Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter 6: The Merits and Benefits After the Manas Realizes Enlightenment
1. The State of Truly Eradicating the View of Self
A person who has truly eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), after the manas confirms no-self, should be able to develop deeper meditative concentration (samādhi), with awakened clarity manifesting, mental joy, refined and meticulous thinking, and deep and subtle contemplation of dharmas. Only three to five hours of sleep per day is enough, and the body and mind will not feel fatigued; on the contrary, one is full of energy and in an excellent mental state. This is the manas, after personally realizing no-self and recognizing the truth, exercising a kind of regulation over the body and mind. Sleep is regulated by the manas, and mental state is regulated by the manas. When the manas changes its old incorrect cognition, the state of body and mind must change.
If only the mind consciousness believes in no-self, and the manas does not have such cognition, it will not trigger a series of reactions in body and mind, will not change the state of body and mind, and everything will remain as before, without change. Understanding no-self intellectually is like this. Therefore, if someone believes they have eradicated the view of self and attained the first fruit, they should examine whether it is the mind consciousness that has eradicated the view of self, or whether the manas has also eradicated it at the same time. Only when the manas eradicates the view of self can the three fetters be severed, for the three fetters primarily bind the manas.
2. Merits and Benefits Come from the Manas
When one understands that everything seen by the six consciousnesses is illusory inner object-aspect (nimitta), and the mind has already accepted this, how can this acceptance give rise to merits and benefits? When the mind truly accepts it, merits and benefits begin immediately. The merits and benefits regarding all dharmas come from the manas. If the manas accords with a dharma and accepts a certain dharma, it will, as the master, give rise to special feelings in body and mind, thereby transforming the body and mind, transforming bodily and mental feelings, and giving birth to merits and benefits—this is precisely the purpose of learning Buddhism. It is the master-consciousness, the manas, that can take charge of drawing and transforming body and mind; the mind consciousness cannot do this. Therefore, the mind consciousness's understanding and comprehension can only serve to perfumate the manas; it cannot transform the body-mind world. If the mind consciousness cannot perfumate the manas, the body-mind world remains as before, without any change, and thus there are no merits and benefits.
Many people who study the Dharma only seek extensive hearing and emotional, intellectual understanding, and never put effort into cultivating meditative concentration to investigate, in order to truly realize the real meaning therein. Their learning of Buddhism is like a dragonfly skimming the water—touching the surface and stopping there—believing that the mind consciousness's understanding and comprehension constitutes realization, that conclusions reached through inference are the final conclusions, that this is personal realization, and that everything is then settled. In fact, this is a huge misunderstanding.
Through words and texts, the mind consciousness can apprehend dharma meanings by inference and non-valid cognition; it can, through thinking, observation, and analysis, judge whether a certain dharma is correct. But the manas does not understand the dharma meanings judged by the mind consciousness, because evidence is needed, direct perception and observation are needed. Lacking these things, the manas does not accept the mind consciousness's analysis, thinking, and judgment. Then it is not true understanding, not realization—merely the mind consciousness's intellectual grasp, which has no decisive effect and cannot transform the mind or one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions.
Understanding a principle has different levels. Which degree of understanding counts as true understanding, as being free of all doubt, as making the mind feel grounded, as bringing about psychological change? This is very important. What the manas understands is realization; only after realization are there merits and benefits. The mind consciousness's intellectual understanding is not realization and has no merits and benefits. Understanding through thinking, analysis, and comprehension of texts, without direct perception and observation, with insufficient evidence, is the activity of the mind consciousness. The mind consciousness can also, through texts, think about and analyze the various states of the Buddha-ground, and thereby understand something of what the Buddha-ground states are, and even understand some of the practices of an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva. Does that mean an ordinary being has thereby realized the dharmas complete in the Buddha-ground, or realized the dharmas cultivated by an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva?
