A Guide to the Cultivation and Realization of the Mind: Part Two
Chapter 5: Methods for the Actual Practice and Realization of the Manas (2)
Eighteen: The Principle That Those Who Have Eradicated the View of Self Will Not Fall into the Three Evil Destinies
After a person has eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and realized the first fruit, they will no longer fall into the three evil destinies to undergo suffering retribution. Why is this so? Because their mind has changed; the mind no longer corresponds to the karma of the three evil destinies, will no longer create the karmic actions of the three evil destinies, and therefore will no longer fall into the three evil destinies to suffer. When the mind realizes no-self, it becomes empty; a person whose mind is empty cannot possibly create the karmic actions of the three evil destinies. What are the karmic actions of the three evil destinies? They are the karmic actions that violate the five precepts and the karmic actions that violate the ten wholesome deeds. Only by upholding the five precepts can one obtain a human body and not the bodies of beings in the three evil destinies; only by upholding the ten wholesome deeds can one obtain a human or heavenly body and not the bodies of beings in the three evil destinies. A person who has eradicated the view of self and realized the fruit has eliminated the coarse afflictions (dausthulya), and their mental conduct will certainly correspond to the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds; only thus can they be exempted from the karma and bodies of the three evil destinies.
So this mind that has eradicated the view of self, this mind that corresponds to the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds, this mind that does not correspond to the karma of the three evil destinies—which mind is it? The mind consciousness is certainly such a mind, and the manas, which is the most crucial, should absolutely be such a mind; moreover, the manas is a mind without interruption. Only after the view of self is eradicated will the manas have the uninterrupted merit of the unified path of vipaśyanā and śamatha. Whether sleeping, unconscious, at death, or at any time in the antarā-bhava, the merit of having eradicated the view of self is present in the body, and one will take rebirth, enter the womb, and conceive by means of this merit. Thus, whatever mental conduct the manas has and whatever karma it carries, there will be a corresponding womb-born body.
If one does not wish to fall into the three evil destinies, one needs the manas to eradicate the view of self and possess the various merits. With only the mind consciousness's wisdom of hearing the Dharma, wisdom of inference, wisdom of speculation, and the wisdom of emotional and intellectual understanding, there is absolutely no guarantee of eradicating the manifest coarse afflictions, no guarantee of not creating the karmic actions of the three evil destinies, no guarantee of not violating the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds, and consequently no guarantee of not falling into the three evil destinies at the end of life.
Nineteen: Observing the Operation of the Manas Through Jing He's Contemplative Practice
Jing He: This morning while driving to work, I was in the left lane of a two-lane road closely following the car ahead, when a car on the right sped up and passed, after which there were no more cars in the right lane. At that moment, my eyes involuntarily glanced to the right (this was actually the manas detecting that the right lane had become empty and directing the eyes to observe in further detail). After observing, I immediately took a mental sense-object of "right lane empty" (it felt like it was in the brain), and then immediately a "force" appeared at the pit of my stomach (this force was directing the hands and feet to make movements to change lanes—should this be the manas's volition mental factor?). If this force is observed, the hands and feet will not move; this force seems to be cut off by the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) of the six consciousnesses. If one does not introspect upon it, it will make the hands and feet move. (This is actually the phenomenon of the manas's volition mental factor directing the body consciousness.)
There is an interesting point in this whole process: after taking the mental sense-object of "right lane empty," some people change lanes immediately, while others can refrain from changing lanes. How does this difference arise? This difference arises from each person's different "views and knowledge," and this "views and knowledge" is quite interesting.
Guan Wuwo: If the manas feels it is necessary, it changes lanes; without that intention, or if it feels unsafe, it does not change. This depends on the manas's experience and decision. The mind consciousness merely collects and analyzes information according to the manas's wishes, then hands it over to the manas to decide. "Views and knowledge" should actually include both the manas and the mind consciousness, with the two consciousnesses working together. The manas's attention (manaskāra) arises first, and only then does the mind consciousness arise, so it is not easy to find the manas using the mind consciousness; one should mostly practice deep, subtle observation in meditative concentration.
Jing He: Right, that's what I meant; I just expressed this experience with the word "views and knowledge." I just find this views-and-knowledge interesting. When you observe it, it is formless and imageless and simply cannot be observed. (I know that only by using the sixth consciousness to describe it can it barely be made to manifest a little appearance.) Yet it operates behind each of our bodily and verbal actions. Why does the manas direct its attention toward "a" and not toward "b"? It is determined by this views-and-knowledge (my personal understanding).
Guan Wuwo: This is the manas's mental factors cooperating with one another to judge and decide—the experience accumulated in the manas over beginningless kalpas. The manas's wisdom is beyond most people's imagination. Most people are accustomed to using the present-life mind consciousness's wisdom, and this often obstructs the manas's wisdom from manifesting.
Jing He: What is the basis of the decision? It is based on this views-and-knowledge. By "judgment" do you mean the volition mental factor? But the influence of this views-and-knowledge should take effect simultaneously with the attention. I think that in contemplative practice, what is needed is to let the weak mind consciousness little by little guide the changes of the manas.
Guan Wuwo: In my contemplative practice I have found that the mind consciousness's interference with the manas is very obvious; there are the five universal mental factors as well as the five particular mental factors, and the mental factors generally work in mutual cooperation. So after entering meditative concentration, I try not to pay attention to the arising states of meditative absorption, because they easily scatter the manas's focus. Effective contemplative practice is much harder than entering concentration and takes much more time; I'll just slowly grope my way forward.
