Mental Factors of the Mind base\: A Practical Compass (Second Edition) (with over 30,000 additional words, reorganized)
Section 5: The Mental Factor of Meditative Concentration (2)
Sixteen: Only When the Manas Has Meditative Concentration Can Wisdom Arise
The secret of cultivating meditative concentration lies in the manas; the target is the manas, and the purpose is the manas — it is to subdue the manas and to bring its functions into play. When the mind consciousness gathers the mind at one point, it forces the manas to attend (manasikāra) to that one point; when the mind consciousness is not scattered, the manas is also not scattered. When the six consciousnesses are not scattered, they engage in less discrimination and do not disturb the manas, allowing the manas to concentrate its attention. When the mind consciousness deliberates in a detailed and clear manner, the content of its deliberation is transmitted to the manas; the manas can focus its attention on the dharmas that the mind consciousness is contemplating and practicing (vipaśyanā-caryā). When the manas is not scattered, it can also deliberation (manasikāra/manana) on these dharmas single-mindedly, and only thus can the dharma be realized.
The Buddha used the four foundations of mindfulness (smṛtyupasthāna) to have us cultivate meditative concentration; the principle is that through the attention of the mind consciousness, the manas is made to attend, without distraction, to the object that the mind consciousness attends to. For example, the manas keeps attending to the breathing and walking of the physical body faculty, without attending to or grasping at anything else. Only then can it deliberation (manasikāra/manana) single-mindedly on the dharmas discriminated by the mind consciousness, and sudden enlightenment and wisdom can arise. Sudden enlightenment refers to the enlightenment of the manas; gradually understanding the principles bit by bit is the result of the mind consciousness analyzing bit by bit.
Visualizing a very interesting realm ties the manas to that visualization; the mind calms down, the energy channels flow, the psychological feeling is comfortable, and the manas becomes even more interested; then focusing on the dharma and attaining meditative concentration is no problem. The mind consciousness is very clever; it has no problem contemplating and analyzing a dharma; the key is making the manas understand, which is difficult. The manas must also not let its attention scatter, must deliberation (manasikāra/manana) single-mindedly, and finally arrive at its own conclusion; then there is a sudden great awakening and realization of the dharma, and the body and mind subsequently manifest various states of meditative absorption (samādhi), all presented by the manas.
Seventeen: All Meditative Concentration Is the Concentration of the Manas
When one enters the cessation of perception and feeling (saṃjñā-veditā-nirodha), the mind consciousness ceases, yet the manas is still operating. Is this concentration the concentration of the manas or of the mind consciousness? At this time the manas is still turning, and there are still the mental factors of attention (manasikāra), contact (sparśa), and volition (cetanā); as long as the volition mental factor operates, states will appear. If the manas does not attend, contact, or deliberate, the physical body would collapse and enter nirvāṇa; therefore, when the manas is in the cessation of perception and feeling, it is still turning. But the concentration at this time is definitely the concentration of the manas, not of the mind consciousness, because the mind consciousness has disappeared. If a consciousness that has disappeared could still have concentration, then after falling asleep there should also be concentration.
When the six consciousnesses do not appear, and the manas's mental activity neither receives nor wants — this is precisely meditative concentration; less operation is concentration. In the cessation of perception and feeling and in the concentration of no perception (asaṃjñā-samāpatti), the six consciousnesses are not manifest — then who is in concentration? It is certainly the concentration of the manas. In the concentration of no perception and the cessation of perception and feeling there are no six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses have all ceased — so how could the six consciousnesses be concentrated and abide in the concentration of no perception or the cessation of perception and feeling? Clearly this is impossible. If there are no six consciousnesses, yet the six consciousnesses still have concentration — how could that be? Being unconscious, with no six consciousnesses, would be entering concentration — then shall we all go unconscious? Being asleep, with no six consciousnesses, would be entering concentration — then we might as well all just sleep, without sitting in meditation to enter concentration.
If the manas has no concentration, its grasping nature remains as before, and all dharmas can appear in full — could the six consciousnesses then quiet down? We sit quietly wanting to enter concentration and contemplate the Buddha-dharma, but the manas wants to listen to birdsong, wants to admire the scenery, wants to discriminate the people, affairs, and things of the past; the six consciousnesses then discriminate in a chaotic manner — how could one quiet down and contemplate the Buddha-dharma? Can the six consciousnesses enter concentration? That is impossible. Therefore it is said that all concentration is the concentration of the manas; only by fixing the manas in concentration can the six consciousnesses quietly contemplate.
