Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Fascicle 51

Original text: 「又前說末那恒與阿賴耶識俱轉乃至未斷。當知常與俱生任運四種煩惱一時相應。謂薩迦耶見。我慢。我愛。及與無明。此四煩惱。若在定地若不定地。當知恒行不與善等相違。是有覆無記性。」

Explanation: This passage is the original text of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, and many people have misunderstood it. They all believe that the manas has only these four afflictions—view of self, self-love, self-conceit, and ignorance—that is, there are four afflictive mental factors. In fact, the original text does not mean this. Even if it did mean this, then the single affliction of ignorance would encompass all afflictions, and the manas of ordinary beings would possess all afflictions in full.

What is meant here is that the manas operates together with these four afflictions at every moment, constantly, never separating even for an instant. "Constantly operating" means operating perpetually without ceasing, while the manas also has afflictive mental factors that do not operate constantly, which do not operate together with the manas at every moment, do not exist at every instant, but sometimes manifest and sometimes do not manifest. Apart from these four afflictions, all other afflictions are not constantly operating. Thus the afflictive mental factors of the manas are divided into two parts: one part constantly manifests and exists, and the other part occasionally manifests along with the manas.

The manas has the affliction of ignorance, and ignorance encompasses all afflictions; all afflictions belong to the afflictions of the manas. The afflictions of the manas give rise to the afflictions of the mind consciousness, creating all afflictive karma. To eradicate afflictions, only by eradicating the afflictions of the manas is the eradication ultimate. If the manas does not have a certain affliction, then there is no need to eradicate it, and cultivation will have fewer troubles and obstructions.

Whether the mind consciousness has afflictions or not is a matter of no consequence, because the mind consciousness is a dharma that ceases; once the mind consciousness ceases, its afflictions vanish, leaving only the manas. As long as the manas has no afflictions, sentient beings will not undergo birth and death in saṃsāra; if the manas has afflictions, birth and death in saṃsāra becomes unavoidable. Why do countless people insist on making a big fuss over the mind consciousness? It is because these people can only gain some understanding of the mind consciousness, do not understand the manas at all, and even less can they observe the mental activities of the manas. Therefore, theories about the mind consciousness are everywhere, and sentient beings are pitifully misled.

These four afflictions, at the stage of ordinary beings, constantly operate and manifest at all times and have never been eradicated, while other afflictions come and go. After the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), the affliction of the view of self is gone, but the other three afflictions continue to operate constantly. After the fourth fruit, all four afflictions completely disappear, the mind is pure, and there are no longer any constantly operating afflictions (except for the ignorance pertaining to the Mahāyāna dharma), but the habituated tendencies still remain—only they do not operate constantly. The six root afflictions are the trunk of the tree, and the twenty derivative afflictions are the branches and leaves; once the trunk falls, the branches and leaves will soon wither and vanish completely.

The affliction of ignorance in the manas encompasses all afflictions. Among them, the affliction of anger cannot operate constantly; it comes and goes. If anger operated constantly, the consequences would be unimaginable—neither oneself nor others could bear it. The poison of anger would soon destroy the physical body, one's life would soon come to an end, and everyone around would suffer boundlessly, with no pleasant feelings at all. The text does not specifically state whether the manas has the affliction of anger, but the manas absolutely has the affliction of anger. If it did not have the affliction of anger, we would not need to cultivate to eradicate the affliction of anger. It would not matter if the mind consciousness had the affliction of anger, because the mind consciousness is constantly ceasing; once it ceases, the afflictions are gone. As long as the manas has no anger, everything would be fine. But the reality is not so.

The language of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra is very concise, and it is extremely difficult to fully grasp its meaning; it requires both literary competence and realization attained through cultivation—only a combination of the two will do. Truly relying on the Dharma means relying on facts. As long as something is factual, sooner or later it can break through all statements that do not accord with facts, highlighting the power of truth. Even the dharma taught by the Buddha must be actually contemplated in practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) by oneself to see whether it is so. All the dharma taught by the Buddha must ultimately be fully realized by us in order to become a Buddha. Without realizing and verifying it, one cannot obtain the corresponding wisdom; memorizing the Buddha's words does not solve the problem. What the Buddha said cannot represent our own realization. In the final stage of cultivation, one must rely on the complete truth of all facts, not even relying on the Buddha. Even the dharma the Buddha taught must be realized by oneself; only after realizing all of it can one's cultivation be considered completely accomplished.

The dharma the Buddha taught in the Sahā world is merely equivalent to the amount of soil in a fingernail, while the dharma He did not teach is as abundant as the soil of the great earth. We must study and cultivate all dharmas, realize them all, and know the truth of all facts. And this truth of facts cannot be obtained by relying on a person; it must be personally realized.

This passage from the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra also contains another important meaning. The text says that the four afflictions—view of self, self-love, self-conceit, and ignorance—operate constantly at all times, whether in meditative concentration (samādhi) or not in meditative concentration. Although they operate constantly, they do not contradict the eleven wholesome mental factors. This means that the manas has afflictive mental factors, and at the same time also has the existence and operation of wholesome mental factors; the two do not conflict. Here the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says that the manas is associated with the eleven wholesome mental factors, whereas some bodhisattva treatises say that the manas is not associated with wholesome mental factors. The two treatises conflict with each other, and of course the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra of Bodhisattva Maitreya should be taken as the standard.