Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization

Chapter Three: Intellectual Understanding and Realization in the Small Vehicle

1. In the earliest phase of life, there is only the eighth consciousness and the manas—one true, one false—and thus the true self and the false self exist together in peace, in a state of chaos and confusion. Due to the ignorance and deluded thoughts of the manas, being discontent with the status quo and wanting to seek outwardly, the eighth consciousness satisfied the manas, and the three-realm world gradually formed. Afterwards, the five-aggregate body formed, and only then did the phenomenon of birth-and-death saṃsāra appear, with the six consciousnesses coming to know and undergo the suffering and happiness of birth and death.

Then the most fundamental self, the most primordial self, the self that can make decisions, is the manas, not the mind consciousness. The mind consciousness is merely a product of the manas's grasping and deluded thinking, a tool for the manas to explore the world and greedily cling to the world; the manas uses it when it wants to and discards it when it does not. From this one can see what the status and relationship of the manas and the mind consciousness are within the five-aggregate world: the manas's dominant position is far beyond the reach of the mind consciousness. Then it becomes perfectly clear who possesses the view of self, perfectly clear where the view of self comes from, perfectly clear whose view of self is to be eradicated, and perfectly clear how to eradicate the view of self.

Why do the vast majority of sentient beings keep making a big fuss over the mind consciousness? Because the mind consciousness floats on the surface of the five aggregates, is relatively shallow, and is easy to observe and perceive. The manas is buried too deep and hidden; its dominant function is concealed and hard to see, extremely difficult to observe and perceive. Because He is the master, the one in charge, He must be this deep and hidden, must rule from behind the curtain, and cannot easily be seen by others; the tathāgatagarbha is even more hidden and hard to see. This is the same principle as sentient beings seeing only the mundane world but not the true truth of the tathāgatagarbha.

For example, in the world, for someone as noble as an emperor, how could commoners without a certain amount of merit and karmic conditions easily get to see the emperor and his ministers? They can only frequently see the soldiers and yamen runners who run errands for the emperor and his ministers. Then to whose account should the good deeds and bad deeds of these officials and soldiers be charged? They are all the directives of the emperor and his ministers, and should be charged to the emperor, counting as the emperor's political achievements! By the same token, whose fault is the view of self and wrong view of the five-aggregate body? Whose fault is birth-and-death saṃsāra? It is entirely the fault of the manas, and nothing else. Therefore, practice should involve immersing and teaching the manas, transforming the manas, eradicating the manas's various views of self and all kinds of ignorance—this is the fundamental point.

2. The Foundation of Eradicating the View of Self Is to Eradicate the Manas's View of Self

Sentient beings all take the five aggregates as the self; then who do "sentient beings" refer to? Sentient beings mainly refer to the manas. The five aggregates take the manas as the master; the manas commands the six consciousnesses and, together with the material body, constitutes the five-aggregate body. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: "knowing the mental activities of sentient beings." Who knows the mental activities of sentient beings? It is the tathāgatagarbha that knows the mental activities of sentient beings, and this sentient being is the manas. Because the tathāgatagarbha mainly knows the mental activities of the manas and helps realize the manas's wishes and ideas, only afterwards can there be the bodily, verbal, and mental actions created by the five aggregates and six consciousnesses, and only then does the dharma of the three-realm world manifest. This manas represents sentient beings: the manas takes the five aggregates as the self, takes the aggregate of form as the self, takes the aggregate of feeling as the self, then takes the aggregate of perception as the self, takes the aggregate of volitional formations as the self, and then takes the six consciousnesses of the aggregate of consciousness as the self; it also takes the various functions of the tathāgatagarbha as its own (the manas's), thinking all these dharmas were produced by "me" and all belong to "me"—so this "self" mainly refers to the manas.

Then whose view of self does eradicating the view of self eradicate? Now it is very clear: eradicating the view of self mainly means eradicating the manas's view of self. The manas takes all these dharmas as the self; eradicating the view of self means making the manas no longer regard the five aggregates as the self (the manas). Eradicating this view of the manas is eradicating the view of self. Therefore, eradicating the view of self must reach the manas; only when the manas is made to acknowledge that the five aggregates are not the self is the view of self eradicated.

