Chapter Ten: Manas and Ignorance

1. All ignorance possessed by sentient beings is beginningless; it is all called beginningless ignorance, existing since time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa. Since this is so, with which mental substance is this beginningless ignorance primarily associated? It is associated with the seventh consciousness, manas. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the World-Honored One stated that in the time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa, when chaos had not yet opened, only the tathāgatagarbha and manas existed. There was no threefold world, no five aggregates world, and no six consciousnesses. At that time, all ignorance already existed; not a single form of ignorance was generated later. Therefore, it is said that all ignorance is the ignorance of manas. This section of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra explains the origin of the world. Prior to this, there was no world. Because of ignorance, manas reached outwards and grasped, thus forming the world. Without a world, there could be no five-aggregate body or six consciousnesses, as the five-aggregate body must have a place to reside and rely upon.

When the world arises, it also takes countless kalpas of time. Why is the void the same? If there were different voids, one void per world, the void would have boundaries. Having boundaries means it is not void. This is the process of the initial formation of the five aggregates world. Before this, it was a state of chaos. Who was chaotic? Manas was chaotic, because at that time there was no universe, void, heaven, earth, or world—only two conscious minds. When manas gives rise to thoughts and reaches out to grasp, it is unconscious and extremely subtle. Thus, the tathāgatagarbha, following manas, gradually evolved the void, the world, and later the five aggregates world.

Since prior to the beginningless kalpa there was no void or world, do the tathāgatagarbha and manas have concepts of time and space? Is there a tathāgatagarbha here and a tathāgatagarbha there? Do the tathāgatagarbha and manas come and go? Can they move from one place to another? Since the tathāgatagarbha and manas have no concept of time or space, we should then understand what the supernatural power of travel (ṛddhi) is about. We should also understand why rebirth in the Buddha-lands can be reached in an instant.

2. The ignorance of manas is not because the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) lacks wisdom; on the contrary, it is precisely because of the ignorance of manas that the sixth consciousness lacks wisdom. Therefore, the one who ties the bell is not the sixth consciousness. The sixth consciousness did not bind the afflictions of ignorance onto manas, although the sixth consciousness can conversely influence manas. To untie the bell requires the sixth consciousness. The ignorance of manas has existed since time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa; it has never been enlightened. It is not the result of erroneous teaching by the sixth consciousness. Because at the very beginning, only the tathāgatagarbha and manas existed, without the sixth consciousness. How then could the ignorance of manas be the fault of the sixth consciousness? The ignorance of the sixth consciousness is precisely the fault of manas, the result of being influenced and dominated by manas.

3. Does the ignorance of manas have seeds?

Seeds are divided into the seven fundamental seeds inherent in the tathāgatagarbha and the karmic seeds formed later through the actions of the five aggregates. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the World-Honored One stated that ignorance has existed since time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa; sentient beings have never been enlightened. Therefore, sentient beings have had the tathāgatagarbha and manas existing since time immemorial, with manas corresponding to ignorance. At the very beginning, the five aggregates did not exist; thus, there were no actions of body, speech, or mind performed, and no karmic seeds existed. This shows that the ignorance of manas has no seeds, and ignorance existed prior to the beginningless kalpa without cause or reason. Ignorance manifests in the form of mental factors (caittas). Mental factors have no seeds; they are companions to the conscious mind. Through cultivation, mental factors transform from unwholesome to wholesome; ignorance is then exhausted, manas transforms from defiled to pure, consciousness turns into wisdom, and Buddhahood is attained.

Manas is also consciousness. Since it is consciousness, it is formed by consciousness-seeds. Once formed, consciousness has two aspects: clarity and ignorance. The operation of the conscious mind is either clarity or ignorance; it must be one of the two. When the ignorance of manas is completely extinguished and it is entirely clarity, the cultivation of sentient beings ends. The ignorance within manas has been carried along since the beginningless kalpa; it has never been clear and is called beginningless ignorance.

4. How to understand that in the Cheng Weishi Lun (Treatise on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only), the hindrance of knowledge (jñeyāvaraṇa) is said to be manifest, not a seed, that beginningless ignorance has no seeds but is only a manifest phenomenon?

