Seeing Is Believing, Hearing Is Deceiving

Question: Among the first seven consciousnesses, the true master of the household is the manas. Ordinary people believe that the mind consciousness is the master, thinking that whatever the mind consciousness understands and accepts constitutes one's own realm of wisdom. But eliminating the view of self and realizing the fruits, or even awakening to the true mind—these are no small matters. It requires the manas to deny its own reality, which fundamentally conflicts with the deep-seated view of self and afflictions of self-grasping that the manas has accumulated over countless lifetimes. No matter how the mind consciousness contemplates the Dharma and is nurtured in correct views and knowledge, the effect it produces on the manas is very small. In this matter, the most persuasive approach is to enable the manas to attain direct realization—that is, in meditative concentration, to let the manas directly observe the illusory, arising-and-ceasing nature of the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses. Faced with a realm of direct perception, the manas cannot but acknowledge that the five aggregates are not the self. Only then can the view of self truly be eliminated. Seeing one's true mind is the same: it also requires the manas to directly observe the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha and acknowledge the existence of this true mind.

Let me offer a worldly analogy: some people have been educated in materialism since childhood. When it comes to religious faith, cause and effect, rebirth, and the like, no matter what you say, they refuse to believe, and they even say you have gone mad from deviant practice. But as soon as someone demonstrates supernatural powers, they believe instantly—believing more than anyone else. Most people believe that seeing is believing. Is realization the same way?

Answer: "Seeing is believing" means the manas has attained realization; without seeing, having only heard of it, the manas does not believe. From the phrase "seeing is believing, hearing is untrustworthy," we can know whether it is the mind consciousness attaining realization alone or the manas attaining realization simultaneously—of course it is simultaneous. The phrase "seeing is believing" is wonderfully apt, for it allows us to clearly distinguish the mind consciousness from the manas. True belief is a matter that comes only after realization; before realization, the mind consciousness has merely heard about it without seeing it. Upon seeing it, the manas believes, because it has personally attained realization.

By the same reasoning, eliminating the view of self and realizing non-self works the same way. The manas only acknowledges realms of direct perception; if the manas has not attained realization or seen it, it will not believe. "Hearing is untrustworthy" means the mind consciousness has merely heard about it, and the manas does not believe, not daring to acknowledge it in its mind. It becomes ever clearer that as long as one applies genuine effort, the Buddha-Dharma is actually not difficult to realize. Questions one does not understand now can gradually all be understood later.

When eliminating the view of self and awakening to the true mind, what is the manas doing? What is its state of mind? What are its mental activities? What wisdom does it possess? Clarifying these points gives rise to great wisdom, and subsequent contemplative practice will be like the sun at high noon, radiantly illuminating, with wisdom bursting forth uncontrollably. When eliminating the view of self and awakening to the true mind, it is also the manas that serves as master, because in every dharma whatsoever, it is the manas that is master. When the mind consciousness engages in contemplative practice, the content of that practice is transmitted to the manas moment by moment, but the manas does not easily accept or believe it; not accepting and not believing means the manas does not understand and has not attained realization. Once the mind consciousness presents a fact or a realm of direct perception, the manas immediately accepts and believes it, and as master declares: "Right, yes it is." The manas is the master in every dharma and at every moment; it is absolutely impossible that when eliminating the view of self and awakening to the true mind, He would cease to be the master. Therefore, eliminating the view of self and awakening to the true mind are matters of the manas attaining realization through direct perception—the manas believes, and the manas as master makes the decision. This is beyond all doubt.