Chapter Six: The Meritorious Fruition After the Realization of Manas

1. The State of Truly Severing the View of Self

For one who has truly severed the view of self, after manas confirms the absence of self, deeper meditative absorption should arise, with clarity of awareness present, mental joy, subtle thought, and profound, meticulous contemplation of dharmas. Daily sleep of only three to five hours suffices, and the body and mind do not feel fatigued; instead, energy is abundant, and the mental state is excellent. This is a form of regulation over the body and mind after manas directly realizes the absence of self and recognizes the truth. Sleep is regulated by manas, and the mental state is regulated by manas. Manas changes its old, incorrect cognitions, and the state of body and mind must inevitably change.

If only the mental consciousness (manovijñāna) considers the absence of self, but manas lacks such recognition, it will not trigger a series of bodily and mental reactions, nor change the state of body and mind; thus, everything remains as before, unchanged. Intellectual understanding of the absence of self is like this. Therefore, if someone believes they have severed the view of self and attained the first fruit (Srotāpanna), they must examine whether it is merely the mental consciousness that has severed the view of self, or if manas has simultaneously severed it. Only when manas severs the view of self can the three fetters (trīṇi saṃyojanāni) be eradicated, as the three fetters primarily bind manas.

2. Meritorious Fruition Originates from Manas

Understanding that what the six consciousnesses perceive are all illusory internal manifestations (pratibhāsa), and having mentally acknowledged this, how does one cause this acknowledgment to generate meritorious fruition? When the mind truly acknowledges it, meritorious fruition begins immediately. The meritorious fruition regarding all dharmas originates from manas. If manas accords with the Dharma and acknowledges a certain dharma, it will take charge, giving rise to special bodily and mental sensations, thereby transforming the body and mind, altering bodily and mental perceptions, and giving birth to meritorious fruition. This is the purpose of learning Buddhism. The master consciousness that can take charge of guiding and changing the body and mind is manas; the mental consciousness cannot accomplish this. Therefore, the mental consciousness’s understanding and knowing can only serve to influence manas; they cannot change the body, mind, or world. If the mental consciousness cannot influence manas, the body, mind, and world remain as before, unchanged; thus, there is no meritorious fruition.

Many people study the Dharma, seeking only extensive learning and intellectual comprehension through emotion and thought, never exerting effort to cultivate meditative absorption and investigate, aiming to truly realize its true meaning. Their study of Buddhism is like a dragonfly skimming the water—touching the surface and stopping immediately—mistaking intellectual understanding and comprehension for realization, believing conclusions reached through inference to be final conclusions, actual realization, and thinking everything is accomplished. In reality, the misunderstanding is enormous.

The mental consciousness, through words, can inferentially or incorrectly discern the meaning of the Dharma; it can, through thought, observation, and analysis, judge a certain dharma to be correct. However, manas does not understand the Dharma meaning judged by the mental consciousness, because it requires evidence, things observed directly. Lacking these, manas does not acknowledge the mental consciousness’s analytical thoughts and judgments; thus, it is not true understanding, not realization—merely the mental consciousness’s comprehension, which does not play a decisive role and cannot change the inner mind or bodily, verbal, and mental actions.

Understanding a principle is divided into different levels. What degree of understanding constitutes true understanding, is ultimately beyond doubt, makes the mind settled, and causes psychological change—this is very important. The principle understood by manas is realization; only after realization is there meritorious fruition. The mental consciousness’s understanding is not realization and lacks meritorious fruition. Understanding gained through textual thought, analysis, and comprehension, without direct observation and insufficient evidence, is the action of the mental consciousness. The mental consciousness can also, through words, think and analyze the various states of Buddhahood, thereby understanding some aspects of the Buddha’s state, or understanding some of the practices of an almost-enlightened Bodhisattva (Samyaksambuddha). Does this mean an ordinary person (prithagjana) has realized the dharmas possessed by a Buddha, or has realized the dharmas practiced by an almost-enlightened Bodhisattva?

