A Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Mind: Part Two

Chapter Ten: The Relationship Between Manas and Attaining the Fruition

I. Attaining the Fruition Through the Sixth Consciousness Is a Deviant Path in the Dharma-Ending Age

The Saha world is filled with countless deviant paths in spiritual practice. Without considerable roots of goodness and merit, it is truly difficult to discern the correct direction, especially in subtle matters. If one has not traversed that path, it is easy to go astray. A small deviant path is enough to waste immense time in practice, making it hard to extricate oneself, let alone a major deviant path, which is even harder to recognize and abandon. Is the question of whether attaining the fruition and realizing the mind-nature counts only when accomplished through the sixth consciousness, or whether manas must attain the fruition and realize the mind-nature together with the sixth consciousness, a minor or major deviant path? Is the notion that one can attain bodhi without severing afflictions a major or minor deviant path?

The issue of realizing the Dharma is the most significant matter for sentient beings individually and for Buddhism as a whole. It is a critical issue of life and death and a turning point. Therefore, while other teachings may err, this issue absolutely must not be mistaken. If this issue is wrong, then a fundamental principle is gravely mistaken, a major issue concerning the destiny of sentient beings and Buddhism itself. As we approach the Dharma-Ending Age, the deviant paths in Buddhist practice and realization multiply. In ancient times, people studying Buddhism engaged in cultivation and practice; in modern times, most can only be said to study, rarely involving cultivation and practice. Yet, among ancient practitioners, enlightenment was slow and rare, while in the Dharma-Ending Age, those who merely study achieve enlightenment quickly and numerously. Is this not highly abnormal? Of course, it is extremely abnormal. The future extinction of the Dharma will occur precisely here, extinguished at the very root of practice and realization. Without genuine realization, the Dharma will struggle to endure. Therefore, for many years, I have been teaching about attaining the fruition through manas and realizing the mind-nature through manas, having written several books on manas, fearing that the Dharma might be rapidly destroyed.

I have explained attaining the fruition through manas from every conceivable angle, yet there are still dull-witted scholars and teachers who stubbornly refuse to accept this principle, not daring to acknowledge it. For once they acknowledge it, their claimed fruitions in both Mahayana and Hinayana would vanish, reducing them to ordinary beings—truly an unacceptable thought! But such behavior is highly irrational, not prioritizing the path to enlightenment, nor taking the Dharma and truth as the ultimate refuge. Evading facts is not the conduct of a noble person; it is a manifestation of heavy self-attachment.

If sentient beings possess deep roots of goodness and merit, even if they encounter a deviant path, they will ultimately rely on their roots of goodness and merit to emerge from it and return to the right path. Therefore, every Buddhist practitioner should cultivate merit extensively and plant numerous roots of goodness to ensure they do not enter deviant paths in this life or future lives, possessing the wisdom eye for discerning the Dharma, the ability to discriminate, avoiding misguidance, and not falling into evil destinies. As we approach the Dharma-Ending Age, opportunities to cultivate merit and plant roots of goodness increase. Those who genuinely wish to attain the Way and have made great vows should seize every opportunity to plant numerous roots of goodness and merit. This not only brings endless benefits life after life but also accelerates the process of Buddhist practice and realization, enabling one to swiftly attain wisdom and liberation, benefiting oneself and others.

II. Attaining the Fruition Through the Sixth Consciousness Still Means Being an Ordinary Being Bound by Fetters

Attaining the fruition through the sixth consciousness is extremely quick and effortless, requiring little cost, no mental exertion or effort in Chan meditation, and most importantly, no need to cultivate meditative concentration. This is simply too convenient. The barrier of meditative concentration is the hardest to overcome—exceptionally arduous, time-consuming, requiring endurance through leg pain, and delaying many worldly affairs. Attaining the fruition through the sixth consciousness requires little adherence to precepts; even the Three Refuges and Five Precepts can be dispensed with. The most troublesome Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment need not be practiced, saving immense time and energy. Merit need not be particularly abundant; the first five of the Six Paramitas can be omitted—it’s simply too convenient. One merely uses the sixth consciousness to study theoretical knowledge, then engages in thinking, understanding, analyzing, speculating, reasoning, integrating, and summarizing. These operations require little concentration, minimal mental exertion, akin to the routine work of a minor secretary, manageable even for average intelligence.

