Transforming the Mental Activities and Habitual Tendencies of the Manas through Sincere Repentance

Confessing face to face is the way to eliminate the seeds within the tathāgatagarbha of both people, but this requires that the person confessing must do so sincerely, and the other person must also sincerely accept the confession; only then can grievances be resolved and karmic knots untied. Why must the confession be sincere and the acceptance of the confession be 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 both people make a new record, thereby offsetting the former karmic seeds within the tathāgatagarbha of both people. Because the karmic seeds within the tathāgatagarbha are eliminated, the two people will no longer have any karmic grievances between them.

Bodhisattvas on the bhūmis transform the karmic seeds within their own tathāgatagarbha by using the mind consciousness to permeate and persuade the manas, letting the manas clearly see the harmfulness of its own afflictive habitual tendencies, thereby resolving to repent; then the mental nature changes, and the karmic seeds within the tathāgatagarbha are eliminated. Because bodhisattvas on the bhūmis possess profound meditative concentration (samādhi), the power of wisdom, and the power of merit, they can purify their own minds by changing the mental actions and habitual tendencies of their own manas, thereby eliminating the karmic seeds within their own tathāgatagarbha.

As for the mind consciousness putting on an act of false confession, it has no real effect and is often seen through by others, exposing its scheming.

What should be done when the mind consciousness wants to repent but cannot overcome the afflictive habitual tendencies of the manas? In that case, one should frequently condemn the manas. As long as one knows how to condemn others, one can know how to condemn oneself; condemning oneself is reproaching one's own mind. All of one's unwholesome mental actions should be exposed and brought to light. Even though the manas is unwilling and displeased about this, sometimes it must be done this way. If the manas truly cannot accept it and the habitual tendencies are too heavy, then do not force it; proceed little by little, testing as you go, and do not rush. Otherwise it will backfire, leading to giving up on oneself entirely—"smashing the cracked pot"—which is also very dangerous.