Can the Parikalpita-Svabhāva of Manas Be Eliminated?

Attachment means stagnation, obstruction, hindrance, bondage, birth and death, lack of freedom, and inability to attain nirvana and liberation. Non-attachment means fluidity, softness, pliability, thorough penetration, sudden clarity, unimpeded flow, and radiance.

Once the mind consciousness root neither clings to evil, nor to good, nor to that which is neither good nor evil, and encounters all dharmas without obstruction, the mind becomes fluid, liberated, and unimpeded—this state is more than sufficient for attaining Buddhahood. As one takes on the color of one's company, when the mind consciousness root is heavily obscured by ignorance and prone to clinging, one must distance oneself from unwholesome dharmas and draw near to wholesome dharmas. Only then can one avoid being tainted by unwholesome dharmas, gradually eliminate them, and cease clinging to them. By drawing near to wholesome dharmas, one becomes imbued with them, leading to the mind's wholesome liberation. Each person's mind consciousness root clings to certain dharmas; by diligently observing what these are in daily life, simply becoming aware of one's attachments makes resolution possible—sooner or later, they will be corrected and relinquished.

The discriminative clinging nature of the mind consciousness root includes clinging to the self of persons related to the five aggregates and eighteen elements, and clinging to the subtle self of dharmas. Ordinary beings cling severely to both types, primarily to the self of persons, with little and shallow understanding of the self of dharmas; thus, they cannot yet be said to cling significantly to the latter. Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas have eradicated the view of the self of persons in their mind consciousness root, and consequently eradicate the clinging to the self of persons, no longer clinging to the five aggregates and eighteen elements as a personal self. Meanwhile, Bodhisattvas of the ten grounds eradicate varying degrees of the view of the self of dharmas, and subsequently eradicate corresponding degrees of clinging to the self of dharmas. When a Bodhisattva exhausts clinging to the self of dharmas, their ignorance is fully extinguished, and they attain Buddhahood.

All forms of clinging arise due to wrong views. Once wrong views are dispelled, clinging will gradually be eradicated thereafter. Thus, wherever there is ignorance in the mind consciousness root, there are wrong views, and consequently, the nature of discriminative clinging. As ignorance in the mind consciousness root is partially eliminated, the nature of discriminative clinging diminishes accordingly, leading to progressively fewer and fainter attachments until they are fully extinguished upon Buddhahood. Evidently, the discriminative clinging nature of the mind consciousness root can be eradicated through continuously deepening practice.