Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization

Chapter 9: How to Ensure the Empirical Realization of Manas (2)

13. The consciousness possesses strong analytical thinking ability and discerns the realm of mental objects with relative depth and subtlety, making it easy for wisdom to arise. The wisdom of consciousness emerges through contact with the environment, deep learning, and meticulous thinking. With this wisdom, it can guide manas out of the mire, towards the bright path, and ultimately to the blissful homeland. Without the guidance of consciousness, manas would remain trapped in the mire for a long time, unable to extricate itself, and the five-aggregate body would remain perpetually within the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, consciousness is extremely important.

14. To achieve clear and thorough thinking, a certain degree of meditative concentration (samādhi) is necessary; without it, this is impossible. Thinking within samādhi is deep and subtle; slowly and meticulously, it can penetrate deeply into manas. The deeper, subtler, and slower it is, the easier it is for manas to comprehend. Moreover, manas itself must participate in this deep and subtle deliberation to be genuinely moved. Only with genuine cognition can it change its own views and knowledge, leading to a significant transformation in mental conduct.

Manas also possesses a relatively weak discerning wisdom. When consciousness thinks deeply and subtly, manas can truly understand, based on this, that the five aggregates are without self (anātman), thereby knowing the true meaning of non-self. Manas did not originally hold this view because it did not understand these principles. This requires the conscious mind to frequently perform deep and detailed analysis for it.

For example, when educating a child, if one only uses coercion and force without explaining the reasons, the child may superficially comply out of necessity, but deep down, they do not understand. Consequently, they cannot genuinely accept it from the heart and correct their behavior, leading them to make mistakes again. Therefore, persuasive education and explaining the reasons are essential. The more thorough and clear the reasoning, the more they can accept and comply. The same applies to dealing with manas.

15. The process of conscious thinking is the process of enabling manas to understand the principles. This is an essential process that must be undergone. Consciousness must think, and think deeply. If it does not think, manas cannot understand the principles. If the principles understood by the conscious mind are not yet understood by manas, the actions of body, speech, and mind cannot change. Manas must rely on the specific information from conscious thinking to initiate its own deliberation, in order to know whether the principles understood by consciousness are true. If the conscious mind does not engage in thinking, no information is transmitted to manas. Manas cannot discern these principles, cannot understand them, cannot be prompted to change its views, and the actions of body, speech, and mind also cannot change. Therefore, when we study and practice the Buddha Dharma, we must be adept at thinking, making good use of the conscious mind to contemplate and observe phenomena according to the Dharma. Practicing the Buddha Dharma does not mean letting consciousness always remain in a state of no-thought and no-awareness, nor letting it lie idle and useless. If we do that, we cannot deeply understand the correct principles, and wisdom cannot grow.

16. Why Many People Know the Five Aggregates Are Empty but Cannot Sever the View of Self

The reason for being unable to sever the view of self is that, in the preliminary stage, consciousness did not thoroughly think through the meaning of the emptiness of the five aggregates. The information provided to manas was incomplete, leaving manas unclear about this content, unable to investigate and agree with it. Consciousness may also be unaware that the information is incomplete, incapable of thinking and unable to gather evidence. Thus, manas, like a skilled cook without rice, has nothing to work with. Additionally, manas’ clinging mind has not been subdued, and meditative concentration is insufficient, so there is no achievement in investigation. Many people have not even begun investigating because the preliminary work by consciousness was not done properly, leaving manas unable to continue the work.

Manas is the judge, the examiner, the gatekeeper. All data analyzed by consciousness must pass through manas’ inspection. No matter how meticulous and precise consciousness’ analysis is, manas must still check and approve it before it can be accepted. For example, when a subordinate completes a task and submits it to the leader for approval, the leader cannot simply deem it qualified and issue payment without reviewing it, checking it, and auditing it at least once. Strictly speaking, it requires auditing for a period, conducting investigations, and only after confirming it is error-free can it be stamped. The relationship between consciousness and manas is exactly like this.