An ordinary person can, through thought and imagination, understand the mirror-image contemplation (pratibimba-dhyāna) that only a first-ground Bodhisattva at the stage of perfected mind can realize, understanding that all dharmas are like images in the mirror of the Tathāgatagarbha. Does this mean the ordinary person instantly realizes the state of a first-ground Bodhisattva with a perfected mind and becomes a second-ground Bodhisattva?

The realization of all dharmas is the acknowledgment by manas. Only after manas acknowledges and realizes it can there be meritorious fruition, can it take charge of changing mental tendencies, altering bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and can the body, mind, and world undergo change. This is meritorious fruition. And the change in body, mind, and world is done by manas; the mental consciousness cannot accomplish it. Therefore, as long as it is true realization, not mere understanding, there is meritorious fruition, and there is partial realization of liberation; bodily, verbal, and mental actions will inevitably change.

Those who rely on the mental consciousness’s understanding to claim fruition attainment (phala) and mind-seeing (realizing the mind’s nature) have not a trace of meritorious fruition; their bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change. Perhaps they will even increase arrogance and recklessly create more evil karma than before, because they believe they will not fall into the three lower realms and fear nothing. In reality, intellectually understood fruition attainment and mind-seeing have not eradicated the three fetters and cannot guarantee not falling into the three lower realms. This false fruition attainment and false mind-seeing make it even easier to fall into the three lower realms. Sentient beings do not know this; they are called the pitiable ones.

3. The Stirring of Body and Mind When Manas Realizes

If a bone-deep shaking touches manas, then when manas directly realizes the absence of self, is the shaking even greater? When manas realizes directly, the body and mind experience great shaking, manifesting many unusual phenomena: deepened meditative absorption, altered sleep, physical lightness, disappearance of illnesses, mental joy, and so on. The more direct the realization, the greater the changes; the more it is mere intellectual understanding, the fewer the changes. Those with profound good roots from the past and deep meditative absorption, upon directly realizing the Buddha Dharma, will have their bodies rise into the sky, with spiritual powers manifesting. This belongs to enormous changes in the physical body, due to the relationship with past-life meditative absorption. Observe the records in the Buddhist scriptures of sages realizing the Way, whether Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna; there are always miraculous phenomena occurring. Why is this? Because they had meditative absorption; it was direct realization, and the changes to body and mind were extremely great.

4. Only After Realization Can Manas Be Changed

How is manas changed? Only by directly realizing the Dharma of the Great or Small Vehicle can manas be changed; nothing else can change it. For example, a child does not understand the danger of fire; an adult tells them not to play with fire, but they do not listen. Only after being burned by fire one day do they realize its danger and stop playing with fire. This is manas directly realizing the danger of fire; without further thought or observation, it immediately acknowledges it, immediately remembers, immediately decides never to play with fire again, and manas changes its habit of playing with fire. For example, it is widely publicized that smoking harms health, yet smokers harbor a sense of luck until they develop lung disease one day and then quit. Manas directly realizes the harm of nicotine and changes the habit of smoking. Many examples illustrate that manas only believes and changes after personally experiencing and directly realizing something. The degree of belief determines the degree of change.

Attaining the fruition (phala) is also like this. When manas directly realizes the absence of self in the five aggregates (skandhas) and eighteen elements (dhātus), it changes and obtains the meritorious fruition of liberation. The depth of direct realization determines the degree of change. From the first fruition (Srotāpanna) to the fourth fruition (Arhat), manas continuously deepens its direct realization of the principle of the absence of self in the five aggregates and eighteen elements; its understanding continuously deepens and changes. After fully directly realizing the selfless nature of the five aggregates, the fundamental ignorance (avidyā) is completely severed, self-attachment (ātma-grāha) is completely severed, and one is liberated from the three realms, no longer creating karma. During the first three fruitions, the depth of manas’s direct realization is still insufficient; afflictions (kleśa) and fundamental ignorance are not completely severed, so one still creates karma and cannot immediately be liberated from the three realms. Even for a wisdom-liberated Arhat (Pratyekabuddha), due to insufficient meditative absorption and lack of direct realization of spiritual powers, there is no ability to come and go freely; the five aggregates are still restricted.

