The Unreliability of Vijñāna

Q: I've heard that after attaining enlightenment, one forgets the content of enlightenment. Then, forgetting enlightenment means one no longer belongs to the enlightened, right? How can enlightenment be forgotten?

A: Theoretical knowledge learned by consciousness can be forgotten; content understood and memorized by consciousness can be forgotten; parrot-like repetition can be forgotten—once forgotten, it cannot be recalled. However, enlightenment is the experiential realization of one's own innate wisdom, the wisdom developed simultaneously by the manas (root mind) and consciousness, not obtained from elsewhere. Therefore, it fundamentally does not involve issues of memory or forgetting.

Recalling and forgetting are functions of consciousness, and consciousness is dependently originated, subject to birth, cessation, and change. When conditions are insufficient, consciousness weakens and disappears. For example, if the brain is diseased, stimulated, or if one suffers mental trauma, or if the brain atrophies with age, the functions of consciousness weaken and cannot operate normally, making it impossible to recall many past events, people, or things—this is called forgetting. When consciousness disappears, nothing from the past can be remembered at all, such as when asleep, in a coma, after death, or upon rebirth. Consciousness vanishes, and past experiences are temporarily or permanently extinguished. Although there is faint consciousness in the bardo (intermediate state), its function is limited, controlled by karma, with no autonomy whatsoever.

If only consciousness becomes enlightened and understands certain principles, while the manas remains unenlightened, this is highly unreliable. Once consciousness disappears, all content is utterly forgotten. Because consciousness arises from causes and conditions, it changes very rapidly—influenced by something, it can change in an instant, turn hostile abruptly, or forget things completely. In a moment of drowsiness, the mind becomes blank. Therefore, without undergoing the arduous process of Chan (Zen) meditation, without deep investigation, yet deludedly hoping to leap directly to enlightenment by letting consciousness grasp the general outcome—without steeping the manas—this result can vanish in an instant, offering almost no merit or benefit.

Without passing through specific stages of spiritual practice, without laborious Chan meditation, the manas remains unsteeped. One can only rely on consciousness's reasoning, imagination, speculation, or conjecture, with no direct perception whatsoever—all is distorted cognition. Content born of conjecture will naturally be forgotten at any time, rendered ineffective, unable to guide bodily, verbal, or mental actions, failing to become an uninterrupted, continuous state of mind. It may not even last a few minutes; its extinction is inevitable.

However, through the arduous process of Chan meditation and investigation, the manas participates in it. Realizing the true mind and self-nature is the state of direct perception and wisdom—samadhi arises, becoming uninterrupted insight. Body, speech, and mind become pure. In this way, even if consciousness tries to forget, it cannot; tries to lose it, it cannot; tries to regress, it cannot. Because this matter is governed by the manas—once the manas is enlightened, consciousness must follow and obey it, directed and controlled by the manas. Even if forgotten, it cannot help but be recalled. In truth, it has nothing to do with whether consciousness thinks or not. Even if consciousness ceases, it doesn’t matter—the manas is enlightened, so it is forever enlightened. Whether asleep, in a coma, dead, or in the bardo, one remains enlightened and will take rebirth as an enlightened being, attaining the wholesome fruit of realization.

Relying solely on consciousness in Buddhist practice and cultivation leads to great loss. Depending on the impermanent, ever-changing, and transient consciousness to resolve the great matter of life and death shows a complete failure to understand what spiritual practice entails. One eats one’s own meal to be full. Always relying on external conditions—conditions will cease. One cannot depend on them until infinite kalpas later. Therefore, the wise cannot place their bets on the unreliable, constantly arising-and-ceasing, ever-changing consciousness. This applies to all matters, worldly and beyond. To reiterate: Fruits attained by consciousness are all paper fruits—paper rots and decays most easily.