Turning the Seeing and Following the Origin Is the Dharma Gate of Perfect Penetration through the Manas (Manas Training Section)

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume Five:阿那律陀。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我初出家。常乐睡眠。如来诃我。为畜生类。我闻佛诃。啼泣自责。七日不眠。失其双目。世尊示我。乐见照明。金刚三昧。我不因眼。观见十方。精真洞然。如观掌果。如来印我。成阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。旋见循元。斯为第一。

Explanation: Aniruddha cultivated starting from the eye faculty, and his cultivation insight was "reversing the seeing to follow it back to its source." "Reversing" means turning around, turning back — turning the seeing of the eye faculty from its original outward direction back inward, following the seeing back to where it comes from, that is, falling back to the fundamental place. Originally it saw material form outwardly, outside the body and outside the mind; now one must turn back to see that fundamental place from which the ability to see arises. What is this fundamental place? It is the source place that gives rise to the function of seeing. Who guides and determines the seeing of the eye faculty? First, the manas; second, the eighth consciousness; and the most ultimate place is the eighth consciousness.

Falling back to the place of the manas makes one a great arhat; falling back to the place of the eighth consciousness makes one a great bodhisattva. From the perspective of the mundane world, the manas has the function of seeing all dharmas, including seeing the inner and outer realms of the six sense objects. However, because of ignorance, the manas's function of seeing dharmas is restricted, and it has no choice but to use the six consciousnesses to see through the five sense faculties. If ignorance is removed and the manas's greatest function is restored, then it is possible to see dharmas without using the six consciousnesses to look outward through the five sense faculties; the manas alone can see dharmas, letting the five faculties rest and the six consciousnesses rest.

Through cultivating the vajra meditative absorption of delighting in seeing and illuminating (the Vajra Samādhi of Joyful Seeing and Illumination) taught by the World-Honored One, Aniruddha trained himself to see dharmas with the manas, seeing inwardly without relying on the eye faculty. As a result, he could see the worlds of the ten directions very clearly and distinctly, truly and genuinely, just like looking at a piece of fruit in his own palm. "Reversing the seeing to follow it back to its source" turned out to be the dharma gate of perfect penetration through the manas. Who says the manas cannot see the realms of the five sense objects? The great arhat Aniruddha's manas could see the worlds of the ten directions, clearly and distinctly; form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas — nothing was unseen. He attained meditative concentration through the manas, and the mind consciousness became useless. Then the claim that one attains realization of the fruits by way of the mind consciousness would be an enormous joke.