If manas does not sever the view of self at the first fruition, then when does it sever it? It must sever it eventually; when exactly? It severs the view of self at the first fruition, then through deep cultivation, severs afflictions and the ignorance of thought (thought-based delusions). That is, by further deeply contemplating and examining the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen elements, the wisdom of selflessness continuously deepens, manas obtains more evidence, realizes more deeply, changes more, until afflictions are severed, self-attachment is severed, and attachment to the three realms is severed. This is regarding the Small Vehicle.

This illustrates the differing degrees of severing the view of self; different levels of wisdom lead to different degrees of transformation in manas. From the first fruition to the fourth fruition, it is the different levels of wisdom attained by manas in realizing the absence of self in the five aggregates that lead to different fruition stages, different levels of presence or absence of afflictions, and different degrees of subduing and severing self-attachment. Attaining fruition in the Great Vehicle is also like this: different depths of realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, different levels of wisdom, different degrees of severing ignorance, leading to different fruition stages.

Regarding the Great Vehicle, directly realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, manas changes upon realization; the depth of realization determines the degree of change, all the way to the direct realization at the Buddha stage, where manas is completely changed, completely transformed from consciousness into wisdom, never needing to transform again, and the Buddha abides in the non-abiding Nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhita nirvāṇa).

5. If the View of the Body (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is Severed, Will the Instinctive Reaction of Manas Clinging to the Body Weaken? If So, Will It Affect Manas’s Ability or Efficiency in Protecting the Body?

After truly severing the view of self, manas’s clinging to the body may lessen somewhat, because manas knows the physical body is not the self; it relaxes its grasp on the self slightly, cares less, and feels indifferent about some matters. For example, regarding food, clothing, shelter, and necessities, one may be less picky; others’ views and actions towards oneself may matter less. The mind knows there is no self; others cannot truly harm oneself because there is no real self; thus, one becomes more magnanimous.

This depends on whether one has realized the first or second fruition, the state of meditative absorption, and also on past-life cultivation—whether one realized the absence of self in past lives. At the third fruition, clinging to the body lessens noticeably. At the fourth fruition, the nature of clinging is completely severed, and the instinctive reaction of clinging to the body becomes even more subtle. To completely sever the instinctive reaction towards the physical body, one must reach the eighth-ground Bodhisattva or above, where even the habits of self-attachment must be severed. First and second fruition practitioners still have a considerable degree of instinctive clinging to the body, but it is lessened compared to before severing the view of self.

Those with meditative absorption cling to the physical body lightly. Those who severed the view of self over many lifetimes cling to the body even more lightly, often caring little about the body’s daily routines; food, clothing, shelter, and necessities are more according to conditions. Reactions concerning the body are more numb because the view of the body and the view of self in the mind-consciousness have been severed; there is no self in the mind.

Those without attachment to self are relatively numb and indifferent to the physical body, not taking it seriously, only addressing it when significant obstacles appear. However, when encountering danger, especially unnecessary danger, they still know to avoid it, not making meaningless sacrifices. Perhaps due to the support of blessings, the mind is not very concerned or anxious about danger, generally manifesting as greater boldness. When meditative absorption is relatively deep, the body’s reaction to the external environment is somewhat slower, less sensitive; the speed of doing things may also decrease, but actions and contemplation of issues have depth and thoroughness.

6. Learning Theory is for Actual Practice; Only After Actual Practice Can One Apply It

The learned theory only has practical value after actual practice, benefiting the body and mind, relieving afflictions, thereby transforming oneself, attaining liberation and great freedom.

