The Unreliability of Vijñāna

Question: I've heard that after attaining enlightenment, one might forget the content of that enlightenment. So if one forgets the enlightenment, doesn't that mean they no longer belong to the enlightened? How can enlightenment be forgotten?

Answer: Theoretical knowledge learned by consciousness can be forgotten; what consciousness comprehends and memorizes can be forgotten; parroted words can be forgotten—once forgotten, they cannot be recalled. Enlightenment, however, is the experiential realization of one's innate wisdom, the wisdom simultaneously developed by the manas (mind root) and consciousness. It is not obtained from any external source, so it fundamentally does not involve issues of memory or forgetting.

Recalling and forgetting are functions of consciousness, and consciousness is dependently originated—it arises and ceases, changes and transforms. When conditions are insufficient, consciousness weakens and disappears. For example, if the brain suffers lesions, experiences stimulation, undergoes mental shock, or atrophies with old age, the functions of consciousness weaken and cannot operate normally. One then cannot recall many past events, people, or things—this is called forgetting. When consciousness vanishes entirely, no past events or people can be remembered, such as during sleep, coma, death, or after rebirth. Consciousness disappears, and past experiences are temporarily or permanently extinguished. Although there is faint consciousness in the intermediate state (bardo), its functions are limited, controlled by karma, with no capacity for autonomous action.

If enlightenment is merely the consciousness comprehending some principles while the manas remains unenlightened, this is highly unreliable. Once consciousness disappears, all content is utterly forgotten. Because consciousness arises from causes and conditions, it changes extremely rapidly; influenced by certain factors, it can change or turn against you in an instant, forget things in a flash—a moment of drowsiness can leave the mind utterly blank. Therefore, without undergoing the arduous process of Chan (Zen) investigation, without earnest inquiry, yet vainly hoping to leap to enlightenment by letting consciousness directly grasp a general outcome—without steeping the manas—this result can vanish without warning, yielding almost no merit or benefit.

Without progressing through specific stages of spiritual practice, without diligently engaging in Chan investigation, the manas remains unsteeped. One can only rely on consciousness's reasoning, imagination, conjecture, and supposition—utterly lacking direct perception, all being erroneous inference. Content born of supposition will naturally be forgotten at any moment, become ineffective, fail to guide bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and cannot become an uninterrupted, continuous state of mind. It may not even last a few minutes; its extinction is inevitable.

However, through the arduous process of Chan investigation, with the manas participating, one realizes the true mind and self-nature—this is the state of direct perception wisdom. Samadhi arises, becoming uninterrupted realization. Body, speech, and mind become pure. In this case, even if consciousness tries to forget, it cannot; it cannot lose it, nor can it regress. This is because the matter is governed by the manas. Once the manas is enlightened, consciousness must follow and obey the manas, directed and controlled by it. Even if forgotten, one cannot help but remember. In truth, it doesn't depend on whether consciousness thinks or not. Even if consciousness ceases, it doesn't matter—the manas is enlightened, so it is enlightened forever. Whether asleep, comatose, dead, or in the intermediate state, one remains enlightened and will take rebirth as an enlightened being, reaping the virtuous fruit of realization.

Relying solely on consciousness in Buddhist study and practice leads to great loss. Depending on the impermanent, ever-changing, and transient consciousness to resolve the great matter of life and death shows a fundamental misunderstanding of spiritual practice. One eats one's own meal to be full. Always relying on external conditions—which will cease—cannot extend to infinite kalpas (eons) hence. Therefore, the wise cannot place their bet on the unreliable, constantly arising-and-ceasing, ever-changing consciousness. This applies to all matters, worldly and transcendental. To reiterate: The fruits attained by consciousness alone are like paper fruit—paper being the most prone to rot and ruin.