Compilation of Daily Discourses
Chapter 9: Training the Manas (Part 3)
Fourteen: How to Choose a Suitable Object of Contemplative Practice
Usually, at every moment we attend to too many dharmas, which causes our thoughts to scatter, our of the manas, leaving no room for the mind consciousness to function. Conditioned reflexes are the habits of the manas, a mechanism formed by the manas's long-term practice and perfuming. The mind consciousness does not understand this and can do nothing about it; it can only fully obey and comply.
How does the manas form conditioned reflexes? It is the result of intense training in ordinary times; trained until it becomes habit, as if forming muscle memory—any movement or technique is executed directly without going through the brain. This means it does not take the route of mind-consciousness deliberation. At such times, the mind consciousness is not used for—but is there still time? It is like on a battlefield where the enemy's swords, spears, and halberds are pointed at you—can you still scratch your head pondering countermeasures? The mind consciousness's deliberation and analysis can only be used after the competition or battle, when summarizing experience afterward. During training itself it is almost unusable either; once you know how to train, just train according to the method. Only when training has become proficient and technique has passed muster can one participate in competition. Competition relies on the techniques and skills trained, on the manas's proficiency, not on lucky on-the-spot improvisation or thinking up countermeasures on the spot.
Then, during intense responding, does the manas have mental activity? Of course there is mental activity, and extremely fast and silent. Not only do the five universal mental factors link together in sequence, the five particular mental factors also follow closely, appearing constantly. The most prominent are the concentration mental factor and the wisdom mental factor. Without concentration there is no focus; with the slightest distraction or stray thought, movements become disordered, the opponent takes advantage of the opening, and the match is lost. At such times, the mind consciousness's wisdom can hardly be applied; it all relies on the manas's wisdom. If the manas has no wisdom, one flails about helplessly, unable to respond normally to various situations—then what would be the point of competing?
It is the same when we actually practice contemplative practice of the Buddha-dharma: the mind consciousness positions the manas on the dharma being contemplated, carrying the knowing of the object of contemplation, settled on the dharma; the rest is the manas's direct perception observation. For example, observing a flower—just keep watching the flower and observe; just look. There is no need to use the mind consciousness to analyze and imagine: what variety this flower is, where it was grown, its form and colors, whether it is beautiful, whether it will bloom again, whether it can still grow, what would happen if it were given to so-and-so? All these miscellaneous thoughts must be completely strangled and extinguished. Still less should one forcibly draw conclusions based on learned theories, saying subjectively: this flower is arising-and-ceasing, illusory, empty, transformed and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, uses the four or five great seeds, and was born relying on such-and-such conditions. You cannot even observe—how did you reach a conclusion? So much fuss—what benefit is there?
Just observe with the manas; whatever there is, observe that. Do not imagine, infer, or analyze, until you have clearly observed the phenomena of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the object attended to, until the dharma before your eyes no longer has any reality, meditative absorption appears, and you realize emptiness and no-self. Then how strong is the manas's power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) exactly? Is it still that wisdom-inferior manas? If wisdom were inferior, how could it practice contemplation, how could it know the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of dharmas? How could it realize the Path? By now, what mental factors the manas has or lacks should all be clear, shouldn't they?
Sixteen: What Is the Correct Method of Contemplative Practice?
Observation is observing—objectively examining. Simply put, it is looking single-pointedly, with one mind and one intent. It is not imagining, nor deliberating, still less analyzing and dissecting. Whatever phenomenon appears before you, directly observe that phenomenon. What has not appeared should not be imagined; do not dissect or analyze; do not use learned dharmas to fit into place; do not substitute in any theoretical knowledge; do not have any framework of constraints. To put it plainly: you must kill off the mind consciousness, not let it push itself forward, showing off with various theories, applying various learned knowledge, and then drawing conclusions through analysis without having observed anything.
Imagining the appearance of Beijing and walking to Beijing to directly view Beijing are utterly different states—one could say a vast difference between heaven and earth. The latter is personally seeing, personally realizing, actually realizing; the former does not even count as sleepwalking—not even dreamed of—yet with two flapping lips and flying spittle, one lectures on and on, striking the pose of a great theorist, writing treatises, even building a reputation, when in fact one is nothing at all.
