Contemplating the Five Aggregates and Eliminating the View of Self (Part I) (Second Edition)
Section 2: The Manifestations of the Manas's Direct-Perception Verification
1. The Manifestations of the Manas Being Touched Upon When It Comprehends a Principle
When some people see a certain dharma principle, their minds are greatly shaken, and their physical bodies exhibit some unusual phenomena. This is because the manas has been shaken, and only then do these feelings arise. Even in the realization of worldly dharmas, there must be bodily and mental feelings and changes, great or small; it is not a matter of blandly skimming past and letting it go. Quite a few people, upon encountering a certain dharma principle and in the course of their practice and realization, have experienced bodily and mental changes of greater or lesser degrees. When one truly recognizes a certain principle, this is exactly how it is.
What is bland and does not correspond with the manas is merely the understanding of the mind consciousness, and that does not count. When studying the Dharma, if one skims past it like reading a textbook and then believes one has understood, known, and realized it, and thus lets oneself off the hook, this is a high degree of irresponsibility toward oneself. If it were this easy—reading the Tripitaka and twelve divisions of the canon a few times, understanding a portion, and then claiming to have realized that portion—that would be truly extraordinary; perhaps bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above could do so. When picking up a Buddhist sutra, even doctoral and postdoctoral students feel they can understand the words; if understanding meant realization, then the Buddha-dharma would be far too easy, and there would be no need to cultivate for three incalculable kalpas at all.
When meditative concentration is insufficient, reading an article is like viewing flowers from horseback. When concentration is sufficient, the degree of cognition in the mind is extraordinary, enough to shake the heart, to shake the five viscera and six bowels, and the feeling is very unusual. Some people skim through an article once, cannot contemplate it in detail, and rashly reject it, only to find in the end that they themselves were wrong. Wherein lies the error? They lack meditative concentration and cannot contemplate and engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā); their minds are too shallow. Even when guided, they still cannot engage in contemplative practice, their wisdom cannot gradually rise, and they cannot advance day by day. Those whose wholesome roots from past lives are insufficient will not be startled by any dharma they see; they pass by blandly as if they truly understood.
Only when there is meditative concentration and contemplation is detailed can one be touched; this is called being deeply moved. Look at how rich the content of our ancient Huaxia culture is and how precise its wording—it can describe the states of body and mind clearly and thoroughly. There is a certain scientific basis for this, a physiological basis. The Buddha-dharma is not isolated; it depends on whether the masses have the wisdom to know it as it truly is. The "deep" in "deeply moved" means penetrating into the depths of the manas; only then is one moved, not through the shallow, surface-level contemplation of the mind consciousness. Ordinary contemplation produces no feelings, no sighs of emotion, let alone myriad emotions.
2. Why Does the Manas, When Touched Upon, Produce Bodily and Mental Reactions?
If the manas can directly perceive (pratyakṣa) and verify a certain principle and accept a certain truth—that is, what we often call acknowledgment from deep within the heart—then it can bring about various changes in body and mind. This is because bodily, verbal, and mental actions are controlled and determined by the manas; the manas has the final say. Even in a situation where one has not yet realized the fruits and is far from doing so, once the manas contacts a certain principle, accepts and deeply affirms it, and is inwardly touched, then body and mind undergo changes. For example: feeling relaxed and cheerful, physical and mental tranquility (praśrabdhi), eyes brimming with tears, trembling all over, hair standing on end, heightened emotions, tingling scalp, flushed face and red ears, glazed eyes, buzzing in the head, blood surging, terror and trepidation, rapid breathing, veins bulging, exasperation, and many other such conditions. This is because the manas has been touched, the manas directly perceives it, and then it prompts the body faculty to undergo changes great or small. Everyone has this experience; recall it yourself and you will know whether this is the case.