How cheap is such attainment of fruition! It demands little cost, offers a wealth of theoretical knowledge, attracts attention, garners admiration, requires no renunciation of family to become a monastic, no abandonment of loved ones, no disruption to worldly career, allows receiving offerings from the public, enables one to become a Bodhisattva teacher or a superior Sangha member surpassing ordained monastics, enjoying benefits both as a monastic and a layperson, maximizing worldly gains. With so many benefits to attaining fruition through the sixth consciousness, who would be willing to give it up?

However, after such attainment, one cannot sever even a trace of afflictions, remaining indistinguishable from an ordinary being bound by fetters. Some make excuses, claiming only the third and fourth fruitions sever afflictions, while the first and second fruitions still have afflictions—this is not surprising. They say the first fruition individual has as many and as heavy afflictions as an ordinary being—also not surprising. If the first fruition is said to be the same as an ordinary being bound by fetters, it means the first fruition individual is essentially an ordinary being fully endowed with all afflictions. The first fruition is nominal, lacking substance—how can this be someone who has severed the view of self? If Buddhism continues like this, how can it avoid extinction?

Although there are many heterodox teachings and teachers in the world, those heterodoxies are shallow and cannot destroy the foundation of Buddhism or shake its roots. For example, a certain teacher’s explanation of Tathagatagarbha is utter nonsense, yet he cannot influence the mainstream development of Buddhism. The sentient beings he guides have shallow roots; even after great effort to pull them out, they achieve little and pose no threat to Buddhism. Another example is dual cultivation—fundamentally a heterodox path, extremely low-level, discernible to anyone with a modicum of wisdom. Those who enter it are mostly burdened by heavy karmic obstacles and shallow roots of goodness. Even if rescued with great effort, they cannot achieve much, let alone become pillars of Buddhism. What can destroy Buddhism is never external paths or heterodox teachings; it is always destroyed from within, like "worms born of the lion's body devour its own flesh."

The foundation and focus of the Buddhadharma throughout the three periods lie in the crucial link of attaining fruition and realizing the mind-nature. As long as this link remains intact, the future development of Buddhism will be stable and secure. Therefore, the fundamental Dharma of severing the view of self and realizing the mind-nature cannot be transmitted by just anyone; it absolutely must not be handled carelessly. If one recklessly harms the Dharma-body wisdom-life of sentient beings, even wishing to become a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes in the future would be a delusion—the karmic retribution would be infinitely more severe. Supporting those who transmit the Dharma recklessly is equivalent to abetting evil, bringing equally grave karmic retribution. Therefore, I respectfully urge everyone to deeply contemplate cause and effect, treat the Dharma seriously, and uphold a highly responsible attitude towards sentient beings and Buddhism.

III. Can One Attain Bodhi Without Severing Afflictions?

Some say that realizing the mind-nature and attaining the first fruition involve no severing of afflictions, no change or transformation in body and mind—this is normal. Yet this is highly abnormal. Such a great matter of life and death, overturning previously grave erroneous views, shifting the cognition of the five aggregates from existence to emptiness—how could body and mind undergo no change at all? How could body and mind not transform through the proper practice of the Four Right Efforts? How could body and mind not change through the proper cultivation of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment? If the mind does not change, how can it be called attaining fruition and realizing the mind-nature? Even in worldly matters, when manas truly understands something, it becomes extraordinarily excited, the body undergoes significant changes, the mind is profoundly stirred—tears may flow, body and mind may tremble, expression may become solemn, or one may be unable to sleep for days, etc.

During the practice of the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment before attaining fruition, body and mind gradually transform, becoming significantly different from before. If the difference becomes pronounced, and the five grades of defilements in the desire realm are severed, one becomes a candidate for the first fruition. If body and mind show no change whatsoever, it means the practice is not in accordance with the Dharma, the direction is wrong, or there is simply no diligence, or one remains only in extensive learning and intellectual understanding, or focuses excessively on worldly matters, without the Dharma principles truly entering the heart.