Commentary: Their observations and discussions of the manas's functions are all very good, and the direction is right. If one often makes such observations, both meditative concentration and wisdom will be strengthened. When the force at the pit of the stomach is observed, the hands and feet that were about to move stop and cease; if one does not observe this force, the hands and feet will move along with it. Why is this? Because the pit of the stomach is very close to the heart. When the manas mobilizes the body faculty, it does so at the location of the neural center in the brain. As soon as the manas's mind stirs, the neural center issues commands to the whole body through all the nerves, and the heart is responsible for supplying blood. If the manas has emotions, or if the emotions are rather severe, the heart's delivery of blood will be affected and require a large blood supply, which causes changes in facial complexion; if the blood supply is insufficient, shock and other phenomena will occur.
When one senses something abnormal with the heart, it is generally because the manas has developed some emotion, or the manas has some special thought that requires consuming more blood, and the heart or the pit of the stomach will react. People whose heart function is not strong must strictly control the manas's emotions. Who does the controlling? It is the rational, calm mind consciousness that controls, so the mind consciousness's role is still very significant; it is usually far more rational than the manas. At the stage of ordinary beings, the manas's emotionalism is far more severe than the mind consciousness's; like a small child, it needs the mind consciousness to coax, soothe, and regulate it. After the manas eradicates afflictions, its emotionalism decreases more and more, its wisdom grows higher and higher, and it becomes more and more rational.
Most people know to use the mind consciousness for contemplative practice, but can the manas engage in contemplative practice? When the mind consciousness is extremely weak, it cannot engage in contemplative practice; at such times, is there still contemplative practice? Can contemplative practice still be carried out? The Buddha realized the Way and became a Buddha within the fourth dhyāna; the great bodhisattvas, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas accomplished all their supernormal powers and spiritual abilities within the fourth dhyāna. Yet above the second dhyāna the five sense consciousnesses cease, and the mind consciousness becomes extremely weak and unable to think; within the fourth dhyāna the mind consciousness is even weaker. So how, within the fourth dhyāna, did they realize the Way and develop supernormal powers and spiritual abilities?
At the time of true enlightenment and true realization of the fruit, does the manas rely on the mind consciousness to realize the Way, or does the mind consciousness rely on the manas? Which of the two consciousnesses realizes the Way first, or do they realize it simultaneously? Of course, if it is merely an understanding-based awakening, whether Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna, it is all the function of the mind consciousness—something the mind consciousness has analyzed, deliberated, inferred, guessed, organized, and summarized. The manas does not really know these results and does not agree with them, so the manas's doubt is not severed, its mental disposition cannot transform, and its bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot transform either.
At the beginning of the contemplative practice of the four foundations of mindfulness, the mind consciousness is used to initiate contemplation; when the power of meditative concentration appears, it will touch upon the manas a little. Now one should train oneself to let the mind consciousness's contemplative function become weaker and weaker, gradually letting the manas take its place. How is this skill to be accomplished? Consider it for yourself.
Twenty: Does Reciting the Buddha's Name and Thinking About Problems with the Manas Feel Tiring?
When reciting the Buddha's name, just recite and that is all; there is no need to rack one's brain thinking about the Buddha's various merits, or about how to recite in order to achieve results. The mental energy, vitality, and energy consumed are relatively small, so if the recitation time is not too long and one eats normally, one will not feel very tired. But when one first learns to recite the Buddha's name with the manas, because one is not yet proficient and needs to apply some mental effort, one will feel somewhat tired. When the recitation gradually enters a state of meditative absorption (samādhi) and the dhyāna becomes relatively deep, the circulation of qi and blood is good, and the nourishment and energy are sufficient, there will be no feeling of tiredness; on the contrary, the physical body will be at ease and the spirit joyful. In a state of samādhi, the energy consumed is very little.
Thinking about problems with the manas is different from reciting the Buddha's name. Thinking about problems requires using the brain, so the mental energy, vitality, and energy consumed are greater; without sufficient energy supply, one will feel tired. During Chan investigation, it is mainly the manas that investigates and deliberates (manasikāra/manana), which requires mobilizing the nervous system; the energy consumption is great, so one feels very tired. Therefore, people engaged in Chan investigation will have an increased appetite, people who use their brains a lot will eat more, and they need to rest at intervals; otherwise they will feel very tired. But when the dhyāna is very deep, because the qi and blood are abundant, the energy can be replenished and one does not easily feel tired, whereas with shallow dhyāna one tires easily. If the Chan investigation enters a very deep state of samādhi, at that time the circulation of qi and blood is good, body and mind are at ease and joyful, and one will not feel tired.
Deliberating with the manas consumes much energy, while thinking about problems with the mind consciousness consumes little. Because the manas's deliberation requires engaging the brain's nervous system, energy is consumed, and so one feels tired. The nervous system of the entire body is mobilized by the manas; the mind consciousness cannot mobilize it. So thinking with the mind consciousness is relatively easy—even if very scattered, thinking of everything, one does not feel very tired. Many people therefore like to use the mind consciousness and are unwilling to think deeply and investigate.
Twenty-One: The Buddhadharma Is Actually Less Rigorous and Serious Than Worldly Dharma
In law, as long as there is no conclusive evidence, even a murder case cannot be filed. Clearly one senses that the person is already dead—intuition is often quite accurate—but without finding the corpse, the case cannot be filed. Clearly one feels that it was that person who committed the murder, but without conclusive evidence of murder, they cannot be arrested and brought to justice. The evidence in criminal law consists of solid, tangible, presentable things; no matter how accurate the intuition, it cannot be adopted. The law is just that rigorous and serious.
Yet the Buddhadharma as expounded by some of us is not like this. Inference, imagination, thinking, organizing, summarizing, mulling over, reminding, hinting—things produced in this way can all be called realizing the fruit and enlightenment, and it is even said they came from Chan investigation. If evidence is demanded, what is inferred is the evidence; what others hinted is the evidence; mull it over a bit and the evidence is mulled out—the Buddhadharma is not hard to mull over. Having logical thinking suffices; having rigorous thinking is better; without rigorous thinking it is also acceptable. Who can't imagine things? It all counts. After all, the honor and reputation of a sage are more captivating and more worth pursuing; the means and methods are secondary.
