Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Manas: Part One
Chapter One: The Manas's View of Self and Self-Grasping
1. The Manas's View of Self
The manas is one of the six faculties and one of the eighteen realms; the five aggregates and the eighteen realms correspond one-to-one. Whenever a person expresses "me, me, me," the "I" of the manas pops its head out. What the six consciousnesses manifest are all the mental actions of the manas's "I," reflecting the mental nature of the manas. A person who knows how to observe people's psychology can observe a person's essence, that is, the mental actions of the manas; a person who cannot observe people can only observe the false appearances of the superficial contrivances of the six consciousnesses, and is easily deluded by false appearances. From this it appears that if one cannot distinguish the manas from the mind consciousness, it is truly difficult to eradicate the view of self.
When engaging in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the six faculties, one can contemplate the manas: it is the faculty that gives rise to the mind consciousness, and it is also the consciousness that acts as the master. As long as one contemplates this master-consciousness's constant variability, unfixedness, lack of self-mastery (avaśatā), and perishability, one will know that the manas cannot exist forever; its mental actions constantly change and are also impermanent, and therefore it is not the self either.
Confirming that the functions and operations of the mind consciousness are not the self: first the mind consciousness introspects itself, and the mind consciousness confirms this; then, through deep and subtle contemplative practice in meditative concentration (samādhi), with the manas participating in the contemplation of the mind consciousness, and then engaging in deliberation (manasikāra/manana) and investigation, finally the manas also confirms that the functions and operations of the mind consciousness are not the self — not-self and not different from self. There is also the manas-self that acts as master at every moment and in every place; one must also confirm that it is false and without self, that it is also empty and impermanent. The manas, upon which the mind consciousness arises, is also not-self; first the mind consciousness confirms this, and finally the manas itself confirms it. Before this, one must contemplate the functions and operations of the five sense consciousnesses, confirming that they arise and cease, are impermanent, and without self. In this way, the view of self and view of what belongs to self regarding these several consciousness-minds are eradicated; the view of what belongs to self is also not easy to eradicate.
The contemplation and confirmation of all these dharmas is mainly to let the manas confirm them; the mind consciousness's confirmation is the first step. Because it is the manas that takes all dharmas as the self and then directs the six consciousnesses to grasp (upādāna); after grasping, the manas takes the grasping functions of the six consciousnesses as its own functions, thinking "I have done such and such," and this "I" appears and manifests, shining brightly.
Since beginningless kalpas, the manas has always taken the five aggregates as the self, taking the aggregate of form as the self, saying the body is the self (the view of the bodily self), or "my body" (what belongs to self); then it will crave and cherish the physical body, maintain the physical body, protect the physical body, and for the sake of the physical body it drives the six consciousnesses to create all kinds of karmic actions at any cost, including unwholesome karmic actions.
The manas takes the aggregate of feeling as the self, and sometimes as what belongs to self, believing that the aggregate of feeling is the self, that the self is the aggregate of feeling, that the aggregate of feeling is what the self possesses, that "I have the functions and operations of the aggregate of feeling." Thus, for the sake of the aggregate of feeling, it directs the six consciousnesses to create all kinds of karmic actions at any cost, including unwholesome karmic actions.
The manas takes the aggregate of perception as the self, or as what belongs to self, believing that the aggregate of perception is the self, that the self is the aggregate of perception, that "I have the functions and operations of the aggregate of perception, and the functions and operations of the aggregate of perception are mine." "I can perceive, and the dharmas perceived are mine." Thus it directs and manipulates the six consciousnesses to create all kinds of karmic actions at any cost, including unwholesome karmic actions.
The manas takes the aggregate of volitional formations as the self, or as what belongs to self, believing that the aggregate of volitional formations is the self, that the self is the aggregate of volitional formations, that the aggregate of volitional formations is what the self possesses, that "I have the aggregate of volitional formations, I can act, and what I do is what I possess." Thus, for the sake of the aggregate of volitional formations, it directs and manipulates the six consciousnesses to create all kinds of karmic actions at any cost, including unwholesome karmic actions.
The manas takes the aggregate of consciousness as the self, or as what belongs to self, believing that the aggregate of consciousness is the self, that the self is the aggregate of consciousness, that the aggregate of consciousness is what the self possesses, that "I have the aggregate of consciousness. I can discern, and what is discerned is what I possess." Thus, for the sake of the aggregate of consciousness, it creates all kinds of karmic actions at any cost, including unwholesome karmic actions.
2. How Can One Eradicate the View of Self If One Cannot Contemplate the Manas?
In contemplating the five aggregates to eradicate the view of self, one must know that the manas is one of the six faculties, and one must also contemplate its selfless nature in order to eradicate the view of self and realize the fruits of the path. The Buddha taught us the method of contemplating the manas in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra; it is very ultimate and thorough, only very difficult. The more ultimate the method, the harder it is to practice; the simpler the method, the more expedient and the less ultimate it is. Therefore, those with the capacity should not covet cheapness, speed, and ease, and should not fear paying worldly costs; the reward is what matters most and is most valuable. However good worldly dharmas are, they are still suffering; to cast away suffering and exchange it for a treasure that never perishes — what could be more worthwhile?
Now a very serious problem has arisen: the manas is one of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and in contemplative practice one must contemplate the manas's false and selfless nature completely and thoroughly. Most people cannot contemplate the manas — or rather, the vast majority, or almost everyone, cannot contemplate it. Then how can they eradicate the view of self? How can they eradicate the manas's view of self?
3. Mental Agitation When Contemplating No-Self Shows That the Manas Has Been Touched
Why do some people, after contemplating the no-self of the five aggregates to a certain point, begin to feel agitated and distressed and can no longer continue the contemplation? This is because the manas has somewhat sensed that the five aggregates are without self, that it itself is not real; it fears that there really is no self, fears that it will disappear. This is precisely the result of the manas's habitual self-grasping since beginningless kalpas. It has never before encountered content like "no-self"; now, through the mind consciousness's contemplation, it understands a little, but has not fully understood the principle of no-self. It fears that if the mind consciousness keeps contemplating, it itself will be gone, ungraspable; hence it becomes agitated and distressed and does not allow the mind consciousness to continue contemplating.
