What If Manas Were Free from Avidyā and Kleshas?

If the manas lacks hatred, that is excellent; once the consciousness ceases, one becomes a third-fruit sage free from hatred, and after death, one will be reborn as a third-fruit sage. There is no need to sever the view of self, nor to cultivate the first dhyāna; an ordinary person who extinguishes consciousness directly becomes a third-fruit sage. If the manas is free from any affliction, it is excellent; upon death, one becomes a sage, and in future lives, there is no need for further cultivation. With a little contemplation, one can attain the fruit, quickly develop the first dhyāna, eradicate afflictions, and become a third-fruit sage again. If the manas is further free from ignorance, that is even better—one directly becomes a Buddha. For you, me, him, and her to still be cultivating here would be utterly redundant. There is fundamentally no need for cultivation; if the manas is without ignorance, there is no need to eliminate ignorance, no need to exhaust ignorance—one is originally a Buddha, so what is the point of cultivation?

If the manas lacks hatred and afflictions, we need only sleep; once consciousness ceases, every sleeping person becomes a sage. The consciousness and pure material basis of a newborn infant are entirely new. If the manas lacks hatred and afflictions, then every newborn infant is a sage. Would we still need to cultivate so arduously? If the manas lacks hatred, when an infant cannot obtain something, it will not become frantic and cry bitterly, nor will it get angry and hit people, nor say "Mom is bad." When strangers try to hold it, the infant will not push them away; the infant will have no moments of unhappiness, will not pout, and will not throw tantrums or display emotional outbursts.