Why Is Realization So Difficult?

In preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) or the concentration of the first dhyāna, the mind consciousness transmits the process and result of reasoning appropriately upon a certain dharma principle to the manas. The manas, through careful deliberation (manana), verifies and confirms the mind consciousness's cognition; or, when the manas and mind consciousness have not reached a conclusion that accords with reason and reality—no result having been obtained—the manas, on the basis of the clues provided by the mind consciousness, deliberates and investigates on its own, and finally arrives at a conclusion that accords with fact. This is realization. The manas's realization cannot be separated from meditative concentration; apart from meditative concentration, the manas becomes scattered and prone to grasping, unable to deliberate and examine with single-minded focus, and thus unable to attain realization. But the mind consciousness's thinking and understanding can occur either with or without meditative concentration; the requirement for meditative concentration is not high, because the mind consciousness's power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) is greater than that of the manas. In the early stage of the mind consciousness's thinking and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), one must observe through direct perception/valid direct cognition; the more direct the perception, the greater its inspiration to the manas. In many cases, even dharmas observed by the mind consciousness through direct perception are difficult for the manas to cognize, let alone what is not observed through direct perception. The mind consciousness's erroneous cognition/non-valid cognition—imagination, inference, and speculation—cannot enable the manas to cognize and accept. The mind consciousness's inference and non-valid cognition have little effect on the manas, which does not easily acknowledge or believe them. The manas must rely on the mind consciousness's direct perception to arouse its own deliberative nature; when its deliberation becomes clear, it will accept and realize; when its deliberation remains unclear, it is still only the mind consciousness knowing on its own.

For example, the mind consciousness clearly knows that the physical body changes very quickly year by year: a person grows from childhood in the blink of an eye, and in another blink becomes a young adult; especially in middle and old age, due to the state of mind, one feels that the days pass too quickly, fears dying too early, and cherishes life greatly. Why cherish life and fear the swiftness of time? It is all because one knows that the physical body will sooner or later perish, that it is not forever free of aging, illness, and death; one knows it is impermanent, and at times even feels it is suffering. But what use is it for the mind consciousness to know these things? The manas never pays attention or deliberates upon them, so life after life things go on as before, and the cycle of birth and death becomes inevitable. For many things, what the mind consciousness knows is useless: the manas does not know, and things proceed as they would have anyway, changing nothing in the slightest.

Therefore the manas's realization is extremely crucial and important. He is the master consciousness connecting past, present, and future: birth, death, and the cycle of saṃsāra are decided by Him; the elimination of afflictions and ignorance is decided by Him; liberation is decided by Him; and the attainment of buddhahood is also decided by Him. In cultivation, nothing is more important than the manas. Although the eighth consciousness is even more important than the manas, cultivation does not require cultivating the eighth consciousness; without the manas, the eighth consciousness can accomplish nothing. The eighth consciousness alone is of no use; the accomplishment of all dharmas depends entirely on the manas's propelling force. Therefore, the dharmas that the mind consciousness has pondered must be infused into the manas, letting the manas deliberate, weigh, and choose, letting the manas also realize the dharma; only then does what the mind consciousness has done have merit, have results, and have karmic retribution.