From this phenomenon we can see that eradicating the view of self means eradicating the manas's view of self. In the process of deep and subtle contemplation, the manas participates throughout; the manas knows all the content of the mind consciousness's contemplation, and then deliberates on this content itself. When the manas has been cultivated to a certain degree, it can fully understand the principle of no-self and the principle of the eighth consciousness, and afterward can realize it. The manas has a certain power of determination (adhimokṣa) regarding the Buddha-dharma; otherwise the mind consciousness could not permeate the manas, and studying Buddhism would be useless. After the manas attains enlightenment, it will gradually obtain great wisdom, transform consciousness into wisdom, and obtain the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna); when wisdom is complete, one becomes a Buddha.
4. How the Grasping of Self and Grasping of Dharmas Arise and Are Eradicated
Before beginningless kalpas, there were only the manas and the tathāgatagarbha; there were no six consciousnesses or aggregates-body, and no world. At that time the manas already had ignorance; this ignorance had no karmic seeds, because there were no six consciousnesses to create karma for the manas. Therefore the manas is said to be neutral/indeterminate (avyākṛta): it cannot create karma on its own; it must have tools for creating karma in order to create karma. The manas stays behind the curtain, "listening to politics" from behind; it only needs to hold the baton and direct, while front-line interactions are delegated to the six consciousnesses. On the surface it seems the six consciousnesses create karma, but in fact it is all the manas sitting in command; those who do not understand the inside story credit the merits and faults to the six consciousnesses.
Moreover, the grasping of self and grasping of dharmas also belong to ignorance and have no karmic seeds; they existed before beginningless kalpas and were not created by creating karma. However, the mind consciousness's postnatal permeation by the environment can also increase the manas's grasping of self and grasping of dharmas, strengthening the manas's self-attachment. These ignorances can only be gradually eradicated through cultivating the path. Because ignorance existed before beginningless kalpas, karmic actions were created without cause due to ignorance; without ignorance, one would no longer want to create karmic actions — except for the pure great vows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
The karmic seeds formed through actions created out of ignorance are called the karma of ignorance; the karma of ignorance can in turn permeate and strengthen the manas's ignorance. These karmic actions of ignorance can be eradicated through receiving retribution, but ignorance must be eliminated through realizing the path: to whatever degree the path is realized, to that degree ignorance is eliminated.
5. Sighing When Contemplating No-Self Shows the Manas's Helplessness
Question: When I contemplated that the five aggregates are not the self, I suddenly sighed, with a sense of loss. The sighing occurred unintentionally, so it was clearly not the function of the mind consciousness; it should be the function of the manas. The manas's long-standing, firmly entrenched self-grasping has held that the five aggregates are itself, but the result is not so; a gap arose in the manas's mind, and so it sighed. Is this so?
Answer: This is indeed the manas's helpless sigh. It somewhat dislikes the principle that the five aggregates are without self, and even more it does not want to negate its own view-grasping and grasping (upādāna) since beginningless kalpas; yet it has no choice, because the no-self of the five aggregates may well be the fact, may really be so. The manas was not mentally prepared to accept this principle, and so could not help but sigh.
6. How Can the Manas Completely Eradicate Self-Grasping?
The reason the manas has self-grasping is that it has the view of self; the reason it has the view of self is that it has a single thought of ignorance. Because of a single thought of ignorance, the manas takes all dharmas manifested by the eighth consciousness as the self and what belongs to the self, not knowing they all belong to the eighth consciousness; thus there arise the view of self and the view of what belongs to self. Because the manas has such evil wrong view/false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), with incorrect views, it grasps at the five aggregates and eighteen realms, born and manifested by the eighth consciousness, as the self and what belongs to the self, refusing to let go; afflictions blaze, and birth-and-death continues unceasingly.
To eradicate the manas's self-grasping, one must first eradicate the manas's view of self; only with the view of self can there be self-grasping. Only after eradicating the view of self can self-grasping be gradually eradicated; only when views are wrong does grasping arise. If the manas's views are corrected, knowing that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self, and cannot be grasped or held, it will no longer grasp at the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and only then can the mind be pure and attain liberation.
When the manas eradicates the view of self, its cognition of the no-self of the five aggregates is divided into different levels; because ignorance differs, meditative concentration differs, and the wisdom of contemplative practice differs, the depth of eradicating the view of self also differs. There is the eradication of the view of self at the fourth fruit, at the third fruit, at the second fruit, and also at the first fruit; at each fruit-stage, the depth of eradicating the view of self differs, and the wisdom obtained also differs. It is like the uneven levels of students in a school; even students of the same grade and same class have uneven levels.
After eradicating the view of self at the first fruit, one continues to contemplate and cultivate the principle that the five aggregates are suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self; wisdom and meditative concentration grow ever deeper, the view of self is eradicated ever more thoroughly, and therefore the grasping at the five aggregates becomes ever lighter; when self-grasping is completely eradicated, one becomes an arhat of the fourth fruit, a great arhat. For one who has completely eradicated the view of self and completely eradicated self-grasping, the single thought of ignorance is also completely eradicated, and at the end of life one can enter Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa).
Therefore the view of self is the root of self-grasping; before eradicating self-grasping one must eradicate the view of self. The manas completely eradicates self-grasping at the fourth fruit — when did it begin eradicating the view of self? It must be that at the first fruit the manas's view of self was already eradicated; only after eradicating the view of self can the manas's grasping at the five aggregates gradually loosen and lighten, and afflictions become ever lighter; at a certain point one realizes the second fruit. Because grasping is lightened and afflictions slight, the five hindrances are effectively subdued, and the first dhyāna can arise; then, with the merit and enjoyment of the first dhyāna, the afflictions of greed and hatred are eradicated, and one becomes an anāgāmin (third fruit); afterward self-conceit and self-grasping are completely eradicated, and one becomes a fourth-fruit person; when one's karmic connections with the world end, one enters Nirvāṇa without remainder.