The appearance of these conditions does not indicate that the manas has subdued or eradicated afflictions; more often it precisely shows that the manas's afflictive nature is very heavy, and only because its grasping at self and emotional attachments are very heavy do these enormous bodily and mental reactions appear. It is the same when one truly and directly realizes no-self: body and mind undergo great changes. Because the manas previously did not know this principle, no matter how the mind consciousness recited "no-self," the manas neither knew nor accepted no-self, remained unmoved inwardly, and in its actions still went "me, me, me." This is clearly the manifestation of a person who has not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi).
Once the manas verifies that the five aggregates truly have no self, the shock to body and mind is great, the grasping at body and mind relaxes, and many unusual phenomena appear: deepening meditative concentration, changes in sleep, physical tranquility and joy, receding illness and pain, mental elation, and so on. The more direct the perception, the greater the changes; the more it is mere intellectual understanding, the fewer the changes. Those with deep wholesome roots from the past and deep meditative concentration who directly realize the Buddha-dharma may levitate into space and manifest supernormal powers—these belong to the enormous changes in the physical body. Look at those sages recorded in the Buddhist sutras who awakened to the Way—whether in the Great Vehicle or the Small Vehicle—all had extraordinary phenomena occur. Why is this so? Because they had meditative concentration and directly perceived and verified it, so the changes in body and mind were extremely great.
3. The Distance Between Understanding and Realization
When watching a horror film, the mind consciousness clearly knows it is fake, yet one is still afraid. When walking on a glass skywalk, the mind consciousness clearly knows it is safe, yet inwardly one is still terrified; some people simply dare not lift a leg to walk. The mind consciousness just cannot persuade itself not to be afraid. Why? Because the conclusions reached by the mind consciousness's discrimination and contemplation do not gain the manas's acceptance. The mind consciousness urges itself not to be afraid, saying it is all fake, yet blood pressure still rises, the heartbeat quickens, and the body sweats. This shows that the body is all controlled by the manas.
Especially when watching a dome-screen movie, the mind consciousness knows that all the images are on the screen and cannot come out, that the images are not reality, yet inwardly one feels the images are still so lifelike—one fears the car inside will drive into oneself, fears the flying knives will slash oneself, that bullets will hit one's body—and so the body involuntarily tries to dodge. Bodily and mental actions are the result of the manas's direction and creation; it is the manas that, according to its habitual cognition, directs the consciousnesses to make corresponding reactions. Therefore, if the manas is not successfully permeated and trained, actual problems cannot be solved.
Is knowing that the skywalk is safe one's own direct-perception cognition? What use is such knowing? The mind consciousness clearly knows that the people ahead have already leisurely walked across—there is a ready example—so why does one still dare not stand up and walk across? The mind consciousness clearly knows that the thickness and load-bearing capacity of the glass are very reliable, so why can one not stand up and walk across with body upright? Because the principle analyzed and contemplated by the mind consciousness has not yet been accepted by the manas; inwardly there is still fear toward the glass skywalk, and therefore it prompts the body to manifest trembling, sore soles of the feet, quivering calves, shivering, even crouching on the walkway, unable to move a single step.
Some people, standing outside the glass bridge, hold forth with all kinds of talk, but when they step onto the glass track, how do they fare? Whether the body faculty is controlled and directed by the manas can be seen clearly here. The mind consciousness cannot direct the body; no matter how the mind consciousness deems it safe, it is useless—if the manas does not know it, then one is still terrified and panic-stricken, all caused by the manas's severe grasping at the body.
From this it appears: does the mind consciousness's knowing that the six sense objects are one's own inner object-aspects (nimitta) have any use? Without diligent contemplative practice, the falsity of the five aggregates cannot be truly realized. Knowing and understanding are easy; realization is very difficult. The realization of the four fruits of the Small Vehicle all involves bodily and mental feelings; the realization of the various fruits of the Great Vehicle also involves bodily and mental feelings, including the proof and hints from dreams. Especially the arising of the various meditative concentrations involves bodily and mental feelings even more; the deeper the concentration, the more intense the feelings. Above the second dhyāna, when the five consciousnesses cease, there is no feeling, but the physical body still undergoes great changes, and after emerging from concentration there are still bodily and mental feelings. Why do these feelings appear? Because the manas has directly realized the Buddha-dharma and known the truth of the facts, body and mind undergo changes—the result of the manas's grasping, holding, and regulation.