When the first Buddha practiced, there was no theory at all, no knowledge had been learned—on what basis did He become a Buddha? On the basis of truthful observation of the various phenomenal realms, direct perception observation, with attention to detail as fine as a hair, discovering the truth and reality behind the various phenomenal realms. Each truth discovered was summarized as a truth, forming theories to guide later people. Until the emptiness of both the Great and Small Vehicles was realized, continuing to empty, continuously emptying, emptying to the very end until there was nothing more to empty—then He became a Buddha.
Now the master has taught too much dharma, and the disciples have learned too much. Learning and learning, their minds have become lazy; when encountering problems, they directly apply learned theories, no longer willing to investigate and realize for themselves—theories have become the obstruction of the knowable (jñeya-āvaraṇa). Were those theories summarized by your own practice? Since they were not, how can you use them everywhere? The mouth keeps flapping away, but the legs cannot take a single step; the destination will never be reached, and arriving by mouth alone doesn't count. Theory is meant to guide the direction and methods of practice and realization, not for showing off, not for disguising oneself, nor as a means to obtain worldly empty dharmas and false dharmas. Falling into the golden pool of theory, one can also suffocate to death. The Buddha-dharma is not only good medicine; if used improperly or poorly, it becomes poison—illness upon illness.
Take the contemplation of the ring of fire as an example: what is truthful observation? Observe the ring of fire carefully and single-pointedly; just observe and gaze at it. In plain words, just stare at it. After meditative concentration appears, you will find the ring of fire somewhat unreal, not quite substantial. Continuing to observe, you will find the ring of fire no longer looks like a ring of fire. Observing further, you discover the ring of fire is actually a torch, or merely a burning match head—where is there any ring of fire? Finally, the torch and the match head are also contemplated as empty, contemplated as nonexistent. The principle is the same throughout.
The ring of fire is still the original ring of fire, the torch still the original torch; it is after the contemplative practitioner's meditative concentration appears, when the mind becomes subtle and wise, that the oddity and difference within is discovered. The mind's cognition has changed—emptied of dharmas, emptied of things, emptied of self, emptied of persons. Without meditative concentration, the mind is coarse and cognitive ability is low; what is seen are all illusions yet one does not know it, deceived by one's own vision—that is, deceived by one's own habitual cognition. In the past, one so resolutely believed everything was substantially existent, especially oneself. Observing to the end, one discovers that not a single dharma in the world is substantially existent—thus one has deceived oneself for countless kalpas. Should one not beat one's chest and stamp one's feet?
Contemplating the breath, contemplating the whiteness at the nose tip, contemplating embryonic breathing, contemplating the white skeleton, contemplating flowers and grass—whatever you contemplate, contemplate in this way, and the result will be like this. When you observe the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the dharma contemplated, that it is not real, is illusory, is empty, a small goal has been achieved. Do not add the mind consciousness's imaginings or theoretical analyses; whatever the mind consciousness analyzes is useless. The road must be walked with the feet. Confine the mind consciousness, don't let it stir up trouble; use the manas to observe directly, observe directly, observe simply; use the manas to directly see the Path—the mind consciousness cannot see the Path.
Looking at the cases of actual realization by sages, we know that however we analyze them, it is only similar understanding, not what is directly perceived, directly known, and directly experienced in direct perception. The state arrived at through analysis differs vastly from the actual state of direct perception—sometimes completely opposite. The analysis may sound perfectly logical, the words may be flowery and dazzling, but after actual realization one would say, "So that's how it is"—overturning all previous imaginings and cognition.
Being deep within the state of direct perception, personally seeing and personally experiencing, one may not necessarily be able to express it clearly and accurately; whereas in the mind consciousness's realm of non-valid cognition, although what is said sounds very reasonable, it is not actually so. It is like eating an apple: before eating, all kinds of analysis, looking up materials, writing all kinds of papers and expositions, talking grandly, every sentence brilliant. After eating, one knows what the taste of the apple actually is, what the feeling is like. Only then does one know what the true taste is, overturning previous cognition, and then burning the papers with a match—not a single sentence hit the mark, mere empty words.
