Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter 9: How to Ensure the Manas Realizes the Truth (2)
Thirteen, the mind consciousness has strong capacity for deliberation and analysis, and its discernment of mental sense-object realms is relatively deep and subtle, so wisdom easily arises. The wisdom of the mind consciousness emerges through contact with the environment, in-depth learning, and careful deliberation. With this wisdom, one can lead the manas out of the mire and toward the bright great road, arriving at the home of ultimate bliss. Without the guidance of the mind consciousness, the manas would remain stuck in the mire for a long time, unable to extricate itself, and the five-aggregate body would remain forever in the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, the mind consciousness is extremely important.
Fourteen, if you want your deliberation to be clear and thorough, you must have a certain degree of meditative concentration; lacking meditative concentration, it cannot be done. When deliberating within meditative concentration, the deliberation is deep and subtle; slowly and finely, it can penetrate into the manas. The deeper, subtler, and slower it is, the more easily the manas can understand. Moreover, only when He participates in deep and subtle deliberation (manasikāra/manana) can He be touched; only with genuine, heartfelt cognition can He change His views, and there will then be a considerable transformation in mental conduct.
The manas also has a relatively weak discerning wisdom. When the mind consciousness deliberates deeply and subtly, He can, based on it, truly understand that the five aggregates are without self, and thereby come to know the true meaning of no-self. The manas originally did not think this way, because He did not know these principles; this requires the mind consciousness to perform deep and detailed analysis on His behalf.
For example, when educating a child, if you do not reason with the child but only coerce and use force, although he may outwardly have to comply, deep down he does not understand, and he cannot genuinely accept it from the depths of his heart, and thus will not correct his behavior and will make the same mistakes next time. Therefore, persuasion and reasoning are essential. The more thoroughly and clearly the reasoning is explained, the more he can accept and comply. The same applies to dealing with the manas.
Fifteen, the process of the mind consciousness's deliberation is precisely the process of making the manas understand the principles; this is a process that must be undergone. The mind consciousness must deliberate, and must deliberate deeply. If it does not deliberate, the manas cannot understand the principles. The principles that the mind consciousness understands are not yet understood by the manas, so bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change. The manas must rely on the specific information from the mind consciousness's deliberation and carry out His own deliberation (manasikāra/manana) in order to know whether the principles understood by the mind consciousness are true. If the mind consciousness does not deliberate, no information is transmitted to the manas; the manas cannot discern these principles, He cannot understand them, cannot be prompted to change His views, and bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change either. Therefore, in studying and practicing the Buddha-dharma, we must be adept at deliberation and make good use of the mind consciousness, contemplating and practicing (vipaśyanā-caryā) in accordance with the Dharma and with reason. In practicing the Buddha-dharma, we must not let the mind consciousness remain constantly in a state of no thought and no awareness, nor let the mind consciousness sit idle and useless; otherwise we cannot deeply understand the correct principles, and wisdom cannot grow.
Sixteen, Why Many People Know the Five Aggregates Are Empty Yet Cannot Eradicate the View of Self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi)
The reason for being unable to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) is that in the earlier stage, the mind consciousness did not deliberate thoroughly on the meaning of the illusoriness of the five aggregates; the materials handed over to the manas were incomplete, and the manas was unclear and vague about this content, unable to investigate and accept it. The mind consciousness may not even have known the materials were incomplete, unable to deliberate and unable to collect evidence, leaving the manas, like a clever wife, unable to cook without rice. In addition, the manas's grasping mind has not been subdued, and meditative concentration is insufficient; therefore, the investigation does not succeed. Many people have not even begun to investigate, because the mind consciousness did not do the earlier work well, and the manas cannot continue the work.
The manas is the judge, the examiner, the gatekeeper. All the data from the mind consciousness's deliberation and analysis must pass through the manas's examination. Even if the mind consciousness analyzes with the utmost subtlety and precision, the manas must still check and verify before approving and accepting. It is like subordinate staff who complete a task and submit it to the leader for approval; the leader cannot just mark it as qualified and pay wages without reading it through, checking it, and reviewing it—at minimum he must look it over once; if strict, he must review it for a period, conduct an investigation, and only stamp it when he is certain there are no errors. Such is the relationship between the mind consciousness and the manas.