The Abhidharma-kosa states that as long as one truly practices the path in accordance with principle, one will inevitably subdue and then sever afflictions and defilements. This is the case during the practice and even more so upon its result, enabling one to become a candidate for the first fruition and then the first fruition itself. Without severing a single trace of afflictions and defilements, with no transformation in body and mind, one remains an ordinary being bound by fetters, tightly bound by afflictions and defilements, unable to move—how can one advance on the bodhi path and change one’s status? If one forcibly claims such a status, it can only be nominal, lacking substance—this is called deceiving the world to steal fame.

Many assume that being able to explain the Dharma means one has realized it, but reality is not so. If one teaches without having realized it oneself, there is no genuine guiding significance. Having never traversed that path, one cannot guide others on how to walk it concretely. If one’s own mind is ablaze with greed, hatred, and delusion, riddled with leaks everywhere, one is incapable of guiding others to subdue and sever afflictions.

There is a kung-an about "One-Finger Chan": When the master saw a nun guide him by raising one finger, he instantly awakened. A young novice saw this and thought: "So this is awakening!" Later, when the master was absent, whenever someone asked about the Dharma, the novice similarly raised one finger, telling them this was the true suchness—parroting it quite convincingly. The "awakening" of people today is no different from this novice’s. Though they may gesticulate, somewhat resembling the actions of patriarchs, seeming like a sharp exchange or capable of guiding others—outsiders see the spectacle, insiders see the substance—these tricks can only deceive the uninitiated. All sharp exchanges involve the combined function of the eight consciousnesses, mixing truth and falsehood. If one cannot distinguish truth from falsehood, taking the false as true, no amount of gesturing constitutes a genuine sharp exchange.

A hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvana, Ananda heard a young novice mispronounce "impermanent" (anitya) as "water old crane" (udaka-rauta). Ananda corrected him, but when the novice asked his teacher who was right, the teacher said, "Don’t listen to Ananda; he’s senile. Recite as I taught you." So the novice continued as before. Hearing this, Ananda thought: "The Dharma has already been distorted like this just a hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvana. In future ages, further removed from the Buddha, what will the Dharma become? Sentient beings are truly foolish!" Grieved, Ananda decided to enter parinirvana immediately, unwilling to witness the gradual destruction of the Dharma. Even then, the Dharma had already deteriorated—how much more so thousands of years later! Today is certainly not an era of sages filling the streets; many profoundly misunderstand the practice and realization of the Dharma.

Nowadays, both Mahayana and Hinayana are no longer precious or rare. Merely by hearing the Dharma and thinking a little, one obtains the fruition—no need for precepts, meditative concentration, or wisdom, nor for practicing the six paramitas and myriad practices; those who uphold precepts and cultivate concentration are fools. Now, any fruition can be easily obtained—like the contemplation of dream-like illusion, the fruition of the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvahood—none are difficult. The practice and realization of Tathagatagarbha contemplation, merely transmitted orally, allows one to "bring the fruition home." The foolishness and perversity of sentient beings have left one speechless.

IV. What Is Uninterrupted Realization of the Path?

After genuine realization of the path, the mind dwells uninterruptedly in the path. What does "uninterrupted mind" mean? Which mind is uninterrupted? Which mind is interrupted? Why can it be interrupted? The eighth consciousness and manas are uninterrupted minds; the first six consciousnesses are interrupted minds. For realization of the path to be uninterrupted, manas and the sixth consciousness must realize the path simultaneously; realization through the sixth consciousness alone is insufficient. In true realization of the path, even if the sixth consciousness ceases, the fruition remains. In false realization, once the sixth consciousness ceases or becomes weak, the fruition vanishes.

Genuine realization of the path means manas realizes the path. After manas realizes the path, the mind forever abides in the path and will not regress. Realization through the sixth consciousness is not so. The sixth consciousness is an interrupted mind, incapable of mastery. If manas has not realized the path, the sixth consciousness will follow manas’s arrangements and directives, not recognizing the so-called path, and thus not dwell in it. If the sixth consciousness gives rise to doubt again, it will regress. Even if the sixth consciousness does not regress, since manas is everywhere the master, bodily, verbal, and mental actions will not change, remaining as before.