What is the state of direct perception? Currently enjoying it, personally experiencing it, being within meditative absorption—no analysis needed, no deliberation needed, no imagination needed, no understanding needed—directly feeling it. Many people's so-called enlightenment has never directly felt even a tiny bit of the state of direct perception, has no personal experience whatsoever, no personal benefit whatsoever, relying entirely on mental imagination and understanding. So one must still do the work and actually realize. Before actual realization, do not take all the various analyses and understandings too seriously, still less regard what has been understood and analyzed as enlightenment. The two differ too greatly; they cannot be mentioned in the same breath. However much you learn, however much you deliberate, it is useless and of no benefit to actual realization. Better to directly do the work—then everything gained is real.
Seventeen: The Core of All Contemplative Practice Is Observing Only Without Conditions
Original text of the Śūramgama Sūtra of Ten Rebirths (十往生经)：尔时阿难白佛言。未闻观身之法。其事云何。唯愿说之。佛告阿难。夫观身之法者。不观东西。不观南北。不观四维上下。不观虚空。不观外缘。不观内缘。不观身色。不观色声。不观色像。唯观无缘。是为正真观身之法。除是观身。十方谛求。在在处处。更无别法而得解脱。
Explanation: Ānanda asked the Buddha about the method of contemplating the body—how should one contemplate the body? The Buddha replied: The method of contemplating the body is that, when contemplating the body, do not contemplate east, west, south, or north, the four intermediate directions, up or down; do not contemplate empty space; do not contemplate dharmas outside the body; do not contemplate dharmas inside the body; do not contemplate the form-appearance of the body; do not contemplate appearance and voice; do not contemplate the features of the form body. Regarding the form body, only observe simply; do not grasp at dharmas unrelated to the observation, such as using the mind consciousness to deliberate, analyze, imagine, speculate, infer, and judge the various dharmas inside and outside the form body. Achieve observing only without conditioning—this is the true and correct method of contemplative practice. Apart from this method of contemplating the body, if you sincerely search throughout the ten directions, no matter where you seek, you will find no other method that can attain liberation.
"Observing only without conditions"—these four characters are the core of all contemplative practice, containing an enormous amount of information, excluding a great many operations unrelated to contemplating the body. Those operations are all methods of mind-consciousness deliberation and analysis, not direct observation, correct observation, and pure observation. The mind consciousness grasps at conditions everywhere, thinking of east and west, south and north, roaming far and wide, yet all of it is unrelated to contemplating the body and is not the way to attain liberation. Excluding these functions of the mind consciousness is the manas's direct observation—the true contemplative practice, the contemplative practice that can attain liberation, the contemplative practice consistent with the four foundations of mindfulness, the contemplative practice of the twenty-five sages of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the contemplative practice of all sages and worthies, and likewise the contemplative practice of all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
The method has been explained very clearly, yet some people still cannot apply the effort. One reason is that they are too accustomed to using the mind consciousness—they cannot imagine how to observe without using it, do not know how to observe using the manas's direct observation. In short, once they leave the mind consciousness's functions, they are at a loss. There is no way to demonstrate this further; one can only rely on oneself to continuously ponder and practice in fine detail. During the practice, the mind consciousness may be used to deliberate and understand; after thorough understanding, one must do the work accordingly and practice contemplation.
Original text: 佛复告阿难。但自观身。善力自然。正念自然。解脱自然。何以故。譬如有人。精进直心。得正解脱。如是之人。不求解脱。解脱自至。
Explanation: The Buddha told Ānanda: You need only observe the body directly; the power of wholesome dharmas will arise naturally, right mindfulness will arise naturally, and liberation of the mind will appear naturally. Why is this said? For example, there is a person who cultivates diligently with a direct mind and attains correct liberation. Such a person, though the mind does not seek liberation, the fruit of liberation comes naturally—obtained without seeking.
The method of practice the Buddha taught is very clear: just observe, observe directly, do not indulge in wild thoughts, mentally filling in scenes, emotional sentiments and intellectual interpretations, adding many matters and twists and turns, which instead yields no power. Apply effort directly in contemplative practice without other thoughts or other musings. Just like the contemplative methods taught in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sūtra, practice contemplation truthfully; then the power of wholesome dharmas naturally arises, wholesome roots grow and mature, and the heat, summit, patience, and supreme worldly dharmas naturally appear. When the mind possesses right mindfulness and accords with the principle of the Four Noble Truths, body and mind are naturally liberated. Though the mind never sought liberation, liberation appears naturally.
