Consciousness Thinks as It Thinks, Manas Acts as It Acts

All dharmas are unobtainable. The Heart Sutra states that due to non-attainment, bodhisattvas attain enlightenment; the Diamond Sutra reveals that the World-Honored One was prophesied by Dipankara Buddha precisely because his mind attained nothing. Some may then think: since all dharmas are unobtainable, devoid of self and what belongs to self, why strive at all? Why not cease even thought itself and simply abide in non-action? When entertaining this notion, the mind feels profoundly at ease—yet this state cannot endure for long. Soon, conditioned action resumes, and when encountering circumstances, affairs, or people, not a trace of non-action remains.

For until one realizes the empty nature of all phenomena, the "emptiness" conceived by the conscious mind holds no power whatsoever—utterly incapable of mastery. Reality manifests exactly as it does, utterly unyielding to this conceptual emptiness. Though the conscious mind may wish to remain unmoving and non-creating, it cannot govern the five-aggregate body. The master—the manas (ego-mind)—pursues its aims, intent on creating and acting, and the conscious mind must comply, powerless to resist. Thus, while consciousness may comprehend some principles, the manas remains unillumined, rendering it impossible to resolve any substantive issue. Therefore, realizing the fruit of enlightenment or awakening the mind through consciousness alone changes nothing fundamental: afflictions persist as afflictions, ignorance remains ignorance, birth and death continue as birth and death. Only by transforming the governing manas can all problems be resolved, bringing about an earth-shaking transformation.