Those who wish to cultivate their logical thinking can look at some criminal investigation cases, read some philosophy, and study some psychology, and their mental thinking will broaden. The process of investigating and solving cases all involves rigorous logical thinking, combined with evidence, and thus cases can be solved. But if there is no evidence, or the evidence is insufficient, no matter how logical and rigorous the thinking and inference, it may not be adopted. Logical thinking can guide the direction of gathering evidence, but when there is no evidence, no matter how airtight the logical thinking, it cannot be used; using it will cause wrongful convictions.
If the mind consciousness's thinking within meditative concentration were as rigorous and cautious as solving a case, logically sound, would it be easier to realize thoroughly when handed over to the manas for deliberation? This depends on what content the mind consciousness is thinking about. The mind consciousness's thinking serves to point out to the manas the direction and general goal of deliberating on the Dharma meaning, to sort out the overall framework and thread of thought of the Buddhadharma, and to lead the manas into the state of investigation. The mind consciousness cannot deliberate on Dharma meanings that are too specific and too detailed—that is for the manas to investigate and should be left to the manas to resolve; the final answer must be obtained through the manas's investigation. The functions of the manas and the mind consciousness wax and wane against each other: the more the mind consciousness is used, the less the manas is used. The manas's wisdom cannot be replaced by the mind consciousness.
Twenty-Two: What Kind of Practice Is Not Done in Vain?
Elderly people, due to brain atrophy, have a weakened supreme faculty (indriya), and the functions of the six consciousnesses will be affected. What are the effects? For example, upon newly meeting a person, one remembers them at the time but forgets afterward—this is the mind consciousness's power of memory failing. Is the manas's function affected? The manas's own function is not affected, but its function of cooperating with the six consciousnesses is affected by the six consciousnesses, not by the brain and the supreme faculty. Because when the elderly person saw that person, the impression did not penetrate deeply to the manas but remained only at the level of the mind consciousness, so it was forgotten afterward.
But the elderly person has a deep impression and deep memory of their close relative A, and may even be very concerned about them in their heart. Nevertheless, sometimes upon seeing A, the mind clearly knows it is A, yet the mouth calls out B's name, while still talking about matters concerning A. This is the mind consciousness being somewhat confused while the manas is not. The older a person gets, the weaker the supreme faculty's function and the more confused the mind consciousness. Although the manas is not confused, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all created by the mind consciousness together with the five sense consciousnesses, so various errors and obstructions are inevitable.
For our study and practice of Buddhism to not be done in vain and to not lose the merit of practice, how should we practice? We should not remain at the level of the mind consciousness's understanding, thinking, analysis, recitation, and memorization, but strive to develop meditative concentration, think within that concentration, soak the learned Dharma into the manas's mind, and then, within concentration, let the manas deliberate so as to achieve direct-perception realization. Only by using the manas more can true wisdom be developed, letting wisdom grow continuously, extending into future lives, being enjoyed life after life, growing life after life, and ultimately reaching perfect buddhahood.
Twenty-Three: Speculation and Conjecture Are Completely Unreliable Methods of Practice
Because sentient beings have limited wisdom and insufficient meditative concentration, they cannot think deeply, and the manas's deliberation also cannot operate; for some of the deeper dharmas they habitually resort to speculation and conjecture. But speculation and conjecture are functions of the mind consciousness, entirely devoid of the manas's wisdom. The most serious instance of speculation and conjecture is the offhand assertion: "After enlightenment, one can observe how the eighth consciousness gives birth to the faculties, the body, and the material world."
"Faculties" means the body faculty, the physical body. As for how the eighth consciousness uses seeds to gradually give birth to the body faculty, how it gives birth to the eye, ear, nose, and tongue faculties—after enlightenment, with another immeasurable kalpa of cultivation, one might perhaps observe a little; with two immeasurable kalpas, one could roughly observe quite a lot. "World" means the material universe, the sentient beings' living space and environment. As for how the eighth consciousness uses seeds to give birth to the material universe, after enlightenment with another immeasurable kalpa of cultivation, one perhaps still could not observe it; with two immeasurable kalpas, one could roughly observe some of it.
"Realms" means the eighteen realms—the six faculties, six sense-objects, and six consciousnesses. As for how the eighth consciousness uses seeds to give birth to the six faculties and six sense-objects, after enlightenment with another immeasurable kalpa of cultivation it is still very difficult to observe; with two immeasurable kalpas one could roughly observe some. As for how the eighth consciousness uses consciousness seeds to give birth to the six consciousnesses, after enlightenment with another immeasurable kalpa of cultivation one could observe some, but not observe it completely and fully.
But no matter what one can observe, if one's own mind is not thereby changed, and one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions do not change as a result of that observation, then the so-called observation is not observation but speculation and conjecture. Speculation and conjecture are all modes and methods of the mind consciousness's thinking, not involving the deliberation of the manas as the master consciousness; what is speculated and conjectured has no force of effect, cannot transform bodily, verbal, and mental actions, cannot eliminate afflictions and seeds of unwholesome karma, and has no pure meritorious benefit.
Twenty-Four: Intellectual Understanding Is Not Realization
Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are the four virtues of nirvāṇa. "Permanence" means the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) no longer has seed transformation and forever remains constant and unchanging. "Bliss" means all the Buddha's karmic obstructions are exhausted without remainder; the undefiled consciousness no longer contains seeds of suffering feeling, and all that remains are seeds of wholesome karma of blissful feeling and neither-suffering-nor-blissful feeling, with retributive feeling of the bliss of quiescence. "Self" means that in the Buddha's undefiled consciousness all seeds of arising-and-ceasing karma have been extinguished, unburdened by karmic obstructions—it is complete self-nature and can be called "self." "Purity" means the Buddha's undefiled consciousness has extinguished all defiled seeds and is thoroughly pure and undefiled.