This is the method of the manas applying effort in contemplative practice; all contemplative practice is like this—from the stage of the ordinary person to the stage of the equal-enlightenment bodhisattva, the Path is realized through such contemplative practice. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Sudhana, in the course of one lifetime, visited fifty-three good spiritual teachers; each good teacher taught one dharma gate, and Sudhana directly observed within meditative concentration until meditative absorption appeared—then that dharma gate was accomplished and completed. Then he went to visit the next good teacher. In this way, Sudhana cultivated from the stage of the ordinary person to the stage of equal enlightenment. Finally he visited the last good teacher, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, who taught him to make the ten great king vows, dedicating them toward the land of bliss (sukhāvatī), in hopes of perfecting the buddha fruit.
Since Sudhana cultivated to the stage of equal enlightenment using this direct observation method of the manas, we should not take another path, insistently adding the mind consciousness's wild imaginings, using opportunistic methods to obtain the true fruit of the Path. The fruit of the Path is not obtained with the mind consciousness; it is cultivated by the manas, the master, and obtained through direct observation. Therefore, in Buddhism there is no such saying as the mind consciousness realizing fruition or the mind consciousness seeing the mind and seeing the Path. Opportunistic methods using the mind consciousness should not be adopted or used; even if used, it is use in vain—you will not obtain the wholesome fruit, will not obtain the true fruit of liberation.
Eighteen: The Fruits of Knowing How to Actively Use the Manas
After a disciple learned to use the manas, work efficiency rapidly improved, and workload increased severalfold. Now, in doing anything, he no longer worries about methods—there are plenty of methods to be thought up. As soon as he keeps a matter in mind, he becomes engaged with it; then sitting down there, even just taking a nap, a pile of solutions will come. When methods for handling problems appear, they must be immediately written down or immediately put into practice, otherwise they are easily forgotten afterward. After implementation, things get better and better. Previously, not knowing how to use the manas, he was extremely worried when encountering matters, especially when work was busy, not knowing how to handle and resolve them, racking his brains.
The disciple has indeed had some realizations over these years of using the manas, but is not very good at summarizing them. Sometimes the methods, tricks, and inspirations the manas deliberates out are simply indescribably wonderful; he himself feels amazed, wondering how they came about.
Assessment: This shared experience is genuine, without a trace of the false or of intellectual interpretation. His meditative concentration is very good—he can enter concentration soon after sitting down. The mind consciousness's function is somewhat weaker, while the manas's function is powerful, truly able to produce wisdom for solving practical problems, including wisdom in the Buddha-dharma. As long as a problem enters the manas, the deliberation is very thorough.
After the mind consciousness throws out a problem, it no longer thinks about it, leaving it suspended in the manas's mind, letting the manas deliberate secretly. The manas will silently, without show or sound, deliberate, and the result appears naturally. When the mind consciousness becomes aware of this result, there is a sudden understanding. At this time, one discovers that although the mind consciousness is not thinking, one still feels a force of mindfulness and thinking power operating—this is the manas's hidden way of secretly deliberating the problem. As to how deep and how long the deliberation is, and what the result is, multiple factors determine it.
The prerequisite for being able to actively use the manas and let it deliberate is that one must calm the mind and must have meditative concentration. The deeper the meditative concentration, the more powerful the manas's deliberative function, and the more astonishing the results. If one has preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) or first-dhyāna concentration, it becomes relatively much easier for the manas to deliberate on the Buddha-dharma, to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), and to see the mind and see nature. If meditative concentration is insufficient, it feels as if the manas is deliberating, but actually the mind consciousness has not ceased and also participates in the thinking; the result then contains elements of the mind consciousness's analysis and inference, and the result is not very real.
Learning to apply this skill will bring great achievements in both worldly dharma and world-transcending dharma, possessing unique great wisdom, able to handle various affairs well, with doubled efficiency and remarkable results. This skill can be cultivated starting from elementary school. Once the skill is mastered, it is not merely twice the result with half the effort—self-learning ability may increase severalfold. Every industry will produce outstanding talents. Such original, creative talents can never be caught up with or replaced by robots.
