The Understanding of the Mind Consciousness Differs from the Realization of the Manas

It may feel as if such supernormal powers are very easy to attain—does the mind consciousness's feeling and understanding count as realization? If it is realization, the supernormal power appears immediately; if the supernormal power does not appear, then it has not been realized, and the mind consciousness's understanding is of no avail, unable to exert any force, incapable of yielding even the slightest liberating merit and benefit. The same applies to the elimination of self-view (ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-parityāga) and seeing one's true mind (awakening to the true mind): the mind consciousness's understanding carries not the slightest merit or benefit and is not the true elimination of self-view. No matter how the mind consciousness regards the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) as without self, it is not realization of non-self, nor the elimination of self-view. Therefore, reading a book a hundred times so that its meaning reveals itself is useless; it remains the mind consciousness's intellectual understanding, not the manas's realization. This principle is important—extremely important. I hope all of you will take it to heart and ponder it carefully, and stop regarding emotional thinking and intellectual comprehension as supreme, as great, as precious, thereby misleading yourselves and then misleading others.