The hindrance of knowledge mentioned in the Cheng Weishi Lun refers to sentient beings not knowing or understanding the correct method to attain Buddhahood, or knowing very little about it, thus hindering their own cultivation, preventing the growth of the path. Ignorance of, or knowing very little about, the correct method to attain Buddhahood is a great hindrance. Because of not knowing, one cannot practically begin cultivation, and cultivation will not proceed on the correct path.

This hindrance of knowledge is the manifest condition of the conscious mind, not a seed. Seeds are divided into two parts: the seven fundamental seeds inherent in the tathāgatagarbha and the karmic seeds deposited by sentient beings' bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Karmic seeds are further divided into wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral. Ignorance, which is delusion, unknowing, and lack of understanding, is divided into momentary ignorance and beginningless ignorance. Actually, momentary ignorance is also beginningless. All ignorance, the unknowing and lack of understanding of all dharmas, does not exist as seeds stored in the tathāgatagarbha. Rather, when the conscious mind operates, the mental factor of delusion (moha) accompanies its operation, and the conscious mind manifests as deluded ignorance.

Among these, momentary ignorance corresponds to manas. Since time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa, manas has existed with ignorance; therefore, it gave rise to the mind reaching outwards to seek, leading to the birth of the threefold world, and subsequently manifesting the sentient beings' sense bases, bodies, and the environment. Sentient beings, relying on the five-aggregate body, give rise to confusion and create karma, thus karmic seeds come to exist. Yet this ignorance, though belonging to the defiled nature of the conscious mind, is not seeds. When the conscious mind operates, it operates in the form of mental factors. Mental factors themselves have no seeds; they appear simultaneously accompanying the conscious mind. Apart from the five universally pervasive mental factors (pañca sarvatraga) which universally accompany the operation of the conscious mind, other mental factors manifest at times; they do not always appear constantly, and they can change and disappear. For example, afflictive mental factors such as greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, etc., which constitute momentary ignorance, can be eliminated through cultivation and no longer manifest.

The meaning of beginningless ignorance is that sentient beings, since the beginningless kalpa, have never known the Dharma Realm Reality Mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Sentient beings, since the beginningless kalpa, have never corresponded with Mahāyāna Buddhism; they have never known to cultivate Mahāyāna Buddhism, return to their pure self-nature, and attain Buddhahood. This beginningless ignorance is also associated with manas; it also has no seeds. It only manifests simultaneously with the conscious mind, accompanies the operation of the conscious mind, and can be broken and exhausted. It has no actual seeds existing within the tathāgatagarbha.

5. The source of afflictive habits such as arrogance and affectation

Afflictive habits such as arrogance and affectation all originate from manas. Manas has had ignorance since the beginningless kalpa. Because of ignorance, all afflictions like greed, hatred, delusion, and their habitual tendencies have always been carried along and exist within manas, manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. These afflictions, because they have been carried along since the beginningless kalpa, have great inertial force and are difficult to change. For example, a person who is accustomed to doing certain things does so without thinking; encountering conditions, they act, or react quickly upon encountering conditions. This is the force of manas' habitual inertia, difficult to overcome.

For instance, some people always say, "I am accustomed to such and such." This habit of such and such, in the other realms of the six paths, if conditions permit, will still manifest as being accustomed to such and such. Even after leaving the evil paths and returning to the human realm, they are still accustomed to such and such. Even if they encounter obstacles everywhere, they are still accustomed to such and such, showing no sign of change at all. Some cases are more severe: even if it means losing their life, they are still accustomed to such and such. For example, someone suffering from alcohol poisoning is told by others not to drink anymore, that drinking more will kill them. They might say, "There's no way; I have to die if I don't drink." Manas is stubborn to this extreme.

So how to change the afflictive habits of manas? Only through the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation. After learning Buddhism, one severs the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), then cultivates to attain the first dhyāna (meditative absorption), and afflictions will gradually fall away until they are completely severed, becoming an Arhat. This is only severing the manifestation of afflictions; the habits still lie latent. The afflictive habits and inertia of manas begin to be severed bit by bit from the stage of the Bodhisattva on the Bhūmis (grounds). When they are completely severed, one cultivates to the eighth Bhūmi. After realizing the mind and seeing the nature (明心见性), becoming a Third Fruition (anāgāmin) person, one begins to sever afflictions. After entering the First Bhūmi, afflictions can be completely severed, and one can become a Fourth Fruition (arhat) person, yet retaining a tiny bit of afflictions of thought (思惑) in order to obtain a physical body again and continue the cultivation of the Buddha path.