The eighth consciousness is also obscured by karmic obstructions. If there are no seeds of karmic obstruction stored in its mind-essence, the eighth consciousness will exercise its inexhaustible merits, its light shining over the great thousand worlds, exactly like the Buddha's undefiled consciousness—no dharma it does not pervade, no dharma it does not encompass, no dharma it does not manifest. But sentient beings' eighth consciousnesses, being limited by karmic obstructions, cannot manifest extremely many sublime and wondrous states, cannot transform and create sentient beings' duplicate bodies, cannot transform and create buddha-lands, and cannot universally cognize all objects. The so-called limitation of the eighth consciousness means that He has infinite and inexhaustible meritorious functions that cannot be exercised, not that He lacks sublime meritorious functions. At the buddha-stage, the eighth consciousness is no longer limited in any way, and all meritorious functions are exercised in full.
Do you understand and know all the above principles? Can you explain them to others? In studying the Dharma, all understanding and knowing falls upon the mind consciousness, not upon the manas's mind. Although one has understood and known, one is still a hundred thousand miles—indeed far more than a hundred thousand miles—away from realization. Even if one can explain to others and write a hundred books, one is still a hundred thousand miles from realization. Regarding the no-self of the five aggregates, even if one can understand it all and know it all, and the intellectual understanding may be very deep and thorough, it is still not realization; perhaps one is still extremely far from realization. Regarding the eighth consciousness, no matter how one understands and knows it—perhaps the intellectual understanding is very deep, and one can even infer and work out the eighth consciousness's functions—it still belongs to understanding, not realization; perhaps one is still extremely, extremely far from realization.
Many people take this kind of understanding to be realization. Those with good eloquence, in the capacity of good teachers, go everywhere expounding the sutras and speaking the Dharma with a torrent of words. But no matter what, Dharma that enters through the ears and exits through the mouth is not realization. Take, for example, Su Dongpo's understanding of the Buddhadharma: "The eight winds cannot move me, seated firm upon the purple-gold lotus." The Chan master's assessment was: "Fart!" When Su Dongpo saw it, he was immediately displeased: I wrote so well, and you call it a fart? So he immediately crossed the river to find the Chan master and argue. The Chan master said: "Aren't you the one whom the eight winds cannot move? How did the single word 'fart' blow you across the river to settle accounts with me?"
So intellectual understanding is useless; only realization works. Some people say they have seen the mind and attained enlightenment, but as soon as they encounter a state, they are carried away by it. Then they use the mind consciousness to admonish themselves; they are fine for a while, but when the state comes again, they are carried away by it again. Repeating like this for years, they cannot be their own master—have such people really realized the fruit and seen the mind? When even the coarsest afflictions cannot be subdued, when encountering an attractive member of the opposite sex they cannot disregard it or remain unmoved—their thoughts soar and they cannot hold themselves in check—can such a person be one who has seen the mind and realized the fruit? Whoever constantly uses the mind consciousness to suppress and persuade themselves has not realized. When there is true realization, one achieves whatever one has realized.
Quite a few people also claim to be the carp that leaped over the dragon gate, but they set the threshold of the dragon gate very, very low, or even dismantled the threshold, and passed over easily. In fact, they swam across rather than leaped over. Is this the carp leaping over the dragon gate? Having swum across such a dragon gate, one is still a carp, not a dragon.
Twenty-Five: The Functions of AI Robots
Greed, hatred, and delusion are afflictions possessed by the conscious mind; material form, which is not a conscious mind, has no afflictions of greed, hatred, or delusion. Although a robot is material form without a conscious mind, and has in itself no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness and no afflictions of greed, hatred, or delusion, a robot not only has material properties but has also been endowed with crude functions resembling a conscious mind, able to perform crude conscious-mind functions—namely, the function of recognizing text. Its recognition is of the simple type, brainless type, involuntary-passive type, and restricted type. In short, its recognition function is not produced by thinking with wisdom, so it lacks the nature of wisdom and can be provisionally said to have the attribute of delusion.
A robot's recognition function is equivalent to a part of the human mind consciousness's function, and this function is rather simplified: it can only recognize textual information, and it has various simple functions such as collecting, organizing, summarizing, generalizing, storing, and outputting information. But this information comes from other channels and is all pre-existing old information, not new information developed by the robot itself. What it outputs is forever other people's information, forever old, pre-existing information, with no new information created by itself. Therefore, robots lack the nature of wisdom and can provisionally be said to have the nature of delusion.
No matter how much Dharma a robot can output, it can never achieve consistency between what it says and what it does; it can speak but cannot act, forever remaining merely a parrot of others' words. Of all the informational content, it has never realized any of it, and it never can realize any of it. Thus, AI robots fundamentally lack the functions of the manas; they have no capacity to be the master and no autonomy.
Some Buddhist practitioners are similar to AI robots: lacking wisdom, they can only use part of the mind consciousness's functions, and rather crudely. What the mind consciousness uses is learned from elsewhere—aggregated, processed, organized, summarized, and refined—and then a conclusion is drawn, which they take to be their own wisdom, whereupon arrogance also arises. If this were one's own wisdom, then AI robots would equally have wisdom, and wisdom of great breadth, approaching omniscience within the scope of humanity's existing knowledge. Humans are not as broadly knowledgeable as it, just as humans are not as rich in knowledge as "Baidu" (Du Niang). Should robots and "Baidu" then attain buddhahood before all humanity?
