The Self-Validating Cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga) of the Manas

Question: When the manas insists on its own views and stubbornly clings to them, which of the four aspects is functioning? When the manas repents, which of the four aspects is functioning? What does it mean to insist on one's own views? Why should one repent?

Answer: If the manas insists on its own views and stubbornly clings to them, it means the manas knows and understands its own views, considers them correct, and therefore insists on holding them without change—this is the function of the manas's self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga). If it is the manas's repentance, it means the manas has recognized its own faults and thus wants to repent—this is also the function of the manas's self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga).

"One's own" means oneself; "one's own views" means one's own views—this is self-cognition (svasaṃvitti). If one insists on one's own views, first one must know one's own views—this is self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga). Knowing one's faults yet not changing them is also self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga). Whenever one knows anything about oneself, it is self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga).