The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra's Testimony That the Manas Eliminates the Identity View and Self-View

Original text: 大慧。身见有二种。谓俱生及妄想。……是须陀洹妄想身见。彼以人无我。摄受无性。断除久远无知计著。

大慧。俱生者。须陀洹身见。自他身等。四阴无色相故。色生。造及所造故。展转相因相故。大种及色不集故。须陀洹观有无品不现。身见则断。如是身见断。贪则不生。是名身见相。

……须陀洹断三结。贪痴不生。若须陀洹作是念。此诸结我不成就者。应有二过。堕身见。及诸结不断。大慧白佛言。世尊。世尊说众多贪欲。彼何者贪断。佛告大慧。爱乐女人。缠绵贪著种种方便。身口恶业。受现在乐。种未来苦。彼则不生。所以者何。得三昧正受乐故。是故彼断。非趣涅槃贪断。

Brief Explanation: The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra says that there are two kinds of identity view (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). One is the imputed kind, which is the mind consciousness's identity view, and this must be eliminated. The other is the innate kind, the identity view one is born with, which is the manas's identity view, and this too must be eliminated. Only when both kinds of identity view are eliminated can one be called one who has eliminated identity view. This is cited from what the Buddha says in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, not my personal opinion. I hope everyone will take note and stop thinking that eliminating identity view and self-view at the level of the mind consciousness is sufficient; take what the Buddha says as the standard.

The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra says that after a stream-enterer (Srotaāpanna) has eliminated identity view, craving for the physical body no longer arises, and therefore he no longer commits evil deeds for the sake of the physical body. This is what the Buddha said, not the claim of some person that the Abhidharma-kośa states that a stream-enterer of the first fruit commits no evil whatsoever.

All dharmas should be measured against what the Buddha said. If anyone's words are inconsistent with what the Buddha said, they cannot be trusted or accepted, no matter what famous master or person of what fruit he may be.

All students of Buddhism should take studying the Buddha's Dharma as their priority and take faith in and acceptance of the Buddha's words as their priority. Do not engage in personality cults, do not harbor an attachment to famous teachers; resolve to be a rational student and practitioner of Buddhism. In study and practice, take learning the Buddhist sūtras as the priority and the Buddha's words as the guiding principle. Be sure to be a true child of the Buddha, a disciple of the Buddha worthy of the name, rather than the disciple of some famous teacher.

Eliminating identity view is divided into eliminating the mind consciousness's identity view and the manas's identity view. Likewise, eliminating the self-view of the conscious mind must all the more be divided into eliminating the mind consciousness's self-view and the manas's self-view—that is, into two kinds: the mind consciousness's imputed self-view and the manas's innate self-view.

Anyone who has eliminated only the mind consciousness's self-view cannot be called one who has eliminated self-view. Such a person must again cultivate meditative concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) to investigate the selflessness of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), striving above all to eliminate the manas's self-view; otherwise, cause and effect will not spare him.

The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra also says that the Buddha stated that a stream-enterer has eliminated the three fetters, and craving and delusion no longer arise. This means that a certain kind of craving does not arise, not that all craving ceases to arise; for one in whom all craving ceases to arise, that is a third-fruit person (Anāgāmin). When the first fruit is attained and the three fetters of identity view are eliminated, the lingering, entangled craving for the opposite sex no longer arises, because of the bliss of meditative concentration (samādhi). The so-called bliss of samādhi refers to the meditative experience and the phenomenon of awakened clarity that occur at the moment of realizing the first fruit. Therefore, attaining the first fruit requires meditative concentration—preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi)—so that at the moment of realizing the first fruit, there is the state of samādhi, including meditative concentration and the wisdom of having eliminated self-view.

