Commentary on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (207)

Māna (Conceit) and the Habitual Tendencies of Māna

This supreme bodhi (anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi) can eliminate all conceit (māna) in the world. All ordinary sentient beings have deeply entrenched conceit. What is conceit? First, sentient beings believe there is a self existing; they take the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) as the self: the physical body is the self, feelings are the self, seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are the self, the aggregate of perception is the self, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the self, and the discriminating and discerning nature of the six consciousnesses is the self. Ordinary beings take these as the self, and then grasp severely at the self. Because of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and the mind of self-grasping (ātma-grāha), a mind of conceit arises, believing that one's own five aggregates and eighteen realms (aṣṭādaśa-dhātu) are superior to those of other sentient beings, that one is superior to other sentient beings in certain aspects of worldly dharmas, and therefore one inwardly exalts oneself and bullies other sentient beings.

Conceit is divided into seven kinds: conceit (māna), superior conceit (atimāna), conceit of superior conceit (mānātimāna), the conceit of "I" (asmimāna), inflated conceit (adhimāna), inferior conceit (ūnamāna), and false conceit (mithyāmāna). All of them are conceits arising from the so-called self, so the conceit of "I" is the root, from which the other conceits arise. The other conceits must first be eradicated through cultivation, and the conceit of "I" is eradicated last. In the Small Vehicle, the conceit of "I" is eradicated at the stage of the arhat of the fourth fruit, but the habitual tendencies of the conceit of "I" still remain; in the Great Vehicle, the conceit of "I" is eradicated at the stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva, but habitual tendencies still remain, and these habitual tendencies of the conceit of "I" can only be completely eradicated when one cultivates to the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva. This shows how deeply rooted habitual tendencies are.

What are the habitual tendencies of the conceit of "I"? For example, when a disgusting insect from a tree falls onto one's body, most people instinctively shake it off immediately—without thinking, without deliberation, they can react quickly on an instinctive level. This is the manas's habitual pattern of self-protection, instinctively avoiding danger and rejecting things one finds repulsive without any deliberation—this is the habitual tendency of the conceit of "I." Why do all sentient beings have this habitual tendency? Because since beginningless kalpas, sentient beings' manas has continuously grasped the five-aggregate body as the self. This habitual tendency is deeply entrenched. Even after eradicating the view of self and removing the conceit of "I," deep within the manas's mind there still exist the concept and thought of the five aggregates as the self; habitually, there remains a shadow of the five aggregates that has not been cleared away. Only bodhisattvas at the seventh and eighth bhūmis can eradicate these habitual tendencies of the conceit of "I." An arhat can prevent the conceit of "I" from manifesting as active conduct, and only bodhisattvas at the first bhūmi and above begin to gradually eradicate, bit by bit, the habitual tendencies of the conceit of "I" and the habitual tendencies of the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. When an arhat eradicates afflictions, it is also only the manifestation of afflictions that is eradicated; all habitual tendencies only begin to be gradually eradicated at the bodhisattva stages of the first bhūmi and above.