This "self" refers to the manas, not to the six consciousnesses or the mind consciousness, because it is the manas that takes the aggregate of consciousness (the six consciousnesses), the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of form all as the self. So eradicating the view of self means making the manas no longer recognize these dharmas as the self. If the manas does not eradicate the view of self and only the mind consciousness eradicates the view of self—the mind consciousness believing the five aggregates are not the self—is this eradicating the view of self? Now it appears that the mind consciousness's belief that it is not the self is useless; this is not eradicating the view of self. Only when the manas is made to acknowledge that the five aggregates are not the self, the manas, is this the most fundamental and ultimate eradication of the view of self.

3. We have learned so many teachings of no-self and all feel that the five aggregates are not the self, that they are all empty, that all dharmas are illusory transformations. But feeling is just feeling; after all, it is not realization, and therefore inside there is not the slightest emptiness. This shows that the feeling is the mind consciousness's feeling; what the mind consciousness feels does not have much effect, because the mind consciousness does not make decisions; the decision-making manas does not feel it, so there is no realization. The self in the mind still exists as before, and whatever should be grasped is still grasped as before; not a single bond of birth and death can be severed. Because these dharmas learned by the mind consciousness have not yet been instilled into the manas, the manas does not yet understand these dharmas, does not yet acknowledge these dharmas, and does not know that the five aggregates are all illusory. When the view of self has not been severed, the three fetters are not severed.

Therefore, feeling that the five aggregates and six sense objects are illusory, feeling that all dharmas are illusory transformations—these are all views acquired by the mind consciousness through study. Having only views without realization is like armchair strategizing on paper; it cannot sever the bonds. Deep in the mind, one still feels that everything one contacts is real, and for the sake of these things one still grasps and clutches without cease. The manas has not realized the no-self of the five aggregates, has not realized the illusoriness of all dharmas; the mind consciousness's mere theoretical understanding has no effect—this cannot be called realization.

4. True eradication of the view of self is not only the mind consciousness understanding the principle of no-self; the manas also simultaneously realizes no-self and acknowledges the principle of no-self. When the manas can personally prove no-self, it will reduce its grasping of the self, and then both body and mind, inside and outside, will relax, and one will immediately obtain the merit and benefit of liberation to varying degrees. If it is merely a theoretical eradication of the view of self, only understood by the mind consciousness, the evidence is insufficient and unconvincing; the manas does not realize it, and there is not the slightest merit or benefit of liberation. The body-mind world will not transform. The manas has not personally realized it; without personal realization, it is not a realm of direct perception, because the body-mind world is ruled and grasped by the manas—the manas has the final say.

Seeing the mind and realizing the tathāgatagarbha is likewise a realm of direct perception for the manas. When the manas personally realizes it, the manas knows the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not the self, relaxes the self, the body-mind world greatly transforms, and one obtains the merit and benefit of liberation, with incomparable ease. Otherwise, the mind consciousness's understanding is just theory, at most an intellectual understanding, having nothing to do with ending birth and death, without the merit and benefit of liberation, because the manas has not observed it directly, has not personally realized it, and the manas does not acknowledge it, so the body and mind do not transform.

5. When we do contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in the Buddha-dharma, the more we practice, the more we feel that the most fundamental thing lies in the manas. The manas is the key to becoming a Buddha and also the master of birth-and-death saṃsāra. When the manas is subdued and the training is successful, and He realizes the Buddha-dharma, we attain liberation and accomplish the Buddha path. So eradicating the view of self must be eradicating the manas's view of self. The mind consciousness, through studying theory, instills into the manas, lets the manas investigate the no-self of the five aggregates, and lets the manas acknowledge that these dharmas are neither the self nor belong to the self. Once the manas realizes this principle, the three fetters are severed, the mind can gradually become pure, the mental activities will gradually transform, and when He no longer grasps and clutches at any dharma, we attain liberation.

This is the key and secret of practice; it is so in both the Small Vehicle and the Great Vehicle. On the Great Vehicle side, the manas has always taken the merits of the tathāgatagarbha as its own: all dharmas are "mine," all belong to "me," "I" can decide all dharmas, "I" am the master of all dharmas. The manas does not know what the true reality of the dharmadhātu is, does not know that all dharmas are illusorily manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, and does not even know that He Himself is an illusorily manifested dharma produced by the tathāgatagarbha. Because the manas does not know this principle, He takes all dharmas as truly existent and grasps them without cease, creating karmic actions of body, mouth, and mind; thus birth and death are unending, and Buddhahood cannot be attained.