Therefore, when someone says that attaining the first fruit does not require meditative concentration, that is a grave error, contrary to the Buddha's intent, and a misguidance of sentient beings. Whoever considers himself to have eliminated self-view and realized the first fruit—if no phenomenon of the bliss of samādhi appeared at the time of realizing the fruit—has certainly not eliminated self-view and certainly has not realized the first fruit. If, after supposedly realizing the fruit, his afflictions remain just as before, he has certainly not eliminated self-view, has certainly not eliminated the three fetters, and certainly has not realized the fruit. Then he must take responsibility for himself and for his future-life retribution, and once more cultivate meditative concentration and contemplative practice to investigate the dharma of the selflessness of the five aggregates.

If one is not vigilant, blindly accepting the teachings of those with whom one has karmic affinity, lacking rationality and deeply mired in emotional attachment, one is bound to suffer loss. One must swallow some bitter medicine of regret in order to save oneself and avoid falling into the evil destinies; otherwise, the retribution is fearsome. Anyone who has proclaimed to others that he has realized the fruit and awakened to the true mind—and whose realization was at the level of the mind consciousness—must surely repent, in order to extinguish the evil karma of gross false speech and avert the terrible retribution in future lives.

Some people insist on contending with me, saying that eliminating self-view does not require the manas to eliminate self-view. Now there is the Buddha's sūtra as proof. Who, in the end, was wrong? Who misled sentient beings, leading them down a wrong path?

Others contend with me, saying that realizing the fruit and awakening to the true mind require no meditative concentration at all. Here the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra further clarifies that realizing the fruit and awakening to the true mind absolutely require meditative concentration. Now it is clear: this is not contending with me, but contending with the Buddha, contending with the Buddhist sūtras, contending with the truth. As for what the outcome will be—consider it for yourself.

If someone further says that eliminating self-view and realizing the first fruit is merely a cognitive understanding at the level of the mind consciousness's wisdom, requiring no change in one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions, then there is no longer any rationale or excuse left. The Buddhist sūtra states it plainly and clearly: after the first fruit eliminates the three fetters, a portion of craving and delusion must be eliminated, and the afflictions must be somewhat subdued. For those who have supposedly attained the first fruit to commit evil deeds again, there is no excuse whatsoever: as long as the afflictions are heavy and one commits evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, one has certainly not eliminated self-view and realized the first fruit. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra stands as proof.

A first-fruit person's Dharma eye begins to become pure; there must be the merit and benefit of a purified Dharma eye, and there must be a portion of the merit and benefit of liberation. If there is not, then self-view has certainly not been eliminated and the fruit has certainly not been realized. Take what the Buddha said as the standard. Some people are very fond of placing a great sage's hat upon their own heads—little do they know that such a hat cannot be casually put on oneself?

In the Sahā world, especially now in the Dharma-ending age, more than two thousand years after the Buddha's passing, the phenomenon of sages filling the streets will absolutely never appear. Even when Śākyamuni Buddha was in the world, the phenomenon of sages filling the streets did not appear. The evil world of the five turbidities is, after all, called the evil world of the five turbidities; it differs enormously from other worlds, and differs enormously even from the era when Maitreya Buddha will appear. A world full of sages is pure delusive fantasy and wishful thinking—something one may not even see in a dream.

Whoever considers himself to have eliminated self-view and awakened to the true mind, yet still engages in illicit male-female relations, has certainly not eliminated the three fetters of identity view and certainly has not awakened to the true mind. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra records the Buddha saying that because of the bliss of samādhi, one no longer indulges in the pleasures of male-female relations. How could one who has eliminated the three fetters still be entangled in foolish, lingering, clinging love between men and women? That shows one does not have the bliss of samādhi. With the bliss of samādhi, one rejects the pleasures of male-female relations and no longer delights in them, because the bliss of samādhi is far superior to the pleasure of male-female relations. No one would choose the lowest form of pleasure and abandon the superior pleasure—even an abnormal person would not do so.

There are truly many who commit gross false speech, all the result of the machinations of the mind of self. Identity view and self-view have not been eliminated, and yet they add another self that has realized the fruit and another self that has awakened to the true mind. One "I" is already enough to turn heaven upside down; to add yet another "I" on top of that—how outrageous! Such a person will surely commit great evil deeds in order to display the so-called majestic power of these two selves.