Bodhisattvas, to retain afflictions to moisten rebirth (留惑润生), can retain a tiny bit of afflictions without severing them completely, not taking the position of an Arhat. Even so, Bodhisattvas begin to sever the habits of afflictions upon entering the First Bhūmi, whereas Śrāvaka Arhats enter parinirvāṇa without severing them. After Bodhisattvas completely sever the habits of afflictions, they enter the Eighth Bhūmi. The time of cultivation for the two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas then passes, leaving only one-third of the time remaining until Buddhahood. Deep and subtle afflictive habits require two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas to be completely severed. Minor afflictive habits can be severed at the First Bhūmi. However, the commonly referred to afflictive habits, such as drinking alcohol or gambling, if one resolves firmly, can be severed immediately; they can be severed in a few months and are not too difficult. This is because the time spent habituating these unwholesome habits is not too long; they are often acquired later and are thus easy to eliminate.

6. How ignorance conditions formations

The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination state: Ignorance conditions formations; formations condition consciousness, etc. These are the twelve links of birth and death. Because the former link exists, it causes the latter link to arise. If the former link is not extinguished, the latter link will arise. However, the arising of the latter link is not produced by the former link; rather, each link is produced by the tathāgatagarbha. Relying on the condition of the former link, the tathāgatagarbha can produce the latter link. Without the condition of the former link, the tathāgatagarbha cannot produce the latter link. This means that if the former link ceases, the latter link also ceases and cannot exist; thus, the chain of birth and death is broken, and sentient beings are liberated. The first link states that because sentient beings have ignorance, manas will reach out to grasp the objects of the six dusts (sense objects), grasping the myriad dharmas of the world. Because manas grasps, the mind is not tranquil, and the bodily, verbal, and mental formations of the six consciousnesses are unceasing; they must continuously arise, producing various actions and karmic formations.

However, these bodily, verbal, and mental formations are not directly produced by ignorance. Ignorance has no substance, no seeds; it cannot produce the bodily, verbal, and mental formations of the six consciousnesses. All bodily, verbal, and mental formations are produced by the tathāgatagarbha giving rise to the six consciousnesses to create them; they are all produced by the tathāgatagarbha relying on various conditions. When the conditions cease, the bodily, verbal, and mental formations cease. The primary condition is manas' attachment to self and all dharmas; this is ignorance, momentary ignorance. When Arhats completely extinguish this momentary ignorance, they are unwilling to create bodily, verbal, and mental formations again; while alive, they merely pass the days according to conditions. At the end of life, all bodily, verbal, and mental formations cease; there will be no future life's five aggregates arising, much less the future life's six consciousnesses arising, and the future life's bodily, verbal, and mental formations certainly will not arise.

7. The occurrence and manifestation of all dharmas are the result of the combined operation of the eight consciousnesses, or the combined operation of the tathāgatagarbha, the seventh consciousness, and the sixth consciousness. The scope of all dharmas is quite broad. Everything that sentient beings can contact or cognize belongs to the scope of all dharmas. There are also many more dharmas that cannot be contacted or cognized, which also belong to the scope of all dharmas. Why are there so many dharmas that cannot be cognized, known, understood, or realized? Because of ignorance.

When sentient beings have not realized the tathāgatagarbha, they cannot observe the operation of the tathāgatagarbha in all dharmas. If their faith faculty is not complete, they do not acknowledge that the tathāgatagarbha operates in all dharmas. What does this imply? It means such a person believes that all dharmas arise naturally, inherently existing. This is ignorance, the view of the naturalist heretics (自然外道). Or, they believe that all dharmas arise from various causes and conditions, not produced by the tathāgatagarbha. This is also ignorance, the view of the causal heretics (因缘外道). These two types of heretical views are precisely the two heretical views pointed out by the World-Honored One in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra.