Studying the Great Vehicle dharma means letting the mind consciousness theoretically understand the no-self nature of these dharmas and know the truly existent nature of the tathāgatagarbha, and then instilling into the manas, letting the manas deliberate (manasikāra) and investigate, and finally realize and attain the tathāgatagarbha. The true reality of the dharmadhātu is the tathāgatagarbha; all dharmas in the dharmadhātu are transformed by the tathāgatagarbha, and all these functions are not the functions of the manas but the functions of the tathāgatagarbha. After the manas knows and acknowledges this principle, He has realized the true reality. Afterwards, in the course of practice and realization, He gradually no longer grasps at the self and no longer grasps at any dharma, and then the obstruction of dharmas (grasping at dharmas) can be gradually severed completely. Practicing this way, one can not only sever the grasping of self but also sever the grasping of dharmas; once the grasping of dharmas is severed, one finally and ultimately becomes a Buddha.

Therefore, the key of practice lies entirely in the manas. Ignorance is in the manas; eradicating ignorance also means eradicating the manas's ignorance; eradicating afflictions also means eradicating the manas's afflictions. Attaining liberation—whose liberation is it? It is the manas attaining liberation. When He does not grasp the dharmas of the three-realm world, there is no bondage of birth and death, and of course He attains liberation. Becoming a Buddha—who becomes a Buddha? The six consciousnesses cannot become Buddhas; the six consciousnesses arise and cease, are illusorily transformed without stop, and cannot go on to future lives—so how could they become Buddhas? The manas can exist continuously without perishing, can continue all the way to the time of Buddhahood, and after Buddhahood will also never perish. Therefore, Buddhahood is accomplished by the manas; it is the manas that attains the Buddha fruit and Buddha position. But in the ultimate ground of truth, the manas is never a Buddha and cannot attain any fruit position; even becoming a Buddha is an illusory dharma, not a real dharma. The tathāgatagarbha does not become a Buddha; in the ultimate ground of truth, the manas also does not become a Buddha. When the day of Buddhahood comes, one will know: there is no Buddha to attain, no consciousness becomes a Buddha—only thus can one ultimately become a Buddha.

6. Only When the Manas Eradicates the View of Self Can the Three Fetters Be Severed

Eradicating the view of self simultaneously severs the three fetters: the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), the view of attachment to views, and the view of doubt. Severing the three fetters guarantees that in future lives one will never fall into the three evil destinies. If it were enough for only the mind consciousness to eradicate the view of self, then could the mind consciousness sever the three fetters? Do the three fetters bind the mind consciousness, bind the manas, or bind both? Is severing the bonds of birth and death decided by the mind consciousness? Can the mind consciousness make decisions about the great matter of birth and death? The bonds accumulated since beginningless kalpas—do they belong to the manas or the mind consciousness? Does the mind consciousness have the ability to cut them off?

The bonds of birth and death since beginningless kalpas mainly refer to the manas's bonds; the three fetters mainly bind the manas. Because the manas does not perish life after life, corresponds to karmic power, and transmigrates through the six destinies according to karmic power. The mind consciousness can only exist for one lifetime and cannot make decisions to produce the five-aggregate body of the next life. The mind consciousness cannot even change the five-aggregate body the slightest bit, cannot make the slightest decision over the six sense objects, cannot even lift a foot—telling oneself that the glass walkway is safe, "go forward," but the legs just cannot lift. How then could the mind consciousness make decisions to sever the bonds of birth and death accumulated since beginningless kalpas?

The manas makes decisions on every single dharma; it is impossible that on such a major matter as eradicating the view of self, which has existed since beginningless kalpas, He would not make decisions. If eradicating the view of self is not decided by the manas, it is a false eradication of the view of self, not a true eradication of the view of self. Whatever is only a surface assertion of the mind consciousness, which the manas does not assert but reluctantly complies with, is false, like acting in a play. Only what is asserted at the deep level by the manas, asserted from the heart, is true.

