The Dharma Gate of Mahakasyapa Bodhisattva's Perfect Penetration of the Mental Faculty (Training Section on the Mental Faculty)

In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Mahākāśyapa Bodhisattva recounts his method of perfect penetration through cultivation: "I contemplate the world. The six dusts undergo transformation and decay. Solely through emptiness and quiescence, I cultivate extinction. Only then can body and mind transcend hundreds of thousands of kalpas as if in a snap of the fingers. Through the dharma of emptiness, I attained Arhatship. The World-Honored One declared me foremost in ascetic practices. The wondrous dharma became clear and revealed, extinguishing all outflows. When the Buddha inquired about perfect penetration, according to my realization, the dharma-cause is supreme."

Mahākāśyapa said: "I observe that the six dust realms within the world constantly arise and cease, shifting from non-existence to existence, from existence to decay, to cessation, and to emptiness—none can be relied upon. Only with a mind of empty quiescence can I empty all these dharmas, keeping body and mind constantly abiding in the samādhi of extinction. In such a state of samādhi, even as body and mind pass through the vast expanse of hundreds of thousands of kalpas, it feels as brief as a mere snap of the fingers. It was by emptying the dharma of the six dust realms that I attained Arhatship."

What does it signify to extinguish and empty the six dust realms within the mind in the nirodha-samāpatti? It signifies that the six consciousnesses consequently cease and can no longer arise. The six dusts serve as a condition for the birth of the six consciousnesses; when the condition is absent, consciousness cannot arise. If the six consciousnesses are extinguished, only the manas (seventh consciousness) and the tathāgatagarbha remain, leaving Mahākāśyapa abiding in the nirodha-samāpatti. Then, does Mahākāśyapa emerge from this samādhi? Does he still engage with worldly affairs? What does he do when interaction is necessary? Though Mahākāśyapa cultivated to the extent of extinguishing all dharmas and can easily enter nirodha-samāpatti, as a great bodhisattva he bears the responsibility of benefiting beings and cannot remain perpetually inactive in the samādhi of extinction. Upon emerging from nirodha-samāpatti, he still abides in the samādhi of extinguishing dharmas while undertaking all activities to benefit beings. This is inconceivable: if all dharmas are empty, how can he engage in benefiting beings, for the work of benefiting beings is also a dharma?

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra further states: "Mahākāśyapa long extinguished the manas. Perfectly and lucidly comprehending, not relying on mental thought." This passage describes how Mahākāśyapa ordinarily engages with and responds to worldly matters. How does he handle affairs? Without using the mental thoughts of the sixth consciousness, he perfectly, completely, clearly, and lucidly comprehends the six dust realms.

For ordinary people, isn't this state too mysterious and inconceivable? How can one know the six dust realms without using the sixth consciousness, and moreover know them more perfectly, clearly, and penetratingly than ordinary people? How is this known? It is known by the manas. The manas takes over the discerning function of the six consciousnesses; in other words, the manas directly discerns by itself without the assistance of the six consciousnesses. The master can accomplish everything alone, having dismissed all assistants. This implies the master possesses abundant energy and enhanced capability; all matters can be handled alone without helpers. How formidable is such a manas! Is this the manas an ordinary person possesses? To be precise, could a person with such a manas be an ordinary individual? That is Mahākāśyapa, equivalent to an eighth-ground bodhisattva!

What then is meant by "long extinguished the manas" mentioned in the text? Did Mahākāśyapa extinguish the manas long ago? Here, "manas" does not refer to the sovereign seventh consciousness. Rather, it denotes the root from which the sixth consciousness arises. If the seventh consciousness were extinguished, one would enter parinirvāṇa, and Mahākāśyapa would no longer exist in the world. How then could there be talk of "perfectly and lucidly comprehending"?

What then is the root from which the sixth consciousness arises? The birth of the sixth consciousness requires several conditions; lacking any one, it cannot arise. Among these conditions are the object of mental perception (dharmadhātu), but primarily the mental attention (manasikāra) of the manas (seventh consciousness). After the dharmadhātu appears, if the manas does not apply attention to discern and comprehend—if it is "mindless towards the object" or "objectless in mind"—the sixth consciousness cannot arise. This is the most crucial point in cultivation. If the manas is mindless towards the objects of the six dusts, having emptied the six dusts and all dharmas, none of the six consciousnesses can arise. Therefore, cultivating until the manas is mindless towards objects extinguishes the root of the sixth consciousness's birth—this is Mahākāśyapa's samādhi state of "long extinguished manas."

Yet, how can there still be perfect and lucid comprehension? If the manas is mindless and does not wish to discern objects, how can it still know and know perfectly and lucidly? This is the manas's natural function of mindless, spontaneous discernment. It is like a camera left on—all scenes naturally enter the camera. Similarly, the manas, mindless in discernment, allows dust-objects to naturally appear. If this "camera" of the manas is turned off, one enters parinirvāṇa. A bodhisattva does not do this; keeping it "on" allows for the incidental work of benefiting sentient beings. All activities for benefiting beings are accomplished solely by the manas. Does the manas then possess wholesome mental factors (kuśala-caittas)? Is the manas's wisdom powerful or not? It is certainly not weak or inferior! Especially after the first bodhisattva ground (prathamabhūmi), the manas transforms consciousness into wisdom (jñāna). How could the manas's wisdom remain weak and inferior? Even the manas of an ordinary person sometimes possesses wisdom and is not necessarily weak or inferior. The function of the manas is so sublime—how could we not strive diligently to cultivate and train it?