After Thinking, One Still Needs Direct Perception Observation to Be Useful

Think about it—is the mind-consciousness "self" and the manas "self" not merely a very illusory kind of existence? The powerful and truly real existence is only the tathatā mind; only the tathatā mind is the inconceivable true permanent essence, the essence of wisdom. Knowing all this, do you still brood over the love, hatred, passion, and enmity, the joys and sorrows, the gains and losses, successes and failures of this human world, which is as faint as a speck of dust and illusory and unreal? The above is the reflection of a Buddhist practitioner, also called an insight. However, even with such an insight, if one wants the body-and-mind world to be fundamentally turned around and transformed, one must, on this basis, earnestly engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) within meditative concentration (samādhi); only after realizing it through personal verification can one transform the body-and-mind world and truly attain some degree of liberation. "Thinking about it" falls within the scope of the mind consciousness's capability, whereas personal verification depends on the manas, and the manas requires direct perception. Therefore, merely thinking about it is of little use; one must also observe through direct perception and cognize through direct perception. Knowing that everything in the world is empty, that everything is conjured up illusorily by the tathāgatagarbha, is also not of much use; the next step of actual cultivation and verification is needed. Only when it has been realized can the mind be empty, and only then is there the power of liberation. Some people spend all day with their minds thinking that the world is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, and they feel as if it really is a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow. Yet when the moment of truth arrives, things are just as they always are—not the least bit like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, or a shadow. Only when one truly realizes that the world is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, and a shadow—at the stage of the ten dedications, on the verge of becoming a first-bhūmi bodhisattva—only then can one's mental activities be transformed. However, before engaging in actual contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the theoretical knowledge and views must still be complete; the mind must have a semblance of emptiness, and there must be a certain degree of understanding of the theory. With this foundation, one can then engage in actual investigation and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) within meditative concentration (samādhi), and only then is there hope of personal realization.