Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter Two: The Relationship Between the Manas and Buddhist Practice and Realization
1. The Process of Realization Necessarily Involves the Participation of the Manas
The initial practice of the contemplation of true suchness (bhūtatathatā) is the practice of the samādhi of true suchness—contemplating that all dharmas are true suchness. Practicing in this way can only attain a similar samādhi state of emptiness; one may perhaps attain various states of meditative concentration, but one still cannot realize the true wisdom state of the samādhi of emptiness. To realize the true state of the samādhi of emptiness, one must, within meditative concentration, carefully investigate the self-nature of true suchness, find where He is, and observe His specific functions—only then is one realizing the true samādhi of true suchness.
In learning the Dharma, we must have the wisdom to distinguish similar teachings from true teachings, and the wisdom to distinguish the difference between methods of intellectual understanding and methods of realization. Do not take the method of intellectual understanding as the method of realization; do not take the method of cultivating concentration as the method of investigating Chan; do not be satisfied with shallow levels of understanding, but put in the effort to arouse the mind to investigate the ultimate meaning; and even more, do not be content with gaining a little—strive to be a bodhisattva of great resolve. Without the skill of actual practice, one can only play with words, without the merit and benefit of liberation. One who has tasted the flavor of liberation knows how free and at ease the mind's liberation is—nothing rare or precious in the world would be traded for it.
2. As for so-called actual practice, if it does not include the cultivation of meditative concentration—if one does not cultivate meditative concentration—how can what is cultivated be actual? Without meditative concentration, or when concentration is very shallow, there can be wisdom, but such wisdom is only wisdom at the level of understanding, and there cannot be wisdom of realization. Wisdom at the level of understanding only remains at the mind consciousness's understanding of the Dharma; the Chan school calls this "emotional thinking and intellectual interpretation" (qing-si-yi-jie), the mind consciousness's conjecturing. As to what its meaning ultimately is and why it is so—one does not know and does not realize it; one only knows the conclusion, without the process of proof.
Realization is precisely the process of proof, where the conclusion reached accords with the established answer. This answer was given by the Buddha; the process of proof is each person's process of actual contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). Without meditative concentration, how can one practice contemplation? How can wisdom arise? Although liberation lies in wisdom and buddhahood lies in wisdom, without meditative concentration, how can true wisdom arise? Some practitioners want only the last "wisdom," not wanting concentration—like eating only the last pancake, unwilling to eat the ones before it. Wisdom without meditative concentration is like that last pancake—talking of food does not fill the belly; one discourses loftily on an empty stomach.
People with insufficient wisdom often only like others' lofty discourses and high-sounding talk, unable to discern whether there is anything genuine in their bellies. This easily delays one's progress on the Path, thinking that understanding all the dharmas means having realized them, having wisdom, and being able to attain liberation—in fact one is still very far away.
The process of proving all dharmas necessarily involves the manas's personal participation. If the manas wants to know the definite result, it must know the truth of the facts; if the manas wants to know the truth of the facts, it must have evidence. Obtaining this evidence is an arduous process: not only must the mind consciousness laboriously, extensively, and minutely collect evidence, the manas must also give rise to deep questioning doubt, searching for evidence together, proving together, and confirming the evidence collected by the mind consciousness. This process is by no means easy—it is not something casually accepted like the mind consciousness does at will. He must undergo repeated mental struggle, repeated deep and minute deliberation (manasikāra), and must change His habitual cognition and incorrect views from beginningless kalpas.
When the manas finds it, the previous knowledge is overturned, and the manas is touched and shaken, with extraordinary experiences of body and mind. Without this process, do not speak of actual practice and realization. Apart from meditative concentration, this process simply cannot be completed—do not speak of actual practice and realization; that is merely lofty talk.
For the results of all dharmas, the Buddha has almost all given the answers—for example, like a dream, like an illusion, like the moon in water, like an image in a mirror, like a mirage, and so on—all answers given by the Buddha. What is remarkable about knowing the answers? Only the process of proof can display each person's true wisdom. The understanding-wisdom of "knowing nothing when asked three questions"—anyone slightly clever can obtain it; there is nothing remarkable about it.
Those unenlightened ordinary beings, because of their cleverness, strong comprehension, broad knowledge, and fine writing and eloquence, can spend some time and write tens of thousands of words of discourse on how all dharmas are like dreams and illusions. But in these discourses, where are the traces of contemplative practice? Where are the traces of realization? Where is the process of proof? Yet some people happen to like such things, reciting them day and night—even if one's learning fills five carts, what use is it?
3. The Principle of Truly Doing the Work of Investigating Chan
When investigating Chan, the mind consciousness should be without thought, but the manas must absolutely not be without thought. Without thought, it is purely cultivating concentration, which cannot give rise to wisdom, and therefore one cannot attain enlightenment, nor can one see the nature.
