Mind Consciousness: Thinking Is Thinking; Manas: Doing Is Doing

All dharmas are attained by nothing; the Heart Sutra says, "Because of nothing to be attained, bodhisattvas"; the Diamond Sutra says that the World-Honored One, because His mind had nothing to be attained, received the prediction from the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara. Some people then think: since all dharmas have nothing to be attained, with no self and no possessions of self, then there is no need to strive at all—let even thought come to a stop, and simply settle into nonaction. When thinking this way, the mind feels very relaxed, but this state cannot last long; soon one becomes active again, and when encountering conditions, events, or people, one is not the least bit nonactive.

Because before the empty mark of all dharmas has been realized, the emptiness that the mind consciousness believes in has no power at all and cannot be the master in any way; whatever activity there should be still goes on just the same, and nothing can be emptied in the slightest. The mind consciousness may wish to be still and unconditioned, yet it cannot be the master of the five-aggregate body; the manas, which is the master, has its pursuits, and when it wants to create and condition something, the mind consciousness must comply, with no way out at all. So even though the mind consciousness understands some principles, the manas does not understand them, and no substantive problem can be resolved. Therefore, the mind consciousness attaining the fruits or seeing the mind fundamentally changes nothing; afflictions are still afflictions, ignorance is still ignorance, and birth-and-death is still birth-and-death. Only by dealing with the manas, which is the master, can all problems be solved and earth-shaking transformation take place.