Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter 1: The Principle of Personally Realizing the Manas (2)
Twenty: The Manas and Liberation
Only by untying the knots of the mind can one attain liberation. The knots of the mind are the bonds of the mind, including the bonds of the mind consciousness and the bonds of the manas. Merely untying the bonds of the mind consciousness is not enough to attain liberation; the bonds of the manas must also be untied for true liberation, because the mind consciousness is intermittent, whereas the manas continues unbroken into future lives. Liberation is not only liberation in this life; most importantly, it is permanent liberation in future lives. Therefore, the bonds of the manas must be untied.
To untie the bonds of the manas and attain liberation, one must eradicate the manas's view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), eradicate the manas's clinging and attachment to the five aggregates and the world of the three realms, and eradicate the manas's grasping at self. Only when one no longer attaches to or greedily craves the dharmas of the five aggregates and the three realms—when craving is exhausted and liberation is attained—can a person of the fourth fruit achieve this.
In the meditative absorption without perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti), there is no mind consciousness, yet the non-Buddhist practitioners still cling to the physical body, so the body does not cease. Because they cling to the body, taking it as self, they cannot escape the three realms, since they have not eradicated the view of self. Only when the manas has absolutely no interest in any dharma of the three realms, has exhausted all greedy craving, and no longer grasps at all at the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, can it fully eradicate grasping at self. Then, at the end of life, when the manas ceases, one enters nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), escapes the three realms, and attains liberation.
True liberation is liberation of the mind: the mind consciousness and the manas no longer cling to the five aggregates as themselves, do not crave wealth, sex, fame, food, or sleep, and do not crave form, sound, smell, taste, or touch. In this way the manas unties the ropes from the five aggregates, the bondage of body and mind is gone, the knot of birth and death is opened, and the dharmas of birth and death can no longer bind one's own mind—the mind is liberated. Among the five parts of liberation, the last is the knowledge and vision of liberation. When correct views are established, wrong views (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) disappear; without the bondage of wrong views, one's views are liberated—this is the realm of liberation through wisdom. Relying on these views, one can escape the ocean of suffering in saṃsāra and karma. Yet correct views are the hardest to establish, because wrong and defiled tendencies run too deep. Buddhist practice is precisely the process of continually untying the knots of the mind; only when the knots are untied can liberation be attained.
Twenty-one: All results of practice must be implemented upon the manas; when the manas changes, everything changes. Because of the manas's (the seventh consciousness's) restless agitation, the six consciousnesses arise and cease incessantly, producing the arising and ceasing of the six consciousnesses. By observing this arising and ceasing, one can discover that the six consciousnesses at the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana) constantly change in accordance with the manas's attention (manaskāra). In this way one can find the key to eradicating the view of self, and by subduing the manas and eradicating its clinging nature, one can attain liberation.
At the six sense bases, there are the six faculties and the six sense objects; only when the six faculties contact the six objects are the six consciousnesses born. Here the five aggregates and eighteen realms are all present. Contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) at this place is the most direct, most crucial, most ultimate, and most thorough: it can cut off the myriad streams, sever karmic consciousness, and also trace out the source of all dharmas, leaping out of the abyss of ten thousand fathoms. When the mind consciousness frequently contemplates deeply and observes deeply at this place, it can cut off the flow of one's own birth and death. He is our most powerful tool for contemplative practice.
The mind consciousness is also a tool frequently used by the manas to discern the six sense objects. Because the manas itself cannot clearly discern the six objects, it must rely on the mind consciousness and the first five consciousnesses to discern them, then indirectly receive information about the six objects before making decisions. Thus the manas is the master of the self, while the six consciousnesses are its assistants. The manas takes the discerning functions of the mind consciousness as its own functions to use; deep inside there is always "self" and "what belongs to self," so it constantly directs the six consciousnesses to protect this self, and the six consciousnesses have no choice but to accept and comply.
The manas is the commander-in-chief: wherever He points, the six consciousnesses strike, and there is never a time they disobey orders. In practice, the mind consciousness transforms first, and then persuades the manas. Once the manas has completely and thoroughly transformed, the five consciousnesses and the eighth consciousness will all transform accordingly, thus transforming the eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms and perfectly accomplishing the fruit of Buddhahood. Therefore, eradicating the manas's view of self and grasping at self is extremely important, and subduing the manas is extremely important—this is the saying, "To catch bandits, first catch their king."
Twenty-two: Realizing Through the Manas Is Called Genuine Knowledge and Penetrating Insight
Based on the natures of the mind consciousness and the manas, we should understand that when investigating Chan, if the mind consciousness does not work diligently and always wants to pry the secret meaning out of others, hoping to easily obtain a conclusion, and the manas does not participate in the investigation, then it will not correspond to the conclusion; the manas neither understands nor accepts the conclusion—that is false seeing of the mind, false enlightenment, at most an awakening through understanding. Only when, in genuine Chan investigation, the manas participates, the manas understands, and the manas accepts it, is that true seeing of the mind and enlightenment. Once we understand the difference in nature between the mind consciousness and the manas, we can comprehend these principles.
Therefore, in some matters we should not harbor a fluke mentality, hoping to easily obtain results without arduous investigation. If obtained easily, the manas neither knows nor realizes it, and wisdom cannot appear. Principles that the manas does not participate in and that the mind consciousness learns unilaterally are all unsteady, unreal, not ultimate, not thorough—they are all false knowledge, not true knowledge.
There is an idiom called "genuine knowledge and penetrating insight" (真知灼见): only when the manas truly knows can there be truly wise views and cognition. When the manas realizes it, there is genuine knowledge and penetrating insight; when only the mind consciousness knows unilaterally, it is "dry wisdom"—wisdom that is impoverished and powerless. Realization means personally realizing. Who personally realizes? Of course, the manas personally realizes. Knowledge held only by the mind consciousness is not ultimate and is not personal realization. Otherwise, realization would not be called "personal realization"—just "realization" would suffice, without saying "personal." Throughout the entire process of realization, the manas must participate: the manas must know all the content that the mind consciousness deliberates and investigates, and must also know, correspond to, and accept the result of the investigation—that is personal realization.
Master the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha and the manas, and you can travel throughout the worlds of the ten directions. Because all dharmas are produced and created jointly by the manas and the tathāgatagarbha, all dharmas contain the tathāgatagarbha and the manas. Once the natures of these two consciousnesses are understood and realized, we can understand the dharma the Buddhas teach. Whatever dharma the Buddha teaches, it involves the tathāgatagarbha and the manas; there is no dharma that transcends the tathāgatagarbha and the manas. However we practice, we cultivate and realize upon the manas. Cultivate the manas well, and all dharmas can be accomplished, and one can transform countless worlds.
Twenty-three: There was a person who worked in chemistry who, for a certain chemical structure, was long unable to deconstruct it and fell into deep thought every day. One day in a dream, a chemical element symbol appeared, very clearly. The next day, after adding the element suggested in the dream, the deconstruction was completed. Presumably this chemical element was dredged up by the manas from the tathāgatagarbha. This example shows that the problem of the chemical structure had already perfumed the manas and engaged the manas, so the manas deliberated (manasikāra) on this problem day after day, even deliberating while asleep, unwilling to let go. It was not until the manas solved the problem in the dream—though in the dream the manas also made use of the mind consciousness's faint.
So many people take the mind consciousness as paramount, using the mind consciousness's discrimination and analysis as the method of cultivating and realizing the Buddhadharma—this clearly goes against the intent of the Buddha and the patriarchs, goes against direct perception, and goes against the truth.