An ordinary being can, through thinking and imagination, [contemplate] the mirror-like contemplation that only a bodhisattva of complete mind at the first bhūmi can realize, and can also understand that all dharmas are like images in the mirror of the tathāgatagarbha. Does that mean an ordinary being instantly realizes the state of complete mind at the first bhūmi and becomes a second-bhūmi bodhisattva?
The realization of all dharmas is the acceptance by the manas. Only after the manas accepts and realizes can there be merits and benefits, can it take charge of transforming mental activities and bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and only then can the body-mind world change—this is merits and benefits. And the transformation of the body-mind world is done by the manas; the mind consciousness cannot do it. Therefore, as long as there is true realization, not mere understanding, there are merits and benefits, one can attain partial realization of liberation, and one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions will certainly change.
Those who attain fruition and see the mind through the mind consciousness's intellectual understanding have not a trace of merits and benefits; their bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change, and perhaps their arrogance may even grow, and they may recklessly commit even more evil karma than before, because they believe they will not fall into the three evil destinies and fear nothing. In fact, fruition and seeing-the-mind attained through mere understanding have not severed the three fetters, and there is no guarantee of not falling into the three evil destinies. Such false attainment of fruition and false seeing of the mind makes falling into the three evil destinies even more likely. Sentient beings do not know this—they are called the pitiable ones.
3. The Physical and Mental Stirrings When the Manas Realizes Enlightenment
A vibration that penetrates to the marrow touches the manas. So when the manas directly realizes no-self, is the vibration even greater? When the manas realizes through direct perception, the vibration to body and mind is great, many unusual phenomena appear: meditative concentration deepens, sleep changes, the body becomes tranquil and at ease, illness and pain recede, the mind is joyful, and so on, and so on. The more it is direct perception, the greater the change; the more it is intellectual understanding, the less the change. Those with deep wholesome roots from the past and deep meditative concentration, upon directly realizing the Buddha-dharma, may levitate into space and manifest supernatural powers—these are enormous changes in the physical body, due to meditative concentration from past lives. Look at those sages recorded in the Buddhist sutras who awakened to the Way—whether Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna—all had miraculous phenomena occur. Why? Because they had meditative concentration and realized through direct perception, and the changes in body and mind were all extremely great.
4. Only Realization Can Transform the Manas
How does the manas change? Only by directly realizing the dharmas of the Greater and Lesser Vehicles can the manas be changed; nothing else can change it. For example, a small child does not understand the danger of fire; adults tell him not to play with fire but he does not listen, until one day he gets burned by fire and something happens. From then on he knows how formidable fire is and no longer plays with it. This is the manas personally realizing the dangerousness of fire—without needing further thinking and observation, it immediately accepts, immediately learns the lesson, immediately decides never to play with fire again, and the manas changes its habit of playing with fire. For example, it is widely publicized that smoking is harmful to health, yet smokers harbor a lucky mentality until one day they contract lung disease and only then are willing to quit. The manas personally realized the harm of nicotine and changed the habit of smoking. Many examples show that only when the manas personally experiences and personally realizes something is it willing to believe; once it believes, it changes; to the degree it believes, to that degree it changes.
Attaining fruition is the same. When one personally realizes the no-self of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, the manas changes and obtains the merits and benefits of liberation. To the degree of personal realization is the degree of change. From the first fruit all the way to the fourth fruit, as the manas continuously and deeply personally realizes the principle of the no-self of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, its understanding continuously deepens and it continuously changes. After fully personally realizing the no-self nature of the five aggregates, the one thought of ignorance is completely severed, self-grasping is completely severed, one is liberated from the three-realm world, and no longer engages in any activity. At the first three fruits, the depth of the manas's personal realization is still insufficient, afflictions and the one thought of ignorance are not completely severed, there is still some activity, and one cannot immediately be liberated from the three-realm world. Even an arhat liberated by wisdom, due to insufficient meditative concentration and no personal realization of supernatural powers, lacks the ability to come and go freely, and the five aggregates remain limited.