Therefore, people's words and deeds divide into true and false kinds. Crying has the distinction of real crying and fake crying; laughing has the distinction of real laughing and fake laughing; fear has the distinction of real fear and fake fear; caring for people has the distinction of real care and fake care; anger has the distinction of real anger and fake anger; hatred has the distinction of real hatred and fake hatred, and so on. Because people's words and deeds are sometimes true and sometimes false, in mutual dealings they suspect and guard against each other, needing to figure out the other's true thoughts and intentions, not daring to easily trust the other. Because of this, people all feel that dealing with others is mentally exhausting; with the slightest carelessness, one is deceived and schemed against—such is the mutual deception among worldly people.

In the practice and realization of the Buddha-dharma, there is likewise the distinction between true practice-and-realization and false practice-and-realization. Eradicating the view of self divides into true eradication and false eradication of the view of self; seeing the mind divides into true seeing of the mind and false seeing of the mind. The true and the false fill both worldly life and Buddhist practice, making them hard to distinguish. Whatever is false is on the surface of the mind consciousness; it can also be said to be pretended, affected. Whatever is true corresponds to the deep level of the manas, is acknowledged by the manas, flows out from the depths of the heart, comes from the bottom of the heart, is unaffected, is trustworthy, honest and without deception.

If eradicating the view of self is only the mind consciousness eradicating the view of self while the manas does not, then the manas has not severed the three fetters; the manas's mental activities still correspond to the three evil destinies, the ropes have not been untied, and one cannot be guaranteed not to fall into the three evil destinies. Because whether one enters the three evil destinies is determined by karmic seeds and karmic power; the manas corresponds to karmic seeds and karmic power and is the consciousness that connects the three times. If the manas has not severed the three fetters, the karmic seeds have not changed, and at death, drawn by karmic power, one will enter the three evil destinies. One need only observe the manas's behavior in the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) to know: in the intermediate body, the manas completely corresponds to its own afflictive habits, and it will certainly take rebirth following the manifestation of its own afflictive habits.

The mind consciousness can do nothing at all, because the mind consciousness cannot make decisions and is subject to cessation; after it ceases, it certainly cannot make decisions about anything. Therefore, cultivating only the mind consciousness is fundamentally useless. Only the mind consciousness eradicating the view of self cannot solve the problems of birth and death and of not falling into the three evil destinies. To take a step back: even if the mind consciousness could decide not to fall into the three evil destinies, at the time of death the mind consciousness perishes first, leaving only the manas and the tathāgatagarbha, with no mind consciousness existing; yet there are still the manas and karmic power, and the manas's bonds have not been severed, so of course falling into the three evil destinies cannot be avoided. The mind consciousness cannot correspond to karmic seeds and karmic power; whether one goes to the three evil destinies or not, the mind consciousness completely cannot decide—even the mind consciousness's own existence or non-existence it cannot decide—so how could it decide not to go to the three evil destinies?

7. Birth-and-death saṃsāra and the transmigration through the three evil destinies are caused by the manas's ignorance. When the manas's ignorance has not been broken, there is the chain of the twelve links of dependent origination of birth and death, and sentient beings are bound by the manas's ignorance within the six destinies, unable to escape, bound within the three evil destinies, also unable to escape. Before beginningless kalpas, the manas, because of ignorance, did not know the fundamental self and the true self, did not know the true reality of the dharmadhātu, did not know to guard the original true mind, gave rise to the mind to greedily seek outward, and thus the five-aggregate body vainly underwent the suffering of birth-and-death saṃsāra. Because of ignorance, the manas's mind stirred falsely, and the tathāgatagarbha, complying with the manas, gave birth to the universe's material world and to sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies, and the dharmas of the three-realm world appeared. Sentient beings have transmigrated through birth and death in the three realms for countless kalpas, still without end, because of the manas's ignorance, because of the manas's bonds. Practice means severing the manas's various bonds and various ignorances, so as to not be bound by ignorance, to escape the various bonds of birth and death, and to attain liberation.