The manas is the turning consciousness, the leading dragon of all dharmas. If the manas is not fixed in concentration, all dharmas will appear unstoppably, and the six consciousnesses will be dragged along everywhere discriminating and acting — how could there be concentration? Concentration means concentrating the master, concentrating the commander-in-chief; what use is there in concentrating the servant or the soldiers? For example, if you want to stop and park a car, you can only stop the driver, having him step on the brake; what use is stopping the co-driver sitting beside the driver? Can the car be stopped that way? If you want to stop a thief from stealing, you can only stop the thief; what use is stopping unrelated people? Since the manas is called the turning consciousness, and all dharmas are turned out by He, then concentration must be the concentration of the manas. Only when the manas is concentrated will He not turn out unnecessary dharmas, and the mind can be stilled. The manas turns out the six consciousnesses; concentrating the six consciousnesses without concentrating the manas is useless — the six consciousnesses will still be turned out by the manas as before.
In summary, concentration is the concentration of the manas; the purpose of cultivating concentration is to concentrate the manas; only thus can there be concentration, and all dharmas can fail to appear. If the manas can be held in check, all dharmas can be accomplished. If the manas cannot be held in check, there will be transmigration through the six destinies. Therefore there is not a single dharma that does not belong to the manas.
Eighteen: Entering and Exiting Concentration Is Determined by the Manas
Concentration is divided into many kinds, with many levels; concentrations of different levels perform different functions, differing only in the magnitude of their effects. The cessation of perception and feeling is a concentration entered by the manas. In the four dhyānas and the four formless absorptions, the mind consciousness still exists, so it can be said that the mind consciousness has concentration. In the cessation of perception and feeling, the mind consciousness has already ceased; only the manas and the eighth consciousness remain. If one says the manas has no concentration, the cessation of perception and feeling could not be called concentration. To say the manas has no concentration makes no sense; even the concentration of the mind consciousness, the concentration of the six consciousnesses, is the result of the manas being concentrated; otherwise the six consciousnesses absolutely could not be concentrated.
Entering and exiting concentration are both determined by the manas. When the manas gradually no longer grasps and no longer attends, the six consciousnesses settle down, and one enters concentration. Entering the concentration of no perception, the six consciousnesses cease; only the manas and the eighth consciousness remain, and the manas still clings to the physical body. If the manas decides to empty the physical body, one enters the cessation of perception and feeling. Who enters the cessation of perception and feeling? It is also the manas that enters it; the six consciousnesses have all ceased and no longer exist, so it is not the six consciousnesses entering the cessation of perception and feeling. Nor is it the eighth consciousness entering it, because the eighth consciousness neither enters nor exits concentration; His own mind is never scattered and never concentrated, without thought, without perception, without proclamation; His mind-substance operates within all dharmas, yet is always in concentration.
In the cessation of perception and feeling and the concentration of no perception, how is the time of exiting concentration determined, and how does one exit? Since in both concentrations there are no six consciousnesses, who exits concentration? In a concentration without the six consciousnesses, only the manas can be in concentration; exiting concentration must be the manas exiting, and then making decisions and acting. The eighth consciousness is neither inside nor outside concentration, and concentration is not about concentrating the eighth consciousness; therefore concentration must be the concentration of the manas, and exiting concentration is also the manas exiting. Before entering concentration, the mind consciousness tells the manas to exit concentration at five o'clock tomorrow; when five o'clock arrives the next day, the manas's mind stirs punctually, deciding to discriminate states, and the six consciousnesses exit concentration and begin to grasp at the related six sense objects, because the manas, for the sake of survival, must act this way.
Nineteen: The Concentration of the Six Consciousnesses Is Induced by the Manas
When the eyes do not move and stare straight at one spot, whose concentration is this? What induces it, and why does it happen this way? When the eyes stare straight at a certain place, the eye consciousness is certainly concentrated, and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) is also concentrated; the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) does not appear — if it appears, it counts as distraction, also called "monkey mind and horse will." This concentration is the manas fixing the eye consciousness and mind consciousness on the place the manas attends to; it is induced by the manas's attention, the result of the manas attending to this one place. The tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the eye consciousness to discriminate only this one place, not two or three places. If the manas attends to multiple material sense objects, the tathāgatagarbha will necessarily give rise to the eye consciousness and mind consciousness at multiple places, and the eye consciousness will then dart about everywhere.
