Knowing Is Easy, Doing Is Hard

Knowing is easy, but practicing is difficult; the key lies in where this knowledge is anchored and which consciousness it belongs to. If it is merely anchored in the intellect, then practice is out of the question—it remains mere talk, impossible to act upon, and one cannot gain mastery over oneself. If the manas does not know, it cannot dispel the inner darkness of ignorance, nor can it initiate corresponding actions, making practice exceedingly difficult. When the intellect knows that the five aggregates are without self, it gains not even the slightest merit or benefit of liberation. Therefore, a Stream-enterer absolutely does not merely know with the intellect that the five aggregates are without self; the manas must know it. Only then can the severing of self-view yield merit and benefit, enabling preliminary liberation and establishing a clear demarcation from ordinary beings. If a Stream-enterer partially realizes liberation, gaining a fraction of its merit and benefit, then the truth that the five aggregates are without self must be realized by the manas. If it is realized only by the intellect, there will be no merit or benefit, because the manas has not partially realized liberation.