What exactly is māna (conceit)?

Conceit is divided into seven types: conceit, superior conceit, superior-superior conceit, the conceit of self (ātma-māna), inflated conceit, inferior conceit, and wrong conceit. All of these arise from the conceit based on the so-called "self," so the conceit of self is the root, and from it the other conceits arise. The other conceits should be eliminated first through cultivation, while the conceit of self is eliminated last. In the Small Vehicle, the conceit of self is eliminated at the stage of the arhat (the fourth fruit), but the habit-energy of the conceit of self still remains; in the Great Vehicle, the conceit of self is eliminated at the stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva, but the habit-energy still remains, and this habit-energy of the conceit of self can only be completely eliminated when one cultivates to the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva. This shows how deeply rooted habit-energy is.

What is the habit-energy of the conceit of self? For example, when a repulsive insect falls from a tree onto one's body, most people instinctively shake it off immediately—without thinking, without deliberation, they can react quickly on instinct. This is the manas' habitual pattern of self-protection: unthinkingly avoiding danger and rejecting things one finds repulsive. This is the habit-energy of the conceit of self. Why do all sentient beings have this habit-energy? Because, since beginningless kalpas, sentient beings' manas has constantly grasped the five aggregates as the self. This habit-energy is deeply rooted; even after eliminating the self-view and removing the conceit of self, deep in the manas' mind there still remain the concept and thought of the five aggregates as self, and habitually a shadow of the five aggregates remains that has not been cleared away. Only bodhisattvas at the seventh and eighth bhūmis can eliminate this habit-energy of the conceit of self. An arhat can prevent the conceit of self from manifesting as current activity, and only bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi onward begin to gradually eliminate the habit-energy of the conceit of self and the habit-energies of greed, aversion, and delusion. When an arhat eliminates afflictions, it is also only the current manifestation of afflictions that is eliminated; all habit-energies only begin to be gradually eliminated from the stage of a bodhisattva at the first bhūmi and above.

The afflictions in our minds are extremely deep and heavy, and their number is immense, making them very hard to eliminate. In fact, if we say it is hard, it is not really hard: as long as we cultivate with courage and diligence, the afflictions will melt away like snow beneath the rising sun. So whether it is hard or easy depends entirely on one's own mind. As for how those who have awakened to the Way describe the difficulty or ease of Chan enlightenment, Pang Yun said: 难难难，十担麻油树上摊 (it is as hard as spreading ten loads of sesame oil on a tree)! Then Old Woman Pang said: 易易易，百草头上西来意！Lingzhao: 也不难，也不易，饥来吃饭倦来眠。The three people had three different feelings and three different views regarding enlightenment. Therefore, whether all dharmas are hard or easy depends on the person, on whether a person's faculties are sharp or dull; difficulty and ease are relative dharmas, illusory appearances—there is no real difficulty or ease that exists.

Supreme bodhi can break through all the wrong views (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) of the world. Where do wrong views come from? They also come from the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi). Before ordinary beings attain any fruit of realization, they all believe there is a self: the physical body is the self, the five aggregates are the self; all kinds of views that proceed from the basis of "self" belong to wrong views. Cultivating and realizing the Buddha-dharma can break through all wrong views and can eliminate all the sins of sentient beings. When one attains the first fruit (stream-enterer, Srotaāpanna), one breaks through the three fetters, including the wrong views concerning self, and the karma of the three evil destinies created since beginningless kalpas is eliminated; in the future one will never again fall into the three evil destinies. The remaining karmic retribution is only received among humans, experiencing suffering in the human realm; however great the suffering one undergoes in the human realm, it is still happier than being in the three evil destinies, and the suffering is far lighter than that of the three evil destinies.

Those who have not entered the first bhūmi are called ordinary beings, worldlings (pṛthagjana); those who attain the first bhūmi are noble ones, who have eliminated the nature of worldlings and no longer create evil karma of birth and death. All sentient beings who have not eliminated the karmic seeds stained by birth and death belong to the category of worldlings: when this lifespan ends, there will be another life, only born at another time and in another place—whether in the heavens, or among humans, in hell, or among hungry ghosts. This is called being born at a different time and in a different place. Both first-bhūmi bodhisattvas and ordinary worldlings still have segmented birth-and-death. For example, a person lives one lifetime of a hundred-odd years, or a thousand-odd years; when the lifespan ends, there is a next life—birth and death occur in segments, hence it is called segmented birth-and-death. If a first-bhūmi bodhisattva is reborn in the heavens, the lifespan is extremely long; if reborn in the human world, the lifespan is the same as that of ordinary sentient beings, and there is still segmented birth-and-death; if reborn in the animal destiny by the power of vows, the lifespan is as brief as that of animals, and there is also segmented birth-and-death. Besides segmented birth-and-death, there is also transformational birth-and-death (subtle birth-and-death). Transformational birth-and-death means that although the lifespan is extremely long, the stained seeds of birth and death in the tathāgatagarbha mind have not all been eliminated, so one can still incur the karma of birth and death and cannot forever extinguish the illusion of birth and death. Before the seeds of arising and ceasing in the mind are eliminated, they cannot be cut off until the Buddha stage; therefore there is transformational birth-and-death.