Everyone knows the answer: this is impossible. Since it is impossible, then some people's lofty discourse at the level of the mind consciousness, sounding perfectly plausible, is not at all obtained from their own wisdom, still less true wisdom; their words and deeds cannot possibly be consistent. Words arrive but deeds do not follow; the manas has no wisdom and has not realized the Dharma—such a person is still an ordinary being. Only those whose words and deeds are consistent possess the direct-perception wisdom of a sage, wisdom that wells up from one's own breast, wisdom that belongs to the individual. Only this wisdom is extremely precious; with this wisdom can consciousness be transformed into wisdom, and only thus can the buddha path ultimately be accomplished. How Buddhism should be studied, how practice should be practiced and conducted—everyone should be clear about this in their hearts.
Twenty-Six: The Principle of Reciting in the Mind and Listening in the Mind
"Reciting in the mind and listening in the mind" is not "reciting in the mind and hearing with the ears." As for "reciting in the mind and hearing with the ears"—although it is called hearing with the ears, it is actually not hearing with the ears; the ear consciousness cannot hear the sounds within the mind and can only hear the external sound of vocal recitation of the Buddha's name. The mind consciousness hears both inner (heart's) and outer sounds, and the manas participates in the hearing to varying depths depending on the level of meditative concentration. In "reciting in the mind," no sound is uttered, so in such recitation there is no body consciousness, only the mind consciousness, or the manas and mind consciousness reciting together—that mind consciousness being the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta). The conscious mind that listens to the sound of the mental recitation is the solitary consciousness listening, and the manas also listens along.
There is another kind of mental recitation: the manas reciting the Buddha's name alone. At such times, what can observe is also the solitary consciousness, and the manas also introspects along. Generally, when the power of concentration is not deep and there is no power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala), the solitary consciousness cannot easily observe the manas reciting the Buddha's name; only when the power of concentration is deep can one observe one's own mind reciting. When the mind recites the Buddha's name, the deeper the power of concentration, the deeper the manas's participation in the recitation, and the clearer and more distinct the manas and the solitary consciousness observe one's own mind's recitation—this has already reached the state of buddha-recollection samādhi (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi).
The manas's mental recitation is also manifest in reciting mantras. When reading sutras and reciting mantras, one can also let the manas recite along; this requires dhyāna, and the deeper the dhyāna, the deeper the manas's participation. When the mind is quiet, the solitary consciousness can observe the manas's mental recitation, but the manas has no language, words, or sound—only mental recitation, which is the volition mental factor. When reading sutras and reciting mantras, one should slowly read and recite silently, so that the manas can attentively recite along. When the power of concentration is deep, the manas not only recites deeply and attentively, but its power of introspection is also strong. Here both the solitary consciousness and the manas have powers of introspection, and the two are hard to distinguish; very deep dhyāna and a very quiet mind are needed to have the discriminating ability, so misunderstanding easily arises regarding the two's powers of introspection.
Concentration is precisely the power of focused attention. To be able to focus without stray thoughts, there are two methods: one is extremely fast recitation, leaving no time for stray thoughts—they cannot keep up and thus cannot appear; the other is extremely slow recitation, when the mind has no thoughts of stray concerns and thus becomes single-pointedly focused. But the first, extremely fast method can only be used temporarily, not for long, because it exhausts qi and strength and physical stamina cannot keep up. The strength of one's power of concentration directly affects the manas's degree of participation in all dharmas. The more the manas participates, the more things get accomplished—this is wisdom. Therefore, having dhyāna and the power of concentration is not only useful for studying and practicing Buddhism, but also of great benefit for surviving in worldly dharma.
In practice, so long as one applies the mind, once one crosses a threshold, progress will advance by leaps and bounds. I hope everyone can let go of worldly dharma and single-mindedly hasten toward the Buddhadharma, seeking the fundamental and not grasping at the superficial.
Twenty-Seven: Why Does Everything Still Feel Extremely Real Even After Knowing It Is Illusory?
Question: I clearly know that all dharmas are illusory, yet when I see the mountains, rivers, the great earth, flowers, grass, and trees, why do they still seem so real? And why do the sensations of cold, heat, touch, and pain also still feel so real?
Answer: One's belief that all dharmas are illusory is known on the basis of learned Buddhist scriptural theory; it is acquired knowledge, not yet realized, without direct-perception experience and observation, so this kind of knowing is equal to not knowing. Only after actual practice and attaining realization, at the very moment of contacting each dharma, can one personally experience and feel it; only then are the perception, sensation, and cognition real, direct-perception, trustworthy, and reliable. Acquired knowledge has no credibility, cannot be relied upon, and is full of doubts. After realizing that all dharmas are illusory, if one wants to change all dharmas and be free from all bondage, one needs to cultivate the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis, transcending the domain of the aggregate of form, the domain of the aggregate of feeling, the domain of the aggregate of perception, the domain of the aggregate of volitional formations, and the domain of the aggregate of consciousness. Only thus can one be liberated from all dharmas, transcend all dharmas, and change all dharmas.
Many people, even those who can recite the Buddhist sutras backwards, cannot eradicate the view of self, cannot see the mind and see their nature, and still less can realize the illusoriness of all dharmas. So claiming to eradicate the view of self after listening to a single lecture is pure fantasy; even after listening to a million lectures, one perhaps could not even touch the edge of eradicating the view of self. Because this is not something that can be realized merely by listening with the ears. What the ears hear is knowledge and theory; for theory to become actuality, to become one's own direct-perception wisdom, many stages of processing must intervene, and completing these stages requires paying a considerable price. Without paying any price at all, just leisurely listening to lectures, those dharmas are like the wind past one's ears, flashing by without leaving much trace. And that presupposes that those dharmas were taught correctly; if there are errors, eradicating the view of self is even more out of the question.
