Where Does the Beneficial Experience of the Merit of Liberation Come From?

Knowing is easy, but practicing is hard; the key lies in where the knowing is actually established. If it is established only in the mind consciousness, then there is no practice to speak of at all. When the mind consciousness knows that the five aggregates are without self, not even a trace of the liberating merit and benefit is gained. Therefore, a person of the first fruit absolutely does not merely know with the mind consciousness that the five aggregates are without self—the manas must also know it. Only in this way can the elimination of self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) have merit and benefit, and can there be initial liberation, drawing a clear dividing line from ordinary beings (pṛthagjana).

If a person of the first fruit has attained partial realization of liberation and possesses the merit and benefit of some degree of liberation, then the principle that the five aggregates are without self must be realized by the manas. If it is realized only by the mind consciousness, there will be no merit and benefit, and no partial realization of liberation.