Seventeen, How to Successfully Train the Manas
Training the manas means making the manas accept a certain correct, true, and Dharma-conformable principle. This process of training is like solving a mathematical proof problem: we repeatedly analyze and simplify the principle of a problem. This process of analysis is the process of finding evidence for the manas, training the manas, and making the manas understand. When the evidence is conclusive, the manas is persuaded, and finally the manas realizes this principle and acknowledges the correctness of the problem. This is similar to starting from known conditions, combining known theorems, adding rigorous deliberation and inference, and finally arriving at an unshakable conclusion—that is realization. This process is the process of seeking verification; realization is also called seeking verification. "Seeking" is to infer and pursue; the seeking is done by the mind consciousness, with the support and cooperation of the manas behind it. "Realization" is attaining, understanding, and comprehending.
The problem now is: we know the conclusion—that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are all empty and not self—but the manas does not understand and does not accept it, so we must find a way to prove it to Him. Each portion proven, the manas is subdued by one portion and purified by one portion; there is one portion of benefit, and one step closer to the great Way. Practice follows this principle: the Buddha gave us the conclusion, that is, the truth, and we must find a way to prove the correctness of that conclusion and truth; then we ourselves attain the truth, have great wisdom, and can attain great liberation.
If body and mind do not change during practice, it shows the mind consciousness has not presented the evidence to the manas; the manas does not accept it, so He clings to body and mind and will not let go, and body and mind cannot be liberated. Therefore, whether one's own process of verification in practice has been effective and whether the evidence is sufficient can be seen from whether body and mind have changed, whether one can pass through afflictive situations, whether the mind has become a bit purer, and whether one has gained wise cognition. If not, the proof is inadequate, the practice has not succeeded, and what one possesses is merely theory, not actual realization. In testing whether the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) has been eradicated and whether one has seen the mind and seen the nature, the transformation of body, mind, and world is one criterion; whether it is understanding-awakening or realization-awakening—this too serves as a criterion.
Eighteen, the existence of the manas and the tathāgatagarbha has no sequence of before and after; both existed simultaneously before beginningless kalpas. It is naturally so, beyond reasoning. Before beginningless kalpas, because of the manas's ignorance, not understanding ultimate reality, He arose the mind to grasp outward, and thus the world of the five aggregates was born, and all dharmas gradually came into being; thereafter disputes and disturbances never ceased, and afflictions continued without end. Practice is to make the manas accept that all dharmas are not the self. The mind consciousness must contemplate and practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), deliberating that all dharmas are not the self. Both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna principles must be studied; only after studying them to thorough understanding can one finally realize that all dharmas are not the self. All practice lays the foundation for this. Therefore, the heavier the view of "my self," the less liberation one attains and the farther from buddhahood one is. Subduing the self-nature of the manas is a heavy responsibility and a long road.
Nineteen, the manas's deliberation (manasikāra/manana) regarding the eighth consciousness must rely on the mind consciousness's deliberation and guidance to proceed; the manas cannot spontaneously awaken to the eighth consciousness by Himself. Because the manas's ignorance is deeply rooted, having existed since beginningless kalpas—since beginningless kalpas He has been together with the eighth consciousness, yet does not recognize Him, and even appropriates the eighth consciousness's functions as His own. After the mind consciousness studies the theory of the eighth consciousness, it continually trains the manas, letting the manas also discern the nature of the eighth consciousness. After the manas knows the nature of the eighth consciousness, He may want to seek and realize the eighth consciousness, and thus decides to investigate Chan.
After realizing the eighth consciousness, through the mind consciousness's observation of the eighth consciousness, the manas will deliberate on the eighth consciousness's function of giving rise to all dharmas, deliberate on the no-self nature of the five aggregates, deliberate on the no-self nature of the six consciousnesses, and also deliberate on the no-self nature of the manas Himself; then great wisdom can arise, accepting that the five aggregates, the six consciousnesses, and the manas Himself are all not real, and thus the attachment to self can be eradicated. Nor will He again take the eighth consciousness's functions and operations as His own. The manas's wisdom will grow ever deeper, His no-self nature ever greater, His ignorance ever fainter, and His mental conduct ever more tranquil (praśama) and equanimous.