The Hīnayāna eradication of the view of self and the Mahāyāna seeing of the mind and seeing of nature are both cognitions of wisdom, correcting previous wrong views (mithyā-dṛṣṭi). Cognition of wisdom cannot yet change the state of the dharmas themselves; the state of the dharmas themselves is changed through dhyāna and supernormal powers and spiritual abilities, which include three modes of practice: śamatha, samāpatti, and dhyāna. Only after all three modes of practice are complete can body, mind, and world be entirely transformed, transformed into the pure and perfect state of a Buddha—at that point the buddha path is accomplished. The specific methods of practice are all in the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment.
Twenty-Eight: Only by Obtaining True Wisdom Can One Directly Accomplish the Buddha Path
If the Buddhadharma is slowly savored—or we might call it deeply investigated—investigating a single sentence can lead into meditative concentration; this is called using wisdom to draw in concentration. Within concentration, the wisdom of investigation deepens continuously, and the Dharma meaning becomes more and more transparent; this is again called using concentration to draw in wisdom. Concentration and wisdom drawing in and augmenting each other—this is true practice, the deepest practice, the most fundamental practice, and also the most ultimate practice, obtaining true wisdom, wisdom cultivated by oneself. Such investigation merely appears slow on the surface, as if the amount of knowledge gained were small, but in fact it is the fastest practice, the most direct straight path, because practice takes the gaining of wisdom as its ultimate goal—becoming a Buddha through wisdom.
Conversely, those who do not understand practice are rather superficial, pursuing only surface quantities of knowledge, satisfied with knowing much, understanding much, and learning much, not understanding the importance of true wisdom, to the point of not seeking true wisdom. Pursuing quantity and speed, what they learn and gain is not true wisdom opened up by themselves; in fact they are laymen at practice. They appear diligent and strenuous, but in fact their speed is the slowest, because they lack true wisdom. Taking much knowing, much understanding, and much gaining to be wisdom is in fact the delusion of beginning Buddhist learners.
Twenty-Nine: What the Mind Consciousness Sees Differs from What the Manas Sees
Question: Last night after finishing sitting meditation I was about to sleep, and soon it began to rain. The rain struck the glass with a crisp sound, and I listened as I fell asleep. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt as if the rain were striking my skull, and before long it had smashed away half of it—pitch black, with only half a skull remaining. My mind knew this but I wasn't too startled, and I fell asleep. Was this because the meditative concentration from just having gotten off the cushion had not yet dissipated, or was it a hallucination?
When coming off the cushion from sitting meditation, the mind is quiet and the mind consciousness does not give rise to thoughts—especially before sleep, when the mind consciousness is also inactive. The manas directly perceives the sound of the rain, feels the sound is extremely loud, and so exaggerates it, using the smashing away of half the skull to express that the sound of the raindrops was very, very loud. What the manas perceives differs from what the mind consciousness perceives—perhaps the difference is very great. Therefore, the dharmas we ordinarily see are completely different—甚至 even opposite—from the same dharmas seen when realizing ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta); only then does one know that all one's previous views and opinions were entirely wrong, and one regrets it so much one slaps one's thigh.
Why is it that after cultivating contemplative practice, when seeing the breath, seeing bodily actions, seeing the marks of the six sense-objects, before seeing the Way and after seeing the Way, the same dharma is seen so vastly differently? Drinking water, bathing, seeing forms, hearing sounds, smelling scents, tasting flavors, feeling touch, knowing dharmas—why, before seeing the Way and at the time of seeing the Way, are the inner feelings and views completely opposite?
Before seeing the Way, one is so certain: form is form, sound is sound, scent is scent, flavor is flavor, touch is touch, dharma is dharma, self is self. After seeing the Way, everything is negated: form is not form, sound is not sound, scent is not scent, flavor is not flavor, touch is not touch, dharma is not dharma, self is not self, person is not person. Why such a great difference? What the mind consciousness sees is completely different from what the manas sees in samādhi. Therefore, the mind consciousness realizing the fruit is a joke—such "realization" is no different at all from non-realization; it is the view of fools. The more deluded sentient beings are, the more confident they tend to be. Confident in what? Confident in their delusion.
Before seeing the Way, the mind consciousness's imaginings run wild—various views and long-winded discourses, terribly pleased with itself. After seeing the Way, the mind consciousness finally settles down, and everything must be turned upside down. Whoever loves talking the most, whoever has the most views, whoever is the most stubborn—that person is the most upside-down.
Thirty: Why Do Thoughts Cease When Introspecting on One's Own Mind?
Question: When I introspect on my thoughts, is this observing awareness that watches the thoughts the mind consciousness or the original mind? I now suspect whether it is another mind consciousness of mine observing the thought arising in the present moment. Why do I have this suspicion? Because I have an experience: when I detect that a thought is arising in the present moment, that thought might originally have been a complete sentence, but when I detect that thought at the very first instant, only half of it pops out and then it disappears, cut off by my detection.
So this "awareness" that I believe cut what should have been a complete sentence into half a sentence—I wonder, could it be another thought? If it is another thought canceling out the previous one, then is my method of introspection—my so-called detection (as a third party)—wrong? Or is it using the mind consciousness to suppress thoughts?
Answer: The mind that can detect thoughts is not the original mind. The original mind does not know any dharma at the level of the worldly realm, including not knowing the thoughts of the seven consciousnesses; but the original mind certainly can know the thoughts and various activities of the seven consciousnesses—only what He knows is not content at the level of worldly dharma. Setting that aside for now, and speaking only of the mind that can observe thoughts: on the surface it is the solitary consciousness, and the solitary consciousness can observe—or we might call it introspect upon—the solitary consciousness's own thoughts.
