The Self-Examination Method Personally Experienced by Bai Xuexiang

Bai Xuexiang asked: I have discovered a secret of the manas. When walking on the road, the eyes will actively grasp at things of interest on their own; the moment the eyes see something of interest, they will pause for an instant, and then mind consciousness arises to discern it. Now I have learned a method of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā): at the very moment the eyes grasp, the instant attention arises, I immediately raise a thought (introspection): "What is He paying attention to?" Because that is precisely what the manas is interested in. If what is being attended to belongs to the content of greed, hatred, and delusion, I can resolve the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion in a timely manner. The ear faculty should operate by the same mechanism.

If one is not aware of what one is attending to, the mind consciousness will turn according to the interests of the manas, and one will grow accustomed to doing whatever "I" want to do. Practicing in this way makes the mind consciousness actively engage in mental engagement (manaskāra), rather than being carried along by the manas. If one practices like this, will one arrive at no-thought?

Answer: If the eyes could grasp automatically, then robots should also run automatically—but do robots run automatically? Not at all. Behind the robot, a program directs the robot to perform its recognition function. The eyes do not grasp at material sense-objects (rūpa) automatically; rather, the manas directs the eye faculty to turn toward the material sense-object, after which the mind consciousness and eye consciousness appear and perform the function of discrimination. So before the eye faculty deliberately attends to a particular material sense-object, the manas has already engaged in mental engagement, contact, feeling, and perception, and then deliberated and decided, and only then does the eye faculty fixate on that material sense-object. Subsequently, the mind consciousness arises to perform cognition. Of course, this process is very hidden; ordinary people cannot discover it or observe it.

Since the earlier part of the process cannot be detected, then observe the later behavior: when the mind consciousness and eye consciousness are grasping at the material sense-object, observe what the manas is attending to. Bai Xuexiang's discovery is called experience and introspection; it is a method summarized in the course of practice. True knowledge comes from practice, and the method of cultivation thus generates itself automatically—it is not a theoretical intellectual understanding. If one continues observing in this way, one will subdue the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion in one's own mind and will not be carried along by the afflictions. This is the mind consciousness's function of guiding and restraining the manas.

When one notices that the eyes are grasping, the mind consciousness and eye consciousness have already arisen, and the mind consciousness immediately gives rise to a thought: "What is He (the manas) paying attention to? What is He interested in?" In this way, the mind consciousness constantly observes and stays alert to the objects the manas attends to, and will thereby observe the manas's afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. When the mind consciousness does not operate according to the manas's afflictions, it can restrain the arising and continuation of the afflictions. This is deliberately subduing the manas's afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion.

This kind of observation is also called introspection and self-examination; it is a process of cultivating the mind, and it is conducive to cutting off evil and cultivating good. Ordinary people lack this capacity for observation; they cannot introspect upon their own minds and cannot engage in self-examination. Therefore the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion pass through unimpeded, and they dare to commit any great evil karma—even slandering the Three Jewels without any awareness. Before seeing the path, one should already possess this capacity for observation, introspection, and self-reflection, and should already have the ability to subdue afflictions. Yet many false seers of the path have never developed this capacity, so their afflictions may grow heavier and heavier while they remain unaware of it themselves.