When the power of concentration is very good, the mind consciousness seems without thought, but in fact there is still one thought suspended in the heart—suspended in the manas. The manas is investigating, with the mind consciousness cooperating; when the material is sufficient and the data complete, the manas takes the lead in investigating. If the data is insufficient, the manas asks the mind consciousness for material and data, and then investigates deeply again. This is the secret of true investigative effort—if everyone knew it, it would no longer be a secret. When the manas asks the mind consciousness for material and data, the mind consciousness must then explicitly think and analyze, and hand the content and results of the analysis and thinking to the manas; then the manas investigates again based on this data.
We have all had this experience: on the surface we seem to have no thoughts or thinking, but deep inside the mind it is not calm—there are still some mental dynamics deeply hidden, like the water of the great ocean: the surface appears still and calm, but in reality the currents are very swift. The manas is just like this—deep, hidden, hard to find, unfathomable.
Realizing enlightenment through investigating Chan requires certain conditions of causes and conditions, depending on the respective states of the mind consciousness and the manas. Therefore, experienced and highly responsible Chan masters will observe whether the disciple's causes and conditions are complete; if not complete—lacking meditative concentration—they will not begin to guide, lest the disciple gain only intellectual understanding and be unable to be full of vitality for a lifetime. Enlightenment under different Chan masters makes a great difference in wisdom, with great differences in realization. So what kind of Chan master one encounters precisely indicates one's own merit and causes and conditions.
4. Only the Manas's Investigation Is True Chan Investigation
A psychological researcher's research report says: when brain waves are in the α state, a person's consciousness activity is clearly inhibited, unable to carry out logical thinking, in an unconscious state. At this time, the brain receives or transmits information through intuition, inspiration, habit, images, imagination, etc., and the subconscious is in an active state.
Having read this passage, to say that the manas has no mental activity, no thinking activity, no deliberative nature would be indefensible. The α state in this passage refers to the state within meditative concentration. In concentration, the mind consciousness is less active or not active, and the manas's deliberative function can be fully brought into play. Why say this? Because at this time the manas is less disturbed by the mind consciousness, the manas is more focused, and its deliberative nature is strengthened. Why can the mind consciousness disturb the manas? Because the mind consciousness's discriminating activity at every moment is transmitted to the manas as information, and the manas must discriminate and process it; there is also information transmitted from the five sense consciousnesses, which the manas must all discriminate and process; and there is also information beyond the six sense objects, which the manas must also discriminate and process. With the manas so busy, there is no time to focus on deliberating major problems, and major problems cannot be solved.
The results of the mind consciousness's shallow thinking and understanding simply do not count, because the evidence is insufficient and the data inadequate—the manas does not accept it. Even if the evidence is sufficient and the data ample, the manas must still deliberate through this evidence and data again from the beginning before making a final judgment. Because He is the examiner and gatekeeper, with the responsibility to filter the mind consciousness's decision once more before letting it pass; then the tathāgatagarbha executes it concretely. The tathāgatagarbha only obeys the manas's command and summons, not the mind consciousness's independent judgment and decision.
In eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and investigating Chan, first the mind consciousness must supply the manas with all the evidence and data, then the mind consciousness thinks less, functions less, cooperating with the needs of the manas's mental activity, letting go and allowing the manas to deliberate and weigh on its own, letting Him personally verify certain facts. If the manas feels the facts are not yet sufficient, the evidence not yet adequate, the data not yet enough, then the mind consciousness thinks and contemplates again, collects data again and hands it to the manas, and the manas again engages in deep deliberation and weighing. In this way, with the mind consciousness constantly supplementing data and material from the side, the manas can continuously process, continuously refine its thinking, and finally arrive at a solid, well-evidenced conclusion—then one attains the fruits and sees the mind.
If there are many matters and the mind consciousness must exit concentration to discriminate the six sense objects, the manas can also secretly work on its own, never leaving off investigation whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, and can even work whether dreaming or dreamless at night. When the manas truly feels a matter is of great importance, it can decide to forget food and sleep, neither sleeping nor eating, because the manas wants to be diligent—these eating and drinking activities affect the manas's focused deliberation; He would be distracted by daily trivia, so He will decide to reduce the other activities of the five aggregates to ensure He is not distracted. When sleeping, without the mind consciousness's assistance at the side, the manas has no sufficient data and material and cannot begin investigating. So the manas decides not to sleep, not to let the mind consciousness cease.