When the mind consciousness introspects on its own thoughts, the thoughts are of various kinds. If the thoughts are evil and unwholesome, at that time the solitary consciousness knows its own thoughts are bad, and the thoughts automatically disappear. If it is not like this—if the thoughts are wholesome thoughts related to practice, or thoughts neither wholesome nor unwholesome—then due to insufficient power of concentration, the attention shifts to the observing consciousness on this end, and on the observed end where the thoughts are, due to insufficient mental power, the thoughts cannot arise, and so they cease.
If this situation occurs during cultivation, one needs to further strengthen the training of the power of concentration. Only when the power of concentration is sufficient can both the observing and the observed aspects of consciousness continue, maintaining balance—that is, the thoughts do not cease and the observation does not cease either. Then one day wisdom will arise: on the one hand, being able to know the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of thoughts; on the other hand, being able to know the arising, ceasing, alteration, and abiding of thoughts, their suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and no-self, as well as being able to find the source of the thoughts—the original mind.
In fact, within the solitary consciousness's introspective activity, when the power of concentration is sufficient, there is also the manas's introspection—that is, the mind consciousness and the manas jointly observe the mind consciousness and the manas: there is both self-observation and cross-observation, mutual observation. Only such observation is ultimate observation, and only thus can true power of detection and wisdom arise.
Thirty-One: Practicing Without Following the Proper Sequence Labors in Vain
Nowadays Buddhist practitioners practice without method or sequence; the methods are varied and multifarious—whatever way one wants to practice is how one practices, all based on assumption. For example, some people cultivate the contemplation of "like a dream, like an illusion," but a person who has not realized enlightenment cannot directly observe the operation of the tathāgatagarbha; they lack even the most basic preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), let alone the first dhyāna—how could they cultivate the contemplative practice of "like a dream, like an illusion"? Skipping over so many levels of practice, just how great must their indriya be? Completing the dream-like contemplation means one is at the tenth dedication stage, immediately able to enter the first bhūmi. Having passed the three barriers of the Chan school and passed the barrier of birth-and-death—that is the realization level of a Hīnayāna anāgāmin; by that point one has already cultivated the buddha path for immeasurable kalpas, and one's roots of goodness and merit are extremely great.
Without realizing the fruit, without seeing the mind, without the first dhyāna, one would need to cultivate for countless kalpas to pass this barrier, and along the way one must pass through preparatory concentration, eradication of the view of self, the second fruit (sakṛdāgāmin), the first dhyāna, the third fruit (anāgāmin), seeing the mind, the illusion-like contemplation, the mirage-like contemplation, and the final barrier, before the dream-like contemplation can be accomplished. Skipping over so many levels to cultivate the dream-and-illusion contemplation, even intellectual understanding by the mind consciousness is hard to achieve; even if the mind consciousness can understand some of it, realizing the dream-like contemplation would still require countless kalpas of time—reborn sages excepted.
There are also people cultivating the contemplation of equality, viewing all people, affairs, things, and principles as equally equal, of the one mark of suchness. What state is this? What is called "equality"? On what basis does equality exist? There are three kinds of equality-dharma: one is the equality of the tathāgatagarbha, which treats all people, affairs, things, and principles as equally equal, making no distinction of high or low, because the tathāgatagarbha does not discriminate among any dharmas. One is the equality of arhats who have realized the emptiness of all dharmas, who view all sentient beings as empty and selfless, and who can therefore to some extent contemplate all sentient beings as empty. One is that of bhūmi-level bodhisattvas who have transformed consciousness into wisdom: their manas has realized the tathāgatagarbha, and after successful transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) they have attained the wisdom of equality, viewing all sentient beings as tathāgatagarbha-nature and all dharmas as the tathāgatagarbha, and can therefore to some extent treat all sentient beings equally.
How can ordinary beings who have not realized the Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna dharmas cultivate the bhūmi-level bodhisattvas' contemplation of equality, viewing all sentient beings and all affairs and principles as the one mark of suchness? The gap involved is nearly a matter of immeasurable kalpas of time; such practice brings no benefit and is wasted effort.
There are also people practicing "the mind abiding nowhere," requiring that in all the intersections of worldly people, affairs, things, and principles, the mind abides nowhere. But this "abiding nowhere" cannot be achieved without cause; one must realize some principle and rely on that principle before the mind can gradually abide nowhere. This takes a long time; only after eradicating afflictions and realizing the wisdom of equality can it gradually be achieved. Without rather good realization levels, without actual realization of the Buddhadharma, on what can one rely to make the mind abide nowhere? Even bhūmi-level bodhisattvas do not find abiding nowhere easy and cannot completely achieve it—how could an ordinary being achieve abiding nowhere?
There are also people who skip ahead to cultivate the precepts, requiring that amid all favorable and adverse conditions in the human world the mind not attach to any mark of precepts, obliterating all marks. But if one cannot even keep the five precepts well, cannot even practice the preceptual conduct regarding bodily actions, cannot abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and intoxicants, cannot even manage a vegetarian diet, cannot hold the precepts against false speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech regarding verbal actions, and the inner afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are still very heavy—if one cannot keep the precepts with marks, how can one set aside these marks of precepts, not attach to the marks of precepts in the mind, and cultivate the markless precepts? Even keeping bodily and verbal actions well within the precepts with marks is not easy—how can one achieve the markless and abandon the marks of precepts? This is something only bhūmi-level bodhisattvas can achieve; how can ordinary beings cultivate the markless precepts?
