Cultivating the Manas Is Essential to Resolve Fundamental Issues

When one attains the realization of mirage contemplation, encountering any state or phenomenon requires no contemplation at all; it passes directly. When one genuinely severs the view of self, and with sufficient meditative concentration, there is likewise no need for contemplation—the state is directly perceived as empty, and one does not fixate on these so-called phenomena. However, those who have only an intellectual understanding, lacking meditative concentration and harboring arrogance, may experience even heavier afflictions than ordinary people when encountering such states.

Thus, it is clear that the realization by the manas (root consciousness) and the intellectual understanding by the mental consciousness cannot be mentioned in the same breath. The gap between possessing meditative concentration and lacking it is exceedingly vast. We should understand what true practice entails. When one genuinely attains realization of any Dharma and possesses meditative power, no problem remains a problem, and no event remains an event. Yet, once meditative concentration is lost, the outcome is uncertain—like a great flood that may breach its banks, sweeping away the dam of afflictions.

Whether one has genuinely cultivated practice is discerned through actions, not through spoken words. Words may sound lofty and profound, yet conduct may be base and lowly—such is the magnitude of the disparity. Language and mental concepts may align, but this does not signify true cultivation. Only when actions directly resonate with the manas does it represent genuine practice. Therefore, cultivation is the training of the manas. Until the manas is transformed, it is not true cultivation. All intellectual knowledge proves powerless in the face of even moderately strong afflictions, especially in the presence of life and death. Intellectual understanding cannot withstand afflictions, much less the realities of birth and death.