Can the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) of the manas be eliminated?

Grasping means stagnation, blockage, obstruction, hindrance, entanglement and bondage, birth-and-death, lack of self-mastery (avaśatā), and the inability to attain nirvāṇa and liberation. Non-grasping means harmonious penetration, suppleness, pliancy, unimpeded passage, sudden openness, thorough penetration, and luminosity.

Once the manas neither grasps evil, nor grasps good, nor grasps what is neither good nor evil, it encounters all dharmas without any obstruction; the mind becomes harmoniously penetrating, liberated, and unimpeded—there would be more than enough to become a Buddha. As the saying goes, one who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black. When the manas is heavy with ignorance and heavy with grasping, one must stay away from evil dharmas and draw near to good dharmas, so as not to be perfumed by evil dharmas, to gradually remove evil dharmas, and to stop grasping evil dharmas. Only by drawing near to good dharmas can one be perfumed by good dharmas and attain liberation of mind through goodness. Everyone's manas grasps at certain dharmas; observe this frequently in daily life. As long as you know what you are grasping at, it becomes easy to deal with—sooner or later you will correct it and let go of the grasping.

The manas's imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) includes grasping at the self of persons (pudgala) related to the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) and the eighteen realms, and grasping at the subtle self of dharmas. Ordinary beings have both kinds of grasping rather severely, with the grasping at the self of persons being primary; their understanding of the self of dharmas is neither extensive nor deep, so it cannot yet be said that they grasp at it much. The manas of arhats and pratyekabuddhas has eliminated the view of the self of persons, and consequently has also eliminated the grasping at the self of persons, no longer grasping at the person-self of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms. Bodhisattvas on the ten bhūmis have eliminated varying degrees of the view of the self of dharmas, and consequently have also eliminated varying degrees of the grasping at the self of dharmas. When a bodhisattva has completely eliminated the grasping at the self of dharmas, the bodhisattva's ignorance is completely eliminated, and the bodhisattva becomes a Buddha.

All grasping arises from mistaken views and knowledge. Once the mistaken views are broken through, the grasping will subsequently be gradually eliminated. Therefore, when the manas has ignorance, it has wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), and thus has the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva). When a portion of the manas's ignorance is eliminated, a portion of the imputed nature is reduced, so that the grasping becomes less and less, lighter and lighter, until it is completely extinguished and one becomes a Buddha. It can be seen that the manas's imputed nature can indeed be extinguished through continuous, deepening cultivation.