17. How to Successfully Condition Manas

Conditioning manas means enabling manas to recognize a certain correct, true, and Dharma-compliant principle. This conditioning process is like solving a mathematical proof problem. We continuously dissect and simplify the principle of a problem. This process of dissection is the process of finding evidence for manas, conditioning manas, and enabling manas to understand. With conclusive evidence, manas is convinced, and finally, manas realizes this principle, acknowledging the correctness of the problem. This is similar to starting from known conditions, combining known theorems, adding rigorous deductive reasoning, and finally arriving at an unshakable conclusion—this is realization (證). This process is the process of seeking realization. Realization is also called seeking realization (求證). Seeking (求) is the seeking done by consciousness, with the subsequent support and cooperation of manas. Realization (證) is the attainment, the understanding, the clarity.

The problem now is that we know the conclusion—that the five aggregates and the eighteen realms are all empty, not-self—but manas does not understand or accept it. We must find a way to prove it to manas. For every bit proven, manas is subdued by that much, purified by that much, and gains that much benefit, bringing it one step closer to the great path. This is the principle of practice. The Buddha gave us the conclusion, which is the truth. We must find a way to prove the correctness of this conclusion and truth, and then we ourselves attain the truth, gain great wisdom, and achieve great liberation.

If during practice the body and mind do not change, it indicates that consciousness has not presented the evidence to manas. Manas does not accept it, so it clings to the body and mind, preventing their liberation. Therefore, whether one’s own practice and proof process are effective, whether the evidence is sufficient, can be seen by whether the body and mind have changed, whether one can pass through troublesome situations, whether the mind has become a little more pure, whether there is wisdom-based cognition. If not, it means the proof is inadequate, the practice has not succeeded, and what one has mastered is merely theory, not empirical realization. To verify whether the view of self has been severed and whether the mind’s nature has been seen, the transformation of the body-mind world is one standard. Whether it is intellectual understanding (解悟) or empirical realization (證悟), this criterion also serves as a measure.

18. The existence of manas and the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature/Storehouse Consciousness) has no sequence; they have coexisted since beginningless time (anādi). This is the natural state of things (法尔如是), with no reason to explain it. Since beginningless time, due to the ignorance (avidyā) of manas and its lack of understanding of true reality, it gave rise to a mind that clings outwardly. Consequently, the world of the five aggregates (五阴世界) was born, and all dharmas gradually came into being. Thus, disputes and disturbances arise incessantly, and suffering follows continuously. Practice is about enabling manas to recognize that all dharmas are not-self. Consciousness must contemplate and think that all dharmas are not-self. Both Mahayana and Hinayana principles must be studied. Only after thorough study can one finally realize that all dharmas are not-self. All practice lays the foundation for this. Therefore, the heavier the sense of self (我心), the less liberation one attains, and the farther one is from Buddhahood. Subduing the self-nature of manas is a long and arduous task.

19. Manas’ deliberation regarding the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) must rely on the thinking and guidance of consciousness to proceed; manas cannot automatically awaken to the eighth consciousness by itself. Because the ignorance of manas is deeply ingrained, existing since beginningless time, manas has been together with the eighth consciousness since then but does not recognize it. Instead, it appropriates the functions of the eighth consciousness as its own. After consciousness learns the theory of the eighth consciousness, it continuously conditions manas, enabling manas to also discern the nature of the eighth consciousness. Once manas knows the nature of the eighth consciousness, it may seek to find and realize the eighth consciousness, thus deciding to engage in Chan (Zen) meditation.

After realizing the eighth consciousness, through the observation of the eighth consciousness by the conscious mind, manas will deliberate on the function of the eighth consciousness giving rise to all dharmas, deliberate on the selflessness of the five aggregates, deliberate on the selflessness of the six consciousnesses, and also deliberate on its own selflessness. This can give rise to great wisdom, recognizing that the five aggregates, the six consciousnesses, and manas itself are all unreal. In this way, one can eliminate the attachment to self. One will also no longer appropriate the functional roles of the eighth consciousness as one’s own. The wisdom of manas will grow increasingly profound, its selflessness will increase, its ignorance will diminish, and its mental conduct will become increasingly pure and equanimous.

