Distinguishing the Two Kinds of Selflessness (anātman)

Contemplate the dharma of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self; in the end, one personally realizes that the five aggregates and eighteen realms of the worldly realm are all arising-and-ceasing dharmas that are without self. Only by personally realizing that the five aggregates are truly of a nature of arising and ceasing will one know that they are without self, and will one gradually proceed to extinguish the activities of the five aggregates. At the very beginning, one reduces the activities of the five aggregates and loses interest in the activities of the five aggregates, because one knows that they are without self, that they are arising and ceasing, mutable, empty, and meaningless.

Contemplative practice on the eighth consciousness means investigating the eighth consciousness; its purpose is to personally realize the eighth consciousness within the five aggregates, to observe the relationship between the five aggregates and the eighth consciousness, and ultimately to personally realize one delusion and one truth—realizing how there is delusion and how there is truth.

By observing how the eighth consciousness concretely gives birth to the five aggregates, one realizes that the five aggregates are indeed illusory, unreal, and without self. At the same time, one realizes the true and eternal existence of the eighth consciousness; by observing the purity of the eighth consciousness within the body of the five aggregates, one will realize the non-self nature of the eighth consciousness.

The two kinds of non-self point in different directions. The nature of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self is a non-existence corresponding to arising-ceasing and impermanence. This non-existent self is the self of the seven consciousnesses—a false self, a self to be extinguished.

The self of the eighth consciousness corresponds to the unborn and unceasing, corresponds to true reality, and corresponds to purity. The non-self nature of the eighth consciousness means that within the mind of the eighth consciousness, it does not cognize itself, has no selfishness, and has no mind of self.

These two kinds of non-self must absolutely not be confused or conflated; otherwise, one cannot cultivate the path correctly. The deluded mind that is without self must inevitably be extinguished; the eighth consciousness that is without self never ceases.

The two kinds of non-self have two different meanings. The non-self of the seven consciousnesses means lacking true reality, being subject to destruction. The non-self of the eighth consciousness means being without selfishness, without the nature of self, without the nature of being the master, and without the nature of grasping. When the seven consciousnesses, relying on the eighth consciousness, cultivate to the point of non-self, they also become somewhat similar to the eighth consciousness's non-self, selflessness, and non-grasping.

A person with a light nature of self dares to negate himself; upon knowing his errors, he immediately corrects them and turns around quickly. A person with a heavy nature of self is unwilling to re-examine things through reasoning in accord with the Dharma, unwilling to negate himself even a little, finds it difficult to uncover his own errors, clings stubbornly to fixed views, and refuses to correct himself.

Without meditative concentration, one's deliberation is coarse, and without logical thinking, one simply cannot sort out the confusing and tangled points in these dharma meanings. When the mind is confused by especially complex dharma meanings, one will feel there is no thread to follow and no place to begin. Therefore, meditative concentration is extremely important.