The Power of Consciousness Alone Is Insufficient to Sever Self-View

Someone asked Manjushri Bodhisattva: "Since you clearly understand the principle that birth is non-birth, why are you still bound by birth?" Manjushri Bodhisattva replied: "Its strength is insufficient."

Which consciousness is it that clearly knows? Which consciousness has insufficient strength? The knowing is done by the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna). Although the conscious mind understands some principles intellectually, it is ineffective; one still remains bound by birth and death because the conscious mind cannot make decisions or hold authority. The insufficient strength lies in the manas (the underlying mind, or kliṣṭa-manas). The intellectual understanding and conceptualizations of the conscious mind have not yet penetrated the manas. If the manas does not acknowledge this understanding, it lacks the power to change the current state. The crucial point is whether the manas can recognize this truth, whether it can eradicate delusions and attachments. Only when the manas eradicates delusions and attachments can one be liberated from the prison of birth and death.

From this, we understand that merely having a superficial intellectual grasp of certain Buddhist principles, such as the principle of eradicating the view of self (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) or the principle of realizing the mind and perceiving its true nature (mind-seeing), cannot resolve the problem of birth and death. It is essential to penetrate deeply into the manas, enabling the manas to comprehend the principle, before one can transform oneself and resolve the problem of birth and death. This is because all matters are decided by the manas; the manas holds the authority. The manas possesses power, while the conscious mind has little power and cannot act as the master. If we wish to change the cycle of birth and death for the 'household' of the five aggregates (skandhas), we must persuade the master of the house; merely persuading one family member is insufficient. The manas is the master of the house; all affairs of the five-aggregate world are decided by the manas. When the strength of the manas becomes sufficient, one first eradicates the view of self, then eradicates self-attachment (ātma-grāha). In future lives, one will then no longer be bound by birth and death.