Some, having realized the path through the sixth consciousness or mistaken meditative states for the path, to avoid regression, often sit in meditation to cultivate concentration, maintaining the meditative state to preserve the realized state. Others strive to use the sixth consciousness to pull manas into compliance, but this ultimately cannot last—paper cannot wrap fire; eventually, the truth will be fully exposed. After manas realizes the path, worldly states hold little attraction for manas and the sixth consciousness. The sixth consciousness is easily swayed, but once manas recognizes the truth, it is extremely difficult to sway it back—ten oxen cannot pull it.

Precisely because manas is so stubborn, its perverse views from beginningless time are deeply ingrained. Using the right Dharma to influence manas is not easy; manas is not readily influenced. That is why attaining the fruition is so difficult. Some people have heavy afflictions; lightly mentioning principles to them is utterly useless. Only after receiving severe retribution, hitting walls hard, suffering bloodied heads, might they reflect a little. Such people are of inferior capacity—ten oxen cannot pull them; they cling stubbornly to wrong views, refusing to yield, fond of contention.

V. How to Examine Whether It Is Intellectual Understanding or Genuine Realization

When Dongshan Liangjie crossed a river and saw his reflection, he suddenly awakened, uttering the verse: "That one now is exactly me, but I now am not that one." Question: Who is "that one"? Who is "me"? What is their relationship? Dongshan pointed to the reflection in the river and said: "You are now me, but I am not you." The reflection—the five aggregates manifested by the eighth consciousness, arising from the eighth consciousness, are the shadow of the eighth consciousness. From the ultimate meaning of Consciousness-Only, the five aggregates can be said to be the eighth consciousness, but the eighth consciousness is not the five aggregates.

These principles can be understood by thinking and pondering—nothing remarkable. One may call it intellectual understanding or not; to call it genuine realization requires thorough examination from inside out, top to bottom. Examine what? Examine whether his mind has changed, whether wisdom has arisen. Because realizing that the five aggregates are merely a shadow must cause considerable shock, inner turmoil—all previously held attachments were wrong. What is the state of mind then? Those who have not realized many times, without mental penetration, how can they know whether this person has realized or merely understood? Ordinary people absolutely cannot examine it; one can say one hundred percent cannot, merely parroting others.

Genuine realization is great wisdom. Being able to accurately examine whether one has realized is even greater wisdom, far surpassing the wisdom of realization itself. Genuine realization can presently observe the relatively simple and coarse functioning of the eighth consciousness, beyond comparison with intellectual understanding. Intellectual understanding merely has a vague shadow in the mind—indistinct, unclear, unaware of how the eighth consciousness actually functions, how the five aggregates arise. Though such a person may expound a pile of theories, there is nothing accurate or detailed, like floating on water, unable to enter it, unaware of conditions beneath the surface.

Some claim to be great Bodhisattvas who have realized the eighth consciousness, the Tathagatagarbha. Yet for years, this "great Bodhisattva" has never explained even slightly detailed aspects of the functioning of the eighth consciousness, Tathagatagarbha. It’s all vague, ambiguous, broad theoretical outlines—theories one could roughly grasp by reading sutras and Bodhisattva treatises, nothing rare. As for Chan kung-ans, seeing how patriarchs gestured when guiding people, one might get a rough idea. Imitating the model, many can do it—nothing rare. The little disciple of One-Finger Chan also gestured with one finger, externally identical to his master, yet it was not Chan. Modern people’s ability to counterfeit is unparalleled, from the secular to the Buddhist world—due to heavy karmic obstacles, heavy afflictions, heavy self-attachment.

Those who imitate the gestures of Chan patriarchs might be said to have intellectual understanding, or not even touch its edge. Mistaking the function of the sixth consciousness for that of the eighth consciousness is heterodox. Mistaking the combined function of the eight consciousnesses for the sole function of the eighth consciousness is speculation and guesswork. Outsiders absolutely cannot discern this and are often utterly bewildered. This trick can deceive because sentient beings’ insight is too shallow—truly foolish and gullible. Therefore, when deceived, you should reflect: Why were you deceived? Why are others clear-eyed and undeceived? If you bump into someone on the street, and that person glares and says, "I am a sage who has attained the fruition! How dare you bump into me?" You just laugh, say sorry, and that’s it—no need for surprise or further comment.