20. How to Achieve Consciousness Being Thoughtless While Manas Investigates? Consciousness needs to carefully consider the problem, understand its meaning clearly, then condense the entire meaning of the problem into a single point, and deeply suspend this point within the mind of manas. In this way, the problem is handed over to manas. At this point, consciousness can either think or not think; sometimes it needs to think, sometimes it needs to be quiet and not think. It is best to cooperate with manas, not distracting one's own or manas' attention. If consciousness is busy with other matters, it will inevitably transmit information to manas, increasing manas' burden, preventing manas from concentrating, and making it unable to deliberate and arrive at a correct result.

Is it that after consciousness thinks about a problem, it is handed over to manas for deliberation? After consciousness clarifies the ins and outs of the problem, it hints to manas that this is very important and must be figured out. Then, it deeply suspends the core content of the problem in the mind, thus handing it over to manas. Manas will then continuously deliberate until it reaches a result. Often, while consciousness is thinking, manas is also deliberating. The better the concentration and the more focused one is, the more and deeper manas participates. When consciousness has not yet figured out the result, manas will not give up but will deliberate alone, and one never knows when the result might appear.

21. How to Practice Correctly to Empirically Realize Non-Self

Since the aim is to realize non-self and attain the liberation of non-self, one must know what is non-self and why it is non-self. This "why" is extremely important, crucially important. Not knowing why can only lead to a superficial understanding; it is not realizing non-self, nor can it lead to the realization of non-self. Because it lacks the process and content of contemplative observation (观行), it directly accepts the conclusion of non-self, taking that conclusion directly as one's own, without diligently contemplating why exactly it is non-self. Without contemplation, one cannot obtain convincing evidence, cannot arrive at a convincing conclusion, and thus cannot realize non-self. One can only imagine non-self, which is called emotional thinking and intellectual understanding (情思意解).

Generally, Buddhists fail to realize non-self because they do not know how to contemplate problems, are unwilling to exert mental effort to think, do not know how to think, and their reasoning is neither clear nor coherent. Consequently, they take the Dharma learned from external sources as absolutely correct and accept it unquestioningly. After accepting it, they feel it is truly so and then fantasize that they have attained the same state. Many people thus think they have truly realized something, but it is all a misunderstanding. Nowadays, in the Buddhist world, there are large numbers of people who think they have severed the view of self and attained the fruit (of stream-entry), large numbers who think they have seen the nature of mind (明心见性), and large numbers who think they have attained the first dhyāna (禅定) or higher. It seems the more we are in the Dharma-ending age, the more sages emerge. This is truly a great misunderstanding. These "sages" cannot even perform the most basic contemplative observation (思维观行), yet they have become sages in such a muddled state. Because these phenomena are so common, people are no longer surprised and have become accustomed to them, so they no longer lament.

Directly accepting a conclusion of non-self and cultivating concentration is the foundation and prerequisite for practice, but it is not ultimate. One should continue contemplative observation and thinking, asking "why" more often, not accepting ready-made answers and conclusions. One should think from the beginning oneself, asking "why" at every step, not deceiving oneself, not cheating oneself. As long as one can think and has the ability to think, even if one takes a wrong path, it is not in vain; it increases experience and distinguishes right from wrong. The wrong path is the foundation of the right path. As long as one is not afraid of being wrong, there will always be a time when one walks the right path. Once thinking gets on the right track, realizing the fruit is only a matter of time.

Many people mistake cultivating concentration for the entirety of practice. Not understanding contemplative observation, they lack the wisdom born from observation. Because cultivating concentration can bring some special sensations and very comfortable and pleasant bodily and mental feelings, many people become attached to meditation but cannot realize the fruit (attain enlightenment), nor can they give rise to the wisdom of either Mahayana or Hinayana. Genuine practice must involve contemplative observation and thinking upon the foundation of concentration. Only by thinking and using the mind can wisdom arise from the mind, thereby realizing non-self and attaining the initial merit and benefit of liberation. Many do not understand contemplative observation, so they merely cultivate concentration single-mindedly. Entering concentration, they know nothing, remaining muddled and confused, yet thinking this is practice. Others think that the appearance of various special states in body and mind is practice. Actually, these are only aspects of practice, part of the content of practice. The main content should be contemplative observation and thinking, then attaining the merit and benefit of liberation.

