Why Is Realization So Difficult?

In the state of access concentration or the first dhyāna, the consciousness (mano-vijñāna) transmits the process and result of reasoning about a certain Dharma principle in accordance with truth to the mental faculty (manas). The mental faculty, after careful deliberation, verifies and confirms the cognition of consciousness. Alternatively, if consciousness and the mental faculty do not arrive at a conclusion in accordance with truth and reality, yielding no result, the mental faculty, based on the clues provided by consciousness, independently contemplates and investigates, ultimately arriving at a conclusion that accords with the facts. This is realization (pratyakṣa-pramāṇa). The realization of the mental faculty cannot be separated from meditative concentration (dhyāna). Separated from dhyāna, the mental faculty becomes scattered and clinging; unable to focus on contemplation and investigation, it cannot achieve realization. However, the thinking and understanding of consciousness can occur with or without dhyāna, as the requirement for dhyāna is not particularly high, because the wisdom power of consciousness is greater than that of the mental faculty. In the preliminary process of contemplation and practice (pratyavekṣaṇā) by consciousness, direct perception (pratyakṣa) observation is essential; the more direct the perception, the greater the inspiration it provides to the mental faculty. The mental faculty, in many instances, finds it difficult to cognize even the dharmas directly perceived by consciousness, let alone those not directly perceived. The inference (anumāna) and erroneous cognition (mithyā-jñāna), imagination, and reasoning of consciousness cannot cause the mental faculty to cognize and accept them. The inferential and erroneous thinking of consciousness has little effect on the mental faculty, making it difficult for the mental faculty to accept and believe. The mental faculty must rely on the direct perception of consciousness to activate its own deliberative nature; once it deliberates and understands, it will accept and realize it. If it does not deliberate and understand, it remains only consciousness knowing it alone.

For example, consciousness clearly knows that the material body (rūpa-kāya) changes very quickly year by year. A person grows from childhood in the blink of an eye, and in another blink, matures into youth and prime adulthood. Especially upon reaching middle and old age, due to the state of mind, one feels time passes even more swiftly, fearing an untimely death and cherishing life intensely. Why cherish life and fear time passing quickly? It is all because one knows the material body will inevitably perish sooner or later, that it is not eternally free from aging, sickness, or death; one knows it is impermanent (anitya). Sometimes, one also feels it is suffering (duḥkha). However, what use is it for consciousness to know these things? The mental faculty never pays attention or deliberates upon them. Therefore, life after life, things proceed as they always have, and the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra) becomes inevitable. Many things known by consciousness are useless because the mental faculty does not know them. Actions proceed as they always do, and nothing changes in the slightest.

Therefore, the realization of the mental faculty is extremely crucial and important. It is the master consciousness connecting the past, present, and future. The cycle of birth and death is decided by it; the eradication of afflictions (kleśa) and ignorance (avidyā) is decided by it; liberation (mokṣa) is decided by it; and Buddhahood is also decided by it. In spiritual practice, nothing is more important than the mental faculty. Although the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) is more fundamental than the mental faculty, practice does not involve cultivating the eighth consciousness. Without the mental faculty, the eighth consciousness accomplishes nothing; the eighth consciousness alone is of little use. The accomplishment of all dharmas relies entirely on the driving force of the mental faculty. Therefore, the dharmas contemplated by consciousness must be infused into the mental faculty, allowing the mental faculty to deliberate, weigh, accept, or reject, allowing the mental faculty to also realize the Dharma. Only then do the actions of consciousness bear merit (puṇya), yield results, and produce karmic retribution (vipāka-phala).