functions of the eighth consciousness. Form is brought forth by the eighth consciousness; my five faculties and six faculties are brought forth by the eighth consciousness; the six sense objects corresponding to me are brought forth by the eighth consciousness; the six consciousnesses that I discern with, and even this very consciousness of mine, are all brought forth by the eighth consciousness; all the dharmas I can contact and know are manifested moment by moment by the eighth consciousness outputting seeds—then among all dharmas there is fundamentally no self.
The bodhisattva will gradually contemplate the non-self nature of all dharmas; thus the wisdom of patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas grows ever broader, the wisdom-nature of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses grows ever vaster, and the manas's great wisdom knows that all dharmas are indeed without self, and the mind becomes equal toward all dharmas. After the consciousnesses are transformed into wisdom, the manas has ever deeper non-self wisdom; when the mind is untainted, the wisdom-nature grows ever vaster.
The bodhisattva will continue deliberating: the dharma of my hearing sounds—the hearing and the heard—are all transformed by the eighth consciousness; all these functional characteristics belong to the eighth consciousness; all sounds are being manifested and upheld by the eighth consciousness—where is there a self? He contemplates just like this, and His grasping at the self of dharmas is severed bit by bit. When smelling odors, when eating, when the six faculties face the six sense objects, in daily life, on every dharma He will deliberate: these dharmas are all manifested by the eighth consciousness; I have nothing to do with them; even I myself am brought forth by the eighth consciousness—none of it is self.
Then these functional characteristics by which I can contact the six sense objects are also not self; all are brought forth by the eighth consciousness; not one is real. Thus the grasping at the self of dharmas is severed bit by bit, wisdom grows ever broader, and when the grasping at the self of dharmas is completely severed, one becomes a Buddha.
14. After studying Buddhism, once the manas understands the principles, its attachment to some human affairs and physical principles gradually loosens, and the scope of its attachment gradually narrows. The obvious transformation of its attachment occurs at the stage of the fourth-fruit arhat in the Hīnayāna, and at the stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva in the Mahāyāna. Although before this its mind has already loosened, the boundary is not distinct; at the Buddha stage, it will no longer measure and attach to any dharma at all.
Ordinary beings' universal measuring and attaching manifests as: whatever dharmas the eighth consciousness manifests, the manas will attach to as self, as mine. It appropriates the eighth consciousness's functional characteristics as its own, considering them its own functional characteristics; it attaches to the eighth consciousness's perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) and object-aspect (nimitta) as self and what belongs to self, as "self and mine," not knowing that these are originally the eighth consciousness's functions and operations—that is why it attaches; this is a manifestation of the manas's ignorance.
Since the eighth consciousness is uniquely one's own, why can it not be taken as self? Because the eighth consciousness is the eighth consciousness and the seventh consciousness is the seventh consciousness; their natures are different; phenomenally they are still two consciousness-minds, two dharmas. The seventh consciousness does not possess the eighth consciousness's functions and operations; if the seventh consciousness attaches to the eighth consciousness's functions and operations, considering them its own functions and operations, it does not recognize the real characteristic of the dharma realm—this is the greatest and most fundamental ignorance; therefore, due to ignorance, it cannot attain liberation and cannot solve the problem of birth and death. Where there is attachment, there exists birth-and-death and phenomena of arising and ceasing.
The manas also attaches to all the functional characteristics of the six consciousnesses as itself, taking the six consciousnesses' functions and operations as its own functional characteristics, considering the dharmas discerned by the six consciousnesses to be the dharmas it possesses and discerns, the six consciousnesses' bodily, verbal, and mental actions to be its own bodily, verbal, and mental actions—all the six consciousnesses' activities and creations, it considers its own activities and creations. The manas universally measures and attaches to all these dharmas—this is called the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva); by this attaching nature, it continually increases the bondage of birth and death. Therefore it is necessary to sever the manas's view of self, self-grasping, and dharma-grasping in order to attain thorough and ultimate liberation.