Twenty, how to achieve the mind consciousness being without thought while the manas investigates? The mind consciousness should think the problem over carefully, understand the problem's content clearly, then condense the entire meaning of the problem into a single point, and hang it deep in the manas's mind—thus the problem is handed over to the manas. At this point the mind consciousness may think or may not think; sometimess and very comfortable and pleasant bodily and mental feelings, many people become attached to meditative concentration, but they cannot realize the fruit and cannot give rise to the wisdom of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. True practice must, on the foundation of meditative concentration, contemplate, deliberate, and deliberate again. Only by thinking and using the brain can wisdom arise from the brain, thereby realizing no-self and having the initial merit and benefit of liberation. Many people do not understand contemplative practice, so they single-mindedly cultivate meditative concentration, entering concentration knowing nothing, muddled and befuddled, and still believe this is practice. Others think that when various special states appear in body and mind, that is practice. In fact, these are only one side of practice, one part of its content; the most essential content should be deliberation and contemplative practice, and then obtaining the merit and benefit of liberation.
Yet there are others who believe practice is for gaining wisdom, that understanding more and more principles is the right path and the way to liberation. So they pour out, unchanged, the little the mind consciousness has understood to other people, and call it propagating the Dharma and saving sentient beings; they do not cultivate meditative concentration at all, all day clutching books, either reciting or indulging in emotional conjecture and intellectual understanding. After reading a book, understanding it, grasping it, absorbing it, they believe they have wisdom, that they have already realized such-and-such fruit. Nowadays fruits are everywhere, dazzling to the eye; no fruit is remarkable anymore.
Many people's purpose in studying Buddhism is neither clear nor correct: they pursue freedom and ease, without understanding what freedom and ease are, unclear about what kind of freedom and ease they want to attain, and unclear about whether they can truly be free and at ease forever. Non-Buddhists can also attain so-called freedom and ease through cultivating meditative concentration—that is, various supernatural power realms. Little do they know that supernatural powers depend on meditative concentration, and meditative concentration depends on the physical body for its existence and on the mind's self-discipline. If one does not keep the precepts, or if the physical body perishes, meditative concentration vanishes, supernatural powers vanish, and then there is no more freedom and ease. Pursuing carefree-ness and peaceful awareness is even more illusory and unreliable. Those are all temporary mental states that depend on meditative concentration, on the aware mind, on the mind consciousness. But any mental state is a dharma of arising, ceasing, and change; when the precondition disappears, the mental state disappears. As karmically obstructed ordinary beings, who can guarantee that one's mental state will always remain unchanged?
Twenty-two, beginners in Buddhism all have doubts; if doubts are not resolved, they will obstruct progress on the path. One should find ways to resolve the doubts: first, seek instruction elsewhere to resolve the doubts; second, after seeking instruction, one must through one's own deliberation search for evidence and personally resolve the doubts. Having so many doubts yet not resolving them, and instead single-mindedly cultivating meditative concentration to cover up the doubts—how can doubts be dispelled and wisdom be gained that way? In order not to take the body as self, some imagine taking insentient objects as their own body—various imaginings—yet they never deliberate on why the physical body is not self. Thus there is still a self of the physical body, still bondage, no liberation. Then, without having eradicated the view of the physical body as self, they go on to imagine that the functions of the conscious mind are not self. These imaginings still crave pleasant feelings, substituting another imagined pleasant feeling for the current painful feeling. They have not carefully deliberated and contemplated why all feelings are not self, not real, why they are subject to arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence. Not deliberating thus in accordance with reason, but escaping reality and enjoying oneself in imagination, is also a kind of craving and bondage. The subsequent content is all like this: imagination and emotional conjecture and intellectual understanding, without the experience and process of contemplative practice—this is not true practice; it is escaping reality.
People good at mathematics, physics, and chemistry have excellent logical thinking, which can be applied well to the contemplative practice of the Buddha-dharma—quite practical. Whereas literati and scholars study Buddhism entirely through research and emotional conjecture and intellectual understanding; not understanding contemplative practice, unable to think in accordance with reason, the result is that literati, because of their good comprehension, research ability, and writing skills, though they have realized nothing, produce theory after theory that appears out of nowhere, dazzling people and beguiling them all. How many people in this world have opened eyes, with piercing vision like Sun Wukong's fiery golden eyes, seeing through all disguises and restoring all truths?
