Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Manas: Part One

Chapter Twelve: Manas and Ignorance

I. Does Ignorance Have an Origin?

Ignorance is called ignorance precisely because it is the absence of clarity, and what lacks clarity has no source; having no source, it has no origin. If ignorance had a source and an origin, where would it come from? Before ignorance emerged, there would have been clarity. Since there was clarity, that would be Buddhahood. Yet sentient beings have never been Buddhas; if they had been Buddhas, they could not subsequently develop ignorance and become sentient beings.

Since beginningless time, manas has inherently possessed ignorance; it was fundamentally unclear, fundamentally not a Buddha. Ignorance did not later emerge from somewhere, transforming clarity into obscurity. We observe that in the world, there is no method for producing ignorance; ignorance has no source or origin. If ignorance had an origin, it would have a destination. Where is its origin? Where is its destination? If ignorance had a destination, accumulating in a certain place, then one day ignorance would overflow and surge out, causing manas to possess ignorance once more, and the Buddha would again become a sentient being. Such a thing will not happen; otherwise, the practice of Buddhism and attaining Buddhahood would be meaningless, and despite exhaustive effort, one would still fail to transcend the great suffering of birth and death, with sentient beings remaining sentient beings forever.

If ignorance had an origin, then before beginningless time, there would have been no ignorance; ignorance would be a later development. When there was no ignorance, there was Buddhahood. How could a Buddha give rise to ignorance and become a sentient being? When ignorance is eradicated, where is it eliminated to? Ignorance has no root; it is not a substantial entity. It has no origin and no place of cessation. When clarity arises, ignorance naturally vanishes. The two do not coexist; when one arises, the other ceases; where one exists, the other is absent—like the two sides of a scale, rising and falling in balance.

II. Life is the Product of Ignorance

Life, as the name implies, entails both "birth" and "existence." What is "birth"? The manifestation of activities of the five aggregates involving the six consciousnesses constitutes birth. Specifically, the appearance of activities of the aggregate of consciousness (vijñāna-skandha) and the aggregate of mental formations (saṃskāra-skandha) constitutes birth; the appearance of activities of the aggregates of consciousness, mental formations, and perception (saṃjñā-skandha) constitutes birth; the appearance of activities of the aggregates of consciousness, mental formations, perception, and sensation (vedanā-skandha) constitutes birth; and the appearance of activities of all five aggregates—consciousness, mental formations, perception, sensation, and form (rūpa-skandha)—constitutes birth.

What is "existence"? As long as manas exists, and there is activity of the mental factors associated with manas, there is existence. Manas is the life faculty. Except for the state of non-abiding nirvana (nirupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), all other states possess the life faculty; all sentient beings possess this life faculty, including the Buddha, who is a sentient being but does not belong to the category of ordinary sentient beings.

From the perspective of the twelve links of dependent origination, the birth of a sentient being's life is the product of the deluded thoughts of manas. When delusion is eliminated and ignorance is extinguished, life returns to quiescence, abiding in nirvana, with the path of rebirth severed and the suffering of life completely extinguished.

III. The Beginninglessness of Manas' Ignorance

Since beginningless time, manas has coexisted with the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), without a starting point. At that time, manas was already ignorant, hence it coexisted with the eighth consciousness, leading to the activation of ignorance, which prompted the eighth consciousness to give rise to the three realms of existence and the five-aggregate body. If manas had not been ignorant, it would not have existed before beginningless time; only the eighth consciousness would have existed—this is the state of non-abiding nirvana. Moreover, this nirvana would have remained permanent, and manas would never have emerged from it, nor would the five-aggregate body have been born. That state would have been the original state of Buddhahood, hence it is said that sentient beings were originally Buddhas; that mind was the Buddha. However, the actual situation is not so; the eighth consciousness gave rise to sentient beings. Thus, mind, Buddha, and sentient beings share a very close point of connection—the eighth consciousness. And since the eighth consciousness is singular, it has no distinctions within itself; its essence is identical.

IV. Transforming the Sixth and Seventh at the Cause Stage; Perfecting the Fifth and Eighth at the Fruit Stage

This refers to the result of practice: the perfect clarity of the four wisdoms. The four perfectly clear wisdoms include the wisdom of the five sense consciousnesses, the wisdom of the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna), the wisdom of manas, and the wisdom of the eighth consciousness. "Perfect clarity" means complete, perfect, luminous, and subtle wisdom, having reached the ultimate pinnacle with no further growth possible. This signifies the end of practice, attainment of the stage beyond learning regarding all dharmas, the highest stage—Buddhahood.

