Why can contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) within meditative concentration give rise to wisdom and attain liberation?

Answer: The mind consciousness understands everything, but what use is all this understanding? The mind consciousness understands that one should not have the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and that creating afflicted karmic actions brings evil retribution—but what use is this understanding of the mind consciousness? The mind consciousness also understands how to become a Buddha—what use is that? For every person, what problem has the mind consciousness's understanding ultimately solved? The key is that the manas, which has the power to direct bodily, verbal, and mental actions, does not understand. How can the manas, when it does not direct, create pure karmic actions free from greed, hatred, and delusion? How can it direct and choose the correct and reasonable direction and goal for studying the Buddha's Dharma? If the manas does not understand that the activities of the five aggregates, such as the breath, are subject to arising and ceasing and are impermanent, how can one realize that the five aggregates are without self? If the manas does not realize that the five aggregates are without self, how can it direct and create pure karmic actions that are without self? Without pure karmic actions, how can one become a Buddha? Although the mind consciousness understands that everyone ultimately becomes a white skeleton, the manas does not understand; He will cling to the body, taking the body as self, causing birth and death to flow on without cease.

Therefore, if one does not diligently cultivate meditative concentration, does not diligently observe the breath, and does not diligently practice the white-bone contemplation, then no matter how much the mind consciousness understands, one can ultimately not be without self, cannot direct oneself and attain liberation. All the practice of meditative concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) serves to permeate and influence the manas, prompting the manas to understand. Once the manas understands, the wisdom state of meditative absorption (samādhi) appears; only with this kind of wisdom can there be liberation of mind (cetovimutti), liberation by wisdom (paññāvimutti), and the attainment of Buddhahood through wisdom. If the manas does not understand, there is no wisdom state of samādhi, and liberation cannot be attained. If one does not want to cultivate concentration, does not want to diligently engage in contemplative practice, and is content with the mind consciousness's intellectual understanding, this is no different from an ordinary being bound by the obstructions of birth and death (saṃsāra); the karmic seeds do not change, and at the end of life one must still, following karmic obstructions, undergo suffering retribution in the cycle of birth and death.