Without the mind consciousness's cooperation and assistance, the manas can still investigate and deliberate on the Dharma meaning, only it takes longer—who knows when. There are examples as proof: for instance, at night one thinks about a problem without solving it, then falls asleep. After a night's sleep, the next morning, as soon as the eyes open, inspiration appears—one suddenly understands the unsolved problem. This shows that all night the manas was working and deliberating. Leaving a question for the manas before sleeping at night, and getting the answer upon waking in the morning—many people have had similar experiences. Another example: sometimes a problem one has thought about, without getting an answer at the time, one goes off to busy oneself with other things—on the surface it seems one has forgotten the matter, the mind consciousness no longer considering it—then at some unpredictable moment, an answer suddenly appears in the mind. This is the manas silently deliberating behind the scenes all along, finally deliberating out a result. Practice means using the manas more; only the manas's practice is true practice, capable of realizing all dharmas and obtaining all wisdom.
5. Faith, understanding, practice, and realization (信解行证) are divided into the mind-consciousness level and the manas level; what ultimately and thoroughly plays the decisive, governing role is the manas-level faith, understanding, practice, and realization. If only the mind consciousness has faith, the manas cannot take action, cannot practice diligently, cannot realize the Buddha-dharma. Only when the manas has faith is it true faith; if the manas does not believe, true practice cannot begin.
Faith, understanding, practice, and realization are in fact all the manas's business; the mind consciousness can only be an assistant, not the protagonist. With the mind consciousness going ahead to guide, and the manas truly knowing, the Dharma is realized. Some mind consciousnesses have experience and wisdom and can guide; some mind consciousnesses lack experience and wisdom and cannot guide.
Faith, understanding, practice, and realization are the four sequential stages of practice: faith is not equal to understanding, understanding is not equal to practice, practice is not equal to realization. For example, eradicating the view of self is realization, but the afflictions are not necessarily eliminated at the same time; self-grasping (ātma-grāha) not yet severed means practice is not complete. One could also say that after eradicating the view of self, some dharmas are not yet realized, so the afflictions and self-grasping cannot be severed at the same time.
Deeply believing and sincerely vowing to be reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī): "deep" refers to the manas, "shallow" refers to the mind consciousness; "sincere" refers to the manas, "not sincere" refers to the mind consciousness. Only if the manas deeply believes in and sincerely vows toward the land of bliss can one be reborn there. If only the mind consciousness believes the land of bliss exists but the manas does not believe, one cannot go; whether one goes or not is decided by the manas. Therefore, faith has levels of depth, and vows have levels of strength. Only what can govern has strength; what cannot govern has no strength.
Another example is seeing the mind: it is realizing the tathāgatagarbha Ālayavijñāna, but if the afflictions are not eliminated and the habituations not severed, the practice is not effective, not complete. It also shows that certain dharmas are not yet realized, so the practice is incomplete; when those subsequent dharmas are all realized, the practice becomes complete and perfected. After seeing the mind, one sequentially realizes the contemplation of illusion, the contemplation of mirage, the contemplation of dream, the contemplation of mirror image, the contemplation of light and shadow, and so on; the afflictions are eliminated, habituations gradually eliminated, ignorance decreases, the bodhisattva's mental disposition constantly strengthens, and the bodhisattva's practice constantly perfects.
Without the preceding realization, there is no subsequent practice. Therefore, as long as any dharma is realized, the practice can be completed simultaneously—this shows that realization has the merit and benefit of liberation; realizations of different degrees all have corresponding liberating merit and benefit. Thus the first fruit has the first fruit's merit and benefit, the fourth fruit has the fourth fruit's merit and benefit, seeing the mind has the merit and benefit of seeing the mind; the realization of bodhisattva stages at each level of contemplative practice all have corresponding liberating merit and benefit, and attaining buddhahood has the buddha-ground's liberating merit and benefit. Without merit and benefit, there is no realization. When the very last dharma is realized, the practice is completely complete—one becomes a Buddha. Therefore, the sequence of practice is still faith, understanding, practice, realization, with realization as the last and final, the most ultimate. As long as realization is attained, the rest need not be worried about—it will certainly all accord with principle, and principle and phenomena will be perfectly harmonized, because one has arrived home and can rest.
6. The mind consciousness must constantly permeate and influence the manas, hoping to change the manas's inherent cognition and views. It is not difficult for the mind consciousness to understand all dharmas; the difficulty lies in the manas's understanding and cognition, so changing the manas's views is extremely difficult. But once the manas's views are changed, attaining the fruits becomes something within easy reach, and seeing the mind and nature and accomplishing various contemplative practices also become things within easy reach. Once the manas attains the fruit, its thoughts and views are instantly changed.
The mind consciousness's understanding followed by permeating the manas is the prerequisite; the subsequent work—that is, the most important work—is letting the manas personally investigate and deliberate; only afterward can there be personal realization. Without this procedure, it is all just understanding.
The ancient saying goes: "What a three-year-old child can say, an eighty-year-old man cannot do." Some people can speak at the level of the buddha-ground, taking the Buddha's realization as their own; but when they themselves truly realize and accomplish it, they have already become Buddhas. The meaning is that understanding a problem is very easy, but truly realizing it is difficult upon difficult. Therefore sages are rare, extremely rare—not like some people who read a couple of books, understand a bit, and a sage appears out of nowhere.
