Elimination of self-view means eliminating the self-view of the manas

Why do some people, after contemplating the non-self of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) to a certain point, begin to feel agitated and distressed, unable to continue their contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā)? This is because the manas has somewhat sensed that the five aggregates are non-self and that they are not real in themselves; He is afraid that there is truly no self, afraid that He will disappear and vanish. This is precisely the result of the manas's innate habit of grasping at a self, accumulated over beginningless kalpas. Having never previously encountered content such as non-self, now through the mind consciousness's deliberation (manana), He understands a little, but not yet clearly; He fears that if the mind consciousness keeps deliberating, He Himself will cease to exist and can no longer be grasped. Therefore He becomes agitated and distressed, and does not allow the mind consciousness to continue deliberating and contemplating.

From this phenomenon, we can see that the elimination of self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) means eliminating the manas's self-view. In the process of deep and subtle deliberation and contemplative practice, the manas participates throughout; the manas knows all the content of the mind consciousness's deliberation and contemplation, and then He Himself deliberates upon this content. Once the manas has been cultivated through immersion to a certain degree, He can fully understand the principle of non-self and the principle of the eighth consciousness, and afterward can realize it. The manas must certainly possess the power of determination (adhimokṣa) with regard to the Buddha-dharma; otherwise the mind consciousness cannot permeate and influence the manas, and studying Buddhism would be useless. After the manas attains enlightenment, He will gradually obtain great wisdom, transform the consciousnesses into wisdom, attain the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna), and when wisdom reaches perfection, He becomes a Buddha.