If the learned theory does not lead to actual practice, one cannot obtain true benefit and thus will not attain liberation or freedom. Theory is studied and understood by the mental consciousness; actual practice is mastered and penetrated by manas; relieving afflictions and transforming oneself are governed by manas; attaining liberation and freedom is experienced by the entire body and mind, the five aggregates. Each of these links is realized through the Tathāgatagarbha’s cooperation in outputting seeds.

7. The Direct Realization of Manas Often Involves Changes in Body and Mind of Varying Severity

Because manas is inseparable from and closely connected to body and mind. Why is manas so closely connected to body and mind? Because the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) can manifest all dharmas and perceive all dharmas. Manas, relying on the perceiving aspect of the eighth consciousness, also perceives all dharmas along with it, takes these dharmas as real, as the view of self, giving rise to clinging and incessant grasping. Simultaneously, manas can function upon all dharmas, coordinating and controlling the body, mind, and world, causing various changes in the body, mind, and world. This is the manifestation of manas’s characteristic of pervasive conceptualization and its constant, pervasive controlling nature; it is also the manifestation of self-attachment and dharma-attachment.

If manas directly knows a certain principle, acknowledges a certain principle—what we often call acknowledging it from the heart outward—it can cause various degrees of change in body and mind. This is because bodily, verbal, and mental actions are controlled and decided by manas; manas has the final say. Even far from attaining fruition, once manas contacts a certain principle, acknowledges and deeply affirms it, the mind is stirred, and thus body and mind change. For example, feeling joyful, physically and mentally light, tearing up, whole-body tremors, goosebumps, emotional agitation, scalp numbness, flushed face, vacant stare, buzzing in the head, boiling blood, fear and trembling, rapid breathing, bulging veins, furious rage, and many other situations. This is manas being stirred, manas knowing directly, and then prompting the body sense to undergo changes, large or small. Everyone has this experience; recalling it oneself, one knows whether this is the case.

The appearance of these situations does not indicate that manas has subdued or severed afflictions; more often, it precisely indicates that manas’s afflictive nature is heavy, that self-attachment and emotional attachment are strong, hence these great bodily and mental reactions occur. Truly directly realizing the absence of self is also like this: great changes occur in body and mind. Because manas did not know this principle before—no matter how much the mental consciousness chanted "no self"—manas did not know or acknowledge "no self"; the mind remained unmoved, and when acting, it was still "me, me, me." This is clearly the manifestation of one who has not severed the view of self. Once manas knows there is truly no self and is stirred, then its clinging to body and mind relaxes, and body and mind undergo changes, becoming light, at ease, and joyful.

8. Samādhi is the Combination of Meditative Absorption and Wisdom; Lacking Either, It Cannot Be Called Samādhi

Various levels of realization of the Way will manifest various levels of samādhi states. These samādhi states include characteristics of meditative absorption, characteristics of wisdom, characteristics of bodily sensations, and for those with deep meditative absorption, characteristics of spiritual powers and strength. The emergence of samādhi makes bodily sensations incredibly light, comfortable, and at ease; sleep lessens or disappears; body and mind are joyful; the inner mind becomes increasingly empty; ignorance decreases; wisdom deepens; afflictions lessen or disappear.

Realizing a certain dharma inevitably brings forth the corresponding samādhi state; this is the mark of realizing the Dharma. If manas has not realized the Dharma, only the mental consciousness understands, no samādhi state appears; everything remains plain and uneventful, body and mind cannot change even a little, and greed, hatred, and delusion remain heavy. With good roots, blessings, plus the Buddha’s power blessing, all causes and conditions complete, one will surely realize the Dharma. As long as realization occurs, manas can prompt some transformation in body and mind. Some claim they have realized something, but what is the result of realization? Is it merely eloquent speech without samādhi states, without meritorious fruition? Absolutely not.