When the mind consciousness is in focused, settled contemplation, this is the concentration of the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta); the eye faculty may be contacting some material sense object, but the eye consciousness and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses do not discriminate. This concentration is also facilitated by the manas; the manas wants to understand a problem, so it lets the mind consciousness concentrate in settled contemplation, without seeing, hearing, or attending to other things. Therefore only when the manas is focused can the six consciousnesses be focused and unmoving; the six consciousnesses are mobilized and commanded by the manas.
Children with hyperactivity disorder, due to lack of concentration, generally do not study well; likewise, if the mind is scattered in learning Buddhism, one cannot cultivate well. When doing arithmetic problems, whether the manas's energy is focused or not produces different results; on the surface it appears as the mind consciousness's focus or lack thereof, but whether the mind consciousness is focused is determined by the manas; only when the manas is concentrated can the mind consciousness focus. With different depths of the manas's meditative concentration, the deliberative ability, intelligence, and performance differ, and the results differ. Poets composing poems and painting, concentrating in quiet contemplation, pacing and pondering — this is the same as the effort of investigating Chan. Only with concentration can there be wisdom; for the great matter of learning Buddhism, without concentration it absolutely cannot be accomplished, and shallow concentration also cannot solve the problem.
Twenty: Only When the Manas Does Not Grasp Can Thoughts Concentrate
Because the manas universally grasps at all dharmas, its discriminative wisdom certainly cannot be detailed. If we grasp at very many things, the mind consciousness is dispersed and unfocused, and discrimination likewise cannot be detailed; the power of wise discrimination is also very poor. Therefore, when we need to clarify a problem, we should concentrate our thoughts on the problem that needs thinking about; then the mind consciousness has concentration. With concentration, contemplation of the problem can be detailed, wisdom can arise, and the problem is solved. When thinking about a problem, pacing in the room can be called walking Chan; it is also a form of cultivating concentration and investigating, combining concentration and wisdom.
Twenty-One: Inconsistency Between Words and Deeds Is Due to Lack of Meditative Concentration
Some people's mind consciousness can sound lofty to the point of the realm of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, yet the manas's cultivation still remains at the level of an ordinary person. Why such a great difference? It is because they never cultivate meditative concentration, never contemplate carefully within concentration to perfume the manas; the manas's wisdom cannot keep up with what the mind consciousness understands, and all of its bodily, verbal, and mental actions correspond to the manas's ignorance; what the mind consciousness says can never be done.
This shows that meditative concentration is extremely important. Meditative concentration is the platform for communication between the mind consciousness and the manas; meditative concentration is the bridge by which the mind consciousness transmits theoretical knowledge to the manas; meditative concentration is the channel by which the mind consciousness provides data to the manas; meditative concentration is the venue where the mind consciousness submits evidence to the manas; meditative concentration is the indispensable nourishment for the manas to be perfumed and to understand principles; meditative concentration is the calming pill for subduing the manas.
The three untainted studies of discipline, concentration, and wisdom spoken by the Buddha have extremely important significance. The Buddha does not deceive us; the Buddha is one who speaks as it is, speaks truthfully, and speaks without discrepancy; the Buddha is the integrator of great wisdom, immeasurable wisdom, and unsurpassed wisdom. Trusting and accepting the Buddha's words, one will certainly become a Buddha.
Twenty-Two: Recollection of the Buddha Samādhi Is Accomplished by the Manas
Recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) has three levels. The shallowest level is the mind consciousness reciting the Buddha's name alone, with the manas not engaged in recollection; this is scattered-mind recollection that is mere formality, recollection for show, not true recollection; there is no resonance with the Buddhas, and the merit of recollection is small. The next level is the manas and mind consciousness reciting together; there is shallow concentration, a half-gathered-mind recollection, and there can be slight resonance with the Buddhas. The deepest level is the manas reciting alone; the recollection is relatively sincere, there is resonance with the Buddhas, it can induce recollection of the Buddha samādhi, and the merit of recollection is great.
When the mind consciousness recites the Buddha's name but the manas does not like reciting, the mind is rather scattered; while reciting, one can also watch TV, converse, and have wandering thoughts, mixing in many things. When the manas recites, one can recite even while sleeping, even while dreaming, even while working, even while thinking about problems; one can recite while doing anything, and recollection of the Buddha samādhi can appear. Therefore recollection of the Buddha samādhi is certainly initiated by the manas; when the manas can keep every thought on reciting the Buddha at all times, uninterrupted, with meditative concentration, the body and mind experience tranquility (praśama) and there is a feeling of joy.