If the manas does not eradicate the view of self at the first fruit, then when would it eradicate the view of self? It must eradicate the view of self eventually—when exactly? It eradicates the view of self at the first fruit, and afterwards, through deep practice, severs afflictions, ignorance, and the delusions of thought. That is, by further deep and subtle contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and thinking on the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, the wisdom of no-self continuously deepens, the manas obtains more evidence, realizes more deeply, and changes more greatly, until afflictions are severed, self-grasping is severed, and craving for the three realms is severed. This is on the side of the Lesser Vehicle.
This shows the different degrees of eradicating the view of self: different wisdom leads to different degrees of transformation of the manas. From the first fruit to the fourth fruit, it is the different levels of the manas's realization of the wisdom of the no-self of the five aggregates that lead to different fruits, different levels of presence or absence of afflictions, and different degrees of subduing and severing self-grasping. Attaining fruition in the Mahāyāna is the same: the different depths of realizing the tathāgatagarbha, different wisdom, different degrees of severing ignorance, result in different bhūmis.
On the Mahāyāna side, when one personally realizes the tathāgatagarbha, the manas changes at the moment of realization; to the degree of realization is the degree of change, all the way to the personal realization at the Buddha-ground, when the manas is completely transformed, consciousness is completely transformed into wisdom, and no further transformation is needed—the Buddha abides in the nirvāṇa of non-abiding.
Five: If the view of the body is severed, will the manas's instinctive reaction of grasping at the body weaken? If so, will it affect the manas's ability or efficiency in protecting the faculties and body? After truly eradicating the view of self, the manas's grasping at the body may perhaps lighten somewhat, because the manas knows the physical body is not self, and will relax its grip on self a little, caring less; some things come to feel indifferent. For example, regarding food, clothing, housing, and daily use, one may not be very picky; one no longer much cares about others' opinions and actions toward oneself. Inwardly knowing there is no self, others cannot do anything to one, cannot truly harm one, because there is no true self. Therefore one becomes more magnanimous.
This depends on whether one has attained the first or second fruit, on the state of one's meditative concentration, and also on one's past-life cultivation, whether one realized no-self in past lives. At the third fruit, grasping at the body is noticeably reduced; at the fourth fruit, grasping is completely severed, and the instinctive reaction of grasping at the body is even slighter. To completely sever the instinctive reactions toward the physical body, one must be an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva or above, and even the habits of self-grasping must be severed. Those of the first and second fruits still have a considerable degree of the instinct of grasping at the body, but it is lighter than before eradicating the view of self.
Those with meditative concentration have slight grasping at the physical body; those who have eradicated the view of self over many lifetimes grasp at the body even more lightly, often not much concerned with the body's food, drink, and daily life, being rather easygoing about food, clothing, housing, and use, and rather numb to some bodily reactions, because they have severed the view of the body and the view of the consciousness-mind as self, and there is no self in their minds.
Those without grasping at self are rather insensitive and numb toward the physical body, not taking it seriously, and only seek remedies when the body shows obvious obstructions. But when encountering danger, especially unnecessary danger, they still know to avoid it and do not make fearless sacrifices. Perhaps supported by blessings, they are not very anxious or worried about danger in their minds, generally appearing rather bold. When meditative concentration is deep, the physical body's responsive reactions to the external environment are somewhat slower and less sensitive, and the speed of doing things also decreases, but doing things and thinking about problems have depth and are more thorough.
6. Studying Theory Is for Personal Realization; Only After Realization Can One Operate It, and the Studied Theory Then Has Practical Value, Benefiting Body and Mind, Relieving Afflictions, Thereby Transforming Oneself, Attaining Liberation and Great Freedom.
If the theory one studies cannot lead to personal realization, one cannot obtain true benefit, and will not attain liberation or freedom. Theory is studied and understood by the mind consciousness; realization is grasped and integrated by the manas; relieving afflictions and transforming oneself is decided by the manas; attaining liberation and freedom is enjoyed by the entire body-mind five aggregates. Each link is accomplished through the tathāgatagarbha's cooperation in outputting seeds.