7. Eradicating the View of Self Is the Manas Denying the Reality of the Five Aggregates; Enlightenment and Seeing the Mind Is the Manas Affirming the Reality of the Tathāgatagarbha—Both Attainments Ultimately Operate Through the Manas. So When Eradicating the View of Self and Attaining Enlightenment and Seeing the Mind, Is It the Manas's Wisdom That Operates, or Its Deliberative Nature?
In the process of eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind and nature, both the manas's deliberative nature and its wisdom mental factor (caitta) are operating. Because the manas has the nature of discrimination, the nature of recognition, the nature of cognition, the nature of decision, the nature of mastery, the nature of seeking objects, and the nature of grasping, there is therefore the operation of the wisdom mental factor—without wisdom, there are none of these functions. It is only that these wisdom functions are rather special: they are broad and general, unable to be focused and deep; what is discriminated cannot be too specific and minute. Therefore the dharmas among the six sense-object realms require the six consciousnesses to cooperate in discrimination, and the manas then makes its unique discrimination, judgment, and decision—this also involves the operation of the wisdom mental factor. Without the discriminating wisdom of the wisdom mental factor, the manas would have no consciousness-nature, possessing only faculty-nature; but the manas possesses both.
The manas's deliberative nature universally accompanies the manas's operation; as long as the manas exists, its deliberative nature also exists and operates moment by moment. Because the manas deliberates moment by moment, decides moment by moment, and governs moment by moment, all dharmas can arise moment by moment without ceasing; otherwise, all dharmas would have moments of cessation and discontinuity. As long as the manas has objects of attention, as long as it attends to and contacts all dharmas, the manas's deliberative nature will manifest upon all dharmas, and all dharmas can operate and exist. Only with the manas's deliberative nature constantly operating can the manas's wisdom mental factor operate. The manas universally exists within all dharmas, and the manas's five universal mental factors must universally exist within the operation of all dharmas—this is the prerequisite for the manas's wisdom to arise. The five universal mental factors of the other consciousnesses are likewise so.
Therefore, in the process of eradicating the view of self and realizing enlightenment through seeing the mind, the manas's deliberative nature is constantly operating, and the process of deliberation also manifests the manas's wisdom nature. With different degrees of wisdom, the process, content, and result of deliberation differ, the conclusions drawn differ, the decisions differ, and the actions and liberating benefits of the six consciousnesses differ. Because when the manas deliberates on the five aggregates, possessing the wisdom of the Small Vehicle's emptiness, it can recognize that the five aggregates are empty and without self, and can eradicate the view of self. And because when the manas deliberates on the eighth consciousness, possessing the wisdom of the Great Vehicle's Dharma, it can recognize the reality of the eighth consciousness, and the wisdom of ultimate reality can be born. The manas's deliberative nature and discriminating wisdom operate in mutual assistance and coordination—lacking either, all dharmas cannot operate normally.
8. External form is jointly manifested by many tathāgatagarbhas; internal form is manifested singly by one's own tathāgatagarbha. The eye faculty is manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; the eye consciousness is manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. The function of the eye consciousness seeing form is the joint operation of the tathāgatagarbha, the seventh consciousness, the sixth consciousness, and the eye consciousness, displaying the internal form within the eye consciousness and mind consciousness. Among these, the four consciousnesses each have their own functions, as well as combined functions. Faculty, object, and consciousness—all three are manifested, upheld, and supervised by the tathāgatagarbha; apart from these three, there are no sentient beings and no five aggregates. Then what are the sentient beings of the five aggregates? Where is the self, where are the five aggregates? Which is the self? Seeing forms, hearing sounds, smelling scents, tasting flavors, feeling touches, thinking dharmas—all seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, all functions of feeling, all thoughts and sentiments—what are they?
Find out the dharmas on which the five aggregates depend, and contemplate what these dharmas are, and what these dharmas in turn depend on. Whatever has dependence is not real, lacks self-mastery (avaśatā), is not autonomous, is suffering, empty, impermanent, arising and ceasing, illusory, false, and without self. Following such thinking, enter concentration and contemplate, clarify the train of thought, let the manas perceive, awaken, and personally touch and verify; finally, within the mind there will be a voice: "All these dharmas truly have no reality—it is all a farce. Where is the self? Which is the self? None of them." Then weep bitterly, body and mind drop away, and there is nothing left to obstruct.
Within this there is a process: when the manas gradually comes to recognize this fact, the mind will be very painful and distressed. The self that has been grasped for such long eons is about to no longer belong to me—of course the mind feels empty and hollow, even feeling somewhat fearful, like standing at the edge of a cliff, very worried about falling; hesitant, lost, afraid—clearly knowing there is nothing, yet worrying that nothing can be grasped anymore; that state of mind is extremely agitated and turbulent. After a period of time, one can accept it, calm down, and return to normal. This is the process that one who is about to eradicate the view of self for the first time in this life must undergo; for one who has eradicated the view of self over many lifetimes in past lives, it will be very easy, joyful, and delighted.
