Contemplative Practice on the Five Aggregates (vipaśyanā-caryā on the pañca-skandha)

In contemplating the five aggregates and eighteen elements as empty and selfless, one must not only contemplate the five sense faculties and the five sense objects corresponding to them, but also contemplate the six consciousnesses and the manas, including the mental sense objects corresponding to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. In fact, the manas also corresponds to the five sense objects: if the five sense objects appear and the manas is not interested in them, it will not give rise to the five consciousnesses to discern them, and the six consciousnesses will not know of the states of the five sense objects and the mental sense objects. The arising of the six consciousnesses is all decided by the manas; the purpose of giving rise to the six consciousnesses is to discern and process the five sense objects and the mental sense objects. Therefore, the manas corresponds not only to the mental sense objects but also to the five sense objects. When the six consciousnesses are absent, or when the six consciousnesses are unable to discern, it is the manas alone that contemplates and engages with these dharmas. For example, in the case of the body faculty, the manas, following behind the tathāgatagarbha, constantly and everywhere knows all the conditions of the body; sometimes it lets the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses know, and sometimes it does not let the six consciousnesses know. Even when it lets the mind consciousness know, the mind consciousness is at a loss to understand.

In contemplating the five aggregates, the main focus should still be on contemplating the mind consciousness as selfless. The main body of the five aggregates is the mind consciousness, which is the most easily mistaken for self, while the five sense faculties and the six sense objects are mistaken for what belongs to self. The selflessness of what belongs to self is relatively easy to recognize clearly, whereas the self of the mind consciousness is the hardest to see through.

The mind consciousness is also a kind of dharma, arising and ceasing within the tathāgatagarbha, moment by moment arising and perishing. From the perspective of the tathāgatagarbha, there is no arising or ceasing; all is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. From the perspective of worldly dharmas, apart from the tathāgatagarbha, all dharmas are subject to arising and ceasing; phenomena constantly transform, with existence and non-existence standing in opposition to each other. What changes is not only the momentary arising and ceasing of the mind consciousness—the seeds of consciousness being output and returning to cessation, thought after thought rising and falling unsettled—but the sense object states are also changing moment by moment: the seeds of the four great elements are output and return to cessation, and material form arises, ceases, and mutates.

When meditative concentration is present, the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen elements will gradually become distinct and independent, their mutual adhesion becoming less tight. When they are independent, it is easy to break through them one by one; when they are stuck together, things are more complicated and appear more real, making it difficult to see clearly their illusory and selfless nature. In a state of meditative concentration, the activity of the mind consciousness is slower and more subtle, its attachment to dharmas is slight, and the obstructions are small, so the true face of things will be exposed before the mind consciousness. Therefore, the benefits of meditative concentration are extremely many: it can clarify the truth of things, and the discerning and cognitive nature of the mind consciousness becomes relatively objective, impartial, and wise, making it easy to develop wisdom. It would be a great pity not to cultivate meditative concentration. Having faith in the Buddha's words and being endowed with precepts, concentration, and wisdom—only this makes a good Buddhist disciple.