How to Enable the Manas to Accept the Persuasion and Education of Consciousness

When a person realizes they are mistaken, what determines how they proceed and how they address the error? After the mind becomes aware of the mistake, it must ensure the manas (the underlying mental faculty) also recognizes the error. Once the manas recognizes the mistake, the matter becomes manageable. The mind must convey its error to the manas completely and precisely, exactly as it is. Upon receiving this, the manas will then engage in deliberation to weigh right and wrong.

After the mind gains a simple, preliminary understanding, it must further engage in contemplation and observation, seeking a more detailed comprehension. During this process, the manas becomes susceptible to influence and can initiate its own process of deliberation. The mind needs to contemplate and understand the matter more meticulously, with more conclusive evidence, so that it can engage in thorough and penetrating contemplation during meditative concentration. For the manas to deliberate clearly and distinctly, it must do so within meditative concentration, free from disturbances.

The mind understands that it must use itself to influence the manas. At this point, the manas may not necessarily be aware that the mind intends to influence it or is in the process of doing so. This depends on several factors: first, whether the manas possesses the wisdom to comprehend the mind's thoughts and intentions; second, whether the mind can deeply understand the doctrinal principles internally and contemplate them with clarity; and third, whether the manas usually has a good understanding of the mind and whether the communication and coordination between the two are effective.

When the manas discovers that the mind intends to influence and change it, if the manas has a strong habit of self-attachment and the mind's ideas seriously contradict the manas, the manas will feel displeased, experience inner discomfort, and may even attempt to evade or resist. If the mind's ideas do not significantly contradict the manas and are acceptable to it, then once the manas is subdued, the more it comprehends the principles, the more readily it accepts influence, persuasion, and instruction.