VI. Can the Method of Elimination Lead to Realizing the Mind-Nature?

What is the method of elimination? For example, one establishes a target in the mind, eliminates objects within a chosen scope that differ from the target, and whatever remains is established as the target in one’s mind. Regardless of whether the chosen scope is comprehensive, as long as one confirms it oneself, one considers it correct. The method for realizing the mind-nature and attaining the fruition is extremely simple.

Even a dog, if trained, can use the elimination method to find an object designated by its master. Other animals, trained, can also do it, as it requires little brainpower, no effort, no roots of goodness or merit, no meditative concentration, no precept observance, no diligent practice of the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment. Even an illiterate person, with hints, can realize the mind-nature and attain the fruition. For example, the master lays out three cards—A, B, C—before the dog, asking it to point to which is C. The dog first points to A, the master shakes his head saying no. The dog then points to B, the master again shakes his head saying no. Finally, only one card remains; without thinking, the dog knows the remaining one is C and points to it. The master says this time it’s correct. The dog is happy, feeling capable, and receives a bone as a reward from the master.

Using the elimination method to find the eighth consciousness is similar. There are only eight consciousnesses. The six consciousnesses that perceive the six dusts certainly are not the eighth consciousness—eliminated at once. That leaves manas and the eighth consciousness. Ordinary people truly cannot observe manas, not knowing what it is. Even if told it is "that which masters every moment, everywhere," they still cannot find manas. Finding manas is extremely difficult; observing its discerning nature is even more unthinkable. So they eliminate manas, not seeking it, and solely seek the eighth consciousness.

What is the eighth consciousness like? Many know the eighth consciousness does not discern the six dusts. So they search and search, finally finding something that seems not to discern the six dusts, imagining this thing seems to have discerning nature, discerning something other than the six dusts. As for what exactly it discerns, it’s truly unobservable, because only those with the wisdom of distinguishing characteristics and the wisdom of the path after realization can observe the discerning nature of the eighth consciousness, knowing what the eighth consciousness actually discerns. Ordinary beings fundamentally cannot observe the discerning nature of the eighth consciousness, unless speculating based on theory. Finally, thinking the eighth consciousness seems to discern the body and the material world because sutras and treatises say so—then it must be that, correct. So they rush to confirm it, happily feeling no doubt, claiming to have severed the three fetters.

If such intelligence is not innate, then the brain must have once been waterlogged—inferior even to children with slightly developed brains. How can this be a Bodhisattva earnestly seeking to realize the Bodhisattva path? Utterly naive! If encountering patriarchs of the past, with their straightforwardness, they wouldn’t say a word to you—directly smashing your skull open with a big stick! How dare you harm the Chan school? Kindergarten intelligence is beyond education. Were it not for considering the rise and fall of the Chan school, I wouldn’t deign to glance at such people. But the realization of the mind-nature in the Chan school is the most crucial point in Buddhist practice, the life-gate of sentient beings, the refuge and liberation for countless sentient beings now and in the future. If someone destroys this gate, sentient beings can no longer leap like carp through the dragon gate.

Even intellectual followers of the school are far more respectable than this elimination method. The elimination method requires little intellectual understanding, little intelligence—like picking beans, just remove the bad ones; what remains are the good beans—so simple. Why practice the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Seven Factors of Enlightenment, Eightfold Noble Path, Four Right Efforts, Four Bases of Psychic Power, Five Roots and Five Powers? No need to receive or uphold precepts, no need to cultivate meditative concentration—any concentration is unnecessary. The task of picking beans doesn’t need such trouble; the conditions the Buddha spoke of are superfluous; the highest capacity need not abide by the Buddha’s words.

Under the Sixth Patriarch, the thirteen-year-old novice Shenhui was intelligent, sharp-witted, with deep roots of goodness, earnestly seeking the Dharma. He traveled thousands of miles over mountains to find the Sixth Patriarch seeking the Way. The Sixth Patriarch only affirmed him as an "intellectual follower of the school." At that time, the Chan style was so flourishing, enlightened patriarchs and virtuous teachers so numerous, yet Shenhui lived to ninety-six still an intellectual follower, writing many articles, spending his life contending with Shenxiu’s Northern School of gradual cultivation. Who among people today possesses Shenhui’s spirit for seeking the Dharma and his roots of goodness and merit? Yet they dream of using the elimination method to find the eighth consciousness, surpassing Shenhui! The eighth consciousness will not let you find it this way. Using speculative methods, you might speculate it out, but that is drawing cakes to satisfy hunger—ultimately unfilling. In short, I ask everyone to recognize a fact: The Dharma-Ending Age is, after all, the Dharma-Ending Age. Do not indulge in delusions; be truthful and virtuous; delusion is evil.