Someone participated in a million-recitation Buddha-name retreat, reciting the Buddha's name one million times in a week, holding a strand of 1080 beads in hand; after completing one round, he would move one bead on a 108-bead strand, continuously moving beads with both hands while the Buddha's name continuously flowed from his mouth. At the same time he could watch TV, offer opinions, watch others work, and sometimes even get angry — truly busy. But what use is reciting the Buddha's name this way? With the manas grasping everywhere, the mind consciousness can only recite for show, without any focus. This shows that only by subduing the manas can there be recollection concentration and recollection of the Buddha samādhi; concentration is still the concentration of the manas — concentrating the mind consciousness does not solve the problem.
Twenty-Three: Only When the Manas Is Concentrated Can the Six Consciousnesses Settle Down
Question: The manas silently contains all dharmas — can "silently contains" be understood as passive acceptance? For example, with the sound sense object among the six sense objects, if a sound is grating to the ear, even if one does not want to hear it there is no way to avoid it, unless one removes the condition of the sound sense object, or the manas's attention is placed on other content.
Answer: The meaning of the manas silently containing all dharmas is that the manas, following the tathāgatagarbha, can perceive all dharmas and know all dharmas. On all dharmas there is not only the operation of the eighth consciousness but also the operation of the manas; the operations of these two consciousnesses are extremely deep and subtle. It is called deep and subtle because the mind consciousness's meditative concentration and wisdom are insufficient to observe the subtle and ever subtler operations of these two consciousnesses; hence it is said that the dharmas of the manas and the tathāgatagarbha are deep and subtle, and the operations of the consciousnesses are even subtler.
It is the mind consciousness that does not want to hear sounds and wants to distance itself from them; when the manas learns of this wish of the mind consciousness, the manas decides to place its attention on other dharmas. It is the six consciousnesses that passively accept states; because of the manas's habitual discriminative power, the mind consciousness cannot subdue it and has no choice but to discriminate some states it does not wish to discriminate. The situation of the manas passively accepting states is this: the six sense objects and non-six-sense-object states manifested by the tathāgatagarbha in accordance with ripened karmic seeds — the manas must passively accept and discriminate them; many of these are adverse conditions and adversity, and some are the karmic retribution of wholesome karma.
When the mind consciousness wants to enter concentration and does not want to receive the six sense objects, but the manas has not been subdued, it will constantly make the six consciousnesses discriminate the states the manas finds interesting, or the states the manas habitually grasps at, and the six consciousnesses must follow the manas in continuous discrimination. Then the mind consciousness must continuously draw the manas to concentrate on the dharma that the mind consciousness wants to contemplate and practice; when the manas is persuaded and subdued by the mind consciousness, the manas reduces grasping and discrimination and concentrates on the six sense objects that need focused discrimination, and only then can the six consciousnesses enter concentration. In fact, it is still the manas that has concentration first, and only then can the six consciousnesses settle down.
Twenty-Four: The Manas and Meditative Concentration Are the Key to Cultivation
After sitting quietly contemplating and practicing, one's energy becomes more and more abundant, and one finally escapes dullness — this is a good sign. Being able to continue contemplating and practicing after rising from the seat shows that the manas has formed a habit of contemplation and can apply effort diligently; this is the result of meditative concentration. Any cultivation that involves meditative concentration and the manas will be effective and produce results, and cultivation will be grounded in the root. If there is no meditative concentration in cultivation, then there is no connection to the manas, no perfuming of the manas, no grounding in the manas; the seven factors of enlightenment cannot manifest, there will be no true diligence, and the Buddha-dharma cannot be realized.
The key points of both worldly and world-transcending dharmas all lie in the manas; therefore, apart from the manas, there is nothing worth discussing. The ultimate nature, essence, and root of all dharmas are the tathāgatagarbha and the manas; discussing anything else is too superficial. Cultivation must also be cultivated on the manas; cultivating only to the mind consciousness is too shallow — one cannot transcend the desire realm, cannot escape the three evil destinies, and will remain forever under the demon king's control. Therefore the dharma of meditative concentration and the manas is the dharma the demon king most dreads and fears; he fears that Buddhist practitioners will gain meditative concentration and the ability to transcend the desire realm, fears that practitioners will cultivate to the manas, realize the Buddha-dharma, and escape his control. Therefore he tries by every means to prevent practitioners from cultivating concentration and from realizing the dharma. If we want liberation and not to be controlled by the demon of the desire realm, we must diligently cultivate meditative concentration and strive to make the manas cultivate, so as to realize bodhi soon and walk the path of liberation.
