Knowing Is Easy, Doing Is Hard

Knowing is easy while practicing is difficult; the key lies in where this knowing is anchored and which consciousness possesses this knowing. If it is anchored only at the level of the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna), then practice cannot be discussed—it remains mere talk, impossible to implement, and one cannot master it. If the mental faculty (manas) does not know, it cannot dispel the inner darkness of ignorance (avidyā), nor can it initiate corresponding actions; thus, practice becomes exceedingly difficult. If the conscious mind merely knows that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are non-self (anātman), it gains not the slightest merit (puṇya) or beneficial effect of liberation (vimukti). Therefore, a Stream-enterer (Srotāpanna) absolutely does not merely know the non-self nature of the five aggregates at the conscious level; the mental faculty must realize it. Only then can the severing of self-view (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) yield merit and beneficial effects, enabling preliminary liberation and establishing a clear boundary between the Stream-enterer and an ordinary person. If a Stream-enterer partially attains liberation and experiences a fraction of its merit and beneficial effects, the truth of the non-self nature of the five aggregates must be realized by the mental faculty. Merely realizing it at the conscious level will not yield merit or beneficial effects, because the mental faculty has not partially attained liberation.