Studying and practicing Buddhism is not about pursuing some fruit or stage, going to seek some fruit to eat, but about genuinely attaining the wisdom of liberation, attaining liberation of the mind-ground—this is the fundamental goal and purpose of practice. Pursuing stages and empty fame is to abandon the root and chase the branches: originally there was no liberation, and now one adds another bondage, adding another rope upon oneself—why suffer this? Pursuing vanity—is that not still a self? How can the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) be eradicated? In the Dharma-ending age, sentient beings have meager merit (alpa-puṇya), and they practice in an inverted way. Clearly they should be eradicating the view of self, yet at every moment they increase it; clearly they should be without self, yet everywhere there is self. They have not even understood the essential meaning of practice, nor do they wish to. Studying Buddhism is still for the sake of a self—"I want this and that"—this runs counter to the Way; the more one pursues, the faster one runs, the more one fabricates, the farther from the Way.
Eradicating the view of self is truly difficult, no easy matter. It is not like some people who read a few books, mull things over, and then stuff the fruit of no-self into their pocket. It is still early, still far—the Long March of eighty-four thousand li has only just begun. Being eager to attain the fruit is still a self, not beyond my own mind. "I want to realize the fruit, I want to realize the fruit"—with this self, how can the fruit be realized? "I want to become a sage, I want to become a sage"—with this self, how can one be a sage?
Twenty-three, when you say in your mind, "None of this is me," you must ask yourself why—ask several whys. If you cannot explain clearly, continue the contemplative practice. You must frequently question and answer yourself; only thus can there be evidence. With conclusive evidence, one can discover the facts and discover the truth. Having genuine doubt means the manas has given rise to doubt—He does not understand and wants to understand; this is a good thing. The fear is having no doubt, for then seeing the Way is still very far off.
Twenty-four, eradicating the view of self requires evidence, and the evidence must be conclusive. The manas's habitual tendencies should also not be too heavy, and His ignorance not too deep and heavy. If the manas is extremely foolish, even if all the evidence is laid out and conclusive, the manas will still cling to His original stubborn view, and the view of self cannot be eradicated. The mind consciousness's continuous process of contemplative practice and deliberation is precisely the continuous process of turning around the manas's foolish ignorance. Only when the manas's ignorance has thinned somewhat will He be willing to accept the facts; otherwise, even with the facts plainly laid before Him, it is useless.
Twenty-five, How to Train the Mind Consciousness to Lead the Manas in Contemplative Practice
The method of training for swift falling asleep: first, the mind consciousness hints to the manas to relax, that is, to make the manas no longer grasp the body, no longer let the body consciousness and mind consciousness grasp the body, no longer let the five consciousnesses and mind consciousness engage in much activity; then the mind consciousness hints to the manas to stop thinking, that is, to make the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) no longer arise. If the manas obeys the mind consciousness's suggestion, the six consciousnesses will gradually weaken and gradually cease. To achieve the ideal effect, the key lies in the mind consciousness knowing how to guide and the manas being able to listen and comply; then the goal can be reached.
Eradicating the view of self is the same: the mind consciousness must have sufficient wisdom to guide the manas, the manas's mental disposition must be effectively subdued, able to comply with the mind consciousness's deliberation and guidance; the manas must not have such strong view of self and self-grasping. In ordinary times one should train the mind consciousness and the manas to think less about the physical body and grasp less at the functions of the five aggregates; craving and grasping must be lightened before there is a way to gradually empty the feelings of the physical body. When the manas grasps at self too strongly, there is no way to guide or contemplate. The mind consciousness should also learn more about what the view of the body's content is and what the view of self's content is; only thus can contemplative practice and introspection have direction and a target. If the meaning and scope of the view of the body and the view of self are unknown, there is no way to contemplate and eradicate them.
Twenty-six, How to Do the Work of Investigation
Having meditative concentration ensures that deliberation, contemplative practice, and investigation are very focused, so that the mind does not become scattered after a short while of deliberation; without meditative concentration, deliberation has no thread, and the line of thought is unclear. The process of doing the work of investigation is extremely complex; the mental activities of the mind consciousness and the manas are very deep and subtle. If it is not done well, if one does not know how to do the work, the investigation will yield no result. One must know how to use the work, understand clearly the mental activities in the process of investigation, and then one will know how to apply the mind and how to do the work.