Twenty-Five: How to Make the Manas Keep the Dharma Constantly in Mind
For a dharma to penetrate deep into the mind, one must enter deep meditative concentration, employ both śamatha and vipaśyanā together, and contemplate frequently within concentration; then uninterrupted attention (manasikāra) will form, and the dharma will be constantly kept in mind. The manas will firmly hang onto this dharma, secretly investigating it, and one day one will thoroughly comprehend this dharma. If meditative concentration is lacking, the dharma's meaning cannot penetrate deep into the mind, a questioning doubt cannot form, there will be no breakthrough, and the substantive content cannot be investigated out. Therefore only by cultivating meditative concentration can the manas be fully perfumed; only when the manas has meditative concentration can wisdom arise and the Buddha-dharma be realized.
Twenty-Six: The Mark of Arising and Ceasing of the Six Consciousnesses Is the Result of the Manas's Restless Activity
From the standpoint of marks, the first six consciousnesses constantly arise and cease and change; even in the daytime under normal conditions, they constantly arise from one dharma and cease from another, then cease from this dharma and arise from another. The nature of the six consciousnesses is thus constant arising and ceasing, with no concentration at all. Why do the six consciousnesses arise and cease on various dharmas? It is caused by the fluctuation of the manas's thinking, the constant shifting of the dharmas the manas attends to, and the manas's lack of settledness. If the manas is subdued and the mind is not scattered, the manas's thoughts will no longer jump about ceaselessly; it will settle on one or several dharmas, and the six consciousnesses will also not be scattered, will not arise and discriminate everywhere, and will not jump around.
Twenty-Seven: Samādhi States Are Induced by the Manas
Observe a Buddha statue for ten seconds, then look at a white wall, and an image of the statue will appear, but the image disappears after a moment. How does this state appear? This is the phenomenon of visual persistence; it is the memory function of the eye consciousness and mind consciousness, which has not yet penetrated to the manas; the manas has not yet remembered it. If the manas remembers it, such images will appear for a long time. If the eye consciousness and mind consciousness observe for a long time, they will influence the manas; once the manas remembers, images will appear anytime and anywhere — this is a samādhi state. Visual persistence dominated by the eye consciousness is brief; visual persistence dominated by the mind consciousness lasts longer, and one can still see it after closing and reopening the eyes.
What is photographic memory? Content memorized by the mind consciousness alone is forgotten before long, whereas things memorized by the manas are hard to forget, and may even arise in awareness involuntarily, or even become impossible to dispel. Photographic memory is the manas's deep concentration, such that momentary memory is very firm; if the manas's concentration is shallow, what is memorized is also quickly forgotten. Therefore all states of concentration are induced by the manas; the mind consciousness cannot induce lasting states of concentration and can only manifest some state very briefly. If we want to accomplish various samādhis, we must penetrate to the manas and have the manas induce the states.
The power of environmental conditioning is great. If someone near you stutters and you keep watching him speak, you may gradually be conditioned into a bit of stuttering yourself. Appearance, lifestyle, and habits are the same. Even emotions are contagious; we should associate more with optimistic, positive, uplifting people with positive energy, and we ourselves can be infected with optimism and a positive, enterprising spirit. Hence the saying: near vermillion one becomes red, near ink one becomes black. We must associate more with wholesome dharmas and wholesome people; only if we have the ability should we approach unwholesome people to deliver them.
If one frequently observes a Buddha statue, meditative concentration arises and the manas remembers it — see whether that image always appears before your eyes? If we can make the Buddha statue appear before our eyes, then can we cultivate concentration? Can we cultivate recollection of the Buddha samādhi? Can we cultivate the contemplation of the white bones? Can we cultivate the Contemplation of the Sutra of Visualizing Immeasurable Life? Visualizing the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) in the West, the mind consciousness practices diligently until the manas reaches non-forgetting; at the time of death, regardless of what state appears, as long as the mind thinks of the land of bliss, the manas can abide in the land of bliss, the land of bliss will appear, and rebirth there is certain. When practicing diligently, whose diligence is effective? The manas's diligence is effective; only the manas's diligence is true diligence. If we want the image of the land of bliss to appear, then let the manas recite the Buddha's name, with the manas and mind consciousness visualizing the land of bliss together.