Then eradicating the view of self must first eradicate the manas's view of self; only afterwards can the manas's own greed, hatred, and delusion afflictions be weakened; after that, the manas's greed, hatred, and delusion afflictions can be severed; and finally the manas's grasping of self can be severed. If at the first fruit the manas's view of self has not been severed, then there is no second fruit's weakening of greed, hatred, and delusion, no third fruit's severing of greed and hatred, much less the fourth fruit's complete severing of the afflictions of greed, hatred, delusion, and pride, and no talk of completely severing the grasping of self. From this it is clear that the manas's view of self is severed at the first fruit, and the grasping of self can only be severed at the fourth fruit—this line of practice we should all be clear about.

8. Eradicating the view of self is severing the afflictive delusions of views, that is, the delusions of views. The delusions of views include both the mind consciousness's intellectual confusions and, most importantly, the manas's intellectual confusions since beginningless kalpas. The delusions of views are the intellectual afflictions severed at the time of seeing the path, that is, eradicating incorrect views, mainly including the wrong views and opinions of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses; the delusions of cultivation are the afflictions of thought and concept severed at the time of cultivating the path, that is, the afflictive delusions of greed, hatred, delusion, pride, and so on.

The delusions of views are severed when attaining the first fruit; the delusions of cultivation are severed at the third and fourth fruits—that is, they can only begin to be severed after attaining the first dhyāna. One who severs craving and hatred is a third-fruit person; one who seves the ignorance and grasping of self of one thought-moment of ignorance is a fourth-fruit person. Then the manas's view of self is also a delusion of views, an intellectual afflictive delusion, and should be severed at the initial seeing of the path; the manas's delusions of cultivation should be subdued at the second fruit, begin to be severed at the third fruit, and be completely severed by the fourth-fruit person, equivalent to an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva.

The first fruit's eradication of the view of self must include the manas's view of self; if it does not include the manas's view of self, attaining the first fruit would be a very easy matter. But in fact it is not easy; many people study the Āgama sūtras their whole lives and still cannot attain the first fruit. In fact, many people's mind consciousnesses also understand that all dharmas are illusory, like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, yet they just cannot eradicate the view of self and cannot become first-fruit people.

The mind consciousness's view of self is relatively easy to sever, because its wisdom is strong; upon hearing the dharma it can deliberate and practice contemplation, easily breaking the view of self and ignorance. The manas is comparatively difficult, because the manas's view of self and ignorance are deeply rooted, and the manas's wisdom is weak, unable to quickly understand the dharma meanings it contacts; it must rely on the mind consciousness's power of deliberation, needing the mind consciousness to provide some materials and data for His reference, and only then can the manas deliberate and confirm the principle of no-self, thereby severing the view of self.

9. Merely Understanding That the Five Aggregates Are Not the Self Is Not Eradicating the View of Self

Some of us understand in our hearts that we ourselves are illusory, just a false shell—does this count as eradicating the view of self? Understanding no-self, understanding that oneself is illusory—here there is the mind consciousness's understanding and the manas's understanding. The mind consciousness's understanding further divides into true understanding and false understanding; understanding without genuine contemplative practice and deliberation is not true understanding. Moreover, only the mind consciousness's understanding is still very superficial and often has little effect; the manas deep in the mind does not understand and still takes the five aggregates as the self, and therefore cannot solve practical problems, much less attain liberation and escape saṃsāra. Because the manas can dominate and decide all the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five aggregates, including the mind consciousness's activities, and the manas still has the bonds of birth and death, He will drag the five aggregates and six consciousnesses to continue the birth-and-death saṃsāra.

True eradication of the view of self requires the manas to acknowledge and confirm that the five aggregates are indeed illusory and impermanent; the manas must understand the principle of the no-self of the five aggregates. And to make the manas acknowledge and confirm this, the mind consciousness must carry out deep, detailed, and comprehensive contemplative practice; through contemplative practice, the process and results of deliberation are transmitted to the manas, and only then can the manas understand, and thereby personally deliberate and confirm the illusoriness of the five-aggregate self. The mind consciousness must deliberate and contemplate that each of the five aggregates is illusory and that each of the eighteen realms is illusory, deliberating thoroughly—especially the illusoriness of the mind consciousness itself must be deliberated completely—before the manas can acknowledge and confirm that the five aggregates are truly not the self and that everything is illusory, whereby the thoughts deep in the mind will transform to a considerable degree. Only this is eradicating the view of self.