When the mind consciousness and the manas investigate together, the five consciousnesses also play a certain role; otherwise one would be in the state of the second dhyāna without the five consciousnesses, with the mind consciousness weak, and then deliberation and contemplative practice would be impossible, and enlightenment impossible. The tathāgatagarbha also plays its corresponding role within; otherwise the seven consciousnesses would not exist.
During investigation, the mind consciousness must thoroughly understand the content to be investigated, give rise to questioning doubt, condense it into a single point, and hand it over to the manas, letting the manas also give rise to questioning doubt. When meditative concentration is complete, one can be diligent—thinking of it while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, morning and night, refusing to rest until the doubt is resolved.
Why must the content of investigation be condensed into a single point? Because the manas has no language or words and cannot analyze. If the entire meaning is not condensed into a single point, there will be language and words, and the manas cannot investigate; only the mind consciousness can deliberate and analyze alone. But the mind consciousness's solitary deliberation and analysis is relatively shallow and cannot give rise to profound wisdom. That is, if the manas does not investigate, no wisdom can arise; when the mind consciousness's wisdom does not play the decisive role, and the manas also has wisdom, only then can one grasp the steering wheel of the five aggregates and determine the future destiny of the five aggregates.
Twenty-seven, no matter how many dharmas the mind consciousness knows, if the manas does not know, He will give rise to doubt, and the mind will not be steady and settled. In order to resolve the manas's doubt and prevent the manas from doubting further, do not let the mind consciousness learn knowledge alone and be satisfied with the mind consciousness's solitary knowing. The two consciousnesses should investigate together; after personally realizing it, both consciousnesses know, and there is no doubt. Eradicating doubt and giving rise to faith requires not only eradicating the mind consciousness's doubt, but even more eradicating the manas's doubt.
Therefore, in studying the Dharma, the mind consciousness should try not to speculate, but should investigate together with the manas within meditative concentration. The mind consciousness's doubt is shallow; the manas's doubt is deep. The deeper the doubt, the greater the relief after it is resolved, the greater the wisdom, and the more body and mind can transform.
Twenty-eight, The Process of Enlightenment
The process of enlightenment in studying Buddhism is extremely difficult if you say it is difficult, and easy if you say it is easy. It is difficult because turning around and changing the manas's ingrained cognition and making Him accept a truth and reality is not at all easy. It is easy because the steps involved are not complicated, involving only the cognition of the mind consciousness and the manas. First, through study, the mind consciousness comes to know that there is a tathāgatagarbha permanently abiding in the five-aggregate body, giving rise to all dharmas; through repeated training, the manas also comes to know that there is a tathāgatagarbha that is the true self, the true master. But the manas will certainly doubt this, believing that He Himself is the true master, that everything is decided by Him alone.
To remove the manas's doubt, one must first make the manas realize that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are all not self, including the manas Himself being subject to arising, ceasing, and change, not real. Then the manas will establish a reliance, acknowledging that there is a tathāgatagarbha to depend on. The next step is for the mind consciousness and the manas to investigate Chan together, investigating the tathāgatagarbha. If the mind consciousness investigates alone, that is called inference and speculation, called emotional conjecture and intellectual understanding; the conclusion reached is called understanding or understanding-awakening, obtaining a kind of dry wisdom not moistened by the water of meditative concentration; understanding and practice cannot correspond, and liberation is impossible. To make the manas investigate together with the mind consciousness, meditative concentration is necessary: use questioning doubt and the huatou to tether the manas, cut off the manas's random grasping and rumination, and make Him dwell constantly on the questioning doubt and huatou, morning and evening. One day, one will surely see the mind and see the nature.
The method of awakening to the Way is to start from the mind consciousness and penetrate into the manas, delivering the content the mind consciousness has deliberated to the manas for the manas to understand. When the mind consciousness, as the messenger, needs to transmit information, it must have skillful means, be meticulous and wise, deliberate thoroughly and rigorously, fully attract the manas's attention, mobilize the manas's initiative, and leave the manas no way of retreat—He has no choice but to deliberate, review, and approve earnestly. After the mind consciousness organizes the collected information and hands it over to the manas, it is best to wait quietly, standing by at all times awaiting the manas's instructions, not stirring up trouble or adding confusion for the manas. This requires quite good meditative concentration, letting the manas deliberate and investigate within concentration without interference—this is the most efficient way to investigate.
