How to Contemplate the Emptiness of Subject and Object to Eradicate the View of Self

The grasping subject is the seven consciousnesses, and the grasped objects are the six sense objects and the myriad dharmas. Observing the emptiness of subject and object can only be contemplated through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) when one's meditative concentration is relatively good. The prerequisites are: first, meditative concentration must be complete; second, one must have a rough understanding of the principle that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are illusory. Then, in accordance with what has been understood, one should sequentially engage in contemplative practice and deliberation, contemplating the emptiness (śūnyatā) of the grasping mind of the seven consciousnesses, and this observation must be clear and thorough. The mind must acknowledge the illusory, not-self nature of the six consciousnesses, and one must observe the grasped six sense objects and myriad dharmas clearly and thoroughly, including the worldly phenomena of the five aggregates—all must be contemplated to reveal their illusory, arising-and-ceasing, mutable, and unreal nature.

The illusoriness of the six sense objects is relatively easy to contemplate. In the Saṃyukta Āgama, the World-Honored One taught how to contemplate the illusoriness of the six sense objects. While reading, one should deliberate on how the six sense objects are illusory, contemplating and examining them one by one. Observe along with the text, deliberate along with the text; once the deliberation is thorough, one can acknowledge those principles. Without deliberation and contemplative practice, it is useless for the mind consciousness to merely know those principles superficially. With logical deliberation, one can find grounds and evidence to prove the correctness of the theory. When the contemplative practice bears fruit, the mind will say: "Oh, so that's how it is!" Then the manas acknowledges it.

Contemplative practice always takes a process; in the end, the mind will say: "So that's how it is!" At that point, one truly knows—this is the acknowledgment of the manas. Otherwise, it is merely the superficial knowing of the mind consciousness, and the knowing of the mind consciousness is often of little use. Many people can speak these principles, but in reality their own minds do not acknowledge them, because the manas does not understand or comprehend these principles and does not know exactly why. For the manas to understand and comprehend, the mind consciousness must deliberate on and contemplate the content of these theories. The process of contemplative practice is imperceptibly influencing the manas, telling the manas: "This is how it is, this is the principle, and the evidence must be sufficient." Every item analyzed by the mind consciousness is transmitted to the manas, and then the manas can know this content and comprehend the principle. If the mind consciousness does not contemplate or deliberate, the manas will not know, and the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) cannot be eradicated.