Twenty-Eight: The Relationship Between the Manas and Samādhi States
When the contemplation of the white bones is cultivated to the end, the samādhi of white-bone contemplation is accomplished; with eyes open or closed, one sees one's own and others' physical bodies as all white bones. This belongs to the material form of concentration-retribution (dhyāna-vipāka-rūpa); others cannot see it; only one who has cultivated this samādhi state can see it. Such a state of concentration comes about through the mind consciousness's long-term visualization successfully perfuming the manas; the manas then regards the physical body as being in the form of white bones, and the tathāgatagarbha will manifest the appearance of white bones; the mind consciousness can see the white-bone appearance anytime and anywhere, and the visualization is accomplished.
Therefore all states of concentration and samādhi are the result of the mind consciousness's visualization successfully perfuming and changing the manas — that is, they are accomplished by the manas. Only when the manas has been perfumed and has meditative concentration can the samādhi state appear. The mind consciousness easily accepts various theories, but the manas, because its afflictive obstruction (kleśāvaraṇa) and habits are deep, has difficulty accepting principles — this is what makes cultivation difficult. Each sentient being's manas has a different degree of ignorance and different habits; the thinner the ignorance, the faster the cultivation, the easier meditative concentration arises, the easier one enters samādhi, and the easier one realizes the dharma. When the white-bone contemplation is accomplished, the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) regarding the body is eradicated, the body is denied as self, greed is subdued, one no longer clings to the body, and one gains a measure of liberation.
The accomplishment of the sun visualization is the same, and so is the accomplishment of all contemplative practices and all states of concentration. When the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure; this is how bodhisattvas accomplish a pure Buddha-land — it cannot be separated from the mind consciousness, from the manas, from the tathāgatagarbha, from states of concentration, from the accomplishment of samādhi.
Twenty-Nine: Various Visualization States Are Accomplished by the Manas
Question: When this disciple visualizes the setting sun, I feel my eyes becoming warm, and there is a faint sensation of yellowish light, but without a clear outline — just a vague blob of light. What is the reason for this?
Answer: This is the result of the manas's attention; the manas attends with the wish to see the setting sun, with attention between the eyebrows; over time the eyes feel warm, and when the mind consciousness recalls the radiance of the setting sun, it seems as if there is light before the eyes. Whatever the manas thinks of, the tathāgatagarbha accords with and manifests, and we have it; our five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are imagined forth by the manas. For example, pointing at a stone and turning it to gold: originally there is no gold before the eyes, but when the manas, in extremely strong meditative concentration, insists on producing gold, the tathāgatagarbha has no choice but to produce gold for you. We originally do not have a trichiliocosm (trisāhasra-mahāsāhasra-lokadhātu), but when an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva's concentration and wisdom are both very powerful and the manas wants a trichiliocosm, the tathāgatagarbha accords and produces a trichiliocosm out of thin air.
Therefore all dharmas are created by the mind alone: one meaning is that the tathāgatagarbha directly creates and produces for us; but on what basis does the tathāgatagarbha create? It creates according to the manas's thinking. Seizing hold of the manas's thinking, one can have one's wishes fulfilled: if the manas thinks of good things, good things are created; if the manas thinks of bad things, bad things are created. For example, if the manas has greed, hatred, and delusion, the tathāgatagarbha creates the birth-and-death suffering of transmigration through the six destinies. Is the mind consciousness's thinking useful? The mind consciousness's thinking is useful only if it influences the manas so that the manas also has the same thinking; if it does not make the manas think likewise, the mind consciousness's thinking has no effect — such is the principle. What about our illnesses? If the body truly has cancer, and the manas considers it no big deal, with the mind relaxed and empty, the cancer disappears: when your mind considers it nonexistent, the tathāgatagarbha withdraws the four great elements of that cancer, and the cancer is gone. All dharmas arise from mental thinking — such is the principle.
Visualizing the setting sun, thinking of the setting sun — in the future a samādhi state is accomplished; with eyes open or closed there is the setting sun, as if real — this is manifested by the tathāgatagarbha in accordance with the manas's thinking. The key is how to turn the mind consciousness's thinking into the manas's thinking; once the manas's thinking becomes unbreakable, the scenery of the setting sun is before the eyes at every moment. All samādhi states are cultivated this way; having accomplished one, one can accomplish two or three, even four or five — endless samādhis will appear, and the world itself changes.