Since Buddhahood entails the perfect clarity of the four wisdoms, it means that all four consciousnesses can possess ultimate, perfect, luminous, and subtle wisdom. However, in the state of sentient beings, this wisdom is not perfect and luminous; it is defiled and ignorant. The eighth consciousness, however, is undefiled and free from ignorance. Why, then, in the state of sentient beings, is it not perfectly clear, requiring the transformation of consciousness into wisdom? Because the karmic seeds of the first seven consciousnesses reside in the eighth consciousness, burdening it and preventing it from radiating its ultimate, perfectly integrated, unobstructed light. Alternatively, although it may radiate perfect, unobstructed light, the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses obscures part of the eighth consciousness's unobstructed light, causing its functions to be hindered, imposing certain limitations. Once the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses is completely eradicated, this obscuration is removed, and the great radiance of the eighth consciousness manifests fully.

Since the first seven consciousnesses are defiled and ignorant in the state of sentient beings, the practice over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas must eradicate all ignorance from the seven consciousnesses. The first ignorance to be subdued is that of the mental consciousness, followed immediately by the ignorance of manas. However, when eradicating ignorance, the ignorance of both the mental consciousness and manas is eliminated simultaneously. This is because manas is the co-existent basis (sahabhū-hetu) of the mental consciousness; it is the master and director of the mental consciousness. If manas does not eradicate ignorance, even if the mental consciousness can eliminate it, under the directing influence of manas, ignorance will again arise, leading to ignorant actions.

Therefore, for manas to eradicate ignorance and attain great wisdom, and ultimately to transform consciousness into wisdom, it must, together with the mental consciousness, eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and realize the mind (cittotpāda), and together attain the patience with non-arising (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) and the patience with the non-arising of dharmas, in order to transform consciousness into wisdom step by step. If manas does not eradicate the view of self and realize the mind, it cannot eradicate ignorance completely, nor will it possess the wisdom of patience with non-arising and patience with the non-arising of dharmas. Consequently, it cannot transform consciousness into wisdom, the five sense consciousnesses and the eighth consciousness cannot transform into wisdom, and one cannot ultimately attain Buddhahood.

After eradicating the view of self and realizing the mind, the mental consciousness and manas eliminate the initial ignorance and attain the initial wisdom of patience with non-arising. However, at this stage, the ignorance of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses is still relatively heavy; their wisdom is not yet profound, they still possess significant discriminative tendencies and a considerable degree of self-nature, insufficient to transform consciousness into wisdom. Only after passing the firm barrier and entering the first bhūmi (ground), eliminating a portion of the attachment to dharmas (dharma-grāha), and thinning out ignorance, does the first transformation of consciousness into wisdom begin. Discriminative tendencies toward conventional dharmas weaken, the nature of the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) strengthens, emptiness deepens, and wisdom becomes profound. However, the five sense consciousnesses, being relatively dull, do not manifest great wisdom and thus cannot transform into wisdom. The eighth consciousness also remains obscured by the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses, its wisdom and function hindered to some degree.

Bodhisattvas of the first bhūmi continue their practice up to the eighth bhūmi. As the sixth and seventh consciousnesses eradicate more and more ignorance, ignorance becomes increasingly subtle, and wisdom becomes progressively deeper and sharper, leading to the second transformation of consciousness into wisdom. When the sixth and seventh consciousnesses undergo the third transformation into wisdom, the five sense consciousnesses subsequently transform into wisdom. With all seven consciousnesses free from the obscuration of ignorance and all karmic seeds purified, the eighth consciousness transforms into the great mirror wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna), illuminating all dharmas without the slightest obscuration, its wisdom perfect and luminous.

V. Practice Means Transforming the Mind

The mind is the master of affliction and karma, the master of saṃsāra, the master of birth and death, the root of all dharmas. Only by resolving the problem of the mind can all problems be resolved. In the twelve links of dependent origination, the Buddha teaches us that the root of birth, death, and saṃsāra is the ignorance of the mind. Due to the ignorance of manas, there is the suffering of the five-aggregate world. Practice means eradicating the ignorance and defilements of manas. When defilements are removed and ignorance is extinguished, the suffering of birth and death is completely ended. Therefore, practice is cultivation of the mind; it is knowing the mind and transforming the mind—there is nothing else.

If the purpose of practice is not to transform the mind, what is being practiced for? If the purpose of practice is unclear, what is the point of discussing practice? If the cause of birth and death is not understood, how can one seize the thief of birth, death, and afflictions to attain liberation?