Pale and Powerless Mere Verbal Chan

Many people think this way: money is something you neither bring with you at birth nor take with you at death, so whether it is given away or lost does not matter, and whether one has it or not does not matter. Yet when one day a large sum of money is truly lost, the mind is truly restless and distressed, filled with anguish. It is the conscious mind that feels it does not matter; in reality, no matter how the conscious mind feels, it is of little use. Such catchphrases, at the critical moment, appear pale and powerless. Many people deceive themselves in this way: when it comes to the real thing, deep down they are so unwilling to let go and so stingy. This shows that the conscious mind's everyday catchphrases are entirely lofty talk; the manas does not accept this reasoning, and its cognition differs greatly from that of the conscious mind—the two are not in step with each other.

For many people, the notions held by their conscious mind seem as if their cultivation has already reached the level of a bodhisattva of several bhūmis: not discriminating among all dharmas, seeking nothing from any dharma, seeing all as empty, eliminating the self-grasping and eliminating the grasping of dharmas. In reality, the realm of the manas still possesses the afflictive nature of greed, anger, and delusion of an ordinary being, with all kinds of attachments being extremely severe. Once a major matter concerning oneself is involved, all these notions turn into dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, and the true face of the manas reveals itself; the onlookers then understand: "So that's how it is!"

Because at the critical moment, it involves the deep-level psychological issues of the manas. All actions are decided and dictated by the manas; it is no longer as simple as the conscious mind's catchphrases. Speaking is done freely by the conscious mind, but doing is necessarily decided by the manas. The manas has greed and attachment, has greed and stinginess; speech and action cannot be consistent, and may even be the opposite. For some people's deep-level psychological issues, ordinary persuasion and admonition no longer work; one must go deep into the innermost mind, dig out the root of the inner illness, and then prescribe the right remedy, effectively guiding the manas to subdue the afflictions of greed and stinginess, so that the psychological habit of greed and stinginess can be somewhat changed.

Welcome to join the Liberation Prajñā Yogācāra Group 7  238324425

Complete study materials are available for download and reading