If the manas does not eradicate the view of self, it cannot become a srotāpanna (first fruit), and has no liberating merit-enjoyment of the first fruit; it cannot, on that basis, further contemplate to become a second-fruit person with slight afflictions; if it cannot become a second-fruit person, it cannot give rise to the first dhyāna and become an anāgāmin; if it cannot become an anāgāmin, it cannot become a fourth-fruit person who has completely eradicated afflictions. Such is the sequence of Hīnayāna cultivation; Mahāyāna Bodhisattvas also cannot skip over it without cultivating it — the cultivation of Mahāyāna Bodhisattvas must also follow this principle, this sequence, this procedure.
7. The Manas Grasps the Functions and Operations of the Five Aggregates, Not Concepts
The manas also has self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). When observing, the mind consciousness observes first; based on the mind consciousness's observation, the manas then makes its own observation, then deliberates, and thus forms its own views and reaches its own conclusions; everything is governed by the manas's conclusions. The manas relies on the eighth consciousness to perceive all the dharmas conjured up by the eighth consciousness, and then forms its own views and opinions about all these dharmas. For dharmas the manas cannot understand, it must understand them through the six consciousnesses, and then, based on what the six consciousnesses have understood, think and judge further, reaching its own opinions and conclusions.
The manas's concepts of "self" and "what belongs to self" are not clear; it may even have no specific concepts at all. It only values functions and operations, grasping the functions and operations of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, including grasping the functions and operations of itself, without any concept of the manas itself. This differs greatly from the mind consciousness. When the manas does not acknowledge the five aggregates as the self, this also includes not acknowledging the functions and operations of the manas itself. But at the first fruit, the cognition of no-self is not as clear and deep as at the second fruit; the second fruit is not as clear and deep as the third fruit; the third fruit is not as clear and deep as the fourth fruit. So at the first fruit one obtains the pure dharma eye; although grasping is reduced and lightened compared with before, it is not as slight as at the second and third fruits; at the fourth fruit there is simply no grasping at all, no longer taking hold of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, including not taking hold of the manas's own functions and operations.
8. Why Is the Manas Able to Completely Eradicate Self-Grasping?
Because the manas has studied the Buddha-dharma, it gradually comes to recognize the principle that the five aggregates are without self; under the illumination of truth and the sunlight of wisdom, the hard ice in the mind gradually melts, and finally melts away completely. This stage takes a long time; strictly speaking, it begins from realizing the no-self of the five aggregates; loosely speaking, it begins from encountering the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths and being able to contemplate in accordance with the truth.
First one must realize the no-self of the five aggregates, and only afterward can one gradually break self-grasping — this is the sequence of cultivation. Depending on the degree to which the no-self of the five aggregates is realized, the degree to which the manas lightens its grasping differs. After eradicating the view of self, the manas's grasping at the five aggregates becomes ever lighter; only when it is light to a certain degree can self-grasping be immediately eradicated. The grasping of the manas of ordinary sentient beings and first-fruit people is very heavy; it is not eradicated in one stroke but lightened bit by bit, like long-accumulated hard ice that, under the sunlight, first melts bit by bit and only finally disappears. The manas's eradicating of grasping is the same: first lightened, and only finally can it disappear. These dharmas, without meditative concentration, lack appropriate contemplation and cannot be understood; when the mind cannot resonate with the Dharma, one is inevitably uninterested. If even the mind consciousness's understanding is out of the question, then do not speak of realization.
When meditative concentration is insufficient, all contemplation can only lead to the mind consciousness's intellectual understanding, not realization. If one believes the mind consciousness's understanding is ultimate, then realization becomes impossible; so sometimes knowing and understanding much is not a good thing. The Chan patriarchs most opposed Chan practitioners having much knowledge and understanding, holding that intellectual knowledge is the root that obstructs the Path. But people today — almost one hundred percent of them — pursue much knowledge and understanding, taking broad knowledge as pride. Hence today those who truly realize are few and far between, while disciples of intellectual understanding bloom everywhere; once the Buddha-dharma becomes diluted and widespread, it will surely perish swiftly.
9. The Mark of Accomplishment in Studying Buddhism Is the Emptiness of Mind
If one believes all dharmas truly exist, the mind cannot be empty; this notion is ignorance. If there is one dharma you believe to be real, that dharma will obstruct you and become dust in your mind; this thought and notion is the delusion of ignorance. Even saying one likes becoming a Buddha, believing that the dharma of becoming a Buddha is real — this is still ignorance. Only when all ignorance is completely broken, all dharmas emptied, with not a single dharma remaining in the mind, is one equal to the tathāgatagarbha and can become a Buddha. If at the end of cultivation there remains a mind wanting to become a Buddha, with the dharma of "becoming a Buddha" in the mind, one still cannot become a Buddha. Only when one cultivates until all dharmas in the mind are empty — without marks, without vows, without action — is that true accomplishment.
Before the eighth-ground Bodhisattva, the mind has much that is conditioned; at the eighth ground, the mind is truly unconditioned and empty; only then is the mind truly unconditioned and non-acting, offering to the Three Jewels in accordance with conditions freely; even when doing work for sentient beings and for Buddhism, the mind is empty — only then does the Buddha confer the prediction of buddhahood. When the mind is not empty — before the seventh ground — however many conditioned wholesome dharmas one creates, however diligently one makes offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, the Buddha will not confer the prediction of buddhahood, because the mind is still conditioned, the dharmas are not yet purified and emptied, not fully in accord with the unconditionedness of the tathāgatagarbha, and ignorance is still evident; the Buddha will not confer the prediction. Even if this Bodhisattva makes offerings to the Buddha life after life, offering all the jewels of the trichiliocosm to the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, the Buddha will not confer the prediction — let alone creating those worldly conditioned dharmas.
However, through doing these conditioned dharmas one can increase one's merit, increasing the provisions for obtaining the wisdom of buddhahood, which enables wisdom to grow. Therefore one cannot say "all dharmas are empty, so I will cultivate no merit at all" — then your mind still cannot be emptied, and there is still a self. Without the support of merit, the wisdom of true emptiness will not appear; even if one believes some dharma is empty, one cannot realize it, so it is not true emptiness, and in conduct and action the mind is still not empty.
