The Difference Between Understanding and Realization

Understanding is the understanding of the mind consciousness; the manas does not understand or know. Realization is when both know and understand, when both are no longer deluded. Regarding a dharma, when the mind consciousness understands it, this is knowing that it is so; when the manas realizes it, this is knowing why it is so. Knowing that it is so means knowing the surface phenomena without knowing the inner substance; it is a relatively shallow and coarse kind of knowing, lacking the power of observation—when asked about specifics, substance, and details, one is at a complete loss. One can only grasp some rough and coarse aspects of the dharma, unable to observe and understand in finer, deeper, and more concrete detail its richer and more specific content. Therefore, one cannot explain the dharma clearly, let alone thoroughly, giving people a vague, hazy feeling like scratching an itch through a boot. Knowing why it is so means knowing the inner principles of the dharma, penetrating both surface and depth, knowing the substance of the dharma and its full ins and outs. One has strong powers of observation, can comprehend the specific details of the dharma, has clear thinking, thorough reasoning, rigorous and meticulous logic, and powerful wisdom. Therefore, to assess the depth of a person's understanding of the dharma, just look at whether their description of it remains at rough surface phenomena or can penetrate into specific details. The more specific it is, the deeper their degree of realization and the deeper their wisdom; the rougher it is, the less realization they have, the further they are from realization, the shallower their wisdom, the more it is merely the understanding of the mind consciousness, and the less the manas has played its role.