Similarly, when sentient beings have not realized the seventh consciousness, they also do not know that the seventh consciousness operates in all dharmas, much less can they observe the operation of the seventh consciousness in all dharmas. If a person's faith faculty is not complete, they do not acknowledge the manifestation of the seventh consciousness in all dharmas. What does this imply? It means such a person does not acknowledge that all dharmas are the result of the seventh consciousness' impetus, does not acknowledge that all dharmas are the result of the seventh consciousness' choices as the master, does not acknowledge the parikalpita-svabhāva (imagined nature) of the seventh consciousness, does not acknowledge that the seventh consciousness silently accommodates all dharmas, does not acknowledge that the seventh consciousness relies on manas to perceive all dharmas and thus dominate the manifestation of all dharmas.

If one does not acknowledge the operation of manas and the eighth consciousness in all dharmas, then such a person is a proponent of the six consciousnesses theory, only knowing that the six consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind cognize the objects of the six dusts, and mistaking the knowing nature of the sixth consciousness for that of the tathāgatagarbha, mistaking the functions of the seventh consciousness for the functions of the sixth consciousness. This severely confuses the Buddha Dharma, failing to distinguish right from wrong. The result is sinking into the mire of the foolish six consciousnesses theory, unable to extricate oneself, long dwelling in the deep pit of dark ignorance, suffering immeasurable birth-and-death afflictions.

The ignorance of sentient beings is the most difficult to break; their delusion is the most difficult to transform. The root cause is their lack of merit, not having cultivated precepts, concentration, and wisdom, or having very weak precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Only through long-term immersion in the great ocean of the Buddha Dharma can one gradually accumulate some merit, strengthen the cultivation of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and ignorance can then melt away bit by bit and become thinner, enabling one to become a person whom the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can transform and receive.

8. Is the five aggregates world manifested with the tathāgatagarbha as the cause and the ignorance and karmic force of manas as the condition?

The five aggregates world of ignorant sentient beings arises with karmic force as the condition and the tathāgatagarbha as the cause. The tathāgatagarbha is the cause for the manifestation of all dharmas; the conditions are the ignorance and karmic conditions of sentient beings. When the ignorance of manas is not extinguished and karmic conditions ripen, the tathāgatagarbha, following the afflictions of ignorance of manas, manifests the five aggregates world. All this arises because of manas' grasping and attachment.

Manas delights in grasping because it has ignorance and afflictions; it has the nature of attachment. It refuses to relinquish the self and the five aggregates world. When it decisively desires to have the five-aggregate body and mind, the tathāgatagarbha accedes to it, outputting the corresponding karmic seeds to produce the five aggregates world and the myriad dharmas. Manas has existed since the beginningless kalpa. When Arhats enter nirvāṇa, they can extinguish it. Moreover, it is the tathāgatagarbha that supplies it with consciousness-seeds for it to operate. Manas has a beginningless existence but an end. However, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will never let it end; it will operate forever. The tathāgatagarbha, relying on this, gives rise to the five aggregates world and the myriad dharmas to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings.

9. Why is manas unarisen yet subject to cessation?

Manas exists inherently; it is not produced later, not non-existent before and then arising later. It is simply thus by its very nature; there is no reason to explain. Saying it can cease is because the tathāgatagarbha supplies it with consciousness-seeds, sustaining its operation, enabling it to exist. The existence of manas is conditional. Once the conditions are incomplete, the causes and conditions for its survival cease, and manas will cease. Non-retrogressing Arhats have already extinguished manas. If manas were not inherently existent, then only the tathāgatagarbha would exist inherently. And if only the tathāgatagarbha exists, that is the state of nirvāṇa without residue (nirupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa). This is brought about by Arhats severing manas' attachment to dharmas of the three realms.

If sentient beings were inherently in nirvāṇa without residue, then sentient beings would originally be Arhats, not originally ordinary beings. Since sentient beings are Arhats in nirvāṇa without residue, why would manas arise again from the state of nirvāṇa without residue, and the five aggregates arise, becoming karmically creating ordinary sentient beings, again undergoing birth-and-death saṃsāra? This cannot be explained. Moreover, if manas were without ignorance and karmic conditions, the tathāgatagarbha alone could not produce any single dharma.