Nineteen: The Wondrous States of Knowing How to Use the Manas
I have a disciple who learned to use the manas. Whenever he encounters a problem, wisdom gushes forth, and solutions emerge one after another. As the solutions appear, he has to immediately go solve the problems, implementing one plan after another, resulting in working day and night without stopping, until his body can no longer bear it. Because after wisdom appears, if the thoughts in the mind are not implemented, those ideas may be forgotten afterward, which would be a pity. After solving one problem, the thinking broadens, another idea appears, and he must again implement that idea to solve another problem. Going on like this, he has to work continuously, becoming a workaholic. Although work efficiency has increased severalfold, his body cannot sustain it.
So I gave him advice: henceforth, whenever gushing sparks of thought and wisdom appear, immediately record them with your phone; just record them with concise language, or even just with a few keywords. Because these are ideas that arose in your own head (in the manas's mind), when you open the records later and the mind consciousness browses through them, you will recall the general content, the train of thought will reappear, and the wisdom resources will not be wasted.
There is another disciple who, after studying the dharma with me a few years ago, went abroad to study and work. In only fifteen months, he completed nearly five years' worth of work and study tasks, and signed a ten-year contract. This is all because he learned to use the manas, with wisdom for handling problems growing rapidly, exceeding the work and study tasks. It can be seen that the manas's potential is enormous; the only fear is that the mind consciousness and physical energy cannot keep up, and the body cannot sustain it.
I teach the dharma using this very method. For a piece of dharma meaning, as long as the mind settles down and immerses in it, various ideas and thoughts keep gushing out. Sometimes the body is fatigued and the mind consciousness cannot keep up, so there is no way to form all the trains of thought into written records. Forming all the thoughts in the mind into text also consumes much vital energy and blood, and for me, vital energy and blood are precious resources that must be used sparingly. So I have no choice but to record only fragments, or only keywords; when I open and look at them later, the train of thought reappears. But because there are too many recorded fragments, there is simply no time to organize them, while new ideas keep appearing; the old records have piled up for years without the energy to process them. So I can no longer respond to the questions of the various disciples, otherwise it would be endless, and no dharma could be formed into text and published.
Knowing how to use the manas, there truly is inexhaustible wisdom. The manas never rests, but the mind consciousness's energy falls far short; text and language cannot keep up with the manas's thoughts, and wisdom cannot be formed into text—which is also a pity. Such is the brilliance of the mind: self-benefit is no problem, but enabling others to benefit meets with obstacles. Yet this is still far better than a brilliant mind consciousness with a manas lacking wisdom. A brilliant mind consciousness can talk eloquently and dazzlingly, but the reality may not be so at all.
It can be seen that the mind consciousness and the manas are not necessarily in harmony. Some things we can sometimes do, yet although we can do them, we cannot summarize and generalize them; if we must form them into language and text to express them, it appears very difficult, or there is no time and energy to form them into language and text. For example, the great arhat Cūḍapanthaka: his manas's realization and virtue were extremely high, yet he could not express them in language and text to benefit sentient beings—this is a deficiency of the mind consciousness's wisdom. The manas accomplished it, but the mind consciousness could not explain it clearly or express it—able to do but not able to say. Conversely, some people are the opposite: the mind consciousness talks dazzlingly, but the manas cannot move a single step—able to say but not able to do. And the buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to long-term liberation and transformation of sentient beings, can both do and say; the manas and mind consciousness work in coordination, mastering both the essential truth (zong) and the teachings (jiao)—the essential truth is the manas's wisdom, the teachings are the mind consciousness's wisdom, and both wisdoms are profound.
Judging from the wisdom states derived from the manas, after the manas's wisdom is opened up and fully stimulated, it is not inferior or weak; on the contrary, it is very vigorous, while the mind consciousness appears somewhat inferior and weak, unable to keep up with the manas's rhythm. Language and text cannot describe the manas's meditative absorption states, and often cannot even understand the manas's states. Moreover, as practice deepens continuously, the manas's wisdom grows ever deeper, until finally it is so deep that it completely replaces the functions and roles of the six consciousnesses, extinguishing the six consciousnesses and not using them—one performing the work of seven. How powerful must such functional wisdom be—so powerful that the mind consciousness can no longer even be called inferior or weak. To those from ancient times to the present who say the manas's wisdom is inferior, seeing such facts, what thoughts do they have? Do they still remain obstinately unenlightened, stubbornly clinging to the theories concocted by the deficient mind consciousness's deliberation? Later, the states of actual realization of the various sages will be used to shatter these false and deficient ideas and views.
