Liberation Is Resolving the Problem of Manas

Entering meditation and fearing self-dissolution or the inability to return—these fears stem from the manas (the thinking mind). The conscious mind must persuade the manas not to cling to the five aggregates (the physical and mental components of existence), for the five aggregates are unreal. Therefore, abandoning the view of self requires the manas to abandon it; abandoning afflictions requires the manas to abandon afflictions; abandoning ignorance requires the manas to abandon ignorance. All afflictions reside in the manas. Liberation is precisely the resolution of the manas’s problems.

Numerous instances demonstrate this issue: insufficient power of meditation and insufficient power of wisdom prevent one from recognizing this truth. That manas is dull and obtuse, yet it treasures the conscious mind. It doesn’t even realize it itself is on fire, and instead rushes to extinguish the fire consuming the conscious mind. The family estate is already burnt to ashes, yet it still lingers on the periphery. What wisdom is that?