Eliminating the ignorance of the manas is extremely difficult

The dharmas of "no self in the five aggregates" can be roughly understood by the mind consciousness through a bit of reflection, but the manas cannot understand them; if the manas does not understand, it is of no avail and nothing can be changed. How, then, to permeate the manas so that it too understands and eliminates the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi)? One must cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi) well. Once the mind consciousness has deliberated clearly within samādhi, one should suspend the meaning of the dharma with the manas, then remain within samādhi without a single thought arising, letting the manas deliberate upon it. The more active the manas's deliberation, the better; the greater the impact it receives, the better. At a certain point, the manas's ingrained views can be overturned, and it confirms that the five aggregates are without self—then the self-view is eliminated.

If within samādhi one still relies on the mind consciousness to deliberate, this shows, first, that the samādhi is shallow, and second, that the meaning of the dharma has not been transmitted to the manas. Since the manas has not been permeated, it cannot deliberate on the dharma meaning, and so one has no choice but to rely on the mind consciousness to deliberate. If the mind consciousness gives rise to not a single thought and the manas also does not deliberate, then one will enter a withered samādhi, without contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) wisdom, and the great wisdom of prajñā will not arise.

Those without meditative concentration often feel that attaining realization of the fruits is quick and easy—it relies on the mind consciousness's deliberation and understanding, which is of course many times faster than the manas's deliberation. Those with meditative concentration do not feel that realizing the fruits is quick and easy, because the manas's ignorance is heavy: it accepts the truth rather slowly, and deliberates on the meaning of the dharma rather slowly as well. Therefore, eliminating the manas's ignorance is extremely difficult.

Take recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) as an example. When there is no meditative concentration, the mind consciousness can recite the Buddha's name loudly and aloud. Once a little Buddha-recollection samādhi appears, the sound of recitation becomes quieter—the better the samādhi, the softer the sound of recitation. When the samādhi is deep, one simply cannot recite aloud, and recites the Buddha's name in the mind—reciting with the mind rather than with the mouth. When the samādhi is even deeper, even the mind consciousness's mental recitation cannot occur, and one enters samādhi; if the manas has been permeated, it will recollect the Buddha with the manas. When the manas recollects the Buddha, there is no oral recitation by the mind consciousness and no mental recitation by the mind consciousness, yet deep within, it is indeed mindful of the Buddha, thinking of the Buddha, never idle. This is what it means for recollection of the Buddha to permeate the manas. Therefore, without meditative concentration, Buddhist practice simply cannot reach its proper depth—it is like scratching an itch through a boot, unable to solve anything. That is why the Buddha taught that practice must be complete with precepts, samādhi, and wisdom: not one of these three great treasures can be lacking. Only by trusting the Buddha's words and honoring the Buddha's teachings can one achieve anything.