In plain words
If from the time we get up at dawn until we lie down at night we are hearing bad, speaking bad, seeing bad, doing bad and thinking bad, like this — ‘Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati’: whatever thought we are in, that very thought we attain. So where does this evil come from? It arises from our looking. It arises from our hearing. It arises from our speech. It arises from our thinking. It arises from our action. That is why, when we wish to gain and nourish the values that are in humanness, we must develop these five, that is, the five senses too, on the right path. So first of all, meditation, japa and yoga are not what we need. All these are merely good works. All these are holy actions. But if you want to make your heart holy, first you must make these five senses holy.
With this in view, the Buddha made many kinds of effort for the sake of making these five senses good. Until he was 29 he read many books. He saw many great souls. He heard many teachings. But he gained no satisfaction at all. What comes of this? Elders give some teaching or other. I listen. But what I heard goes away. I see many elders with my eyes. But these are only eyes of flesh, not eyes of Jñāna. What we saw through our eyes of flesh goes away as eyes of flesh. So these are not what I need. By what must I attain nirvāṇa? Then he thought. He reflected. Then he said, MAN. He inquired into the meaning of these three.
MAN: M, recognise Māyā; A, know the Ātma; N, that is nirvāṇa
‘M’ means Māyā. Understand that Māyā. ‘A’ means: understand the Ātma principle. He understood: when I have mastered Māyā and understood the Ātma principle, then the nirvāṇa called ‘N’ will come to me.