VII. Is the Dharma Confirmed in the Minds of Sentient Beings Necessarily Correct?

No. If it were, the Buddha would not have told sentient beings: "Your mind is not to be trusted; only upon attaining Arhatship can your mind be trusted." Here, Arhatship refers to the ultimate fruition of Hinayana, the fourth fruition; the third fruition still falls short. Confirmation means manas affirms and approves, forming uninterrupted attention, penetrating to the marrow, unshakable, and profoundly unknowable. For example, the view of self—sentient beings’ manas confirms this, deeply ingrained, unshakable, called self-grasping.

Extreme faith in one’s own mind without doubt, extreme self-affirmation—this is manas’s confirmation. Yet the confirmation of ordinary sentient beings has grave faults, carrying great karmic consequences of life and death. For example, ordinary beings confirm the five aggregates as self—such confirmation is a wrong view, not right view. Sentient beings, from beginningless time, have always confirmed their views as correct and flawless, yet throughout beginningless time, due to erroneous, inverted views, they have cycled in birth and death, suffering evil and painful retributions.

"Your mind is not to be trusted"—the Buddha used this not only to admonish ordinary sentient beings but also those from the first to the third fruition, because before the fourth fruition, the understanding of the emptiness of the five-aggregate world is not yet complete or ultimate. In their thoughts and concepts, the view of self is not fully severed; self-grasping remains. Only the fourth fruition Arhat severs the view of self completely, realizes emptiness thoroughly, eliminates self-grasping and self-conceit, so the thought of emptiness becomes pure and trustworthy. This emptiness is thorough and ultimate within the scope of Hinayana, yet compared to Mahayana, it remains very incomplete and unultimate.

Therefore, whether ordinary beings attain the fruition or not, generally, their wisdom is insufficient for self-examination. First, their practice spans short kalpas, lacking experience. Second, they see and hear little, having nothing to compare with, easily misjudging. Added to this is the self in the mind, unable to detach from affection, leading to bias and self-overestimation, easily resulting in false awakening and false speech, ultimately bearing karmic retribution without fail.

VIII. Does Being Convinced Mean Truly Having No Doubt?

It is said that scientists using instruments detected the Earth is elliptical. Almost everyone believes it, seemingly with conviction beyond doubt, as if this belief is deeply ingrained and unchangeable. If someone disbelieves, they may argue, even ridicule and mock them. Yet this is not true faith or true absence of doubt. Faith has many levels; some even have unwavering faith, absolute conviction, seemingly without the slightest doubt. But without personal verification, such faith belongs to blind faith and superstition, not faith from realization. Therefore, doubt still exists, only deeply hidden, not easily observable.

Knowing the Earth is elliptical is merely hearsay, not seen with one’s own eyes. This is the sixth consciousness’s knowledge from hearsay; manas has not personally seen it, so doubt is not severed. Even what many see with their own eyes may not be true or real; mistaken seeing is very common—seeing is not necessarily believing. Therefore, manas’s doubt cannot be severed. Once another cause and condition arises, saying the Earth is not elliptical but rhombus-shaped or triangular, many people’s previous faith wavers, turning to disbelief.

Why can faith change? Precisely because there is no realization. The conviction of the sixth consciousness, no matter how deep, is unreliable. When causes and conditions change, the doubt of the sixth consciousness appears. Why? Because manas originally did not believe; manas has not severed doubt. When causes and conditions change, lacking the support of manas’s realization, the sixth consciousness becomes fickle, lacking a backbone. Or rather, the backbone of the sixth consciousness is always manas; at critical moments, it inevitably follows manas. Only after truly seeing the Earth, witnessing its shape macroscopically and holistically, can manas sever doubt and generate faith. Even if causes and conditions change in the future, manas still firmly believes without doubt, so the sixth consciousness follows manas in firm belief. Even if the sixth consciousness has doubt, it is ineffective and will still believe manas.