15. What state is dreamless sleep? It requires the mind consciousness to investigate while awake; the mind consciousness must have wisdom in order to investigate it out. During dreamless sleep, the manas has knowing—knowing the realms of the six sense objects, knowing the body faculty, knowing itself—and this too can only be observed when the mind consciousness has extraordinary wisdom, requiring the mind consciousness to transform consciousness into wisdom, having Yogācāra wisdom.
The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha's function of seeing all dharmas, can itself see all dharmas; when it has no wisdom, it takes the dharmas seen by the tathāgatagarbha as the dharmas it itself sees, and thus gives rise to attachment and grasping, considering all dharmas to belong to itself, also deliberating "me, me, me," constantly maintaining and protecting the self, and can also weigh various advantages, disadvantages, gains, and losses. When the body develops various conditions, He will weigh whether it is necessary to wake up and handle it, can make judgments and decisions, has His own views and opinions, mostly based on experience.
The manas's "self" includes all dharmas, very comprehensively: taking the five consciousnesses as self, taking the mind consciousness as self, taking the eighth consciousness as self, taking its own functions as self, taking the five faculties as self, taking the six sense-object realms as what it possesses, and even taking dharmas beyond the six sense objects as what it possesses, with grasping and attachment unceasing and deliberation unceasing. Since the manas takes all dharmas as self, severing the view of self means the manas severs the view of self, and seeing the mind and realization means making the manas realize; only afterward can the manas understand that the function of seeing all dharmas is not mine but the tathāgatagarbha's, that all dharmas are not mine but the tathāgatagarbha's; only thus can the manas gradually sever self-grasping and dharma-grasping. If only the mind consciousness severs the view of self and realizes in seeing the mind, then the manas will forever consider the five aggregates to be the self and all dharmas to be the self, can never sever self-grasping and dharma-grasping, can never sever afflictions and ignorance, and then sentient beings can never become Buddhas.
16. The Manas's Grasping (upādāna) at the Eighth Consciousness
The manas grasps at the eighth consciousness's perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) as self because He fundamentally does not know that all dharmas are manifested from the seeds within the eighth consciousness, that all dharma seeds are seen by the eighth consciousness, that all dharmas are transformed by the eighth consciousness, and that he himself has nothing to do with it. Therefore, for immeasurable kalpas the manas has been, in topsy-turvy fashion, grasping at the eighth consciousness's merit without ever knowing it. The manas trusts its own grasping too much, without the slightest doubt—completely blind faith—because He cannot analyze and deliberate, cannot observe and think, cannot learn correct principles, and His wisdom is deficient.
If the manas knew that all dharmas are the eighth consciousness's functions, not its own doing, not its own, He would no longer grasp; the crux is that He does not know—this is foolishness. For the manas to change its foolish nature requires that after the mind consciousness studies Buddhism and understands the principles, it conveys these true principles to the manas; only then can the manas know. The crux of the problem lies in the manas's insufficient discerning wisdom, and the reason for insufficient discerning wisdom is that the manas grasps too broadly; its imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) determines that the manas's wisdom is lowly. With breadth there is no depth; therefore in studying Buddhism one should first be broad and then focused: study broadly and hear much, and afterward go deep through one gate; one cannot study the dharma in reverse order. If, when one should study deeply, one is still broadly studying and hearing much, deep wisdom and realized wisdom cannot be had. One who always broadly studies and hears much without being able to focus and deliberate deeply is a rather shallow beginner.
17. The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says that there are some śrāvakas who, at the very beginning, because they are not of the bodhisattva lineage, do not believe in the Ālayavijñāna, the basic point of nirvāṇa, within their own bodies, but instead crave and cling to the Ālayavijñāna, taking the Ālayavijñāna's functional characteristics as their own functional characteristics. Because the Ālayavijñāna pervades all places and can produce all dharmas, they take the Ālayavijñāna's functions and operations on all dharmas as their own. Internally they grasp the Ālayavijñāna as self, and externally grasp the five appropriating aggregates manifested by the Ālayavijñāna as self and what belongs to self; thus they bind themselves on all dharmas and cannot attain liberation. Since beginningless kalpas they have been attached to the Ālayavijñāna, grasping all dharmas manifested by the Ālayavijñāna as "mine and what belongs to me"; because the grasping has lasted through long eons, it is extremely firm and hard to pull out. Since beginningless kalpas, following these various graspings continuously, even the Buddhas of the ten directions find it hard to save and draw them out.