9. When the mind consciousness thinks about and investigates any dharma, it never operates alone—there is always the manas's cooperative function. When the mind consciousness observes, thinks about, and investigates the manas, searching for the manas, the manas also searches for itself together with the mind consciousness; then the manas can also investigate itself, and finally can observe itself.
When the mind consciousness finally realizes the manas's existence and observes the manas's operation, the manas can also, together with the mind consciousness, realize its own existence, and can also, together with the mind consciousness, discriminate itself. In the material universe (receptacle world) there is no mind consciousness, yet scientists can figure out some things about the universe; matters of the earth from thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, scientists can also explore. In future lives there is no present mind consciousness, yet scientists can predict the future. In the tathāgatagarbha's operation there is no mind consciousness, yet the mind consciousness can observe the tathāgatagarbha's deep and subtle operation. Then the manas's operation, the manas's function of realizing all dharmas—the mind consciousness can of course also observe and know it. After the mind consciousness transforms consciousness into wisdom, it can do anything; otherwise, one could not become a Buddha.
10. The Sixth Patriarch said to the assembly in the Platform Sutra: "I have a thing: without head or tail, without name or word, without back or face—do you all recognize it?" The young novice Shenhui said: "It is the original source of all Buddhas, Shenhui's buddha-nature." The Sixth Patriarch said: "I told you it has no name and no word, yet you still speak of the original source and buddha-nature. In the future you will merely be a follower of intellectual understanding."
What is a "follower of intellectual understanding"? Knowing and understanding are both done by the mind consciousness; if the manas does not know and does not understand, it is not realization. Although the young novice Shenhui's mind consciousness knew it was the original source and buddha-nature, he had not realized the original source and buddha-nature, so the Sixth Patriarch called him a follower of intellectual understanding, and predicted that in the future he would also be a follower of intellectual understanding—only able to intellectually understand the Buddha-dharma, unable to realize the Buddha-dharma, no matter how many dharmas he taught or what dharmas he taught.
The Sixth Patriarch and all the Chan masters of that time opposed intellectual understanding without earnest actual practice and realization, opposed emotional thinking and intellectual interpretation, opposed not earnestly doing the work of investigating Chan while showing off one's tongue everywhere—such a person can only be a follower of intellectual understanding and cannot become a true, genuine Mahāyāna bodhisattva. Now sentient beings' spiritual faculties (indriya) are even more restless and even less practical, not cultivating meditative concentration at all; modern information technology is developed, and many people know everything but can realize nothing.
Clearly, no matter how much Buddha-dharma the mind consciousness knows, it is useless—one is still scolded by the patriarchs, with not the slightest benefit for liberation. One must put in the effort, truly practice and truly realize, honestly cultivate meditative concentration, cultivate śamatha-vipaśyanā, honestly investigate Chan and awaken to the Way; do not play clever tricks or show off Buddhist knowledge. Even if one knows all the Tripiṭaka and twelve divisions of scriptures, even if one can recite them all, even if one can also teach the Tripiṭaka and twelve divisions, it is still not as practical as down-to-earth realization of one "no-self."
11. The Sūtra on the Samādhi of Sitting and Chan (Zuochan Sanmei Jing)
Original text:复次观身空界。常习此观。欲力精进力。一心力慧力。极为广大。便能举身。如大风力。致重达远。此亦如是。初当自试。离地一尺二尺。渐至一丈。还来本处。如鸟子学飞。小儿学行。思惟自审。知心力大。必能至远。学观四大。除却地大。但观三大。心念不散。便得自在。身无挂碍。如鸟飞行。当复学习。远作近想。是故近灭远出。
Explanation: Furthermore, contemplate the emptiness-element of the material body, treating the body as empty; practice and contemplate this constantly, and the power of aspiration becomes even vaster, the power of diligence, the power of one-pointedness, and the power of contemplative wisdom become extremely vast. Then one can lift the body up—the body gradually leaves the seat and rises into empty space. Just as a very strong wind can blow a heavy object far away, so it is with lifting the body. At the beginning, one should test oneself bit by bit: let the body leave the ground by one or two feet, gradually up to one zhang, and then return to the original place. It is like a young bird learning to fly, like a small child learning to walk. One constantly deliberates, examines, and weighs one's own mental power; at a certain point one knows one's mental power is already great and one can certainly fly far.
