The Reason Why One Cannot Realize No-Self

We know that this physical body is not the self, yet we simply cannot eliminate the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi). Why? This is a matter of wisdom. For one thing, the mind consciousness lacks the wisdom of non-self; it does not know how to engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and deliberation (manana), does not know how to gather evidence and data, and does not know how to permeate and condition the manas. For another, the power of meditative concentration is insufficient, so one cannot concentrate on contemplation, and cannot make the manas accept the views of the mind consciousness; the manas cannot focus on deliberating over the evidence and data gathered by the mind consciousness, and thus the self-view cannot be eliminated.

The views held by the manas since beginningless kalpas are the hardest to turn around. Although at times the mind consciousness clearly knows that the physical body arises and ceases moment by moment, is unreal, and cannot possibly be the self, the manas simply cannot accept this falsehood—this is exactly where things get stuck. Moreover, in most cases the evidence provided by the mind consciousness is not conclusive either. Take, for example, the proposition that one plus one equals two: we know this proposition is correct, but why one plus one equals two is correct, we do not know. If even the mind consciousness does not know, then the manas is even less likely to know.

In contemplating that the physical body is without self, one can contemplate from many different angles. For instance, if a hand is severed, contemplate: is that hand the self? No, because the hand is gone, yet the self still remains. If the hand were the self, then the self would be gone. This shows that the hand is not the self. After an eye is gouged out, does the self not still remain? Then the eye is not the self. If an ear is cut off, the self still exists and has not died, so the ear is not the self. If the head is cut off, the self dies along with it, but if the self were truly gone, there would be no self in future lives; this shows that this physical body is also not the self. Is the self of yesterday the self? If it were the self, then where has the self of yesterday gone? Condense these questions into a single thought and suspend it in the mind. One day, the manas will finally understand: "Oh, so it is like this—the physical body and the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) are all not the self." Then the self-view is eliminated.