Avadāna Sutra, Volume One

Original text:吾从世尊。闻如是语。苾刍当知。世间有情。一结断时。余一切结。皆亦随断。云何一结。是谓我慢。所以者何。诸所有结。细中粗品。一切皆以我慢为根。从我慢生。我慢所长。是故我慢一结断时。余一切结。皆亦随断。譬如世间楼观中心。普为楼观。众分依止。中心若坠。余亦随堕。如是我慢。诸结所依。我慢若断。余亦随灭。若诸苾刍。已断我慢。当知即是已断余结。若诸苾刍。已断余结。当知即是已尽苦边。已修正智。心善解脱。慧善解脱。无复后有。 

Explanation: I heard such words from the World-Honored One: Bhikṣus, you should know that when sentient beings in the world sever one bond, all the remaining bonds are also severed along with it. What is this bond? It is the bond of the conceit "I am" (asmimāna). Why is this said? Because all bonds, whether subtle, intermediate, or coarse, all take the conceit "I am" as their root; they arise from the conceit "I am" and are nurtured by it. Therefore, when the single bond of the conceit "I am" is severed, all the remaining bonds are severed along with it. It is like the central pillar of a building in the world: all the other parts of the building rest upon this center, and if the center collapses, the rest also falls down with it. 

The bond of the conceit "I am" is like this too: it is that upon which all the other bonds depend. If the conceit "I am" is severed, the other bonds are severed along with it. If the bhikṣus have already severed the bond of the conceit "I am," you should know that they have already severed the remaining bonds; if the bhikṣus have already severed the remaining bonds, you should know that they have reached the far shore of suffering, have cultivated right wisdom, have their minds well liberated and their wisdom well liberated, and will have no more future existence. 

Original text:尔时世尊。重摄此义。而说颂曰。 如楼观中心众分所依止。中心若坠堕余分皆堕落。 如是我慢结众结之所依。我慢结断时诸结皆随灭。 苾刍断我慢余结悉随断。余结既已断即得尽苦边。 既得尽苦边名已修正智。心慧善解脱后有毕竟无。 

Explanation: At that time the World-Honored One once again summarized this teaching and spoke in verse: Just as the central pillar of a building is that upon which all the other parts depend, if the center collapses, all the other parts fall down with it. The conceit "I am" is like this: it is that upon which all the other bonds depend; when the bond of the conceit "I am" is severed, all the other bonds perish along with it. When a bhikṣu severs the conceit "I am," all the remaining bonds are severed along with it. Once the remaining bonds have all been severed, one reaches the far shore of suffering. Having reached the far shore of suffering, this is called having cultivated right wisdom; after the mind and wisdom are well liberated, there will ultimately be no more future existence in the three realms. 

The conceit "I am" is a mental factor of affliction belonging to the manas, rooted in the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). Because the manas takes the five aggregates and eighteen realms as self and what belongs to self, and compares them with the five aggregates and eighteen realms of other sentient beings, it considers its own five aggregates and eighteen realms to be more superior and excellent, and thus a mind of arrogance arises, despising other sentient beings. The other afflicted mental factors are induced by the affliction of the conceit "I am" and take it as their center; when the affliction of the conceit "I am" is exhausted, all the other afflictions are exhausted without remainder. This also includes all the afflicted mental factors of the six consciousnesses, which all take the afflicted mental factors of the manas as their root; once the root afflictions are severed, the branch-and-leaf afflictions also vanish completely. The branch-and-leaf afflictions are easy to sever, but because the root afflictions have not been severed, the branch-and-leaf afflictions will still arise and grow depending on the root afflictions; severing only the branches and leaves is of no avail. 

To exhaust the manas's affliction of the conceit "I am," one must sever the manas's view of self, extinguishing the manas's false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) that takes the five aggregates and eighteen realms as self and what belongs to self. Once the manas has no notion of self, the conceit "I am" will gradually disappear as well, and the afflictions of sentient beings will all be exhausted. Therefore, in eradicating the view of self, one must focus on making the manas sever it; if the manas does not sever the view of self, the mind consciousness's branch-and-leaf view of self, depending on the manas's root view of self, will still arise and can never be cut off completely. Therefore, wise people who study Buddhism should not apply their mind and effort only to the branches and leaves, but should focus on the root; only after the root is severed will all the branches and leaves be severed forever.