Thirty: Only in Meditative Concentration Can the Manas Change Everything
When using the self-suggestion method to contemplate the Buddha-dharma, the mind consciousness often has to suggest to the manas: the five aggregates are false, all dharmas are false, all are the functions of the tathāgatagarbha. At a certain point, the manas will accept this, and perhaps the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) can be eradicated, thereby unleashing one's potential and changing oneself. This kind of suggestion is similar to self-hypnosis: adjusting oneself to a relatively quiet and tranquil state, a state in which one can hear the inner voice — then one can give oneself suggestions.
Slowly and with cadence, recite the above content on eradicating the view of self, perfuming the manas, and give the manas a certain buffer time to receive the information, organize its thoughts, and contemplate the dharma meanings within the information. This requires a certain amount of time and a specific environmental setting — that is, making the manas not attend to other matters and focus only on the guided content; the mind must be tranquil, stable, and peaceful, able to fully accept the mind consciousness's guidance. If wherever the mind consciousness guides, the manas can contemplate, then the manas is relatively obedient and has been preliminarily perfumed, though not yet finally successful. The key lies in whether the mind consciousness can observe the manas's reactions, whether it has experience in guiding, and whether it truly understands the principle of non-self. Such guided hypnosis can be repeated many times at suitable times and in suitable settings; as long as the mind consciousness is fluent in the theory, knows how to observe the manas, knows how to guide the manas, and can maintain a steady and tranquil state, then after a certain period of time the view of self can be eradicated.
This state of guidance and hypnosis can be called a state of concentration; this state can change the manas's thinking and thereby bring its functions into play. Why is the manas's change related to concentration? Why is bringing the manas's functions into play related to concentration? Why is changing oneself related to concentration? Why is the accomplishment of all dharmas related to concentration? Why is eradicating afflictions related to concentration?
Because in concentration, the six consciousnesses operate less; the manas can discriminate and respond to the six consciousnesses less, its energy is focused, it can think single-mindedly, its deliberation (manasikāra/manana) is strong, it can recognize the truth of facts, recognize truth, and give rise to wisdom; then the mind has power, and there can be a very strong and correct power of decision, whereby afflictions can be subdued, oneself can be changed, and even all dharmas can be changed. Otherwise, even though the mind consciousness clearly knows something is an affliction, it cannot be subdued, because the manas's mental power is insufficient and it cannot recognize that it is an affliction; He cannot possibly decide to change Himself. When the manas is in a state without concentration, He can attend to all dharmas — especially the dharmas of the six sense objects must all be grasped at; mental power is unfocused, He cannot deliberation (manasikāra/manana) single-mindedly, cannot recognize truth and facts, and thus cannot make correct decisions. After cultivating concentration, the manas attends to fewer dharmas, His contemplation is deep and subtle, and His power of decision is great. All dharmas are changed within concentration; all dharmas are changed with the manas as the master and the tathāgatagarbha doing the changing. In meditative concentration, the mind consciousness's superficial thinking is controlled, and the manas, with His powerful functions, can change all dharmas.
Why does the manas possess potential? Why does inspiration come from the manas? Because the manas has experienced countless lifetimes; He knows too many things, unlike the mind consciousness, which corresponds only to this life's experiences. Since beginningless kalpas, the manas has always existed, accumulating endless experience; like an old horse knowing the way, He knows everything. Mobilizing the manas, sparking inspiration, drawing on His rich experience from beginningless kalpas — and He can also be the master — then nothing cannot be accomplished; everywhere one goes one prospers, and one is invincible.
Thirty-One: Without Meditative Concentration, the Manas's Discriminative Wisdom Is Low
Why is the manas's discriminative wisdom inferior? Because He universally grasps at all dharmas — He grasps at every dharma, attends to every dharma, receives every dharma, grasps (upādāna) every dharma, deliberation (manasikāra/manana) on every dharma — so His attention is extremely dispersed, unfocused, uncollected, unable to concentrate attention on any dharma. He grasps at all dharmas; when the consciousnesses are diverted into too many streams, meditative concentration cannot appear; without meditative concentration there is no very clear discriminative wisdom, and He cannot discriminate any dharma clearly.