10. The Mind Consciousness's Power Alone Is Insufficient to Eradicate the View of Self

Someone asked the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī: "Clearly knowing that birth is the principle of non-birth, why am I still bound by birth?" Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī replied: "Your power is not yet sufficient."

Which consciousness is the "clearly knowing"? Which consciousness is the "power not yet sufficient"? The one who clearly knows is the mind consciousness. Although the mind consciousness knows some principles, it is useless—one is still bound by birth and death, because the mind consciousness cannot make decisions and have the final say. The one whose power is not yet sufficient is the manas. The mind consciousness's ideas have not yet reached the manas; the manas does not acknowledge them, so there is no power to change the status quo. The key is whether the manas can cognize this truth, whether He severs delusions and severs grasping. Only when the manas severs delusions and grasping can one escape the prison of birth and death.

From this we know that some principles of the Buddha-dharma, such as the principle of eradicating the view of self and the principle of seeing the mind and seeing the nature, even if merely known on the surface by the mind consciousness, cannot solve the problem of birth and death. They must penetrate to the manas; only when the manas understands the principle can one transform oneself and solve the problem of birth and death. Because in all matters the manas makes decisions—the manas has the final say. The manas has power; the mind consciousness does not have much power, because it cannot be the head of the household. If we want to change the birth-and-death saṃsāra problem of the five-aggregate family, we must persuade the head of the household; merely persuading one family member will not do. The manas is the head of the household; the affairs of the five-aggregate world are all decided by the manas. When the manas's power is sufficient, first severing the view of self and then severing the grasping of self, in future lives one will no longer be bound by birth and death.

11. The "self" refers to the manas, the seventh consciousness. It is the manas that takes the aggregate of form among the five aggregates as the self, takes the aggregate of feeling as the self, takes the aggregate of perception as the self, takes the aggregate of volitional formations as the self, takes the six consciousnesses of the aggregate of consciousness as the self, and also takes itself as the self—therefore there is the view of self. The six consciousnesses are of the nature of dependence on others (paratantra), arising in succession, and are a tool utilized by the manas, the seventh consciousness. Since beginningless kalpas, the manas has always taken every part of the five aggregates as the self, and of course also takes the functions of the eighth consciousness as the self.

The mind consciousness's self-nature is weak, far inferior to the manas's strong self-nature, and is relatively easy to sever. Generally speaking, the mind consciousness, after a little instillation of the principle of the no-self of the five aggregates and a bit of deliberation, can understand the principle; whereas the manas's power of deliberation and observation is weak, and coupled with the deep ignorance accumulated since beginningless kalpas that severely obstructs its wisdom, it is not easy for Him to understand the principle, and the manas's view of self is extremely difficult to sever.

From ancient times to the present, those who have truly eradicated the view of self are very few, as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Even when the Buddha was in the world, the proportion of those who attained the fruits was not very large. Therefore, the view of self mainly refers to the manas's view of self; eradicating the view of self requires the manas to personally investigate the principle of no-self together with the mind consciousness, to directly observe that the five aggregates are indeed without self—only this is truly eradicating the view of self.

If one merely relies on the mind consciousness, like a repeating machine, reciting and memorizing texts in the form of reading words aloud, without deep and detailed deliberation and contemplative practice in meditative concentration, the manas can never be instilled and can never understand the principle. This is merely the mind consciousness's superficial activity on the surface of words; at most one can intellectually understand the no-self of the five aggregates but cannot realize the no-self of the five aggregates, and therefore cannot eradicate the view of self.

Eradicating the view of self is the manas's personal realization. Then is seeing the mind and realizing enlightenment also the manas personally realizing the true mind, the eighth consciousness? The answer is likewise yes. Because since beginningless kalpas the manas has always taken the functions of the five aggregates and six consciousnesses as the self, and also taken the functions of the eighth consciousness as the self, not knowing that He Himself is nothing at all—depending on the eighth consciousness on one end and on the five aggregates and six consciousnesses on the other—only thus can He have His own so-called functions of "self" and survive in the three realms, accomplishing His illusory functions of "self."