Since cultivation is about recognizing and realizing the emptiness of all dharmas, when we do things we should not think that the more we do, the more merit we have — it is not so; when delivering sentient beings, we should not think that the more beings we gather in, the more merit we have — nor is it so. In fact, through these Bodhisattva works of delivering sentient beings, on the one hand we can increase our merit, on the one hand we can grow our compassionate mind, and on the one hand we can constantly eliminate the self, extinguish the self-mind, letting our own mind become ever emptier, ever more able to see through, ever less attached to marks. Only when the mind is empty to a certain degree is there true accomplishment and great achievement.
The amount of merit is not necessarily proportional to the amount of work done, nor necessarily proportional to the number of beings delivered; the key is, in doing these things, to what degree the mind has been emptied, to what degree unconditionedness has been attained. Therefore a true Bodhisattva will not rack their brains all day about how many tens of thousands of followers to gather in and influence, thinking that this is the greatest accomplishment — it is not so; rather, in this process, the degree of understanding of all dharmas and the degree to which the mind is emptied — this truly represents the degree and depth of your realization of the Buddha-dharma. Measure your merit by this standard, and judge your Bodhisattva fruit-stage by it. Therefore do not grasp at marks; observe the intention behind the marks: the emptier and more unconditioned the mind behind the marks, the deeper the realization of Dharma and the higher the fruit-stage. So in cultivation, never cling to any mark or grab at any mark.
Even if in one year you hold a hundred dharma assemblies, gather in a hundred thousand or a million sentient beings, write a hundred books, or in one year offer a hundred million, a billion, or ten billion to the Three Jewels — these are all conditioned dharmas; using them to give rise to attachment and arrogance in the mind is the mark of self; stuck in marks, the more one clings, the less empty the mind, the lower the fruit-stage and realization. Not understanding this principle, one will madly strive and compete in conditioned dharmas: "I am stronger than everyone, more capable than everyone, I am number one, I am the only one" — all these so-called accomplishments fall entirely upon marks, are entirely conditioned, entirely grasping; the mind is not empty in the slightest. That is the karma of birth-and-death: the more one creates, the less empty the mind, the deeper the ignorance, the further from liberation.
Some people, though they do not do so many things, have the wisdom of emptiness, can see through the essence of all matters, are not deluded by appearances, and do not fall into appearances unable to extricate themselves. Possessing deep wisdom of emptiness themselves, they naturally lead those around them also to empty their minds and not cling to marks; thus the quality of delivering beings is high. If the Bodhisattva's mind is not empty, how can the minds of the disciples who follow and learn be empty? If the Bodhisattva clings to marks, those behind will cling to marks even more; thus they run contrary to the Path and are not in accord with it. Therefore cultivating the Path means breaking through marks and breaking the ignorance of one's own mind; clinging to marks is the grasping of dharmas, the root of birth-and-death.
10. Eradicating the Manas's View of Self and Self-Grasping Does Not Require Directly Observing the Manas's Operations
To directly observe, through direct perception, the manas's mental actions and operations and its mental factors requires cultivating to the point where both the mind consciousness and the manas have transformed consciousness into wisdom — that is, at minimum the level of a first-ground Bodhisattva. For the mind consciousness and manas to transform consciousness into wisdom: first, one must eradicate the view of self, eradicate the manifest activity of afflictions, possess meditative concentration of the first dhyāna or above, and become a sage of the third fruit or above; second, one must see the mind and realize the true mind and self-nature, possess profound prajñā wisdom, and possess the Mahāyāna Bodhisattva's wisdom of specific characteristics; third, one must pass the third gate of the Chan school and realize nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa); fourth, one must possess the seed-wisdom of Consciousness-Only. In general, one must possess meditative concentration of the first dhyāna or above, and the profound liberating wisdom of the Greater and Lesser Vehicles.
These contemplations all use the mind consciousness to observe the manas, while the manas can also raise contemplation following the mind consciousness. Eradicating the view of self means letting both the manas and the mind consciousness eradicate the view of self; as long as one can contemplate and realize that the manas is also a dharma that can perish and cannot long abide, one can eradicate the view of self — there is no need to directly observe such extremely subtle dharmas as the manas's mental actions and operations. Likewise, to eradicate the manas's innate self-grasping, one only needs to let the manas realize that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are all neither self nor what belongs to self, and eradicate afflictions in sequence within the first dhyāna; the manas's self-conceit, self-grasping, and so on will all be eradicated, and one becomes a great arhat of the fourth fruit — no need to directly observe the manas's operations and mental actions.
11. The Fundamental Purpose of Buddhist Cultivation and Realization Is Liberation from the Bondage of All Dharmas
Our entire process of studying and cultivating Buddhism, from ordinary being to becoming a Buddha, is the constant realization that all these dharmas are not real, are all illusory transformations, are all shadows, are all dreams, are all without self. In the end, when we realize that all conditioned dharmas of the worldly realm, all dharmas, are not real and are not the self, at that point we thoroughly awaken from this great dream of birth-and-death; only then is there ultimate liberation and buddhahood, and no more need to cultivate. Therefore the process of cultivation is the process of constantly changing one's cognition. The foolish and ignorant mind that takes all dharmas as real must be slowly changed in the course of cultivating the Path, changed until one recognizes that all these dharmas are not real, and finally realizes completely that indeed they are all not real; then all mental actions will be transformed, becoming a mind without defilement, without foolishness and ignorance; the seven consciousnesses thoroughly transform consciousness into wisdom, and one becomes a Buddha.
Such is the process of studying and cultivating Buddhism: in this process, one's own mind constantly breaks free from the bondage of dharmas, constantly liberates itself from the fetters of dharmas, becoming ever more at ease. The reason ordinary beings cannot attain liberation and ease is that they take the false as true, taking these false appearances of the three realms' worldly sphere, these conjured shadows, as real, grasping and fabricating within them, and then being bound and constrained by karmic actions; the mind cannot attain liberation and ease, and they suffer through birth and death within the three realms. Through cultivation we break these ignorances, so that we no longer take the false as true, break through all marks, and attain great liberation.
Such is the principle; it looks easy, but the actual process of cultivation is extremely long, because the manas's ignorance is too abundant and heavy, and its grasping of self and dharmas is also too heavy; therefore breaking ignorance requires an extremely, extremely long time.
