Transforming the Mental Habits and Tendencies of the Manas through Sincere Repentance

Confessing face to face is the way to eliminate the seeds in the tathāgatagarbha of both people. However, the person confessing must sincerely repent, and the other person must sincerely accept the confession; only then can the resentment be dissolved and the knot untied. Why must the confession be sincere and the acceptance sincere? Sincerity and genuineness represent the manas repenting from the heart outward, and the manas accepting from the heart outward. Only when the manas repents and accepts will the tathāgatagarbha of the two people make a new record, thereby offsetting the former karmic seeds in the tathāgatagarbha of both. Because the karmic seeds in the tathāgatagarbha are eliminated, the two people no longer have any knot of resentment.

Bodhisattvas on the bhūmis transform the karmic seeds in their own tathāgatagarbha by using the mind consciousness to permeate and persuade the manas, enabling the manas to see clearly the harmfulness of its own afflictive habits, and thus resolve to repent; then the mental disposition changes, and the karmic seeds in the tathāgatagarbha are eliminated. Because bodhisattvas on the bhūmis possess profound meditative concentration (samādhi), wisdom, and the power of merit, they can purify their own minds by transforming the mental activities and habits of their manas, thereby eliminating the karmic seeds in their own tathāgatagarbha.

By contrast, a fake confession put on for show by the mind consciousness has no real effect, and moreover the scheming behind it is often seen through by others.

What should one do when the mind consciousness wants to repent but cannot overcome the afflictive habits of the manas? In that case, one should frequently reproach the manas. As long as one knows how to reproach others, one can learn to reproach oneself; reproaching oneself is blaming one's own mind. One must expose and lay bare all one's unwholesome mental activities. Even though the manas is unwilling and displeased about this, sometimes one must still do it. If the manas truly cannot accept it and the habits are too heavy, then do not force it; proceed little by little, tentatively, and do not rush. Otherwise it will backfire—one may simply give up on oneself entirely ("smash the broken pot")—which can also be fatal.