9. If Only the Mental Consciousness Severs the View of Self, But Manas Does Not Sever It

Manas remains uninfluenced, still the manas of an ordinary person. When consciousness ceases upon entering the womb in the next life, and one is reborn human, neither consciousness nor manas has severed the view of self; manas’s manifestation is identical to that of an ordinary person in the previous life, without difference. Then, from where does the meritorious virtue of attaining fruition in the previous life manifest?

In fact, those who truly attained fruition or saw the nature of mind (mind-seeing) in a previous life, because manas was influenced, upon rebirth as human, their mental actions are decisively different from ordinary people. The longer the cultivation time in the previous life, the purer their mental actions, the greater the difference from ordinary people. Before learning Buddhism, the mental consciousness doesn’t even know why it is different from others; when scolded as foolish, the mental consciousness still feels distressed. Sometimes wanting to be like others, to keep pace with society, also wanting to engage in some greed, hatred, and delusion, but manas is unwilling.

10. Manas Corresponds to the Dharma; Only When Stirred Does It Have Bodily and Mental Reactions

When manas encounters a principle it did not know before, or understands a principle it previously misunderstood, bodily and mental reactions occur to express its emotions and mental state. These states can appear before attaining fruition; after attaining fruition and mind-seeing/awakening, bodily and mental reactions are more pronounced. This is the meritorious fruition of actual realization. Without these phenomena, it indicates manas has not been stirred; whether Great or Small Vehicle Dharma, it is merely intellectual understanding, without much meritorious fruition. The outcome of intellectual understanding will be clear at life’s end.

Therefore, everyone should take responsibility for their own matter of life and death, not hastily crown themselves, claiming realization when it is not. If one lacks the mental actions and wisdom of a sage, merely understanding some Buddhadharma, what does that amount to? Many, understanding some Buddhadharma, consider themselves sages. In reality, without the meritorious fruition of actual realization, virtue does not match the position; problems will arise sooner or later, especially at the moment of death.

11. Learning Buddhism and Cultivating Practice Must Deeply Penetrate Manas

When learning Buddhism and cultivating practice, if manas has not yet been influenced, the body, mind, and world will not transform, and one has not obtained the true benefit of the Buddha Dharma. Because the body, mind, and world are governed by manas, regulated by manas. When manas realizes the absence of self, it relaxes control over body and mind, and body and mind transform, becoming light and unobstructed. This is a great secret in learning Buddhism and cultivating practice; everyone should contemplate it deeply. Learning Buddhism must not stop at verbal Chan (Zen); it must deeply penetrate the inner world of manas. One must truly change oneself, dig out greed, hatred, and delusion from the root; only then can one completely transform, thereby achieving swift accomplishment.

Many may have learned many dharmas, studied Buddhism for a long time, but have they obtained true benefit? Has the inner world transformed somewhat? Has the perception and clinging to self loosened somewhat? One must constantly introspect to progress continuously. If one lacks the ability to introspect, one must find someone to supervise, occasionally jolt oneself, to make oneself awaken; thus, cultivation can be faster.

Many never examine their own minds, let alone want others to jolt them. This is because manas is too attached to self, too protective of self; self-attachment is deep-rooted, so learning Buddhism lacks power. Cultivation means constantly struggling with oneself to change oneself; thus, the path can continuously advance. Struggling outwardly with others is a grave mistake.

12. Some People, Upon Seeing a Certain Dharma Meaning, Experience Great Inner Stirring

The body manifests some unusual phenomena; this is manas being stirred, hence these sensations. Even in the actual practice of worldly dharmas, there must be bodily and mental sensations and changes, large or small; it is not simply passing by blandly. Already, many people, upon encountering certain Dharma meanings, during the process of cultivation and realization, have experienced bodily and mental changes of varying degrees. Truly recognizing a certain principle is like this.

