What Manas Is Is What You Are

Contacting and understanding the Dharma of the mental faculty has spared us countless detours, saving us from eons of arduous cultivation and liberating us from immense suffering across countless kalpas. The entire path of practice rests entirely upon the mental faculty. Without understanding the mental faculty, one cannot truly comprehend the Dharma of Buddhahood or the path to Buddhahood in one's heart. If one remains fixated solely on the conscious mind, constantly toiling within the realm of consciousness, what becomes of oneself when the conscious mind ceases? This is something everyone should contemplate carefully. Only by properly regulating and rectifying the original state of the mental faculty can one transform oneself, attain liberation, purify karmic seeds, and ultimately achieve Buddhahood. Often ask yourself within your heart: When the conscious mind ceases, what am I? In reality, what the mental faculty is, that is what you are.

Consider an emperor appointing a crown prince, hoping the prince will prosper the family and defend the nation. One son is healthy and robust, while the other is chronically ill, his life hanging in the balance. Which son would the emperor appoint as crown prince? Only when the emperor is utterly confused would he appoint the son whose life is uncertain, hoping he will carry on the lineage and protect the homeland. Similarly, among Buddhist practitioners, it is the confused ones who pin all their hopes on the conscious mind, believing that merely letting the conscious mind realize the fruits of enlightenment or letting it awaken to the mind and know the Tathagatagarbha is sufficient. But after the conscious mind ceases, does one not still remain an ordinary being?

Furthermore, some claim: "The mental faculty need not eradicate the view of self; it can directly eradicate self-attachment." To eradicate self-attachment without first eradicating the view of self is certainly an invention. The crucial question is whether such an invention is feasible. Others say: "Without the mental faculty awakening to the mind and realizing the Tathagatagarbha, one can directly transform consciousness into wisdom and directly become a Buddha." This is an even greater invention. The key issue is what use such inventions serve. If all these inventions were feasible, then the path of Buddhism would be exceedingly easy and effortless, achievable in no time; one would merely need to manipulate the conscious mind a little, or perhaps just memorize the Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of scriptures to become a Buddha. However, the reality is that achieving Buddhahood requires three great immeasurable kalpas to eliminate all ignorance, continuing until ignorance is utterly extinguished. It is profoundly difficult.