Knowing Is Easy, Practicing Is Difficult

Knowing is easy, but practice is difficult; the key lies in where this knowing is actually established, and in which consciousness's knowing it is. If it is only established in the mind consciousness, then practice need not even be discussed—it is mere talk; it cannot be carried out, and one cannot act as master. If the manas does not know, the darkness of beginningless ignorance within the mind cannot be dispelled, and one cannot take corresponding action; thus practice becomes difficult upon difficult. When the mind consciousness knows that the five aggregates are without self, not even a trace of liberating merit and benefit is gained. Therefore, a person of the first fruit absolutely does not merely know intellectually, via the mind consciousness, that the five aggregates are without self; the manas must know it as well. Only in this way does the elimination of self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) yield merit and benefit, enabling an initial liberation and drawing a clear dividing line between such a person and ordinary beings (pṛthagjana). If a person of the first fruit has attained partial realization of buddhahood and possesses some measure of liberating merit and benefit, then the principle that the five aggregates are without self must be realized by the manas. If it is realized only by the mind consciousness, there will be no merit or benefit, because the manas has not attained partial realization of liberation.