If one forcibly cultivates like this, one can only deceive oneself and others—violating precepts everywhere while believing one's mind-ground has reached the markless and that one no longer cares about these marks. The result will be the retribution of the three evil destinies. In the past, during the Tang dynasty, someone received evil retribution on the spot. There was a Chan master who had genuinely realized enlightenment, with high wisdom and a pure mind-ground, who wrote the names of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas on his trouser waistband. Another person saw this, became quite interested, and thought that since the master did this without incident, he himself should also be fine doing it; so he too imitated the Chan master, writing the names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas on his underwear and wearing them on his body. When the Chan master found out, he wanted to stop him, but it was already too late: within a few days that man vomited blood profusely—the evil retribution came so fast, truly unexpected—and the retribution after death will be even more miserable. Therefore, when a Buddhist practitioner's mind-ground is not yet pure, afflictions not yet eradicated, and consciousness not yet transformed into wisdom, they have absolutely no qualification to cultivate the markless precepts; forcibly making oneself not attach to the marks of precepts can only make oneself fall into the deep pit of afflictions—apart from that, there is no benefit whatsoever.
Sentient beings of the degenerate age are precisely because they are too clever and too quick-witted—floating on the surface, unable to penetrate to the manas, unable to exercise the manas's functions. The mind consciousness understands everything, but the manas amounts to nothing, and as a result the retribution follows the manas's turning. The mind consciousness aims high and cultivates the dharmas practiced by bodhisattvas from the first to the eighth bhūmi, while the manas's character and moral cultivation have not yet been cultivated well. At the time of death, how will the fate of the next life be determined? According to the mind consciousness or according to the manas? If the mind consciousness cultivates the dharmas of the buddha-stage, can one become a Buddha at death?
Thirty-Two: What Is the State of True Diligence?
True diligence means being able to apply effort continuously, day and night, without pause. A person who applies effort can think about problems even at midnight; a person who does not apply effort does not think about problems even during the day. The manas neither ceases by day nor by night; it is evident that true diligence is the diligence of the manas—He can keep applying effort day and night without stop. The mind consciousness's diligence, however, is intermittent, always liable to be disturbed by various things; especially at night, when the mind consciousness ceases in sleep, it cannot think about problems. Even during the day, if the manas attends only to worldly dharma and does not wish to apply effort in the Buddhadharma, the mind consciousness cannot escape the manas's dominant role and cannot be diligent. Therefore, only when the manas becomes diligent is it true diligence.
Thirty-Three: The Sequence of Eradicating the View of Self and Investigating Chan
Whether one should first eradicate the view of self and then investigate Chan, or directly investigate Chan seeking realization—there is no fixed rule on this; it depends on one's indriya. The Dharma has no fixed dharma; it varies from person to person. For most people, one should first seek to eradicate the view of self; having clearly understood the false self of the five aggregates, one will not confuse the false with the true in subsequent Chan investigation, taking the false to be true. If a person has relatively good indriya, relatively mild afflictions of the view of self, and very good dhyāna, and does not fall into the mind consciousness's thinking, they may directly investigate Chan, first eradicating the view of self in the course of investigation, and then realizing the true.
Because investigating Chan means investigating and realizing within the body of the five aggregates; it cannot be separated from the five aggregates and eighteen realms. In the process of investigation, one can also discern one by one the arising-ceasing, unreal nature of the five-aggregate body, thereby eradicating the view of self. The Chan masters of antiquity all awakened to the Way in this way, but it cannot be guaranteed that there were none who had merely understanding-based awakenings. Among the seventeen hundred Chan public cases, not all were realization-based awakenings. If the power of concentration is a bit weaker, the mind consciousness's meritorious functions will be stronger than the manas's, and the result will be understanding-based awakening. In understanding-based awakening, the true mind is seen only dimly, merely a rough shadow; the wisdom of contemplative practice cannot arise, afflictions cannot be lightened, and the view of self cannot be eradicated. This instead delays the work of the Way—haste makes waste, achieving the opposite of what was intended.
Modern people's power of dhyāna is generally much weaker than in ancient times; the mind consciousness's thinking is not easily subdued, so the manas's function becomes feeble, realization is very difficult, and eradicating the view of self is also very difficult. With much theoretical understanding, understanding-based awakening is easy, but realization-based awakening is反而 even harder. Therefore, we should all first contemplate the no-self of the five aggregates as much as possible, and only then investigate Chan; this is relatively safe and reliable.
Thirty-Four: Buddha-Recollection Samādhi Is the Manas's Skill of Reciting the Buddha's Name
How does the sound of reciting the Buddha's name that spontaneously arises in the mind come about? Who is reciting? The spontaneously arising sound of recitation is all initiated by the manas—it is the manas reciting the Buddha's name. At first the mind consciousness is unaware of it; by the time it becomes aware, it cannot control it and has no choice but to follow along listening to the sound of the Buddha's name. "Consciously" is the mind consciousness's own awareness; "spontaneously" is not the mind consciousness's own awareness but the manas's awareness, the manas's activity. This kind of buddha-recollection samādhi is a state of dhyāna, and this concentration is relatively firm. Relying on this state of samādhi, one then contemplates the four foundations of mindfulness; the mind is also pure, and contemplative practice is easy.
The sound of reciting the Buddha's name arises spontaneously, continuously lingering in the mind and brain—this is buddha-recollection samādhi. All kinds of samādhi are issued forth by the manas. Why can the manas give rise to samādhi? If the skill of reciting the Buddha's name is not proficient, buddha-recollection samādhi will not appear; if the skill in various contemplative practices is insufficient, states of samādhi will not appear either. The so-called proficiency of skill means that through long-term persistence in one mode of practice, the manas has been successfully perfumed; once the manas has been perfumed to accomplishment, it will automatically and spontaneously recite the Buddha's name and engage in contemplative practice, and then various samādhis appear. The appearance of the various samādhis is not decided by the mind consciousness and is not controlled by the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness can only passively accept and passively merge into the state of samādhi, experiencing the samādhi and the feelings of body and mind.
