The Importance of Understanding the Difference Between the Manas and the Mind Consciousness in the Dharma-Ending Age

Nowadays people do not cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), and cannot cultivate it well; they only play with words, read a couple of books, and once the mind consciousness has understood a little, they believe they have awakened—even that would not count as intellectual understanding/interpretive awakening—yet they claim to have attained realization-enlightenment. Therefore it is necessary to let sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age understand the difference between the manas and the mind consciousness, and to let everyone know what constitutes intellectual understanding and what constitutes realization-enlightenment, so as to prevent sentient beings from committing the great lie of false claims to realization.

The chaos of the Dharma-ending age is very severe; sentient beings are deeply bound by emotional attachment, often saying with their mouths "rely on the Dharma, not on persons," while in reality doing the opposite. If sentient beings could all cultivate in accordance with reason and the Dharma, truly relying on the Dharma and not on persons—shouting the slogans less and doing the actual work more, carrying things out as thoroughly as possible, truly relying on what the Buddha has taught—then the Buddha would be somewhat at ease. Not going against the Buddha, but practicing in accordance with his teachings, is itself equivalent to repaying the Buddha's kindness.

Subdue your emotional attachment a little, and you will see the truth of things a little more clearly. Take the Path as your priority, not emotional attachment. Emotional attachment cannot save anyone; each person undergoes their own karma, and no one can substitute for another. If your mind can be broader and your energy more abundant, take Buddhism as your priority, and take the birth and death of sentient beings as your priority. Moreover, first you must understand the Buddha's kindness and think of ways to repay it; do not speak or act in ways that make the Buddha sad and sorrowful. Know that the tathāgatagarbha is storing seeds moment after moment; in every instant of our speaking and acting, of our bodily, verbal, and mental actions, there is the tathāgatagarbha supervising and recording. Therefore we must hold the tathāgatagarbha in awe and hold karma and its effects in awe—not merely shouting it with our mouths while in reality acting otherwise.