How Can One Abandon Consciousness and Rely on the Sense Faculties?

Some say this "root" refers to the spiritual faculties of sentient beings, but it actually refers to the manas. Spiritual faculties are also functions of consciousness; apart from consciousness, there is no way to speak of spiritual faculties. Wholesome roots and spiritual faculties generally refer to the innate wisdom of the seventh consciousness.

"Relinquishing consciousness and using the root" is something ordinary people can make use of when practicing Chan investigation: relinquish the six consciousnesses—especially the mind consciousness's sentimental thinking, intellectual interpretations, pondering, conjecturing, analysis, inference, comparison, and judgment—and rely solely on the deliberation (manana) of the manas. Only in this way can one realize the Path. After realizing the Path, subsequent cultivation should also rely on the manas as much as possible. Using the manas is more direct and penetrating; it appears straightforward, upright, pure, sincere, and immaculate. It can accomplish all things—one does what one says, and sometimes even after accomplishing something, one may not necessarily speak of it.

Without meditative concentration (samādhi), it is very difficult to make use of the manas; one relies entirely on the mind consciousness's inference and interpretation, which is easy but shallow. Understanding comes faster than realization, but it is of no use: without meditative absorption (samādhi), there is no liberation and no ending of birth and death; once the mind consciousness ceases, it all becomes void. The deeper the meditative concentration, the more the manas is employed and the greater its power, the more effectively problems can be solved, and the more meditative absorption one attains. The deeper the samādhi, the more penetrating the wisdom, and the greater the power of liberation.