A single tathāgatagarbha alone does not produce dharmas of the three realms; it does not produce the five aggregates of sentient beings. If within the tathāgatagarbha there is no manas with the turbid, disturbed characteristic of ignorance, it would not go to produce any dharmas. If it produces any dharma, it must be because of the ignorance and grasping of manas, unless it is the great vow power of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that can sustain the existence of manas. Therefore, manas must inherently exist, and moreover, manas inherently possesses ignorance. Only then can the tathāgatagarbha follow the ignorance of manas and manifest the sense bases, bodies, and the environment, thus producing the universe and the myriad dharmas of the threefold world.

The ignorance and attachment of manas can be extinguished through cultivation. This requires cultivating the principles of the Four Noble Truths taught by the World-Honored One and the Dharma of realizing the mind and seeing the nature of the true suchness tathāgatagarbha, causing the three kinds of ignorance of manas to be extinguished. After momentary ignorance is extinguished, the manas of sentient beings no longer clings to the self of the five aggregates and becomes willing to extinguish itself, able to transcend the suffering of worldly birth and death. Once manas no longer clings, it can extinguish itself and enter nirvāṇa without residue, where there is no manas, only the tathāgatagarbha. Great Arhats with complete liberation (ubhayatobhāga-vimukta), in the state of the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti), can extinguish the feeling and perception mental factors of manas, leaving three mental factors remaining, which can also be extinguished. After all are completely extinguished, the entire five aggregates and eighteen elements (dhātus) disappear. Therefore, manas can be extinguished. Since it can be extinguished, it is of the nature of arising and ceasing, not a real dharma. Moreover, the existence of manas relies on the tathāgatagarbha supplying consciousness-seeds to manas moment by moment; only then can manas manifest and function.

However, if manas extinguishes momentary ignorance, retaining only a tiny bit of craving, it can continue to exist in the threefold world to practice the Bodhisattva path. Bodhisattvas on the Bhūmis are like this; manas has no afflictions, consciousness has turned into wisdom. When all ignorance of manas is extinguished, as with a Buddha on the stage of fruition, the conscious nature of manas turns into the nature of wisdom. It can still continue to cognize, but that is cognition with great wisdom, not the cognition of a dark and ignorant mind. The cognition of ordinary beings is all ignorant and deluded; the cognition of noble ones (āryas) has wisdom; it is wholesome cognition. The cognition of manas, or the seven consciousnesses, is the cognition of conditioned dharmas (saṃskṛta-dharma). The cognition of conditioned dharmas is false cognition. Although false, impermanent, and subject to arising and ceasing, it is still necessary to cognize, necessary to cognize skillfully. No one can be separated from cognition; otherwise, one would be like a dead person.

10. Why has manas existed since time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa?

Since the beginningless kalpa, there are two dharmas not born from causes and conditions: One is the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, inherently existing, not born from any dharma. The other is manas, the seventh consciousness, which also inherently coexists with the eighth consciousness from the beginning, not a dharma born later, not produced by the eighth consciousness relying on any condition. However, manas is still a dharma subject to arising and ceasing, an unreal dharma. It requires the eighth consciousness to continuously output consciousness-seeds to sustain its existence; it requires the eighth consciousness to continuously uphold it for it to exist. Why has manas existed since time immemorial prior to the beginningless kalpa, not born from causes and conditions, yet still belongs to the dharmas that are subject to arising, ceasing, and change? It is because manas inherently possessed ignorance since the beginningless kalpa, especially the momentary ignorance of greed, hatred, and delusion, not knowing its own falsity. Therefore, the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and self-clinging (ātma-grāha) cannot extinguish itself; it coexists with the eighth consciousness without disappearing. Then, once manas completely severs momentary ignorance and severs self-clinging, it will inevitably disappear, leaving only the eighth consciousness existing alone, without form or appearance, without clamor, quiescent in nirvāṇa.