Then there are others who think that practice is solely for attaining wisdom, believing that understanding more and more principles is the right path to liberation. So they regurgitate exactly what consciousness has understood to others, calling it propagating the Dharma and liberating sentient beings. They do not cultivate concentration at all, holding books all day, either reciting or engaging in emotional thinking and intellectual understanding. After reading a book, understanding it, comprehending it, and absorbing it, they think they have wisdom and have already realized a certain fruit. Nowadays, fruits are everywhere, dazzling people; no fruit seems special anymore.

Many people's purpose for learning Buddhism is neither clear nor correct. They pursue freedom and ease (自由自在), but they haven't understood what freedom and ease are, nor what kind of freedom and ease they want to achieve, nor whether they can truly be free and at ease forever. Non-Buddhists (外道) can also achieve so-called freedom and ease through cultivating concentration, which refers to various supernatural powers (神通). Little do they realize that supernatural powers rely on concentration, concentration relies on the physical body for existence, and relies on mental discipline. If precepts are not upheld, or if the physical body perishes, concentration vanishes, supernatural powers vanish, and then one is no longer free and at ease. Pursuing carefree existence and awareness of serenity is even more illusory and unreliable. Those are all temporary mental states dependent on concentration, the perceiving mind, or the conscious mind. Yet any mental state is a conditioned, impermanent phenomenon (生灭变异法). When the prerequisite conditions disappear, the mental state disappears. As ordinary beings bound by karmic obstacles, no one can guarantee that mental states will always remain unchanged.

22. Beginners in Buddhism all have doubts. If doubts are not resolved, they will hinder the advancement of the path. Therefore, one should find ways to resolve doubts. First, seek answers from others to resolve doubts. Second, after seeking guidance, one must personally contemplate, search for evidence, and resolve the doubts oneself. Clearly having too many doubts but not resolving them, instead merely cultivating concentration to cover them up—how can that eliminate doubts and attain wisdom? To avoid taking the body as self, one imagines taking inanimate objects as one's body, engaging in various imaginings, yet never contemplating why the physical body is not self. In this way, there is still a self of the physical body, still bound and not liberated. Then, without having severed the view of self regarding this physical body, one imagines that the functions of the conscious mind are not self. These imaginings are still greed for pleasant feelings, substituting the current suffering feelings with another imagined pleasant feeling. Without carefully contemplating and observing why all feelings are not self, not real, why they are impermanent and subject to change, but instead escaping reality and enjoying oneself in imagination—this is also a form of attachment and bondage. The subsequent content is all like this: imagination and emotional intellectual understanding, without the experience and process of contemplative observation. This is not genuine practice; it is escaping reality.

People who are good at mathematics, physics, and chemistry have very good logical thinking ability, which can be applied to the contemplative observation in the Buddha Dharma and is quite practical. Literary scholars and artists (文人墨客), however, learn Buddhism entirely through research and emotional intellectual understanding. They do not understand contemplative observation, cannot think according to the principles, and as a result, because of their good comprehension and research ability, and excellent literary skills, even though they have realized nothing, theoretical articles emerge one after another, dazzling people and confusing them. How many people in the world are truly discerning, possessing fire-golden eyes like Sun Wukong (孙悟空), seeing through all disguises and restoring all truth?