The more dispersed the mind consciousnesses, the less clear the discrimination. From this principle, without concentration there is no wisdom. The mind consciousness cannot grasp everywhere and discriminate everywhere like the manas; it cannot be interested in every dharma and invest energy in everything — if it did, wisdom would also be very shallow, and nothing would be understood clearly. Understanding the manas's nature, one knows that the mind consciousness should not grasp everywhere, should not act everywhere, but should learn to focus; only thus can wisdom arise. But the mind consciousness's broad interests are still caused by the manas grasping everywhere; whether the manas has concentration determines whether the mind consciousness has concentration — cultivating concentration must still focus effort on the manas.
Then, for the mind consciousness to have concentration, what should be done? One must subdue the manas, persuade and educate the manas, telling Him: this dharma is false, that dharma is subject to arising and ceasing, this is empty, that is non-self. Gradually the manas comes to know and accept this principle, and will deliberation (manasikāra/manana): since all are empty, arising-and-ceasing, and non-self, why should I still cling to these? He then does not attend to many dharmas; attention is no longer dispersed, and the mind consciousness can focus.
Why is it that when the manas is subdued, the mind consciousness has meditative concentration? Because as long as the manas grasps at some dharma, attends to some dharma, or deliberation (manasikāra/manana) on some dharma, the eighth consciousness will give rise to the mind consciousness, following the manas to grasp at, attend to, discriminate, and deliberation (manasikāra/manana) on that dharma. Thus the mind consciousness is dragged around everywhere by the manas, and of course there is no concentration. Without meditative concentration, the mind consciousness has no wisdom, and likewise the manas has no wisdom.
For cultivating concentration to be effective, one must constantly suggest to the manas that all dharmas are empty, false, arising-and-ceasing, impermanent, and non-self; once the manas understands, He will no longer grasp. Then, on many meaningless dharmas, the mind consciousness need not discriminate anymore, and will focus on the currently most important mental sense object, discriminating only one mental sense object, or two — thus one settles into concentration. When the mind consciousness has concentration, its discrimination of mental sense objects is very focused and concentrated, its discriminative wisdom is excellent, wisdom easily arises, and dharmas can be contemplated clearly and thoroughly — such is the principle of cultivating concentration.
Since the mind consciousness discriminates whatever dharma the manas grasps at, why are there still many things unclear, such as knowing nothing about past lives? Because the mental sense objects corresponding to the manas and the mind consciousness differ; the range of mental sense objects corresponding to the mind consciousness is smaller than that of the manas. If the manas grasps at mental sense objects within the supreme faculty/ultimate sense faculty (indriya), the mind consciousness must discriminate along with it. But some mental sense objects the manas attends to are not within the supreme faculty/ultimate sense faculty (indriya) and do not correspond to the mind consciousness; the eighth consciousness cannot give rise to the mind consciousness to discriminate them, and the mind consciousness does not know them.
Only when the mind consciousness has superknowledge can the mental sense objects it discriminates be nearly the same as the manas's. At Buddhahood, the mind consciousness may know all the mental sense objects manifested by the eighth consciousness, and may also discriminate the first five sense objects. The first five consciousnesses may also discriminate mental sense objects, and the eighth consciousness can also discriminate the six sense objects. After all eight consciousnesses are transformed into wisdom, there are no more limitations; each consciousness's functions are expanded to the utmost, and even the mental factors of the eighth consciousness can have many functions — that is a truly remarkable thing, beyond our imagination. Therefore the Buddha is the honored one of the three realms, most worthy of our reverence.
Thirty-Two: The Supernatural Power of Unimpeded Bodily Action Is Accomplished by the Manas's Mental Factor of Concentration
When practicing the supernatural power of unimpeded bodily action (ṛddhi-vidyā), sitting cross-legged on a seat, the mind consciousness visualizes the body being one inch off the seat; when the power of concentration is sufficient, the body can rise one inch off the seat — this is called "lifting the body with the mind." But is this body lifted under the mind consciousness's direction? It is not the mind consciousness; however the mind consciousness thinks, it is useless; the manas must also want to do so, and only then can there be a way to take charge and lift the body. So while the mind consciousness visualizes, the manas is simultaneously also striving, wanting to lift the body. Without the power of concentration, even though the manas is willing to take charge and make the body fly, why can it not fly? Because without meditative concentration or with insufficient concentration, the manas's mental power is insufficient, the force is not great, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot help.
With or without concentration, the manas's performance differs so greatly, its power differs so greatly, because without concentration the manas's power is not full. In deep meditative concentration, the manas's seeds are concentratedly flowing forth, and its power of decision and power of discernment are great, so that whatever is thought of can be accomplished.