11. How to make manas repent the faults of ignorance from the past

After realizing the selflessness (anātman) of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, and directly observing that the five aggregates, eighteen elements, and the myriad dharmas of the world are all produced by the tathāgatagarbha and are all selfless, that no dharma is the self, manas, confirming this, will no longer regard the functions of the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness—as its own functions. It will no longer regard the functions of the five sense bases, six dusts, and six consciousnesses as belonging to "I" or "mine," nor will it regard manas itself as the real "I." Similarly, it will no longer regard the functions of the tathāgatagarbha as its own. From then on, it gains the ability to no longer crave and cling to the five aggregates and all dharmas, and gradually severs its clinging to these dharmas. Because all these dharmas belong to the tathāgatagarbha, not to manas itself. Recognizing this fact, manas will relinquish everything, slowly loosen its grasp, calm its mind, eliminate karmic obstacles, completely sever self-clinging and dharma-clinging, exhaust ignorance, thoroughly realize selflessness, and become a Buddha.

Due to ignorance, the manas of countless people, not understanding the reality of the Dharma Realm, have continuously grasped since the beginningless kalpa, grabbing everything. Not only have they gained no benefit, they have instead grabbed a body full of karmic obstacles and afflictions. If all dharmas are one's own, there is no need to grasp; if they are not one's own, nothing can be grasped, only loss outweighing gain. Every person grasps tightly to worldly people, affairs, and objects, unwilling to relinquish or let go of anything. As a result, they grasp a body full of karmic obstacles, have immeasurable afflictions, fall into the sea of suffering, yet remain unaware and continue to grasp incessantly. The more greed, the deeper the fall; the more lost, the more deluded, the more suffering. Those who have never tasted the flavor of liberation do not know how light, free, and at ease the body and mind become when one relinquishes the self and all dharmas. Sentient beings can be summed up in one word: Foolish! Stupid! Deluded!

12. The ignorant grasping and clinging nature of the seventh consciousness is inherent; it is originally thus, without cause, without a reason for the arising of ignorance. If ignorance had a cause, it would not be ignorance. Refer in detail to the Śūraṅgama Sūtra where the World-Honored One stated that the ignorance of manas has no root, no source; ignorance existed prior to the beginningless kalpa. Therefore, we have been sentient beings since the beginningless kalpa; we have never been enlightened, thus we have never been Buddhas.

Because of ignorance, the seventh consciousness continuously grasps and clings. The objects it grasps and clings to are the myriad dharmas of the six dusts manifested by the tathāgatagarbha encountering conditions and outputting karmic seeds. Moreover, the tathāgatagarbha also outputs the consciousness-seeds of the seventh consciousness, enabling the seventh consciousness to have the conditions to grasp and cling to the myriad dharmas of the six dusts. Cultivation is precisely to eliminate the ignorant grasping and clinging nature of the seventh consciousness, to sever the self-clinging and dharma-clinging of manas, to return all dharmas to manas, to exhaust the clinging obstacles, and thus exhaust ignorance. Once the ignorance of the seventh consciousness is completely exhausted, consciousness completely turns into wisdom, and sentient beings become Buddhas. The exhaustion of the ignorance of the seventh consciousness entirely depends on the tathāgatagarbha. Realizing the tathāgatagarbha, studying the tathāgatagarbha, clearly understanding all the seed functions within the tathāgatagarbha, not taking a single dharma as self—only then can the ignorance of the seventh consciousness be exhausted.

13. When sentient beings give rise to thoughts, it is because the conscious mind contacts a realm, experiences the realm, cognizes the realm, knows the realm, thinks about the realm, regards the realm as a truly existing dharma, and then repeatedly cognizes, feels, and thinks about it, thus thoughts become countless. In this way, the conscious mind continuously arises, ceases, and creates; suffering feelings are unceasing, and birth and death are also unceasing.