The manas believes in direct-perception states and needs to verify them personally; the testimony of others is useless. One must be able to directly perceive and verify for oneself, to know truly and genuinely. The realization of the Buddha-dharma is the same; otherwise it is like speaking of food and not being filled—self-deception and deceiving others. Many people know the five aggregates are illusory, yet the manas deep within still regards the five aggregates as real; it cannot agree with and carry out the results of the mind consciousness's analysis and contemplation, and still firmly grasps at self without letting go. Therefore, the mind consciousness must contemplate earnestly, leading the manas together in detailed contemplative practice again and again, until the manas has realized it personally; only then is the direct-perception state manifest. Otherwise it is merely an inference.
How can one walk across the glass skywalk without trembling with fear? One should do this: before stepping onto the skywalk, the mind consciousness should try every means to analyze and contemplate the safety of the skywalk very comprehensively, contemplating it as thoroughly as possible, thinking through inference, direct perception, and non-valid cognition, with reason and evidence proving that the glass skywalk is indeed safe, without a shred of danger. Then the manas can confirm the skywalk is safe, the heart can have confidence, and one can muster the courage to walk across. When the mind consciousness analyzes thoroughly and sees through the situation, putting the manas at ease, the mind can gain stability. Feeling inwardly very safe, with confidence full and all mental preparations made, feeling no longer afraid—this has persuaded the manas, and then one lifts a leg and sets out. How can one make the heart full of confidence? Rely on the mind consciousness's thorough contemplation and analysis—seeing clearly, seeing firmly, being nine-tenths certain—before acting. Only when the mind consciousness has contemplated and analyzed thoroughly can the manas confirm, manifest composure and steadiness, and boldly walk across.
This matter is the same as the principle of eradicating the view of self through contemplative practice. Eradicating the view of self is likewise so: the mind consciousness must contemplate and analyze thoroughly, item by item, permeating and leading the manas into actual contemplative practice. Only after the manas contemplates and confirms that the five aggregates have no self, without doubt, can the view of self be eradicated. In eradicating the view of self through contemplative practice, the mind consciousness must try every means to clarify the line of contemplative thought, act as a good guide, and let the manas confirm from within that the five aggregates truly are not self. Only then does the manas have full confidence; no matter who says the five aggregates are real, the manas will not follow and agree. To achieve this, the mind consciousness must first comprehend the principle itself, contemplate it clearly with a clear thread of reasoning, and give the manas a certain amount of time to adapt.
When first encountering this theory and contemplation is just getting underway, some people genuinely feel afraid, feel at a loss with no master over the six senses, feel they have lost their support, and feel inward emptiness and fear. This is because the manas, from beginningless kalpas, has firmly held that the five aggregates are the self, are real; now the mind consciousness tells Him this 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 permeation, over a long time, after the manas accepts it, will this feeling gradually disappear. To make the manas's mental preparation sufficient requires the mind consciousness to permeate repeatedly and ceaselessly, continuously reinforcing the concept of no-self; one day the manas will accept it, and then there will be the opportunity to truly and thoroughly eradicate the view of self.
If only the mind consciousness knows that the five-aggregate body and all dharmas are illusory, but the manas does not yet know or accept it, then it is of no use—just a shallow understanding, not the true eradication of the view of self. From the first fruit to the fourth fruit, the manas must continuously accept that the five aggregates are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, illusory, and without self. When it fully accepts this, the manas exhausts its disposition to grasp at the five-aggregate world and gains the ability to transcend the cycle of birth and death.
When the manas completely exhausts grasping and realizes the fourth fruit, it is like watching a dome-screen movie: no matter what happens on the dome screen, what states appear, the heart remains as if nothing were happening, neither dodging nor welcoming. The manas no longer controls the body to dodge anything; the heart knows the states are all unreal, all on the screen, not reality, and so is no longer afraid. From this we can see that sentient beings' minds have surface, shallow functions as well as hidden, concealed functions, and what plays the decisive role is that hidden force—deeply rooted, hard to transform, hard to persuade—which is the manas's force of habit. Changing this habitual 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 eradicate the ignorance, karma, and suffering of beginningless kalpas and ascend to the other shore of nirvāṇa.
