How Can One Attain Liberation?

The six sense objects are conditioned dharmas, arising, existing, and developing and changing in dependence upon numerous conditions; therefore the six sense objects are unreliable and cannot be depended upon. We should gradually free ourselves from dependence on the six sense objects, reducing our craving and attachment to them. When cultivation reaches a certain point, when we no longer depend on the six sense objects at all and the mind is emptied, that is great liberation.

What dharma do we depend upon in order to have some dependence on the six sense objects? Grasping the six sense objects requires the six consciousnesses; after the six consciousnesses discriminate the six sense objects, they come to depend on the six sense objects. What dharma grasps the six sense objects and requires the six consciousnesses? It is the manas that grasps the six sense objects, then gives rise to the six consciousnesses, using the six consciousnesses to take hold of the six sense objects; the manas then grasps the six sense objects again, and again grasps the functions and activities of the six consciousnesses—thus the cycle of birth and death repeats without interruption. The mind that grasps is the manas, which uses the six consciousnesses as tools to take hold; in reality, it is still the manas that does the grasping. The six consciousnesses are also conditioned dharmas, arising, existing, and developing and changing in dependence upon numerous conditions; they are unreliable dharmas, dharmas that cannot be depended upon. Therefore we should gradually distance ourselves from the six consciousnesses and reduce our dependence on them. When cultivation reaches a certain point, when we no longer depend on the six consciousnesses at all, the mind will be emptied, and we will attain great liberation.

To whom are all these truths being spoken? They are spoken to ourselves. Who does "we" refer to? Who does "ourselves" refer to? Both refer to the manas. The six consciousnesses are merely messengers, responsible for conveying this information to the manas to be known; what course to follow is decided by the manas, which makes the decisions. If this information remains only with the six consciousnesses and is not conveyed to the master, the manas, then this information is of no use; it cannot influence or change the master's intentions and choices, and everything will remain as before, with the cycle of birth and death continuing endlessly.

How can these truths and this information be conveyed to the manas? By cultivating meditative concentration—contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) through deliberation within meditative concentration. The deeper the meditative concentration, the better the conveyance works, and the more the manas can absorb and digest this information and the more it can change its intentions. Then all ignorance and grasping will be exhausted and vanish, and one will be liberated from all dharmas, with no more suffering of birth and death.