Liberation Is Resolving the Problem of the Manas

Fearing that one will disappear upon entering samādhi, fearing that one cannot come back—these are all fears of the manas. The mind consciousness needs to persuade the manas not to cling to its own five aggregates, for the five aggregates are not real. Therefore, the elimination of self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) must be accomplished by the manas; the severing of afflictions must be accomplished by the manas; the severing of ignorance must be accomplished by the manas. All afflictions belong to the manas, and liberation is precisely the resolution of the manas's problems.

Countless examples illustrate this point: when the power of meditative concentration is insufficient and the power of wisdom is insufficient, one simply cannot recognize this. That manas is so dull and clumsy, yet it still treasures the mind consciousness—it doesn't even know that the fire was started by the manas itself, and goes off to put out the mind consciousness's fire, while the family property has all burned to the ground, and it is still wandering around the periphery. What kind of wisdom is that?