Then to make the manas sever ignorance and accomplish the Buddha path, on the one hand the great tree of the five aggregates must be cut down so that He has nothing to depend on; on the other hand, He must be made to realize the true eighth consciousness, knowing that all dharmas are done by the eighth consciousness and are not His own functions. Then the manas clearly recognizes the true reality of the dharmadhātu, ignorance is bit by bit broken away, the grasping of self and grasping of dharmas are gradually severed completely, there is utterly no self, and finally He becomes the World-Honored Buddha.

12. If the manas has not severed the grasping of self, He is unwilling and unable to vanish and perish, and the arhat cannot enter nirvāṇa without remainder. What directs the body's activities is the manas's function. If the mind consciousness wants to direct the body, it needs the manas's consent, and then the manas gives the command before the six consciousnesses can move; only when the six consciousnesses move can the body move. If the six consciousnesses do not arise and do not act, the body cannot move.

Because the manas takes the body as himself, since beginningless kalpas He has grasped it without letting go. If the body is not controlled and mastered by himself, the manas feels he has lost the self and therefore feels an inexplicable fear. Therefore, eradicating the view of self must be the manas eradicating the view of self; only the manas's eradication of the view of self is true eradication of the view of self. Of course, the one who completely and ultimately eradicates the view of self is the World-Honored Buddha; even the great arhat of the fourth fruit who is liberated in both ways has not completely and ultimately eradicated the view of self.

13. When eradicating the view of self, the mind consciousness must deliberate and analyze thoroughly, without a single loophole, so that the manas completely acknowledges it without doubt—only then can the view of self be severed. In eradicating the view of self through contemplative practice, the mind consciousness must think of every way to deliberate and contemplate the illusory, unreal nature of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, successfully instilling into the manas, making the manas confirm from the heart that the five aggregates are truly not the self. Only then is the manas's confidence sufficient; no matter who says the five aggregates are real, the manas will not think that way or agree. To achieve this, the mind consciousness must first understand the principle itself, must deliberate clearly, and must also give the manas a period of time to adapt and confirm, letting the manas adapt to the fact that the five aggregates are truly not the self and are not real.

When first encountering this theory and just beginning to deliberate, some people indeed feel afraid in their hearts, feel as if the six senses have lost their master, feel they have nothing to rely on, and feel inner emptiness and fear. This is because the manas, since beginningless kalpas, has firmly believed that the five aggregates are the self and are real; now the mind consciousness tells Him it is not so, and the manas can hardly bear it no matter what, so the heart feels fear and distress. Only through the mind consciousness's continuous instillation, after a long time when the manas has accepted it, will this feeling slowly disappear. For the manas to be psychologically well prepared, the mind consciousness needs to instill repeatedly and continuously, constantly reinforcing the concept of no-self; one day, the view of self can be truly and completely severed.

If only the mind consciousness knows that the five-aggregate body and all dharmas are illusory, but the manas does not yet know and does not acknowledge it, then it is of no use—just a superficial understanding, not true eradication of the view of self. Between the first and fourth fruits, the manas must continuously acknowledge that the five aggregates are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, illusory, and without self. When the manas completely acknowledges this, He severs completely the clinging nature toward the five-aggregate world and has the ability to escape birth-and-death saṃsāra. When the manas has completely severed all clinging and attains the fourth fruit, it is like watching a movie on a dome screen: no matter what happens on the dome screen, whatever states appear, the heart remains as if nothing had happened, neither dodging nor welcoming. The manas no longer directs the body to dodge anything; the heart knows that the states are all unreal, all on the screen, not reality, and so is no longer afraid.

From this one can see that sentient beings' psychology has surface, superficial functions and also hidden, concealed functions; but what plays the decisive role is still that hidden force—deep-rooted, hard to transform, hard to persuade—that is the manas's inertial force. Changing this inertial force is extremely important; it can solve the great problem of birth and death of countless kalpas, including segmented birth-and-death (pariccheda-maraṇa) and transformational birth-and-death (parināma-maraṇa), and then one can sever the ignorance, delusions, and suffering since beginningless kalpas and ascend to the other shore of nirvāṇa.

14. In contemplating the five aggregates to eradicate the view of self, it is not enough to merely believe in the mind consciousness that the five aggregates are not the self; the manas must also acknowledge it. To make the manas acknowledge it, sufficient reasons and evidence must be presented to persuade Him. It is not that once the mind consciousness believes there is no self, there is already no self; the manas is still unclear and still believes there is a self, and the root of birth-and-death saṃsāra has not been eradicated. This root must be severed—only this is true eradication of the view of self.

