How to Abandon Vijñāna and Utilize Indriya

Some say that this "root" refers to the inherent nature of sentient beings, but it actually refers to the mental faculty (manas). Inherent nature is also the function and activity of consciousness; apart from consciousness, inherent nature cannot be discussed. The inherent nature of virtuous roots generally refers to the innate wisdom of the seventh consciousness.

Relinquishing consciousness to employ the mental faculty is something ordinary people can utilize during meditation. By relinquishing the six consciousnesses—especially abandoning the emotional thoughts, intellectual understanding, pondering, speculation, analysis, reasoning, comparison, and judgment of the mental consciousness—and exclusively employing the contemplative nature of the mental faculty, one can attain realization. After realization, subsequent cultivation also strives to utilize the mental faculty as much as possible. Employing the mental faculty is direct and profound, manifesting as straightforwardness, uprightness, purity, genuineness, and pristine clarity. It accomplishes all things, fulfilling what is spoken, and sometimes achieving without necessarily speaking.

Without meditative concentration (dhyāna), it is difficult to employ the mental faculty. One relies entirely on the reasoning and intellectual understanding of the mental consciousness, which is easy but superficial. Understanding occurs faster than realization, yet it is ineffective. Without samādhi, there is no liberation; birth and death remain unresolved. Intellectual understanding ceases to function when consciousness is extinguished. The deeper the meditative concentration, the more the mental faculty is employed, the greater its power, the more problems it can resolve, the more samādhi one attains. The deeper the samādhi, the more penetrating the wisdom, and the greater the power of liberation.