12. What Does the Manas's Self-Grasping Grasp?
The manas's self-grasping is innate, called innate self-grasping; it mainly grasps the five aggregates and eighteen realms as the self and what belongs to the self, as having real functions — grasping self, grasping person, grasping sentient beings, grasping life-span, grasping the realms of the six sense-objects, grasping the functions of the six faculties, grasping the knowing and seeing of the six consciousnesses, grasping feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, grasping the physical body. The attachment to other, more subtle dharmas is named the grasping of dharmas — taking dharmas as real, as belonging to the self, as having actual functions. Of course, when many dharmas are still unknown and not understood, there is no way to grasp them. As the degree of cultivation deepens and one encounters more and more dharmas, ever more subtle, the mind's grasping of dharmas will constantly appear and strengthen, and one must constantly contemplate to subdue, remove, and eradicate it.
The mind consciousness also has grasping, only not as severe as the manas; it is a grasping at objects that appears only when in contact with sense-objects. The more it contacts the six sense-object realms, the more and heavier the grasping; this is called the discriminating view of self. The mind consciousness's discriminating self-grasping is intermittent, sometimes present and sometimes absent; when the mind consciousness ceases, the grasping ceases; when the mind consciousness understands the principle, the grasping is subdued or perishes. The mind consciousness's grasping at objects is lighter than the manas's grasping, not so stubborn; it can be discarded as soon as one says discard — perhaps forgotten after a night's sleep. The manas's grasping cannot be forgotten even after a lifetime of sleep, cannot be eliminated, is stubborn to the extreme; at times, the more it is opposed, the more stubborn it becomes.
13. The Manas's Imputed Nature (parikalpita-svabhāva)
Mahākāśyapa practiced ascetic (dhūta) conduct, sitting beneath trees, never sitting in meditation under one tree for more than three days — on the third day he would always change to another tree, in order to avoid developing attachment to the tree, which would bring the bondage of birth-and-death. The great arhats liberated in both ways already have liberated minds and can enter Nirvāṇa without remainder anytime, anywhere — why then do they still guard their minds so carefully? The mind that guards is the mind consciousness, with strong awareness and strong rationality. The mind that is guarded is the manas, with weaker awareness and rationality, possessing the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva), easily developing attachment to whatever dharmas it encounters; the ordinary being's manas, one may say, attaches to whatever dharma it meets.
Why does the manas attach so easily? The manas has had deep and heavy ignorance since before beginningless kalpas; it does not know the principles of dharmas, does not see the substance and essence of dharmas, only knows the surface appearances of dharmas, taking false appearances as ultimate. Moreover, because of ignorant foolishness, it does not know its own foolishness, holding to its own views and refusing to relinquish them; therefore the manas is very hard to convert, not easy to turn around in its cognition and habitual tendencies. Speaking of the manas's habits and tendencies: as long as the manas contacts things that resonate with its mind more than three times, habits easily form. So-called habit is the manas's inertial force — willing and liking to follow what it previously thought, did, and conceived, without flexible adaptation. Some of the manas's habits are not even what the manas likes; through repeated contact, mechanized thoughts and mental actions form.
Why does the manas have mechanized inertia? Because the manas is foolish and not good at contemplation; for dharmas it has contacted for a long and matured time, it will automatically accept them, then grasp and follow them, thereby forming habits and naturalness. For the mind consciousness and six consciousnesses, this means involuntarily saying, doing, or thinking things, unable to control them. Because the manas is obstinate, how could it be easily controlled? Moreover, if the mind consciousness is also unaware, without thoughts or intentions of control, the manas's habits and inertia stand out even more.
14. How the Manas's Habits Form
There are originally no roads in the world; when many people walk, a road forms. The manas originally has no habits; with much contact and frequent practice, habits form. Once the manas has formed a habit, it will not easily remove or correct it — even if it is something meaningless, once the manas is habituated, it will keep doing it thereafter. It will not contemplate whether the matter is meaningful, whether it is worth doing, whether it is worth paying any price — it pays no heed at all. From this point, the manas is foolish and of low wisdom.
From the manas's foolishness and its tendency to form habits, we see that the manas possesses the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva). If it were wise, it would not have the imputed nature; with wisdom there is no grasping, let alone imputed grasping. Because of the manas's foolishness, it is actually not easy to form habits regarding wholesome dharmas, nor easy to develop attachment to them. Of course, attachment to wholesome dharmas is also the bondage of birth-and-death and cannot bring liberation; but cultivation has its sequence: using the wholesome to treat the unwholesome is the first step of cultivation; when unwholesome dharmas are removed, wholesome dharmas are also not retained; the mind is empty and in accord with the Path, and the power of the Path is complete.
Before beginningless kalpas, the environment the manas inhabited had many unwholesome dharmas and few wholesome ones, or no wholesome dharmas at all; therefore the manas resonates with unwholesome dharmas and not with wholesome ones — it is habituated to unwholesome dharmas and unaccustomed to wholesome ones. Permeating it with wholesome dharmas is rather difficult, but to escape the sea of suffering and saṃsāra, however difficult, one must persist in permeating with wholesome dharmas; persistence is victory.
15. Can the Manas's Imputed Nature Be Removed?
Grasping means stagnation, blockage, hindrance, obstruction, bondage, birth-and-death, lack of self-mastery (avaśatā); therefore with grasping there can be no nirvāṇa and liberation. Without grasping, there is integration, softness, suppleness, unobstructedness, openness, penetration, and brightness.
Once the manas neither grasps the unwholesome, nor the wholesome, nor the neither-wholesome-nor-unwholesome, encountering all dharmas without obstruction, the mind integrated, liberated, and unimpeded — it would more than suffice for buddhahood. "He who stays near vermilion gets stained red; he who stays near ink gets stained black." When the manas's ignorance and grasping are heavy, one must stay away from unwholesome dharmas and draw near wholesome dharmas, so as not to be permeated by unwholesome dharmas, gradually remove unwholesome dharmas, and not grasp unwholesome dharmas; by drawing near wholesome dharmas, one is permeated by wholesome dharmas and the mind is wholesomely liberated. Observe frequently what dharmas your own manas grasps; as long as you know what you are grasping, it is manageable — sooner or later the grasping nature can be corrected and removed.
