Mental Factors of the Mind base\: A Practical Compass (Second Edition) (with over 30,000 additional words, reorganized)

Preface

Modern science, including psychology, is based on hypotheses coupled with experimentation, employing logical reasoning, deduction, and induction. When the conclusions derived from deduction and induction align with experimental results, achievements are produced. These hypotheses and experiments remain unrelated to religion, though of course, if the practitioners hold religious beliefs, that is another matter. If religious beliefs are present, such achievements might never emerge, because they are bound hand and foot by millennia of religious worship. Religion does not permit surpassing predecessors; once someone is recognized as a master, they become an absolute benchmark, forever correct—where incorrect is deemed correct. Later generations can only prostrate themselves at their feet, suppressing all their own wisdom, sealing their talents and insights. Their views and ideas absolutely cannot contradict those of the predecessors or masters, let alone surpass or break through them.

The reason why noble-minded individuals outside religion achieve abundant results is precisely the absence of authoritative constraints. Western psychology is not only clear and profound in theory but also emphasizes application, extending to sociology, theology, medicine, physical and mental development, and other areas, yielding astonishing results. However, this is not the case in the Buddhist community. The Buddhist world has always prioritized reputation and authority. As soon as someone gains great fame, they acquire a stable position and prestige. Sentient beings then worship them as deities, no longer rationally using their own minds to think. Blind worship imprisons and seals their minds, rendering them incapable of groundbreaking experiential realization. Thus, the errors of predecessors perpetuate into future generations, causing beings inherently lacking wisdom to become even more deluded.

Regarding the aspects of manas (the mental faculty) and mental factors in Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only), the vast majority of people lack any experiential realization. They cannot directly observe manas and lack the discernment for profound Dharma principles. Having absorbed vague theoretical knowledge from various sources, they feel they already understand. They then take the theories they have learned, regardless of correctness, and establish them as levers and yardsticks, measuring everywhere, cutting the feet to fit the shoes. This further obscures the essential theories of Yogācāra, confusing many eyes and trapping everyone in error. The direct experiential observation of Yogācāra and manas is the wisdom realm of Bodhisattvas on the Bhūmis (grounds). Even enlightened Bodhisattvas of the Three Sage Stages cannot perform direct experiential observation; they can only approximate some understanding. How much less so ordinary beings, who are immeasurably distant from realization, can they directly observe the functioning of manas.

The mental factors associated with manas are extremely difficult to verify. However, with prolonged study, some can distinguish the difference between consciousness (vijñāna) and manas. Coupled with meditative concentration (dhyāna), they can directly observe a small portion of manas's functions; this should not be overly difficult. Although this pertains to the part of Yogācāra involving the wisdom of seeds (śrutamayī prajñā), with correct guidance, proper theoretical instruction, along with meditative concentration and the wisdom of observation, experiential realization is possible. Secular psychologists possess a certain degree of observational wisdom and have reached relatively reasonable conclusions; how much more so should we, practitioners of the Mahāyāna Dharma.

Those with relatively deep meditative concentration and wisdom, unwilling to be constrained by authority, can also, under the guidance of a knowledgeable teacher possessing the wisdom of direct observation, observe a portion of the mental activities of manas. As long as one masters the basic concepts and reasoning, possesses strong meditative concentration, and observes one's own and others' mental states, clarifying consciousness and manas is not a very difficult task. The key issue is that current Buddhist practitioners generally lack sufficient meditative concentration and wisdom, making this quite challenging. In secular fields, researchers in various domains, those with a spirit of inquiry, actually possess considerable meditative concentration when conducting explorations, hence they can achieve some results. If only they could believe in and accept the Dharma of Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) and then realize Tathāgatagarbha, their wisdom would be extraordinary. However, they lack the roots of goodness and merit; they do not take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, lack Buddhist faith, and thus cannot grasp the principle of non-arising and non-ceasing.

Yet, those possessing the wisdom of Yogācāra seeds can organically integrate the Buddhadharma with all areas of social life. Only then can they extract the Dharma from social life and use Yogācāra theory to effectively resolve problems in real life, employing the Buddhadharma to serve humanity and society. The Buddhadharma already encompasses all aspects of social life, particularly Yogācāra. It cannot be separated from these secular dharmas; divorced from the secular world, there would be no Buddhadharma, no Yogācāra. Current Yogācāra researchers are lofty and detached, failing to correspond with their own physical and mental worlds. They only know how to recite texts and inherit established theoretical knowledge. Unable to grasp their own psychological states, they cannot possibly realize the profound Dharma of Yogācāra.