What If the Manas Had No Ignorance and Afflictions?

If the manas had no anger, that would be wonderful—as soon as the mind consciousness ceases, one would be a third-fruit person (anāgāmin) free of anger, and after death one would be reborn in the capacity of a third-fruit person. No need to eradicate the view of self, no need to cultivate the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna—ordinary beings could simply extinguish the mind consciousness and directly become third-fruit persons. If the manas were free of any kind of affliction, that too would be wonderful—as long as one dies, one is a sage, and in future lives one need not cultivate any further; with just a little contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), one could realize the fruits, quickly cultivate the first dhyāna, eradicate afflictions, and become a third-fruit person again. And if the manas had no ignorance, that would be even better—one would directly be a Buddha, and the fact that you, I, he, and she are still cultivating here would be utterly superfluous. There would be no need to cultivate at all: if the manas has no ignorance, there is no need to break through ignorance, no need to exhaustively eradicate ignorance—being originally a Buddha, what would there be to cultivate?

If the manas had no anger and no afflictions, then we would only need to take a nap—as soon as the mind consciousness ceases, everyone who is asleep would be a sage. A newborn infant has a brand-new mind consciousness and supreme faculty (indriya); if the manas had no anger and no afflictions, then every infant born would be a sage. Would we still need to cultivate so painstakingly? If the manas had no anger, then when an infant could not get something, it would not fly into a frantic rage and wail loudly, would not get angry and hit people, and would not say that Mommy is bad; when a stranger wanted to hold it, the infant would not push them away; the infant would never be unhappy, would not pout, and would not throw tantrums or make a fuss.