Buddhist practice is to make the manas acknowledge that all dharmas are not self.

The existence of the manas and the tathāgatagarbha has no sequence of before and after; both existed simultaneously before beginningless kalpas. It is thus by the nature of things (dharmatā), with no rationale to be given. Before beginningless kalpas, because of the manas's ignorance (avidyā), not understanding ultimate reality, it gave rise to mental activity and grasped outwardly at conditions; thus the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) came into being, and all dharmas gradually came to be produced as well. Thereupon disputes and disturbances never ceased, and afflictions and suffering continued without end. Cultivation means making the manas acknowledge that all dharmas are not the self; the mind consciousness must engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and deliberate that all dharmas are not the self. The doctrines of both the Great and Small Vehicles must be studied and cultivated; only after studying them to thorough comprehension can one, in the end, realize that all dharmas are not the self. All cultivation lays the foundation for this. Therefore, the heavier the attachment to "my mind," the less one can attain liberation, and the farther one is from becoming a Buddha. Subduing the self-nature of the manas is a weighty responsibility and a long road.