Seven: The manas's realization through direct perception usually involves changes of greater or lesser degree in body and mind, because the manas and body-mind are inseparable and tightly connected. Why is the manas so tightly connected with body and mind? Because the eighth consciousness can manifest all dharmas and can also see all dharmas, and the manas, relying on the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) of the eighth consciousness, can also see all dharmas accordingly, and takes these dharmas as real, takes them as "seen by me," gives rise to grasping, and clings without cease; at the same time, the manas can function upon all dharmas, and can coordinate and control the body-mind world, causing various changes in it. This is the manifestation of the manas's imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) and its ever-present master-nature, and also the manifestation of self-grasping and dharma-grasping.
If the manas directly perceives and accepts a certain principle—that is, what we commonly call acknowledgment from deep within the heart—it can cause various degrees of change in body and mind, because bodily, verbal, and mental actions are controlled and enacted by the manas; the manas has the final say. Even without attaining fruition, even far from attaining fruition, once the manas contacts a certain matter or principle, accepts and deeply affirms it, the mind is stirred, and body and mind change. For example: feeling relaxed and happy, tranquility of body and mind, eyes brimming with tears, trembling all over, hair standing on end, emotional excitement, scalp tingling, face flushed, dazed eyes, buzzing in the head, blood surging, terror and trepidation, rapid breathing, veins bulging, exasperation, and many other such conditions—these are the manas being stirred, the manas directly perceiving, and then prompting the body faculty to undergo changes great or small. Everyone has this experience; recall it yourself and you will know whether this is so.
The appearance of these conditions does not indicate that the manas has subdued or severed afflictions; more often it precisely shows that the manas's afflictive nature is heavy, its self-grasping and emotional attachment heavy, which is why such enormous bodily and mental reactions occur. It is the same when one truly realizes no-self through direct perception: body and mind undergo great changes. Because the manas previously did not know this principle, no matter how the mind consciousness recited "no-self," the manas neither knew nor accepted no-self, the mind remained unmoved, and in doing things it was still "me, me, me"—this clearly is the behavior of one who has not eradicated the view of self. Once the manas knows there truly is no self and is stirred, its grasping at body and mind relaxes, and body and mind change, becoming tranquil and joyful.
Eight: Meditative concentration/meditative absorption (samādhi) is a combination of meditative concentration and wisdom; lacking either, it is not samādhi. Realizing the Way at various levels gives rise to samādhi states of various levels. These samādhi states include the characteristics of meditative concentration, the characteristics of wisdom, the characteristics of bodily feelings, and for those with deep concentration, the characteristics of supernatural powers and abilities. The arising of samādhi makes bodily feelings incomparably tranquil and comfortable, reduces or eliminates sleep, brings joy of body and mind, the mind becomes increasingly empty, ignorance decreases, wisdom deepens, and afflictions become ever lighter or disappear.
Realizing a certain dharma must be accompanied by the corresponding samādhi state—this is the mark of realizing the Dharma. If the manas has not realized the dharma and there is only the mind consciousness's understanding, no samādhi state appears; everything is flat and bland, body and mind cannot change in the slightest, and the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion remain heavy. With wholesome roots and merit plus the Buddha's blessing, when all conditions are complete, one can certainly realize the Dharma; as long as one realizes it, the manas can bring about some transformation of body and mind. Some people claim to have realized something, but what is the result after realization? Is it merely glib eloquence, with no samādhi state and no merits and benefits? Absolutely not so.
9. If Only the Mind Consciousness Eradicates the View of Self but the Manas Does Not, the Manas Has Not Been Perfumated and Remains the Manas of an Ordinary Being. When Entering the Womb in a Future Life, the Mind Consciousness Ceases; When Reborn as a Human, Neither the Mind Consciousness nor the Manas Has Eradicated the View of Self, and the Manas's Behavior Is Exactly the Same as the Ordinary Being of the Previous Life, Without Difference. Then Where Would the Merits of the Previous Life's Attained Fruition Manifest?
