The Difference Between Understanding and Realization

Understanding is the understanding of the mind consciousness; the manas does not understand or know. Realization means that both know and understand, and neither is deluded. Regarding a dharma, when the mind consciousness understands it, this is knowing that it is so; when the manas realizes it, this is knowing why it is so. Knowing that it is so is knowing the surface phenomena without knowing what lies within; it is a relatively shallow and coarse kind of knowing, lacking the power of observation. When asked about specifics, substance, and details, one will be at a loss and know nothing. One can only grasp some rough and coarse aspects of the dharma, unable to observe and penetrate more detailed, deeper, and more specific content in a fine-grained way. Therefore, one cannot explain the dharma clearly, let alone thoroughly, giving people a vague, hazy feeling like scratching an itch through a boot. Knowing why it is so means knowing the inner principles of the dharma, penetrating both surface and depth, knowing the substance of the dharma and its whole ins and outs. One has strong powers of observation, can comprehend the specific details of the dharma, has clear thinking, thorough reasoning, rigorous and meticulous logic, and powerful wisdom. Therefore, to assess the depth of a person's cognition of the dharma, just see whether their description of the dharma remains at a rough surface level, or whether they can penetrate into specific details. The more specific they are, the deeper their degree of realization and the deeper their wisdom; the rougher they are, the less realization they have, the further they are from realization, the shallower their wisdom, and the more it is merely the understanding of the mind consciousness, without any function of the manas.