The manas's imputed nature includes grasping the person-self related to the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and grasping the subtle dharma-self. Ordinary beings have both graspings rather severely, mainly grasping the person-self; their understanding of the dharma-self is neither much nor deep, so there is not yet much grasping to speak of. The manas of arhats and pratyekabuddhas has eradicated the view of the person-self, and consequently has also eradicated the grasping of the person-self, no longer grasping the person-self of the five aggregates and eighteen realms. Tenth-ground Bodhisattvas have eradicated the view of the dharma-self to varying degrees, and consequently have also eradicated the grasping of the dharma-self to varying degrees; when a Bodhisattva has completely eradicated the grasping of the dharma-self, the Bodhisattva's ignorance is completely eradicated, and one becomes a Buddha.
All grasping arises from erroneous views; once erroneous views are broken, grasping is subsequently gradually eradicated. Therefore, when the manas has ignorance it has wrong view/false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), and thus has the imputed nature. When part of the manas's ignorance is eradicated, part of the imputed nature is reduced, so that grasping becomes ever less and ever lighter, and finally, when completely extinguished, one becomes a Buddha. Thus, the manas's imputed nature can be extinguished through ever-deepening cultivation.
16. Why Are Sentient Beings Not Liberated?
Because the manas (manovijñāna, seventh consciousness) perpetually grasps the dharmas seen by the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) of the Ālayavijñāna as the self and what belongs to the self, it is bound by dharmas and therefore not liberated. Whatever dharmas the Ālayavijñāna sees, it manifests like a mirror; the manifested dharmas, once contacted by the manas, are taken to be the self and what belongs to the self, and thus craving and attachment arise. If the manas clearly recognizes that these dharmas plainly all belong to the Ālayavijñāna and are not the self's, the manas eradicates ignorance, eradicates the view of the person-self and the view of the dharma-self, obtains right view, and no longer grasps these dharmas as the self and what belongs to the self; thus it is liberated from all dharmas and becomes a Buddha.
17. Does One Who Has Eradicated Self-Grasping Still Have Thoughts?
After eradicating self-grasping, there are still some thoughts concerning one's own survival and livelihood; when dealing with people, it is impossible to have no thoughts; when encountering various states, thoughts about how to handle them will arise; when expounding the Dharma to beings in accordance with conditions, thoughts will also arise. These thoughts are relatively pure and slight, all of a according-with-conditions nature, without deliberately contrived thoughts, without thoughts of strongly grasping the self or the like. The Buddha, when he came into the world, also had thoughts, and those thoughts were all pure, selfless, without any attachment. Because the mental factors of the several consciousnesses all include the mental factor of mindfulness (smṛti), thoughts inevitably appear in the operation of the consciousness-minds.
But there is a great difference between the thoughts of one who has eradicated self-grasping and one who has not: thoughts can reveal whether a person has attachment. One with attachment has intense thoughts; one without attachment has slight thoughts, with a mind-state that accords with conditions and is relaxed. One who has eradicated self-grasping has no more designs about future lives, will not arrange or plan for future lives; of course in this life one lives according to conditions, dealing with one's surroundings, with no more pursuits — living one day at a time, not contending with others. Regarding delivering sentient beings, likewise according to conditions: when there is the connection, expound some Dharma; when there is none, do not think of it. In short, most thoughts arise passively, compelled; very few thoughts arise proactively.
Under this attitude of merely coping, the mind consciousness's thoughts are evident while the manas's are very faint. Because the manas's thoughts are faint and few, the mind consciousness's thoughts are also few and slight, mostly passive. Since the manas has no major mental designs or ideas, there are no dreams; ordinarily the mind is at peace and at leisure, the mental state calm and even.
18. After Organs Are Transplanted, the Manas Still Grasps
Question: During organ transplantation, after the internal organ comes out, the six consciousnesses no longer operate on it — so what is the function that makes the organ thump and beat? What phenomena occur when the organ is transplanted into another person's body?
Answer: After the organ leaves the body, it no longer has anything to do with the six consciousnesses, but it still has a relationship with the manas and the tathāgatagarbha: the manas still grasps it as "me," and the tathāgatagarbha's function of holding (adhāna) still exists; the organ's nervous system will still move for a time, so the organ appears to thump and beat. Organ transplantation is like parents giving a child's treasured possession to another little friend. If the two children are on good terms, the parents giving their treasure to the other child is acceptable — perhaps the heart must bear it a little, and can bear it, without objecting or taking it back. If the two children are on bad terms, they will not allow the parents to give their treasure to the other, and will throw a tantrum and make a scene, or snatch it back.
Here it is mainly a matter of the manas. Whether an organ transplant succeeds depends mostly on the manas: if the manas does not grasp its own organ, the chances of success are great; if the manas strongly grasps its own organ, rejection will occur after transplantation and the transplant will fail. Even a healthy normal person, if the manas no longer grasps its own physical body and completely relinquishes the body, may die immediately — so life and death lie with the manas.
After organ transplantation, the two persons' tathāgatagarbhas cooperate for a short period; when the manas has almost completely relinquished its own organ, that organ becomes the transplant recipient's, and the organ is then held and maintained solely by the recipient's tathāgatagarbha. If the brain is transplanted, the manas has no place of abode and will follow the brain over — it is as if the entire manas has been moved over; then the recipient's brain has been replaced, no longer having the original person's mode of thinking, and emotions and so forth are all changed.
After a patient receives an organ transplant, rejection reactions occur; besides genes and various other factors, one reason is the donor's manas rejecting. Most organ donations are not voluntary on the part of the person themselves; before death they did not express willingness to donate organs after death — rather, family members decided to donate the deceased's organs. If the deceased was unwilling, then after the organ enters the patient's body, the deceased's manas interferes and rejects, and rejection reactions occur. Or, although the deceased agreed before death to donate organs, the knife was wielded to remove the organs before death was complete; the deceased suffered greatly, gave rise to anger and regret, and then, when the organ enters the patient's body, the deceased's manas may have feelings of resistance, and the patient will show rejection reactions.
