Transforming Wrong Views in the Mental Faculty Requires Long-Term Immersion

The mistaken view that regards the five aggregates as the self belongs to the mental factor of delusion. Manas inherently possesses congenital ignorance and delusion, identifying the body of the five aggregates as the self, and consciousness consequently also holds this deluded, mistaken view. Through practice, one can eradicate the ignorance and delusion of these two consciousnesses, thereby attaining the fruit of eradicating the view of self. After this, the mental factor of delusion undergoes a partial transformation.

Does it mean that simply by informing manas that the body is false and unreal, that feelings are neither real nor the self, and by finding a way to make manas believe that none of this belongs to oneself or is real, one can eradicate the view of self? Manas is heavily obscured by ignorance; it does not simply believe whatever consciousness tells it. It requires sufficient evidence and data, then based on this information, conducts its own examination and deliberation, making judgments independently. When its delusion is severe, even with conclusive evidence and ample facts, it cannot quickly confirm or willingly acknowledge the truth that the five aggregates are not the self. Long-term immersion and gradual transformation are required. Three feet of ice does not form in a single day; accumulated, solid ice cannot be melted by just a few days of sunlight.

Someone asked whether, after eradicating the view of self, one can gradually extinguish their own awareness, ceasing to feel cold, heat, pain, itchiness, and so forth? It is not so. Eradicating the view of self only eliminates incorrect mistaken views; it does not annihilate perception. Eliminating perception requires the profound attainment of the fourth dhyāna, which can be achieved even without eradicating the view of self. Only within the fourth dhyāna, by breaking through the realm of the form aggregate and the realm of the feeling aggregate, can the sensory experiences of the physical body be emptied. Otherwise, even Arhats will experience various physical sensations; they merely do not cling to them, so the sensations are not so agonizing—at the very least, the feelings of the conscious mind are not so distressed, though the sensations of the body consciousness remain similar to those of ordinary people.