The manas completely exhausting grasping at the five aggregates is the fourth-fruit arhat in the Small Vehicle, and in the Great Vehicle it is the full mind of the seventh bhūmi, entering the eighth bhūmi. The liberation realization of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva is equivalent to that of a great arhat of the fourth fruit who is liberated in both ways (ubhayatobhāga-vimukta); the full mind of the first bhūmi is equivalent to an arhat liberated by wisdom (prajñā-vimukta), but a first-bhūmi bodhisattva does not take the fruit of the wisdom-liberated arhat, and the afflictions of delusive thinking (kleśa) must not be entirely exhausted. The state of the manas exhausting grasping at the self of persons, we can know something of through inference and imaginative reasoning, though we have not realized it. As for the manas exhausting grasping at the self of dharmas, we can contemplate it through inference and non-valid cognition and know the general outline, though we even less can realize it. Between this knowing and realizing there may be a gap of nearly two incalculable kalpas and three incalculable kalpas. The distance between knowing and realizing is simply unimaginable.
Some people always become arrogant and self-satisfied from knowing a few things, but that is really nothing; even if one truly realizes very profound Buddha-dharma, it is not worth arrogance and self-satisfaction. Looking across the worlds of the ten directions and the three times of past, future, and present, even if we cultivated to the level of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, it would still be nothing. Only people of shallow wisdom and little experience easily give rise to arrogance and self-satisfaction, and only then is the mind of conceit deep. People with brains and wisdom, broad knowledge and wide experience, do not easily give rise to conceit, because they have seen or know of countless people who are innumerable times superior to themselves; their horizons are very broad.
4. The Difference Between Intellectual Understanding and Realization-Awakening
True eradication of the view of self is not merely the mind consciousness comprehending the principle of no-self; the manas simultaneously realizes no-self and accepts the principle of no-self. When the manas can personally prove no-self, it will reduce its grasping (upādāna) at self, and then everything within and without, body and mind, completely relaxes, and one immediately gains the meritorious benefit of liberation. If it is merely an intellectual eradication of the view of self, only understood by the mind consciousness, it has no persuasive power and not a shred of the meritorious benefit of liberation; the body-mind world will not transform, because the manas has not personally realized it. Without personal realization, it is not a direct-perception state.
Seeing the mind and realizing the tathāgatagarbha is also a direct-perception state of the manas. After the manas personally realizes and knows that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not the self, it can relax the self, the body-mind world will greatly transform, one gains the meritorious benefit of liberation, and is incomparably at ease. Otherwise, the mind consciousness's understanding is just theory; at most there is an intellectual understanding, and perhaps not even that can be spoken of—it has nothing to do with ending birth and death, and one does not gain the meritorious benefit of liberation. Because the manas has not directly observed it, has not personally realized it, the heart does not accept it, and body and mind will not transform. The body-mind world is controlled and grasped by the manas; the manas has the final say.
At the time of eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind, if the body-mind world, at the time and afterward, undergoes no change, and not even the shadow of meditative concentration (samādhi) appears, then it is a theoretical eradication of the view of self and seeing the mind, not accepted by the manas. Seeing the mind is, on the one hand, the awakening of the mind consciousness—and this awakening is not mere understanding but has reason and evidence, with conclusive proof; this is the direct-perception state. The manas simultaneously realizes it, and a samādhi state appears. When the manas accepts the direct-perception state and realizes it at the same time, it knows the five aggregates originally belong to the tathāgatagarbha and are not its own, and so it relaxes the five aggregates and no longer controls the body. Immediately the body becomes tranquil and comfortable, the mind is very clear, and at that moment body and mind change, different from before. The better the meditative concentration, the greater the change; the lighter the afflictions, the better the feelings—which language cannot fully describe.
