Only When the States of Mind Consciousness and Manas Are Unified Can One Attain Enlightenment

A telescope can, in an instant, see lofty mountains and great seas tens of kilometers away, but to personally see and touch those mountains and seas, one must personally walk tens of kilometers, arriving at the foot of the mountain and the edge of the sea, before one can see the mountains and seas with one's own eyes and touch them, and only then know their appearance and countenance, and only then can one say to others: "I saw that mountain and that sea with my own eyes—how magnificent! My mind instantly opened up; I was simply overjoyed." The state of meditative absorption (samādhi) is similar to this: the manas must personally arrive; only by leaving the telescope behind and seeing with one's own eyes can there be the samādhi of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā. If the manas does not arrive, that is merely what is seen through a telescope—not true seeing, not unconditional seeing, not naked seeing.

The mind consciousness is like the telescope: no matter how far the realm it gazes upon, what it sees is not real; the realm is blurry and indistinct. What the manas sees is clear and distinct, thorough and complete, reaching to the very bottom-source of dharmas. If the manas has not followed up, unable to gaze upon what the mind consciousness sees, then it is not seeing with one's own eyes, not personally arriving at the present realm, not personal realization. Because what the mind consciousness sees is far from the realm, what it sees is not real, as if separated by a layer of lens, with some obstruction; the scenery is neither detailed nor clear, being only an outline. The details must await the manas to personally see them before they can be ascertained, knowing why things are so.

At the stage of an ordinary person, the mind consciousness has read some Buddhist sūtras and knows of the Buddha's realm, but the manas does not know it, so it is not personal realization of the Buddha's realm. Such knowledge is extremely coarse, no different from not knowing. To personally realize the Buddha's realm, to know it finely, deeply, and truly, one must cultivate for another three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas—that is, three immeasurable kalpas. There is no shortcut in between; all the dharmas that should be cultivated must be cultivated, all the dharmas that should be realized must be realized. Precepts, meditation, and wisdom, the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, the bodhisattva's six perfections and various practices—not one can be lacking. The entire intermediate process must be personally experienced; cutting corners and taking shortcuts is absolutely not acceptable.

At the stage of an ordinary person, the mind consciousness has learned some dharmas and knows of the realm of effortless conduct (anābhoga-caryā) that an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva should possess—being able to act in accord with dharmas spontaneously, without mental effort, able to directly perceive how the tathāgatagarbha discerns and operates upon the faculties, the body, and the material world. But regarding such a realm, the mind consciousness knowing is just knowing—extremely coarse—and there remains a distance of two immeasurable kalpas of cultivation and realization before actual attainment. During this period, no matter what, you cannot directly perceive exactly how the tathāgatagarbha discerns and operates the faculties, the body, and the material world. To personally realize such a realm, you must cultivate for another two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas; the entire intermediate process must be walked through, with no cutting corners or slipping by on cunning.

At the stage of an ordinary person, the mind consciousness has learned the term "samādhi of suchness" (tathatā-samādhi) and feels it is very good and very sublime, but as for what exactly is called the samādhi of suchness and what its realm is like, the mind knows nothing at all; what is known and seen is merely a conjecture. To personally see the realm of the samādhi of suchness, one still needs to cultivate for another immeasurable kalpa—one great asaṃkhyeya kalpa. Because the samādhi of suchness is the realm of suchness, realized upon all dharmas—seeing that all dharmas, or a portion of dharmas, are all of the nature of suchness, all possessing the true and thusness nature of the tathāgatagarbha, all being parts of the one true dharmadhātu.

How exactly are all dharmas of the nature of suchness? How are they all one true dharmadhātu? This is the realm of the wisdom of the varieties of paths and the wisdom of the seeds of consciousness (ālaya-seeds), which only Buddha-sons who have entered the Tathāgata's family at the first bhūmi and above have the capacity to directly perceive. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas at the first bhūmi and above partially realize the Dharma body, achieve partial realization of buddhahood, and partially realize the one true dharmadhātu; only then do they know the partial suchness nature of all dharmas. Even if an ordinary person truly realizes the tathāgatagarbha, they are still too far from the wisdom realm of the samādhi of suchness; they can only think about it, absolutely cannot see it. When one sees it, one has the wisdom of the varieties of paths and becomes a great bodhisattva who has attained the bhūmis.

At the stage of an ordinary person, the mind consciousness has studied the Diamond Sutra and knows that all dharmas are like dreams, bubbles, and shadows. Yet no matter how much the mind consciousness feels that all dharmas are like dreams, bubbles, and shadows, one must still undergo nearly an asaṃkhyeya kalpa of cultivation, reaching the tenth dedication bhūmi, before one can personally realize the realm of "like a dream." In between, one must gradually realize the tathāgatagarbha, develop various samādhis, cultivate the first dhyāna, eradicate the manifest active afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, become a third-fruit anāgāmin, pass through the three checkpoints of the Chan school, and directly realize nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), having at the end of life the ability to enter nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa) yet not entering it, retaining one grade of affliction of delusion in thinking (samyojana) to moisten the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) body life after life, continuing to liberate oneself and liberate others. Without meeting these conditions and passing through these realms, the mind consciousness's feeling that all is like a dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow is merely "talking about food"—how could that fill the belly?

What the mind consciousness's telescope gazes upon may differ extremely far from what the manas sees with its own eyes. Gazing is easy and quick, but personal realization requires the manas to measure step by step with its own feet, personally walking to the edge of that realm before it can see that realm—extremely arduous, requiring enormous cost and effort. The realms seen by the two are extremely inconsistent, so gazing is gazing, while realization may only be possible after a considerably long period of time. Before realization, one can only indulge in lip service, just talking about it. Do not think that realizing some dharma is easy—that is an illusion; in reality it is not so, it is extremely difficult. The karmic obstructions of immeasurable kalpas, with karmic power massive as mountains—how could they be so easily removed and overcome? Although the Buddha's power of blessing is inconceivable, one's own karmic power is equally inconceivable. Only when karmic obstructions are eliminated and good roots, merit, and all kinds of conditions are complete will the manas close the distance with the mind consciousness and merge into unity with what the mind consciousness sees; only then can there be sudden enlightenment. Apart from this, it is all the "mis" of misunderstanding.