19. Flesh Can Still Move After Leaving the Body Because of the Manas's Grasping
Question: When a person accidentally severs a finger, because of the manas's grasping, if it is reattached promptly within a certain time, its function can be restored. But when an organ or part of the body leaves the main body, it can still show vivid signs of life (such as twisting, beating, etc.) — this is a bit hard to understand. By what means does the manas keep that organ or body part moving? Just as there is no longer the coarse material faculty (rūpa-indriya), how do the manas and the tathāgatagarbha control the detached organ or the severed flesh? Can the tathāgatagarbha, through the manas, output seeds to the detached organ out of thin air? Or is this beating merely an unconscious neural reflex?
Answer: A freshly detached organ, like an organ on the body, is jointly maintained by the manas and the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha provides the seeds of the four great elements to meet the needs of the body faculty. Once the manas considers the detached organ useless, it will relinquish it; then the tathāgatagarbha no longer outputs the seeds of the four great elements, and those organs lose their vital vitality.
As the seeds of the four great elements constantly arise and disperse on the organ, the organ has the characteristics of the four great elements: the motility of wind, the solidity of earth, the moistness of water, and the warmth of fire. The particles composed of seeds constantly arise, abide, change, and perish, driving the particles' constant movement and change, producing various energies — kinetic energy, thermal energy, potential energy, and so on.
Freshly detached flesh moves because the nervous tissue still has conduction functions, the cells' functions have not necrotized, and both the manas and the tathāgatagarbha are maintaining it. The more the manas grasps, the longer the flesh moves. Some animals have been dead a long time, their bodies carved into pieces and sold, yet the flesh still moves — this animal grasped its own body extremely strongly; it knows whoever bought its flesh, and in the future it will surely collect the debt. When sentient beings encounter one another, some repay kindness and debts, some seek revenge in a cycle of vendettas; the entanglements of gratitude and grievance are extremely complex — there is no one who has no adversaries.
20. The Manas's Feeling of Suffering
Question: When an animal's flesh is being carved up and still twitching, is the manas's feeling of suffering especially severe at that time? Does the dismembered flesh still have intense sensations of pain?
Answer: Whether the flesh is being dismembered or resisting dismemberment, there is no feeling of suffering or pleasure; what feels is the consciousness-minds — the five sense consciousnesses and the mind consciousness. The manas does not have feelings of suffering or pleasure on the physical body's sense-objects; those are the physiological feelings of suffering perceived by the body consciousness; the mind consciousness's suffering is mental. When things go against its mind, not according with its wishes, the manas's displeasure is the feeling of suffering. The manas is extremely greedy and hateful; because of its grasping, the more it grasps, the more it craves and cannot let go, and the more it hates. The manas does not want to die, does not want to be killed and eaten, so there is hatred and the feeling of suffering; if it is saved, it will also have a grateful heart. Therefore the manas repays kindness, holds grudges, and takes revenge; the poison of hatred in the manas's mind is enough to make people uncomfortable, and its vengeful vows are enough to make people receive evil retributions and evil consequences.
21. The Manas's Grasping Nature
Internal organs freshly removed from a living body are each fresh, vivid, and full of vitality; the nerve cells are all moving, and the signs of life are obvious. Why are the organs still fresh and alive after leaving the body? Because of the manas's grasping, the tathāgatagarbha will output seeds to maintain the survival of the internal organs.
Looking at each person's manas's body-grasping at the time of death: the more one grasps the body, the slower the death and the more and heavier the suffering; the lighter the body-grasping, the faster the death and the less and lighter the suffering — except for beings headed for the hells. Those with severe body-grasping are people with heavy afflictions; such people have slight wholesome karma, and often at death there are no auspicious signs; not knowing where they are going, they grasp the body severely, and the more they grasp, the more they suffer. This is a vicious cycle; ordinary people without cultivation cannot break out of it. Those with abundant and great wholesome karma often have some auspicious signs and good omens at death; their minds turn toward the wholesome and do not grasp the body much, and death is swift.
Therefore train yourself regularly to reduce as much as possible your grasping at people, matters, and things; then at death there will be little suffering, and in ordinary daily life suffering will also be very slight. The less grasping, the closer to liberation and the lighter one lives. Whatever one grasps is a burden and weight; grasping itself is a manifestation of foolishness. A person with wisdom can see clearly and let go, and will not grasp at people, matters, or things, adding burden to body and mind.
22. When Can the Manas's Imputed Nature Be Removed?
It is precisely because of the manas's imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) that sentient beings have the various sufferings of birth-and-death and saṃsāra; removing the manas's imputed nature brings nirvāṇa. But the imputed nature is not so easily removed: one must eradicate the view of self, eradicate self-grasping, realize true suchness (tathatā), and when the grasping of the dharma-self is also completely extinguished, only then can the manas's imputed nature be completely and thoroughly removed, attaining great liberation.
23. Can Ordinary Sentient Beings Grasp the Eighth Consciousness as the Self?
Only one who has realized the eighth consciousness begins to grasp the eighth consciousness as the self; before realizing the eighth consciousness, the ordinary being's manas has no way to grasp the eighth consciousness as the self. After truly realizing the eighth consciousness and attaining enlightenment, through subsequent continuous cultivation, one must also gradually eradicate the manas's grasping at the eighth consciousness in order to reach the third gate of the Chan school and attain liberation.
If sentient beings could grasp the eighth consciousness, they would no longer grasp the five aggregates as the self. If one has not realized the eighth consciousness, how could one grasp the eighth consciousness? Let everyone go ahead and grasp the eighth consciousness — as long as one can grasp the eighth consciousness even a little, one will give rise to a little samādhi of true suchness, with immeasurable merit.
24. In Nirvāṇa Without Remainder, Who Extinguishes the Manas?
At the time of parinirvāṇa, the seventeen realms are extinguished, and the manas automatically disappears — there is no one who extinguishes the manas. If there were someone who could extinguish the manas, there would still be a self; with a self one cannot enter Nirvāṇa without remainder; only without self can there be final extinction. If there is still an "ability," ability is self; "object" is what belongs to self. Only when no one takes the manas as what belongs to self — no ability and no object — can there be final extinction; with ability and object, extinction is impossible.
