The Selflessness of the Manas

The selflessness of the manas has several aspects: first, not taking the manas as real; second, not taking the five aggregates as real, as oneself; third, not taking the functions of the six consciousnesses as real, as the manas's own functions; fourth, not taking the functions of the eighth consciousness as the manas's own functions.

When eliminating the grasping at self, He must know that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not the self. Gradually, He begins to eliminate the attachment to the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and begins to contemplate that this function of the five aggregates is not the self, that function is not the self either—all functions of the five aggregates are not the self. In this way, bit by bit, He can eliminate the manas's attachment to the five aggregates and become an arhat of the fourth fruit. After the manas eliminates its attachment to the five aggregates, He reaches an initial stage of being untainted (anāsrava), and a portion of His imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) is eliminated. Before attaining the fourth fruit of arhatship, one is constantly subduing the manas's attachment to self—beginning from the moment of attaining the first fruit and becoming a stream-enterer, subduing it slowly, bit by bit, until the fourth fruit of arhatship, when the grasping at self is completely eliminated.

Bodhisattvas at the first bhūmi begin to eliminate the grasping at dharmas as self, portion by portion. To eliminate the grasping at dharmas as self, one must attain the wisdom of patience with the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), realizing the selflessness of all dharmas—realizing that all dharmas lack self-mastery and are all illusorily manifested by the eighth consciousness. Through contemplation, one discovers that in all dharmas there truly is no self existing; none of them is the self. The manas then acknowledges that all these dharmas are not the self, nor are they possessed by the self. Only in this way, bit by bit, can He eliminate the grasping (upādāna) at all dharmas. Only when the manas reaches complete selflessness, without attachment to any dharma, with the mind utterly empty and pure, can one attain buddhahood.