What Is Enlightenment?

Many people mistake the state of meditative concentration for enlightenment, while others believe that true enlightenment requires the complete cessation of all consciousness, including the deactivation of the manas (the seventh consciousness). Let us consider the flaws in this view. If this were enlightenment, who would be enlightened? And what would be realized? In such a state, there is no person, no five aggregates, and no seven consciousnesses—only the tathagatagarbha remains. This is clearly the nirvana state of an arhat, unrelated to enlightenment. Moreover, it is impossible for an ordinary person to directly deactivate the manas through meditative concentration alone, attain the state of a great arhat with complete liberation, and immediately enter parinirvana. Even deactivating the five sense-consciousnesses is extremely difficult, and deactivating the manas is even more challenging, let alone the manas itself.

Some persistently cling to the notion that the "separation of sense faculties and objects" is an enlightened state. However, when sense faculties and objects separate, there are no faculties, no objects, and no contact between them. Consequently, the six consciousnesses cease to function. If this is considered enlightenment, then who is enlightened? Regarding the state described as "shattering the void and leveling the earth" as enlightenment—what, precisely, is realized in this state? Without understanding how this state relates to the tathagatagarbha, it cannot be proven to be an enlightened state. The fundamental reason for such widespread misunderstanding of the Dharma lies in the failure to clearly distinguish between the illusory and the real, insufficient merit and wisdom, and the severe obstruction caused by karmic afflictions, which hinder the growth of merit and wisdom. Consequently, the true and the illusory cannot yet be genuinely comprehended and integrated.

The true mind and the deluded mind each possess distinct natures. For example:

- Awareness includes the awareness of the true mind and the awareness of the deluded mind;

- Equality includes the equality of the true mind and the equality of the deluded mind;

- Purity includes the purity of the true mind and the purity of the deluded mind;

- Detachment from appearances includes the detachment of the true mind and the detachment of the deluded mind;

- The conditioned includes the conditioned of the true mind and the conditioned of the deluded mind;

- The unconditioned includes the unconditioned of the true mind and the unconditioned of the deluded mind;

and many other aspects.

In summary, practitioners of the Dharma often find it difficult to distinguish between the true and the illusory, frequently confusing them and harboring many misunderstandings. This is because the conditions of the six paramitas are not yet fully assembled. Once they are, the wisdom to discern the natures of the true and the illusory will arise, and realization will come swiftly.