Nor does final extinction occur because the manas is willing to extinguish itself, nor is the manas extinguished by something. Rather, because the manas no longer grasps any dharma, no longer has desire for any dharma, the manas does not wish to act, has nothing it hopes for, the mental factor of volition (cetanā) does not appear, and the tathāgatagarbha accordingly does not act, no longer giving birth to dharmas; the dharmas one by one disappear. Finally, when the tathāgatagarbha sees that the manas has no mental actions at all, it no longer outputs the seeds of the manas-consciousness, and the manas naturally extinguishes.
25. The Manas Can Control a Freshly Severed Snake's Head
Question: When a snake's head is cut off, it can still bite people. The nerves that direct reflexes are on the snake's body; after the head is severed, each organ can for a time independently maintain its original motor functions, so the severed snake's head, once touched, will still bite by reflex. How can this be explained by the principles of Consciousness-Only?
Answer: The freshly severed snake's head is still held by the manas and the eighth consciousness; the brain's nerves are still connected to the snake's body, so the manas can still control the whole body, mainly controlling the head. Because the manas resides in the brain region, controlling the central nervous system and thereby controlling the whole body. At this time the six consciousnesses have not yet ceased; the head's movements still involve the participation of the body consciousness and mind consciousness. If the nerves are severed, the manas can no longer direct the body through the nervous system; the snake's body cannot move, and it can only direct and control the head.
Ordinary beings in the six realms' birth-and-death all grasp the body severely — not just snakes. Some animals can still walk after their heads fall off; half a head can live for several months. Some people have been in a vegetative state for a long time yet refuse to relinquish the body; some people, long unable to eat and extremely weak, still stubbornly strive to live on. Ordinary people call this phenomenon the will to live, but it is actually the manas's grasping at the physical body.
Is there also the mind consciousness's grasping here? The six consciousnesses are tools and assistants; the manas uses them if it can, and only relinquishes them when it truly cannot — at that point it chooses to leave the body and die. That life remains tenacious to the end is the manas grasping the body, striving not to let the six consciousnesses extinguish, striving to use the six consciousnesses for activities of discernment, striving to keep the mind consciousness awake; the six consciousnesses must struggle to move and stay alive, however painful.
From this we can see that the so-called "self" refers to the manas; the manas represents the self of the five aggregates to the extent of over ninety percent. Therefore eradicating the view of self must include eradicating the manas's view of self; otherwise the view of self has not been eradicated. The mind consciousness's eradicating of the view of self has no power at all — the manas will still make the mind consciousness have the view of self, and the mind consciousness cannot escape the manas's control.
26. How to Make the Manas Quickly Accept the Buddha-Dharma and Change Itself
The manas has lived in the desire realm for countless kalpas and is extremely familiar with the worldly dharmas of the five-aggregate world; it is rather unfamiliar with the Buddha-dharma. Because of countless kalpas of contact, it has the wisdom of worldly dharmas; the Buddha-dharma is relatively new and unfamiliar to the manas, lacking wisdom and experience, unable to make correct, reasonable, and rapid judgments; therefore it does not easily accept the Buddha-dharma, nor easily understand it, still less easily cultivate itself according to the Buddha-dharma, and extremely uneasily corrects itself according to the Buddha-dharma. Hence it is necessary to let the mind consciousness frequently contact the Buddha-dharma and understand it correctly and reasonably, so as to permeate the manas, letting the manas become familiar with the Buddha-dharma, become interested in it, be willing to study and cultivate it, and be willing to correct itself according to it. Make the manas turn the unfamiliar (the Buddha-dharma) into the familiar, and the familiar (worldly dharmas) into the unfamiliar; then cultivation and progress on the Path will be swift.
27. How to Break the Manas's Grasping of Dharmas
The scope of grasping dharmas is too vast: whatever there is grasping of is grasping of dharmas, including the grasping of the person-self of the five-aggregate body; apart from the five-aggregate body, attachment to more subtle and broader dharmas is all grasping of dharmas. How to break the grasping of dharmas? First one must realize the tathāgatagarbha and develop the seed-wisdom of Consciousness-Only; then observe whether all dharmas truly exist, whether they have their own independent, autonomous nature. Through deep and subtle observation, one discovers that all dharmas are born by the tathāgatagarbha depending on certain conditions, all arising and ceasing, illusory transformations, without their own reality, autonomy, or independence — in essence all are the functions and operations of the tathāgatagarbha, each a dharma within the one true dharma realm, all operated by the tathāgatagarbha; there is fundamentally nothing to grasp — it cannot be seized or taken. Then the mind loosens and no longer grasps, and the grasping of dharmas is broken.
The worldly realm has no substantive conditioned marks — then what is there left to fabricate? When the mind is ultimately empty, one becomes a Buddha. When the ignorance and grasping nature toward each dharma are extinguished, there is nothing left to crave or grasp. The road to breaking the grasping of dharmas is extremely long: from the first ground to buddhahood, a road of two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas must be walked. One great asaṃkhyeya kalpa to break self-grasping, two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas continuously breaking the grasping of dharmas — even merely eradicating the view of self requires a long road; one can see how difficult cultivation is, and how deep and heavy the manas's ignorance and grasping are.
All grasping — self-grasping and grasping of dharmas — is the manas's grasping; such is the manas's grasping, and therefore we break the manas's grasping. First one must break the manas's view of self and view of dharmas, break the manas's mental bondage — that is, eradicate the manas's view of self and view of dharmas. The views that take all dharmas as real must be broken bit by bit; only afterward can grasping be reduced and extinguished. When grasping is completely extinguished, ignorance completely severed, and the mind entirely empty and still — one becomes a Buddha.
The mark of accomplishment in cultivation lies in the degree to which the mind is empty, in the degree to which ignorance and erroneous views have been broken. See all dharmas' characteristics as empty — observe how they are empty, without self, lacking self-mastery (avaśatā), unreal, arising-ceasing and mutable — and the mind becomes empty; one no longer wishes to fabricate meaningless conditioned dharmas; within, there are no marks, no vows, no action, in accord with the tathāgatagarbha — that is the Tathāgata Buddha.
