How Does the Manas, through Attention, Bring About Its Own Cessation?

When an arhat liberated through wisdom (prajñā-vimukta) is at the end of his life, the manas no longer craves the three realms, no longer engages in attention (manaskāra), no longer deliberates on seeing dharmas, has no desire to see dharmas, and has no desire to create actions. When the five universal mental factors (sarvatraga-caitasika) no longer manifest, the manas must necessarily cease. Therefore, when the manas no longer engages in attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition, the tathāgatagarbha no longer cooperates in generating dharmas. When the manas has no desire or thought toward the three realms, it will certainly not engage in attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition; the consciousness-mind can no longer operate, and the functions of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) do not arise. In this way, the manas ceases.

As long as the manas has mental activity and desire, and has the tendency to cling to the dharmas of the three realms, the five universal mental factors will continue to operate without cease. The manas cannot cease, and the five aggregates and eighteen realms (aṣṭādaśa-dhātu) will continue to be born without end; thus sentient beings in the three realms will undergo birth and death continuously without interruption.