Some say that as long as you yourself are convinced you have severed the view of self, without doubt, then you have attained the first fruition. How utterly naive and laughable is such a statement! Is the conviction of ordinary beings reliable? If reliable, why are sentient beings so fickle, changing with every breeze, ceasing to believe? If the conviction and absence of doubt of ordinary beings were reliable, why did the Buddha say "Be careful not to trust your mind; your mind is not to be trusted; only upon attaining Arhatship can your mind be trusted"?

Historically recorded individuals who verified others’ severance of the view of self and attainment of fruition are, first, the Buddha himself during his lifetime, and second, after the Buddha’s parinirvana, the Fourth Patriarch Prajnatara. The Buddha need not be discussed—immeasurable wisdom, limitless spiritual powers, omniscient, with the power to know others’ thoughts and remember past lives, able to know all sentient beings’ minds as they truly are. Whether disciples attained fruition or not, the Buddha knew instantly without meeting them. Prajnatara not only attained Arhatship but also possessed great spiritual powers, even personally subdued Mara’s various disturbances, restoring purity to Buddhism.

With Prajnatara’s level of liberation realization and his powers of remembering past lives and knowing others’ thoughts, he could naturally know instantly whether disciples attained fruition, without error. Others without realization, insufficient wisdom and realization, lacking spiritual powers, likely cannot accurately observe others’ mental states and thus cannot verify for others whether fruition is attained. Those with extremely deep wisdom, having attained fruition countless times life after life, rich in experience, may, without spiritual powers, accurately verify for others the matter of attaining fruition. Apart from these, others lack the ability and qualification to verify for others. How much more so for ordinary beings verifying themselves! Lacking experience, misjudgment is inevitable; the consequences are unimaginable.

Practicing the Buddhadharma should be more pragmatic and strict than worldly affairs. Do not treat the Dharma as child’s play, thinking it simple. In reality, nothing is harder than the Dharma, because sentient beings from beginningless time have engaged only in worldly affairs; the Dharma is too unfamiliar, too distant. Added to heavy karmic obstacles, the hindrances often exceed our imagination. Therefore, earnest and down-to-earth study and practice of Buddhism are our duty, preventing us from increasing karmic obstacles and afflictions, sinking deeper into the abyss of birth and death.

IX. The Dull Can Attain Arhatship; The Intelligent May Fall into the Three Evil Destinies

Sudhipanthaka’s sixth consciousness was extremely dull—unable to memorize a single phrase of Dharma, his power of thought weak, incapable of reasoning, organizing, summarizing, generalizing, analyzing, or comparing. Merely contemplating the breath, why could he attain the fourth fruition of Arhatship? Throughout history, countless literary masters worldwide have exhaustively studied the Tripitaka, written extensively, composed poems and verses with eloquent phrases—why is there no trace of fruition attainment? The Buddhadharma lies not in speaking, not in understanding, not in the beauty of words, but in being able to benefit from it. Like eating an apple—putting it in the mouth, swallowing it, filling the stomach—this is the greatest benefit, far more practical than researching apples, writing award-winning papers about them.

Sudhipanthaka, so dull and ignorant of theory, while contemplating the breath, could basically not use the various merits of the sixth consciousness. During contemplation, he could not take shortcuts either—unable to analyze the breath and other formations as arising and ceasing instantaneously, as suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self; unable to infer that formations are without self, the five aggregates are without self. This precisely saved him from the sixth consciousness’s emotional thinking and intellectual understanding, allowing manas’s functional role to be fully exerted. As a result, he not only severed the view of self but directly attained the fourth fruition of Arhatship. This shows that the ultimate practice and realization of the Dharma is not exertion through the sixth consciousness. Not understanding theory does not matter; as long as the method and direction of exertion are correct and one can practice diligently, one can still realize the Way.