Then one further cultivates contemplation of the four great elements of one's own body—earth, water, fire, and wind—removing the earth element from the mind and contemplating only the three great elements of water, fire, and wind, letting the mind's thought be single-pointed and undispersed. Thereafter the body gains freedom, without any obstruction, like a bird in flight. At this time one should further learn to contemplate, taking the far as near, extinguishing the thought of spatial distance; then the body can instantly reach the far distance, as if it were nearby.
Why is it that by taking the far as near and extinguishing the thought of spatial distance, the body can instantly reach the far distance as if nearby? Because thinking this way makes the manas believe; when the manas truly believes, it holds this view—and holding this view, the tathāgatagarbha will necessarily follow the manas and transform and create such a realm. Supernormal powers are just like this, and all dharmas are like this: whatever the manas believes will appear. Changing the manas can change everything. Therefore true self-confidence is the manas's faith—as long as the manas believes, nothing cannot be accomplished; becoming a Buddha works on this very principle. Then if the manas realizes no-self and believes in no-self, how great must its power of no-self be? Severing self-grasping and all afflictions, extinguishing all notions of self, the mind attains liberation and enters tranquil nirvāṇa.
12. With Technical Skill and Mastery, What Role Does the Manas Play? In worldly terms, mastering a skill requires both theory and practice. From the perspective of the Buddha-dharma, theory is the mind consciousness's understanding, while mastery and practice are the manas's realization. Technical proficiency is the result of constantly practicing and permeating the manas; it is the manas's mastery of the theory, and moreover there is also wisdom's function of illuminating observation. Constantly summarizing experience lets the manas elevate its wisdom and its mental factors change—only then can the skill become proficient.
For example, in learning to ride a bicycle, reciting the theory of cycling fluently by heart, one still cannot ride. One must get on the bike and practice repeatedly before one can ride. The body's operations are directly controlled by the manas with the tathāgatagarbha's cooperation. The process of practice is the process of using the mind consciousness's thinking to permeate the manas. Once the manas has been repeatedly permeated and directs the body skillfully, then without the mind consciousness attending too much, without the mind consciousness placing all its attention on the matter of riding, the bike is still ridden steadily, because the manas has already become familiar with the operation and handles it with ease.
The manas directs the six consciousnesses' operations; when the direction is skillful, the six consciousnesses' operations are skillful. On what basis can the manas direct skillfully? From this it can be seen that it is absolutely impossible for the manas to have no memory. If the manas had no memory, the mind consciousness could never permeate the manas—the manas would forget as soon as it turned around, and the mind consciousness's repeated practice would be useless. If in a later life one encounters the corresponding conditions and learns a certain skill very quickly, it is the manas's memory at work.
The purpose of learning theory is to be able to actually operate; if one cannot operate, the theory is useless. If the mind consciousness's understanding cannot lead to the manas's realization, that understanding is also useless.
13. Some people have had this experience: regarding certain problems, when the mind consciousness does not understand, they set the doubt aside for the time being; after a period of time, suddenly a thought pops up in the mind and the problem is understood, and the doubt is dispelled. The thought popping up in the mind is the answer given by the manas; it may not yet be very ultimate, requiring the mind consciousness to think carefully based on it. So although the mind consciousness, regarding certain problems, on the surface seems not to think about them or consider them, the manas has not let go and has been deliberating all along. Because the data given by the mind consciousness is insufficient, the manas cannot deliberate out a final result, but at the very least there is now a direction and a clue. Therefore, in practice one must still constantly spur on the mind consciousness to think more and contemplate more, to accumulate more data and collect more material, letting the manas grasp more evidence—then realization will come quickly.
When the mind consciousness is not thinking, or is doing other things, and an answer suddenly appears—the mind consciousness did not think it—then that is a provisional conclusion the manas reached after its own thinking. Why does the answer appear suddenly? Because the manas's deliberative function is fundamentally unobservable to the mind consciousness. When the manas understands, it alerts the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness feels it understood suddenly, and so is surprised. If it is a problem the mind consciousness has been thinking about all along, it is understood bit by bit continuously, not felt as sudden—no surprise, no wonder, because there was mental preparation.
Once these methods and processes of thinking are mastered and can be applied, the key to the practice and realization of the Buddha-dharma is also grasped; logical thinking ability will improve, and thereafter the practice and realization of the Buddha-dharma will be rapid.
14. True realization of all dharmas is realized and affirmed simultaneously by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. If only the mind consciousness thinks such-and-such, but the manas does not affirm it, does not know and does not understand the principle affirmed by the six consciousnesses, then the manas has not been successfully permeated; He has not realized the Buddha-dharma, and the body-mind world cannot undergo transformation. Because the mind consciousness only floats on the surface and its thinking is rather shallow, and the mind consciousness itself cannot be autonomous, being completely dependent on the deep-level manas's guidance—if the manas has not been successfully permeated, He still uses the original, pre-existing cognition to guide all the mind consciousness's actions and activities, and the mind consciousness's independent views cannot play their due role.