What is described here is the sentient beings' manas's "self," the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) that universally measures and clings to all dharmas; it is the extremely firm self, the provisionally designated self of sentient beings that grasps all dharmas as self and what belongs to self, the deeply rooted self that is hard to extricate. Only except by the Buddhas of the ten directions, with various skillful means, arising to save and draw out, can sentient beings gradually subdue the manas's self, sever the manas's self-grasping and all ignorance, and finally transform the consciousnesses into wisdom, perfecting the Buddha path.
18. The bodhisattva practices the deep prajñāpāramitā and illuminates and sees that the five aggregates are all empty. The "illumination" here is, on the foundation of very deep contemplative practice, a one-thought correspondence in which the great wisdom of the non-arising of all dharmas manifests presently, and the true fact that the five aggregates are all empty reveals itself in the mind; the mind consciousness and manas deeply affirm it without doubt. It is like a mirror reflecting objects: the objects immediately appear clearly on the mirror—this is a realm of direct perception, beyond doubt. To have the function of illumination, meditative concentration must be quite good; when the power of concentration strengthens, the mind consciousness no longer deliberates superficially, and then deliberation becomes deeper and finer.
While the mind consciousness deliberates deeply, it also engages the manas's deliberative capacity. Only when practice penetrates to the manas and starts from the manas can the fundamental problem be solved, because the manas also participates in the contemplative practice and personally realizes it, and can deeply affirm it. The mind consciousness's affirmation is relatively easy; the manas's affirmation is quite difficult—He must affirm only when the evidence is conclusive; He acknowledges facts, acknowledges direct perception; only when the evidence is sufficient can He acknowledge; only when He affirms is the Buddha dharma realized.
If only the mind consciousness itself deliberates superficially, there will not be sufficient evidence; then theory remains theory, facts cannot manifest, and truth cannot be discovered. If the mind consciousness's deliberation and discernment are not entirely a realm of direct perception but also include inference and non-valid cognition, if the deliberation is superficial and uses inferential and non-valid discernment more, then the evidence sought is insufficient, with much imagination and comparison, and facts cannot present themselves; the manas still does not understand the inside story, cannot affirm that conclusion, and cannot realize truth—then there is no function of illumination.
Illumination means presenting, the image appearing—it is a realm of direct perception, and the facts simultaneously manifest; once the facts appear, there is nothing more to say, only affirmation. The prerequisite of illumination is that the practice must be deep; through deep contemplative practice—that is, deeply and finely searching for all the evidence—when the evidence is sufficient, the facts manifest; this is the function of illumination; at this time great wisdom manifests presently, realizing that the five aggregates are all empty, all being the function of the eighth consciousness.
19. Theoretical Knowledge, Intellectual Understanding, and Realization Are Three Levels
Merely knowing that the five-aggregate body is produced by the eighth consciousness is basic Mahāyāna theoretical knowledge, just starting out on the Mahāyāna dharma; there is still some distance from actual realization, and how great that distance is varies from person to person. At the time of actual realization, one can observe specifically where the eighth consciousness operates and what function it performs; if it is merely theoretical knowledge, one cannot observe where the eighth consciousness specifically operates and what it does, and it is still utterly irrelevant to the problem of birth and death. Some people consider this intellectual understanding, but it actually does not even count as intellectual understanding. Knowing that all dharmas are the eighth consciousness's functions—this knowledge is still somewhat shallow; saying it all day long is merely glib Chan, and how far it is from actual realization, none can say. But this is the foundation of studying Buddhism; from this knowledge, one will gradually merge into the eighth consciousness.