Learning and practicing Buddhism is not about pursuing some fruit (果位), seeking some fruit to eat, but about truly and genuinely attaining the wisdom of liberation, achieving liberation in the mind. This is the fundamental goal and purpose of practice. Pursuing fruits and empty fame is abandoning the root for the branches. Originally not liberated, now adding another fetter, tying another rope for oneself—why trouble oneself? Pursuing vanity—isn't that still a 'self'? How can one sever the view of self? Sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age have little merit. Their practice is all upside down. Clearly aiming to eliminate the view of self, yet constantly increasing the view of self; clearly aiming for non-self, yet everywhere is self. They haven't understood the essential meaning of practice, nor do they want to understand it. Learning Buddhism is still for the sake of a 'self'—I want this, I want that. This is going against the path. The more one pursues, the faster one runs; the more one strives, the farther one is from the Way.

Severing the view of self is truly difficult, not an easy matter. It's not like some people who, after reading a few books and pondering a bit, then pocket the fruit of non-self. It's still early, still far away. The 84,000-mile Long March has only just begun. Eagerly seeking the fruit is still a 'self', not beyond the mind of self. "I want to realize the fruit, I want to realize the fruit"—with this 'I', how can one realize the fruit? "I want to become a sage, I want to become a sage"—with this 'I', how can one be a sage?

23. When you say in your heart, "All of this is not me," ask yourself why. Ask "why" several times. If it's not clear, continue contemplative observation. One must frequently ask and answer oneself. Only then can evidence be obtained. With conclusive evidence, one can discover the facts, discover the truth. Having genuine doubt means manas gives rise to doubt. It does not understand and wants to understand—this is a good thing. What is truly feared is having no doubts; that is too far from seeing the Way (见道).

24. Severing the view of self requires evidence; the evidence must be conclusive. Also, the habits of manas should not be too heavy, and ignorance should not be too profound. If manas is extremely foolish, even if all the evidence is presented and is conclusive, manas still stubbornly clings to its original view, then the view of self cannot be severed. The continuous process of conscious contemplative observation and thinking is the process of continuously reversing the foolish ignorance of manas. Only when the ignorance of manas becomes thinner will it be willing to acknowledge the facts. Otherwise, even if the facts are glaringly obvious, it is useless.

25. How to Train Consciousness to Guide Manas in Contemplative Observation

To train in quickly entering sleep, first, consciousness hints to manas to relax, meaning to let manas stop grasping the body, stop letting the body consciousness and consciousness grasp the body, and stop letting the five consciousnesses and consciousness engage in much activity. Then, consciousness hints to manas not to think anymore, meaning to prevent the arising of solitary consciousness (独头意识). If manas obeys the hints of consciousness, the six consciousnesses will gradually weaken and fade away. To achieve the ideal effect, it mainly depends on consciousness knowing how to guide, and manas being able to obey and comply; then the goal can be achieved.

Severing the view of self is also like this. Consciousness must have sufficient wisdom to guide manas, and the nature of manas must be effectively subdued so that it can comply with the thinking and guidance of consciousness. This requires manas not to have such a strong view of self and self-attachment. Ordinarily, one should train consciousness and manas to consider the physical body less, to grasp less at the functions of the five aggregates, and to reduce greed and attachment. Only then is there a way to gradually empty the feelings of the physical body. When manas is too attached to self, it is impossible to guide and contemplate. Consciousness should also understand more about what the view of the body (身见) entails and what the view of self (我见) entails, so that it can have direction and a target for contemplation and introspection. If one does not know the meaning and scope of the view of the body and the view of self, one cannot contemplate to sever them.

26. How to Do the Work of Investigation (参究功夫)

Having meditative concentration (禅定) ensures that contemplative observation and investigation are very focused; the mind won't scatter after thinking for a while. Without concentration, thinking has no coherence, and the line of thought is unclear. The process of doing the work of investigation is very complex; the mental activities of consciousness and manas are very deep and subtle. If not handled well, if one does not know how to do the work, the investigation will yield no result. One must know how to use effort, understand the mental activities during the investigation process, and then know how to apply the mind and how to do the work.

When consciousness and manas investigate together, the five consciousnesses also play a certain role. Otherwise, one would be in the state of the second dhyāna, where the five consciousnesses are absent, consciousness is weak, and thus contemplation and observation cannot occur, making enlightenment impossible. The Tathāgatagarbha (如来藏) also plays a corresponding role therein; otherwise, the seven consciousnesses would not exist.