The manas is the governing consciousness—that is, what we usually call the subconscious deep within the mind. If a matter or principle is affirmed deep within the manas's heart, it can impel the bodily, verbal, and mental actions to act according to the affirmed principle. Although before severing self-grasping the manas still has grasping and afflictions and cannot make decisions completely according to the realized principle, after all the manas's views have already undergone some transformation. When the manas severs the afflictions and self-grasping, and there is no longer a self within the heart, the permeation can be considered extremely successful.
15. The steps of practice: hearing, thinking, cultivating, realizing (闻思修证). Hearing is completed by the mind consciousness with the manas cooperating; thinking is first done by the mind consciousness, gathering extensive data to permeate the manas, and the manas also gives rise to the wisdom of thinking; cultivating is done with the mind consciousness as advisor and the manas leading, giving rise to contemplative practice and investigation; realizing is the two together realizing the Buddha-dharma. Actual cultivation is a matter after realizing the Dharma: the mind consciousness subdues and severs the afflictions, then supervises the manas to subdue and sever the afflictions; the mind consciousness's transformation influences and leads the manas's transformation, thereby transforming the self, transforming consciousness into wisdom, and obtaining deeper wisdom.
16. When the manas knows, that is realization; when the manas realizes, it knows what to do. It is precisely because the manas does not know that it is called ignorance (avidyā); breaking through the manas's not-knowing is called illumination; after the manas is illuminated, it does illuminated things and no longer does muddled things.
But whatever the mind consciousness knows is useless, because it cannot govern and put it into practice. When the mind consciousness knows but the manas does not, the manas cannot act according to the mind consciousness's knowing—this is called "saying it but not doing it." The mind consciousness knows smoking harms health, but the manas does not know, so it decides to keep smoking anyway; the mind consciousness knows committing evil karma brings evil retribution, but the manas does not know, so it decides to keep committing evil karma. The mind consciousness knows there is a tathāgatagarbha, but the manas does not know, so it still grasps the five aggregates as the self without letting go, and the flow of birth and death does not cease. Therefore, the manas's knowing is important, the manas's illumination is important, and the manas's realization is even more important. When the manas realizes, it knows; when it knows, it is illuminated and wisdom is born; when illuminated, it does illuminated things—body, speech, and mind change, afflictions are subdued, defiled karma is eliminated, up to tranquil nirvāṇa, accomplishing all dharmas.
17. Contacting and understanding the dharma of the manas—how many detours it saves, sparing oneself how many kalpas of bitter practice time, avoiding how many eons of suffering. The rational path of practice lies entirely in the manas; without understanding the manas, regarding the dharma of becoming a Buddha and the path to buddhahood, the mind cannot be clear. Staying only at the mind consciousness, always playing tricks with the mind consciousness—when the mind consciousness ceases, what are you? Everyone should think carefully about this point. Only by properly tuning and repairing the manas's original face can one change oneself, attain liberation, transform the karmic seeds to purity, and finally become a Buddha. Often ask yourself in your heart: when the mind consciousness ceases, what am I? In fact, whatever the manas is, that is what you are.
An emperor wanting to establish a crown prince, hoping the prince will uphold the family and defend the state: one son is healthy, another son is often ill with life and death uncertain. Which son would the emperor establish as crown prince? Only when the emperor is muddle-headed would he establish the son whose life and death are uncertain as crown prince, hoping he will carry on the family line and defend the homeland. Buddhist practitioners are the same: only muddled people place all their hopes on the mind consciousness, thinking it is enough for the mind consciousness to attain the fruit, enough for the mind consciousness to see the mind and know the tathāgatagarbha. But after the mind consciousness ceases, is one not still just an ordinary being?
There are also some who say: the manas need not eradicate the view of self; it can directly sever self-grasping. Severing self-grasping without eradicating the view of self is also a kind of invention; the key is whether this invention actually works. Others say: without the manas seeing the mind and realizing the tathāgatagarbha, one can directly transform consciousness into wisdom and directly become a Buddha. This is even more an invention; the key is what use this invention has. If all these inventions could work, then learning Buddhism would be far too easy and quick—just fiddle with the mind consciousness and that would do; memorize the Tripiṭaka and twelve divisions and one could become a Buddha. But what are the facts? Becoming a Buddha requires three great incalculable kalpas to eliminate all ignorance, until ignorance is completely severed—it is by no means easy.
18. The consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) is far more powerful than the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta), because it can directly perceive the facts. Therefore the content observed directly by the five-accompanied consciousness can more readily convince the manas. The information grasped by the five-accompanied consciousness is more real and more comprehensive, the material richer, the evidence more conclusive; the manas easily adopts this information as reliable grounds on which to make decisions and judgments.