If it is merely the mind consciousness's understanding, with insufficient evidence, much guessing and imagining, and no direct-perception state of the manas, the body-mind world undergoes no change whatsoever. Because the manas does not know the five aggregates belong to the tathāgatagarbha and are not its own, it will still grasp at and control the five aggregates; the body undergoes no transformation, the mind undergoes no transformation, there is no shaking of the spirit, and there is no difference from before—this is the state of false awakening. In false awakening, the manas still holds onto the body and the knowing mind, so body and mind do not change but remain as before, with afflictions just as afflictions.
The changes of the five aggregates are controlled and determined by the manas. At true eradication of the view of self and seeing the mind, the manas comprehends the principle and no longer controls the body, knowing the body is not its own, and the body has reactions of liberation. The manas also no longer controls the knowing mind, knowing it is not its own, and the knowing mind feels as if relieved of a heavy burden, and various sublime states appear. Sleep is controlled by the manas, and henceforth sleep also changes; afflictions are initiated by the manas, and at this time afflictions also become lighter. There are also many wondrous states, only they cannot all be disclosed one by one.
Direct observation is far more persuasive than theory. A person who can directly observe has both meditative concentration and wisdom, whereas theory is not necessarily correct, and even if correct, it is unrelated to oneself. In direct observation, the manas can realize and affirm it, and then the body-mind world can be transformed, and only then can one gain the meritorious benefit of liberation of body and mind. Once the manas affirms, those useless theories are no longer needed. In studying the Dharma, we must not only learn theory but also actually observe, directly observe, and personally verify the correctness of the theory; then the theory becomes our own direct-perception state, the heart constantly corresponds with the theory, principle and phenomena are unobstructed, and afterward every phenomenon will be unobstructed—that is great liberation. Theory alone cannot liberate us; please remember this point.
5. The External Manifestations of Realizing the Fruits and Seeing the Mind
Question: When realizing the fruits and seeing the mind, is the correspondence ultimately a physical result or a chemical result? Eradicating the view of self is the manas's acceptance of the illusoriness of the five aggregates—how is this acceptance to be measured? Enlightenment and seeing the mind are also related to the manas: does the manas, on the one hand, verify that itself is not real, and on the other, verify that the tathāgatagarbha is real?
Answer: Correspondence is mainly the correspondence of the mind—so is it ultimately a physical or chemical result? Because at this time the correspondence reaches the consciousness-mind; the consciousness-mind's cognition changes, regarding the five aggregates as not-self and the tathāgatagarbha as real. The mind is also connected with the body, the two being tightly linked, so it indirectly corresponds to the body as well; corresponding to the body, there are physical and chemical results—in fact, it is the four great elements undergoing change. Because it is the manas that accepts the principle that the five aggregates are not-self, and the manas can also control body and mind, the transformation of body and mind involves the transformation of physical and chemical components—the four great elements change. The physical body then exhibits a series of changes in bodily and mental states: tranquility, comfort, less sleep, inner joy, one-pointedness, no afflictions, no scattered thoughts, the arising of awakened clarity, growth of meditative concentration, and so on, lasting a relatively long time—several months, half a year, a year; for those with good concentration, over a year.
If it is not the manas realizing no-self, if the manas does not correspond, and only the mind consciousness shallowly knows some principles of no-self, not deeply and thoroughly, then there are none of these bodily and mental reactions, no changes in body and mind, or only the slightest trace of change that quickly disappears, and meditative concentration is very hard to arise. This is because the manas does not correspond with the principle of no-self, the heart has no shaking, cannot bring about changes in body and mind, cannot transform body and mind, and remains in a state much like before. Many people say they have eradicated the view of self, yet their body and mind have no feelings, no change, no meditative concentration manifesting, no awakened clarity—only some theory. But such theory can be found anywhere, which is very strange. Previously I was always troubled by the inability to test whether others had eradicated the view of self; later, contemplating the manas's operations, and combining it with my own bodily and mental feelings and state at the time, I gradually summarized the state of truly eradicating the view of self and how it should be tested.