Blandness without corresponding to manas is merely the mental consciousness’s understanding; it doesn’t count. When studying the Dharma, skimming over it like reading a text, then thinking one understands, knows, has realized it, and thus letting oneself off—this is highly irresponsible towards oneself. If it were this easy, reading the three baskets (Tripiṭaka) and twelve divisions a few times, understanding part of it, then claiming to have realized part of it—that would make one almost inconceivably great; perhaps only an eighth-ground Bodhisattva or above could do this. Taking the Buddhist scriptures, even PhDs and postdocs feel they can understand the words. If understanding equaled realization, then the Buddha Dharma would be too easy; there would be no need to cultivate for three immeasurable eons.

13. Why Can the Tremor of the Mind (Heart) Counteract Manas’s Habits?

Because the tremor of the mind directly trembles manas, forcing manas to change its habits. Manas contacts present, direct reality before feeling tremored; the mental consciousness does not get tremored—it easily knows things, relatively superficially. The mentioned shaking and trembling are all directed at manas; only when manas knows the facts can it change itself.

The trembling felt by the mental consciousness also mainly trembles manas; then manas makes decisions—either to change itself or to confirm certain dharmas. Usually, others’ scares are useless because they don’t tremble manas. Once one day manas realizes the seriousness of the matter, it is tremored, decides it must change itself, must act in certain ways.

How many people daily chant "no self, no self," yet when acting, it’s all "me, me, me"? Why? Because manas does not know "no self." One day, once it truly believes there is no self, that is called trembling! From then on, it changes itself, and body and mind undergo changes.

14. The State of Knowing Only Through Realization After Awakening

This knowing is primarily the knowing of the mental consciousness, but behind it is also the knowing of manas. The knowing of realization is knowing with wisdom, different from knowing before awakening. Before awakening, the mental consciousness guesses about the Tathāgatagarbha; manas does not know the true reality of the Dharma realm, taking the five aggregates as self—both consciousnesses lack wisdom. After awakening, the mental consciousness realizes the Tathāgatagarbha; manas knows the true reality of the Dharma realm—this wisdom is extraordinary. Afflictions gradually fall away; ignorance gradually decreases; self-attachment becomes lighter; finally, consciousness can transform into wisdom. Therefore, realization must mean manas also realizes; otherwise, manas lacks the wisdom of realization, cannot eradicate afflictions, and cannot transform consciousness into wisdom.

The knowing only through realization after awakening cannot be thoroughly expressed in words. It’s like a person tasting honey; only they themselves fully know its sweetness. No matter how much they tell others, others merely understand, cannot truly experience it, because it’s not personally tasted, not personally felt. Therefore, the intellectual understanding where the mental consciousness guesses the Tathāgatagarbha, and the realization where manas directly realizes the Tathāgatagarbha—the difference in wisdom is enormous, the difference in fruition is enormous, and subsequent cultivation is as different as heaven and earth.

15. Why Does Actual Realization Involve Transformation of Body and Mind? Why is the Transformation of Body and Mind a Major, Clear, and Definite Sign?

Because the body, mind, and world, from time without beginning until time without end, are controlled and regulated by manas. When manas’s cognition transforms, views transform, wisdom transforms, it correspondingly transforms the body, mind, and world. The body’s reactions are manas’s barometer; manas’s venting of emotions, expression of thoughts, etc., are all manifested through bodily and mental reactions. If manas’s thoughts are stirred by something, it must simultaneously drive and affect the body, mind, and world, causing chain reactions in body and mind.

16. Once Manas Acknowledges a Principle, It is Always Decisive and Without Hesitation

If it comes from the mental consciousness’s deliberation, it is always doubtful, hesitant, and wavering. It’s like riding a bicycle: knowing how to ride versus thinking one knows how are two completely different states. The former is without hesitation; the latter lacks complete certainty, lacks confidence. Some have inner doubts without knowing they doubt, thinking they have no questions—this is because the mind is too coarse, introspection weak, meditative stability insufficient. Therefore, not seeing the truth, one deceives oneself.