Practice is not baseless imagination—it necessarily involves the manas. Whatever lacks the manas's participation is not grounded; it belongs to emotional thinking and intellectual interpretation, like a castle in the air. Only after the manas participates in the practice can there be true knowing; the manas's knowing is true knowing. If it is merely the mind consciousness's knowing, without being examined and verified, it is very unreliable—that is knowledge and theory learned from others, not what one has personally realized. Only what has passed the manas's examination and verification is actual, personal realization.
If the mind consciousness can successfully permeate the manas, then the mind consciousness's power is enormous. Our learning of Buddhism up to finally becoming a Buddha relies on the mind consciousness constantly and deeply permeating the manas, severing the manas's ignorance, thoroughly transforming consciousness into wisdom, and finally becoming a Buddha.
19. The Reasons for Being Unable to Realize No-Self
We know this material body is not the self, yet we simply cannot eradicate the view of self. Why?
First, the mind consciousness lacks the wisdom of no-self, does not know how to contemplate and think, does not know how to collect evidence and material, does not know how to permeate the manas;
Second, the power of meditative concentration is insufficient, unable to think single-pointedly, unable to make the manas accept the mind consciousness's views; the manas cannot focus on weighing the evidence and material collected by the mind consciousness, and thus cannot eradicate the view of self;
Third, the manas's views from beginningless kalpas are the hardest to turn around. Although sometimes the mind consciousness clearly knows the material body is constantly arising and ceasing, unreal, and cannot possibly be the self, the manas simply cannot accept this principle—the sticking point is right here. Most of the time, the evidence provided by the mind consciousness is also insufficient and not conclusive. For example, the proposition "one plus one equals two": we know this proposition is correct, but why one plus one equals two is correct—we do not know. If even the mind consciousness does not know, the manas is even less likely to know.
Contemplating the body as without self must be done from various different angles. For example, if a hand were cut off—contemplate: is that hand the self? No, because the hand is gone, yet the self still remains; if the hand were the self, then the self would be gone—thus this hand is not the self. If the eyes were gouged out, does not the self still remain without disappearing? Then the eyes are not the self. If the ears were cut off, the self still exists and has not died—the ears are not the self. If the head were cut off, although the self would die along with it, if the self truly ceased to exist, there would be no self in future lives—thus the head and this material body are also not the self. Is yesterday's self the self? If it is, where has yesterday's self gone? Is tomorrow's self the self? If it is, where am I? Condense these questions into one thought, suspended in the heart; one day, the manas will finally understand: "Oh, so it is—the material body and the five aggregates are all not the self." Then the view of self is severed.
20. The Manas's Non-Valid Cognition
Non-valid cognition is cognition that does not accord with the facts, and these facts are also divided into different levels. The true fact is the real aspect of the dharmadhātu—all dharmas are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The truth of the facts in worldly dharmas is the external aspect of the six sense objects, called the essential realm, jointly manifested through the cooperation of all tathāgatagarbhas—this is the first formation of the image. Based on this essential realm, the individual tathāgatagarbha then separately transmits and manifests the image of the distinct nature, forming the image in the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the brain—this is the second formation of the image.
In fact, this image has certain subtle differences from the first-formed image, but is broadly the same. Because this image must be transmitted through various media, during transmission the four-great-element particles are obstructed by the media; after passing through the media, the number and structure of the four-great-element particles change. The longer the transmission process and the denser the media, the greater the changes in the four-great-element particles, and the more the material differs from its original state. Therefore, distant objects appear less clear to our eyes, feeling rather blurry.
This second-formed image can also be called the truth of the facts, but it is a relative real and relative true. The five sense consciousnesses and the sixth consciousness discriminate this appearance; if they can discriminate it clearly, according with the second-formed image, it is also direct perception. If the second-formed image is also discriminated erroneously and distortedly, that is non-valid cognition; if one must compare with other reference objects to discriminate clearly, it is called inferential discrimination.
The seventh consciousness, however, takes all these images as its own possessions, takes them as real and gives rise to grasping—this is even more non-valid discrimination. Taking all dharmas as the self and what belongs to the self is the realm of non-valid cognition, without the wisdom of direct perception. One needs to realize through contemplative practice that these dharmas are not real, not the self or what belongs to the self, but are all manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, all without self, all arising-ceasing, illusory, and false. Only thus can the manas's non-valid cognition be extinguished, great wisdom obtained, and one not be entangled by these dharmas, thereby attaining great liberation!
Then some people insist that eradicating the mind consciousness's view of self is enough, that having the mind consciousness see the mind and nature is enough, that having the mind consciousness obtain the wisdom of liberation is enough—how can this be acceptable? Clearly it is the manas's ignorance that evolves into all the dharmas of the world, and then binds the manas so it cannot escape birth and death and saṃsāra. What use is merely eradicating the mind consciousness's ignorance? The manas is the root of birth and death; without digging out the root, what use is cutting off the mind consciousness's branches and leaves?