But masters of theory and research, who have exhaustively studied the Tripitaka and are immensely learned, can only exert effort through the sixth consciousness. Though eloquent, with ornate rhetoric, admired by crowds, infinitely glorious, and illustrious in fame, ultimately they gain nothing. Where gain seems easy, loss occurs. For example, Su Dongpo, however much he understood the Dharma, however many insights he had, was utterly lacking in realization. Literary habits are serious obstacles to the path, hard to overcome. All worldly skills like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting are obstacles to the path, yet worldly people take pride in them—truly perverse. Shouldn’t those fond of theory, liking to "gain" something, reflect on this?

X. The Unreliability of the Sixth Consciousness

Question: I heard that after awakening, one forgets the content of awakening. Does forgetting the awakening mean one no longer belongs to the awakened? How can awakening be forgotten?

Answer: Theoretical knowledge learned by the sixth consciousness can be forgotten; content understood and memorized by the sixth consciousness can be forgotten; parroted words can be forgotten—once forgotten, they cannot be recalled. But awakening is the realized wisdom of one’s own mind, wisdom developed simultaneously by manas and the sixth consciousness, not obtained from elsewhere. Therefore, it fundamentally does not involve issues of memory or forgetting.

Recalling and forgetting are functions of the sixth consciousness. The sixth consciousness is dependently arisen, subject to birth, cessation, and change. When conditions are insufficient, the sixth consciousness weakens and disappears. For example, if the brain is diseased, stimulated, the spirit disturbed, or due to old age the brain atrophies, the function of the sixth consciousness weakens, unable to operate normally, so one cannot recall many past people, events, or things—this is called forgetting. When the sixth consciousness ceases, it recalls nothing of the past—like when asleep, unconscious, dead, or after rebirth, the sixth consciousness ceases, and past experiences temporarily or permanently vanish. In the intermediate state (bardo), though there is a subtle sixth consciousness, its function is limited, controlled by karma, unable to act as master at all.

If only the sixth consciousness awakens and understands some principles, while manas has not awakened, this is utterly unreliable. Once the sixth consciousness disappears, all content is completely forgotten. Because the sixth consciousness arises from conditions, changes extremely rapidly—influenced by something, it changes instantly, "flips face" immediately, forgets things immediately, cannot recall them. In a moment of dozing off, the mind becomes blank. Therefore, without undergoing the arduous process of Chan investigation, without having investigated, yet wishing to leap to the sky, letting the sixth consciousness directly know the general result without influencing manas—this result can vanish instantly, offering almost no meritorious benefit or usefulness.

Without passing through specific stages of practice, without the hard work of Chan investigation, manas remains uninfluenced. One can only rely on the sixth consciousness’s reasoning, imagination, speculation, conjecture—not a shred of direct perception, all indirect inference. Conjectured content, of course, can be forgotten anytime, become ineffective, unable to guide bodily, verbal, and mental actions, unable to become an uninterrupted, continuous state of mind, even failing to last a few minutes—its cessation is inevitable.

But through the arduous process of Chan investigation, with manas participating, realizing the true mind-nature is a state of wisdom of direct perception. Samadhi arises, becoming uninterrupted realization of the path, purifying bodily, verbal, and mental actions. In this case, even if the sixth consciousness wishes to forget, it cannot; wishes to lose it, cannot; wishes to regress, cannot—because this matter is mastered by manas. Once manas realizes, the sixth consciousness must follow manas, directed and controlled by it. Even if forgotten, it cannot but be recalled. Actually, there’s no need for the sixth consciousness to think or not; even if the sixth consciousness ceases, it doesn’t matter—manas is awakened, so it is forever awakened. Whether asleep, unconscious, dead, or in the bardo, one remains awakened, taking rebirth as an awakened being, reaping the wholesome fruit of realization.

Relying solely on the sixth consciousness in Buddhist study and practice brings great loss. Depending on the sixth consciousness—birth-bound, ceasing-bound, impermanent—to resolve the great matter of life and death shows one has absolutely not understood this practice. "You eat your own meal to get full." Always relying on external conditions—conditions will cease; one cannot depend on them infinitely into the future. Therefore, the wise cannot place their bet on the unreliable, constantly birth-bound, ceasing-bound, impermanent sixth consciousness. This applies to all matters, worldly and transcendental. To summarize again: Fruition attained through the sixth consciousness is all paper-made fruition—paper rots most easily.