However, the conscious mind of an Arhat, upon initially contacting a realm, immediately moves away. It does not proceed to further cognition, nor does it wish to cognize more. It merely knows the realm superficially, does not investigate it in detail, does not repeatedly think about it or feel it, and the subsequent emotional mental states do not arise. Therefore, their mental state is peaceful and stable, without agitation, without thoughts; the conscious mind manifests less. Only then can the karmic seeds for future births be severed, enabling liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

Because sentient beings have ignorance, regarding all realms as truly existent, feelings are unceasing, thoughts are unceasing, actions and formations are unceasing, the six consciousnesses continuously arise, and there will be the arising of name-and-form (nāmarūpa) in future lives; the cycle of birth and death begins again. For the Śrāvakas (hearers), the extinction of sentient beings' ignorance leads to the extinction of formations. Mahāyāna Bodhisattvas can extinguish ignorance yet never extinguish bodily, verbal, and mental formations. However, bodily, verbal, and mental formations must be pure to avoid creating unwholesome karma, avert retribution and the suffering of birth and death, and attain liberation.

Manas corresponds to mental objects (dharmas). The tathāgatagarbha produces the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna); the six consciousnesses are all produced by the tathāgatagarbha when the sense bases contact objects. The source of all dharmas is the tathāgatagarbha. When the manas of ordinary beings is deeply ignorant and not subdued, it will grasp everywhere at the objects of the six dusts, causing bodily, verbal, and mental formations to continuously arise. Thus, the mind is scattered, unable to settle in concentration, the mind is not pure, afflictions cannot be effectively subdued, and true wisdom cannot arise.

The manas of Arhats has been effectively subdued; the manifestation of afflictions is eliminated. They no longer cling to the five aggregates world nor grasp at worldly dharmas. Therefore, the six consciousnesses cognize less; the mind is pure. If we wish our minds to be pure, free from afflictions, we must subdue manas as much as possible, causing it to grasp less at worldly dharmas. In worldly life, merely having a responsive mind is sufficient; do not treat all dharmas as real and be overly serious about them. In this way, manas can gradually be subdued, and the sixth consciousness will also give rise to thoughts less frequently.

14. The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination: Ignorance conditions formations; formations condition consciousness, etc. Here, "formations" refers to the mental formations of manas; "consciousness" refers to the six consciousnesses. Therefore, "ignorance" must refer to the ignorance of manas. Because of ignorance, manas has mental formations desiring to manifest bodily, verbal, and mental formations. Thus, the six consciousnesses will arise and operate continuously; the six consciousnesses are compelled to create bodily, verbal, and mental formations, to the extent that they cannot cease.

What does this "ignorance" include? It must include all ignorance: the six root afflictions—greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views—and the twenty secondary afflictions. Because of these ignorant afflictions, manas continuously prompts the arising and manifestation of bodily, verbal, and mental formations, causing the six consciousnesses to continuously create, preventing the six consciousnesses from becoming pure, from attaining the unconditioned, from ceasing. The seeds of these formations are inevitably stored, giving rise to future existence.

The phrase "the six transforming consciousnesses rely on it for defilement and purity" (六转呼为染净依) also means this. Manas is the basis for the purity and defilement of the six transforming consciousnesses. The six consciousnesses, relying on the purity and defilement of manas, can have their own purity and defilement. If manas is pure, the six consciousnesses are pure; if manas is defiled, the six consciousnesses are defiled. Therefore, the afflictions of the six consciousnesses originate from the afflictions of manas; the purity of the six consciousnesses originates from the purity of manas. Resolving the problem of manas resolves the problem of the six consciousnesses, thus resolving all problems. Therefore, severing the greed, hatred, delusion, and all afflictions of manas also severs the greed, hatred, delusion, and all afflictions of the six consciousnesses. If manas has no afflictions, the six consciousnesses also have no afflictions; extinguishing the ignorance of manas also extinguishes the ignorance of the six consciousnesses. Therefore, the afflictive mental factors of manas absolutely cannot be fewer than those of the six consciousnesses; the afflictive mental factors of the six consciousnesses absolutely cannot be more than those of manas. The wholesome mental factors of manas cannot be fewer than those of the six consciousnesses; the wholesome mental factors of the six consciousnesses cannot be more than those of manas. Otherwise, manas would not be the basis for the defilement and purity of the six consciousnesses.

All dharmas, without exception, without special circumstances, arise and operate because of manas. Manas is the driving force and fundamental cause for producing all dharmas of the threefold world. Once the ignorance of manas is completely exhausted and there is no vow power, the five aggregates world instantly ceases. If manas has no ignorant afflictions, the six consciousnesses have no reason to create ignorant afflictive karma, because they are not autonomous and cannot act as the master.