For enlightenment and seeing the mind, there should also be a measure; one cannot simply say that the growth of wisdom suffices. There certainly should also be changes in body and mind, as well as the questions of how it grows and to what degree it grows. Seeing the mind and seeing the nature is relatively easy to test, because there is the tathāgatagarbha as a target—where it operates and how it operates. But each person's standard of testing also differs, depending on the tester's realization, whether their own attitude is rigorous, and whether their requirements and standards are strict. If things go wrong, intellectual understanding is taken as realization-awakening. If the tester is one of mere intellectual understanding, that is terrible—the person being tested is most unfortunate, and their wisdom will be very hard to grow thereafter. If under a tester with realization who demands strictness, the person being tested can greatly increase their wisdom and realization, and subsequent cultivation will be quite rapid; because they can directly observe the simple and general operation of the tathāgatagarbha, this wisdom is remarkable, approaching the wisdom of differentiated characteristics (bheda-svabhāva-jñāna).
If one has not eradicated the view of self but directly sees the mind and sees the nature, this still includes the wisdom-realization of eradicating the view of self, and there must be a considerable degree of awakened clarity; otherwise it is also intellectual understanding, not realization-awakening. Because without bodily and mental feelings, the manas has not accepted it, and neither body nor mind has changed. If one has already eradicated the view of self and then sees the mind, perhaps there will not be such intense awakened clarity and bodily and mental feelings, because one has already gone through that stage of negating the five aggregates as oneself. Nowadays there are quite a few people close to intellectual understanding: insufficient meditative concentration, insufficient contemplative practice, only able to understand, perhaps with some very shallow wisdom of the mind consciousness, yet unable to directly observe the simple operation of the tathāgatagarbha.
From the observation, contemplation, and organization of more and more dharma principles, more operational secrets of the manas have been found. The manas's operation is greatly related to meditative concentration: the better the concentration, the more prominent the manas's function, the more there is of personal realization, the mind consciousness engages less in shallow contemplation and analysis, and the realization is higher. In this restless present world, advocating and emphasizing the cultivation of concentration is a proper and good prescription for practice and realizing the fruits; it can reverse the restlessness of the masses' practice, is more conducive to personal realization, and reduces the proliferation of mere lip-service Chan. Otherwise, Buddhism will gradually tend toward extinction, with no substantive practice and realization.
6. The Manas's Wisdom-Cognition at the Time of Eradicating the View of Self and Seeing the Mind
Realizing the fruit through eradicating the view of self is the manas's confirmation that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not-self, which includes the manas itself—realizing that the manas itself is also subject to arising and ceasing and not-self. At enlightenment and seeing the mind, the manas not only confirms that the five aggregates are illusory and not-self, not real, but also realizes the tathāgatagarbha, knowing the tathāgatagarbha is the true self and that the manas itself is not real. At this time the manas has found the true master and no longer regards itself as the master; it can retreat a little, but the afflictive habits may all still remain, only somewhat lighter than before. After the manas realizes the tathāgatagarbha is the true self, that the five-aggregate body is all manifested by the tathāgatagarbha and is the tathāgatagarbha's functions and effects, it gradually no longer appropriates the tathāgatagarbha's functions and effects as its own, and its grasping at self also becomes lighter. Thereafter it can not only eradicate grasping at self but also eradicate grasping at dharmas; when both graspings are exhausted, one perfectly becomes a Buddha.
7. Personal Realization Is the Manas's Realization While in Samādhi
When dozing and hearing a loud noise, one suddenly understands that when hearing a sound, the ear consciousness first apprehends and the mind consciousness apprehends afterward—whether this counts as personal realization depends on the specific circumstances. If, upon hearing the loud noise, the manas is concentrated within it, clarifying the sequence of apprehension of the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness, clearly and distinctly, without the mind consciousness's analysis and contemplation, and the manas directly apprehends it with no further doubt, then that is the manas's personal realization. Each person's wisdom differs, so the conditions needed for personal realization differ. For some, one piece of evidence, one example, is enough; for others, even given all the evidence and witnessing many instances, they still cannot be certain and cannot personally realize it.