During investigation, consciousness must thoroughly understand the content to be investigated, give rise to a sense of doubt (疑情), condense it into a single point, and hand it over to manas, enabling manas to also give rise to doubt. When concentration is sufficient, one can be diligent, thinking day and night, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, never giving up until the doubt is resolved.

Why must the content of investigation be condensed into a single point? Because manas has no language or words and cannot analyze. If the entire meaning is not condensed into a single point, it involves language and words, which manas cannot investigate; only consciousness can think and analyze alone. However, conscious thinking and analysis alone are relatively shallow and cannot give rise to profound wisdom. That is, if manas does not investigate, wisdom cannot arise. The wisdom of consciousness does not play a decisive role. Only when manas also has wisdom can it properly steer the "steering wheel" of the five aggregates and determine the future destiny of the five aggregates.

27. No matter how much Dharma consciousness knows, if manas does not know, it will give rise to doubt, and the mind will not be settled and at ease. To resolve manas' doubt and prevent it from doubting again, one should not let consciousness learn knowledge alone, content with consciousness knowing alone. Both consciousnesses should investigate together. After contact and realization, both consciousnesses know, and there is no more doubt. To eliminate doubt and give rise to faith, one must not only eliminate the doubt of consciousness but, more importantly, eliminate the doubt of manas.

Therefore, when learning the Dharma, consciousness should try not to speculate but to investigate together with manas within concentration. The doubt of consciousness is shallow; the doubt of manas is deep. The deeper the doubt, the greater the relief after resolving it, the greater the wisdom, and the more the body and mind can transform.

28. The Process of Enlightenment

The process of enlightenment in learning Buddhism is said to be extremely difficult, yet also said to be easy. It is said to be difficult because it is very hard to reverse and change manas' inherent cognition and make it accept a truth and reality. It is said to be easy because the steps involved are not complicated, only concerning the cognitive issues of consciousness and manas. First, through study, consciousness knows there is a Tathāgatagarbha (如来藏) that permanently resides within the five-aggregate body, giving rise to all dharmas. It repeatedly conditions manas to also know there is a Tathāgatagarbha that is the true self, the true master. However, manas will certainly doubt this, thinking that it itself is the true master, that everything is under its control and decision.

To remove manas' doubt, one must first enable manas to realize that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not self, including that manas itself is impermanent, subject to change, and unreal. In this way, manas will establish a reliance, acknowledging there is a Tathāgatagarbha to depend on. The next step is for consciousness and manas to investigate the Tathāgatagarbha together through Chan (Zen) meditation. If consciousness investigates alone, that is called reasoning and speculation, called emotional thinking and intellectual understanding (情思意解). The conclusion reached is called understanding or intellectual comprehension (解悟), obtaining a kind of dry wisdom (乾慧) without the moisture of concentration. Understanding and conduct cannot correspond, and liberation cannot be achieved. To make manas and consciousness investigate together, concentration is necessary. Use the sense of doubt (疑情) and the huatou (话头 - critical phrase/point of inquiry) to bind manas, cut off its random clinging and thoughts, make it contemplate the doubt and huatou day and night (朝斯暮斯). One day, enlightenment (明心见性) will certainly be achieved.

The method of realizing the Way is to start from consciousness and penetrate deeply into manas, grounding the content thought by consciousness into manas so that manas understands it. When consciousness, acting as the messenger, transmits information, it needs skillful means (善巧方便), a meticulous and wise mind, thorough and rigorous thinking, fully attracting manas' attention and mobilizing its initiative, leaving manas no way out but to seriously deliberate, examine, and approve. After consciousness organizes the collected information and hands it over to manas, it is best to wait quietly, listening for manas' instructions at any time, not causing trouble or adding chaos for manas. This requires fairly good concentration, allowing manas to deliberate and investigate without disturbance within concentration. This way, the efficiency of investigation is the highest.