After the mind consciousness encounters the Buddha-dharma and knows the principle of no-self, the manas cannot quickly follow and also believe there is no self, because the manas's discriminating wisdom is relatively weak, without the discriminations of inference or non-valid cognition; He can only acknowledge reality and facts. So the mind consciousness must find sufficient evidence to persuade and guide the manas. The manas's scope of grasping is extremely broad; He has no meditative concentration at all, so His power of wisdom is inferior and weak, and His ability to understand and comprehend problems is very poor. The mind consciousness must analyze and deliberate all principles thoroughly, with the principles laid out clearly and plainly, before the manas can easily understand. The mind consciousness must treat Him as an immature and stubborn child, patiently and meticulously presenting facts and reasons to Him, laying out various kinds of evidence, persuading Him by every possible means; only then can He be persuaded, thereby understanding the truth and changing His views—and then the view of self is truly and completely severed.

How then to persuade the manas? This requires the mind consciousness to deliberate very carefully: how exactly are the five aggregates illusory, how exactly do they arise and cease, how exactly are they impermanent, how exactly do they change? The two words "exactly" (究竟) contain presenting facts and reasoning; one must speak with facts, for the manas only acknowledges facts. To present facts, the mind consciousness must deliberate deeply and meticulously, analyzing one principle after another clearly and plainly, and then the manas can understand the principle. The mind consciousness's entire process of deliberation and analysis is the process of persuading the manas. Because all the details of the mind consciousness's entire deliberative process are transmitted to the manas—He must know them all—every thought of the mind consciousness, every dharma meaning deliberated, all mental states can instill into the manas; therefore the manas can know the content of the deliberation. So the mind consciousness's process of deliberation is the process of persuading the manas, and also the process of instilling into Him.

15. After the Manas Eradicates the View of Self and Attains the First Fruit, Why Is the Grasping of Self Only Severed at the Fourth Fruit?

The depth and degree of the manas's wisdom in eradicating the view of self divides into different levels. It is like learning to cook and becoming a chef: one still needs continuous actual practice to master the techniques, and then one becomes a first-grade chef, second-grade chef, and even special-grade chef. The manas's eradication of the view of self is also like a student who has just entered the school gate, needing several years of study before graduating. Of course, this does not exclude the outstanding ones who become grade-skipping students—that is, among Buddhist practitioners, those with exceptional indriya may attain the second, third, or fourth fruit at the time of attaining realization.

The mind consciousness and the manas differ in their degree of understanding of the principle of the no-self of the five aggregates, differ in their insight, and thus attain different fruits. After attaining the first fruit, one needs to continuously and deeply contemplate the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and no-self nature of the five aggregates and eighteen realms; the understanding deepens continuously, the views are reversed ever more thoroughly, the wisdom of no-self grows ever deeper, and the grasping of self becomes ever lighter. Finally, reaching the utmost of the Small Vehicle principle of no-self, the grasping of self is completely severed, and then various wisdoms arise, with the ability to transcend the three realms, be liberated from birth and death, and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. To whatever degree the wisdom is realized, that degree of afflictions is severed; to whatever degree the grasping of self is lightened, that degree of fruit is attained.

For example, when the World-Honored One suddenly awakened upon seeing the morning star at midnight, He severed the last portion of ignorance and obtained the greatest and most ultimate wisdom, and thus instantly became a Buddha, needing to wait for nothing and cultivate nothing more, because ignorance had been completely severed and there was no dharma left to cultivate.

Whereas for a first-fruit person, the view of self has not been completely severed, the one thought-moment of ignorance is still heavy, and the manas's level of wisdom of no-self is still shallow. In continuing observation and practice, the understanding of the no-self of the five aggregates becomes ever more profound, the wisdom ever more penetrating, and the ignorance ever lighter. These are all the results of step-by-step practice. When wisdom reaches its ultimate, there is no need to practice anymore; the ignorance and afflictions are simultaneously severed completely, and the fourth fruit, the fruit of one beyond training (aśaikṣa), is attained at the same time.