All dharmas interpenetrate; not a single dharma exists independently or contradicts other dharmas. It's just that when individuals cultivate, whether they have penetrated these dharmas or not. When not penetrated, this dharma is this dharma, that dharma is that dharma; they do not interfere with each other. When penetrated, dharmas interpenetrate perfectly, complementing and assisting each other, all closely connected. When the Buddha Dharma is penetrated, from any single aspect, one can prove this dharma and also prove that dharma, discovering more facts and truths, with wisdom perfect and unobstructed.

15. The obscuring nature of manas

Manas constantly clings to all dharmas as "I" and "mine," and also clings to the functions of the tathāgatagarbha as belonging to itself. In this way, it obscures the reality, suchness, and various functional natures of the tathāgatagarbha. The sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) cannot then know the functions and nature of the tathāgatagarbha. Thus, one drifts confusedly in birth and death, recognizing only the false, not the true. If manas did not regard the functions of the tathāgatagarbha as its own, the sixth consciousness would seek and investigate the true self, the tathāgatagarbha, would realize the true dharma, and be freed from the suffering of birth and death. If manas had no ignorance and did not regard the five aggregates as self, the sixth consciousness would also not regard the five aggregates as real, and there could be no suffering of birth and death of the five aggregates.

The fundamental reason for the cycle of birth and death is that manas has ignorance, which manifests the five aggregates, eighteen elements, and the dharmas of the threefold world. Because there is ignorance, it obscures the reality of all dharmas. Manas is the conscious mind that has existed from the stage of an ordinary being to Buddhahood without perishing. Then, when becoming a Buddha, one could say it is manas that becomes Buddha, or say it is not manas that becomes Buddha. Actually, among the eight consciousnesses, one cannot find who becomes Buddha, nor who does not become Buddha. Certainly, it is the combined functioning of the eight consciousnesses that has the form of Buddha, the merit and power of Buddha. The act of becoming Buddha, attaining Buddhahood, is itself an unreal dharma.

16. The birth, death, and change of the physical body, from the fertilized egg to its demise, are all done by the tathāgatagarbha according to karmic seeds. However, without manas' craving for dharmas of the threefold world, the karmic seeds would only lie dormant in the tathāgatagarbha, unable to manifest. Then there would be no fertilized egg or subsequent physical body, and thus no birth, death, or change of the physical body to speak of. Without manas' craving for dharmas of the threefold world, there would also be no creation, no existence and manifestation of so many karmic seeds; everything would be quiet, without incident.

In the fertilized egg, when there are no five consciousnesses and no sixth consciousness, what exactly is manas doing? What are its mental formations? When our sixth consciousness has not turned consciousness into wisdom, we certainly cannot observe the slightest bit of this. Even when the sixth consciousness is very clear, in the very moment of creating bodily, verbal, or mental actions, we still cannot know what manas is doing at this moment, what mental formations it has, how it operates. This not knowing is ignorance. The ignorance of ordinary beings is heavier than mere not knowing; dharmas not known are denied by every possible means for self-comfort, attempting to cover up this not knowing, yet only making it more obvious, vainly increasing karmic obstacles.

17. Non-valid cognition (非量, abhimāna) is erroneous cognition, unreasonable thoughts and views. Before realizing the mind and seeing the nature, the seven consciousnesses' cognition of self is all non-valid cognition, all wrong views. Even after severing the view of self and attaining Arhatship, the cognition of the self of the five aggregates is not entirely direct perception (现量, pratyakṣa), because Arhats still do not know the essence of the five-aggregate body and mind. Therefore, only a Buddha has complete direct perception of the five-aggregate self, without a trace of wrong view. A Buddha's wisdom is entirely wisdom of direct perception.

The non-valid cognition of the five-aggregate self entirely originates from the ignorance of manas. Therefore, the entire purpose and ultimate goal of learning Buddhism and cultivation is to exhaustively break the non-valid cognition of manas, to exhaustively break all inverted wrong views of manas. When the ignorance of manas is completely severed, one becomes a Mahāyāna non-learner (arhat).