But in fact, for one who truly attained fruition and saw the mind and nature in a previous life, because the manas was perfumated, when reborn as a human, their mental activities are decidedly different from an ordinary being's. The longer the previous life's cultivation, the purer the mental activities and the greater the difference from ordinary beings. Before learning Buddhism, the mind consciousness did not even know why it was different from others, and felt distressed when cursed as a fool. Sometimes it wanted to be like everyone else, keep pace with society, and likewise engage in some greed, hatred, and delusion, but the manas was unwilling.
Ten: Only when the manas accords with a dharma and is stirred are there bodily and mental reactions. When a principle the manas previously did not know is now known, or a principle previously misunderstood is now understood, bodily and mental reactions appear, expressing one's emotions and state of mind. These states can appear even before attaining fruition; after attaining fruition and seeing the mind in enlightenment, the bodily and mental reactions are even more obvious—this is the merits and benefits of personal realization. Without these phenomena, it shows the manas has not been stirred; whether Greater or Lesser Vehicle dharmas, it is all intellectual understanding, without much merits and benefits. The result of intellectual understanding will be revealed at the time of death.
Therefore everyone should take responsibility for their own great matter of birth and death, and should not casually put tall hats on themselves, claiming realization when it has not been realized. If one lacks the mental activities and wisdom of the sages, what does understanding some Buddha-dharma amount to? Many people, having understood some Buddha-dharma, regard themselves as sages. In fact, without the merits and benefits of personal realization, their virtue does not match their position, and problems will arise sooner or later, especially at the time of death.
11. Learning Buddhism and Cultivating Practice Must Penetrate to the Manas
In learning Buddhism and cultivating practice, if the manas has not yet been perfumated, the body-mind world will not transform, and one has not obtained the true benefit of the Buddha-dharma. Because the body-mind world is governed and regulated by the manas; when the manas realizes no-self, it relaxes its control over body and mind, and body and mind transform, becoming light and unobstructed. This is a great secret of learning Buddhism and cultivating practice—everyone should reflect on it more. In learning Buddhism, one must not stop at verbal Zen (lip-service Chan); one must penetrate into the manas's inner world, truly transform oneself, dig out the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion from the root, and only then can one thoroughly transform and swiftly achieve accomplishment.
Many people may have studied much Dharma and practiced Buddhism for a long time, but have they obtained true benefit? Has their inner world transformed? Has their feeling of self and grasping loosened? One must frequently turn the light inward and reflect in order to continuously progress. If one lacks the ability to turn the light inward and reflect, one should find someone to supervise, to occasionally knock and rouse oneself, to make oneself awaken; thus practice can go faster.
Many people never examine their own minds, and even less do they want others to knock and rouse them. This is because the manas grasps at self too much, protects self too much; self-grasping is deeply rooted, and learning Buddhism gains no strength. Practice means continuously contending with oneself in order to transform oneself, so that one's progress on the Path can continuously advance. To contend outwardly with others is a great mistake.
Twelve: Some people, upon seeing a certain dharma meaning, are greatly shaken in their minds, and the physical body shows some unusual phenomena—this is because the manas was shaken, and only then are there such feelings. Even in personal realization within worldly dharmas, there must be bodily and mental feelings and changes great or small; it does not just pass by blandly and be done with. Quite a few people, upon encountering a certain dharma meaning, in the process of cultivation and realization, have all experienced bodily and mental changes of greater or lesser degrees—this is how it is when one truly recognizes a certain principle.
What passes blandly does not accord with the manas; it is only the mind consciousness's understanding, and that does not count. When studying the Dharma, if one skims over it like reading a textbook and then believes one has understood, known, and realized it, and thus lets oneself off, this is a high degree of irresponsibility toward oneself. If it were this easy—reading the Tripiṭaka's twelve divisions a few times, understanding a portion, and claiming to have realized a portion—that would be truly remarkable; perhaps bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi and above could do so. Pick up a Buddhist sutra, and even PhDs and postdoctoral scholars feel they can understand the words. If understanding meant realization, the Buddha-dharma would be far too easy, and there would be no need to cultivate for three incalculable eons at all.
13. Why Is a Shock to the Mind Sufficient to Counteract the Manas's Habits? Because the Shock to the Mind Directly Shakes the Manas, and Only Then Does the Manas Have to Change Its Habits. Only When the Manas Contacts Reality and Direct Perception Does It Feel Shocked; the Mind Consciousness Does Not Feel Shock—It Easily Knows Things, Rather Superficially. The Shaking and Shocking Spoken of Are All Directed at the Manas; Only When the Manas Knows the Facts Can It Change Itself.
The shock felt by the mind consciousness is also mainly a shock to the manas; only then does the manas make a decision—either changing itself or confirming certain dharmas. Normally, no matter how others try to scare one, it is useless, because the manas is not shocked. But once one day the manas knows the seriousness of the matter, it is shocked and decides it must change itself, must do such-and-such.
How many people every day say "no-self, no-self" with their mouths, yet when doing things it is all "me, me, me." Why? Because the manas does not know no-self. But one day, once it firmly believes there truly is no self—that is what is called shock! From then on, one changes oneself, and body and mind undergo changes.
14. The States Known Only Through Personal Realization After Enlightenment
This knowing is mainly the mind consciousness's knowing, with the manas's knowing behind it as well. The knowing of realization is wisdom-natured knowing, different from the knowing before enlightenment. Before enlightenment, the mind consciousness speculates about the tathāgatagarbha, the manas does not know the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu, takes the five aggregates as self, and both consciousnesses lack wisdom. After enlightenment, the mind consciousness realizes the tathāgatagarbha and the manas knows the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu; this wisdom is extraordinary—afflictions gradually fall away, ignorance gradually decreases, self-grasping grows ever lighter, and finally one can transform consciousness into wisdom. Therefore, in true realization of enlightenment, the manas must also realize enlightenment; otherwise the manas lacks the wisdom of realization, cannot sever afflictions, and cannot transform consciousness into wisdom.
After enlightenment, the state known only through personal realization cannot be fully expressed in words. It is like a person who has eaten honey: its sweetness is only fully clear in their own mind; no matter how they describe it to others, others merely understand but cannot truly taste it, because they have not personally tasted it, not personally experienced it. Therefore, the intellectual understanding of the mind consciousness's speculation about the tathāgatagarbha and the realization of enlightenment of the manas personally realizing the tathāgatagarbha differ enormously in wisdom, differ enormously in benefits, and the subsequent cultivation differs as heaven from earth.
Fifteen: Why must personal realization involve the transformation of body and mind, and why is the transformation of body and mind a major, obvious, and clear mark? Because the body-mind world, from beginningless kalpas until beginningless kalpas hence, is controlled and regulated by the manas. When the manas's cognition transforms, its views transform, its wisdom transforms, it correspondingly transforms the body-mind world somewhat. The reactions of body and mind are the manas's barometer; the manas's venting of emotions, expression of thoughts, and so on are all revealed through body and mind. If the manas's thinking is shaken by something, it will inevitably simultaneously draw along and influence the body-mind world, causing a chain reaction in body and mind.
Sixteen: Once the manas accepts a certain principle, at any time it is invariably resolute and decisive, without hesitation; whatever comes from the mind consciousness's deliberation (manasikāra/manana) is invariably doubtful, hesitant, and vacillating. It is like riding a bicycle: being able to ride and believing one can ride are two completely different states—the former is without hesitation, the latter cannot be fully certain in the mind and lacks confidence. Some people have doubt in their minds but do not know they have doubt, thinking they have no doubts; that is because the mind is too coarse, the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) is weak, and meditative concentration is insufficient. Therefore, without seeing the truth, one will deceive oneself.
