Taking up practice in accordance with phenomena, taking up practice in accordance with consciousness, taking up practice in accordance with suchness

Taking up action in accordance with phenomena, taking up action in accordance with consciousness, taking up action in accordance with suchness. "Action" refers to the activity of the conscious mind, especially the mental activity of the six consciousnesses, including the practice of bodhi, the conduct of a bodhisattva, and cultivation. This sentence omits the subject, the manas, because "taking up" is primarily the grasping done by the manas, the master consciousness, after which the actions of the six consciousnesses follow. What kind of actions the six consciousnesses should perform depends on what kind of taking up the manas engages in. On what basis does the manas take up? Based on phenomena, based on the discernment, deliberation, and judgment of the six consciousnesses, based on karma, based on bodhicitta, based on the power of vows, and so on. The final "suchness" generally refers to the true mind and self-nature, but ordinary sentient beings' manas does not know that there is a true mind and self-nature, and bodhisattvas who have not realized enlightenment also do not know which one is the true mind and self-nature, so they will not directly follow the deliberation of the true mind. However, when the true mind is about to manifest karmic actions in accordance with karmic seeds, the manas will comply with the karmic seeds, making choices and engaging in deliberation—this too is the action of the manas.

When you identify the subject, predicate, and object in a sentence, you know what the subject wants to do and what the object is. In these three sentences, the subject is not explicitly stated, but there is the predicate "taking up," followed by the object "action." From this one can determine that only the master consciousness can take up dharmas, can take up actions and make choices about actions.

The precondition for taking up is accordance with phenomena, with consciousness, and with suchness. Once the meanings of the three words—phenomena, consciousness, and suchness—are clarified, you will know what the action taken up by the manas is. No matter what dharma the manas grasps, once it takes it up, action follows. You should then know that after the manas makes its choices, it is the six consciousnesses that execute them. The actions of the six consciousnesses are the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five aggregates—whether wholesome or unwholesome actions, great or small actions, selfless altruistic actions, or selfish actions.

Since "taking up" is the grasping done by the manas, and only afterward do subsequent dharmas appear, we should know that the arising of all dharmas, the existence of the threefold world, the transmigration of the five-aggregate body, and so on, are all the result of the manas's grasping. Then the false master of the dharmas of the threefold world must undoubtedly be the manas. The importance of the manas far exceeds that of the six consciousnesses. If the manas does not take up dharmas, the six consciousnesses will not arise, and there would be no need for the six consciousnesses to carry out the manas's taking up.

Among the twelve links of dependent origination, without the manas's grasping, there would be no birth, death, and transmigration. It is evident that the manas is the primary cause of birth, death, and transmigration. Why does the manas grasp? Because of ignorance. Without the manas's ignorance, all dharmas would cease and would not exist. So many Buddhist practitioners do not apply effort on the manas, but only attend to the mind consciousness; they ignore the master and instead comply with the servant—they have gotten the wrong target entirely. What is the result? Thankless toil, wasted effort. By now, the principles of enlightenment have been explained clearly and thoroughly, yet there are still those who insist that eliminating self-view and awakening to the true mind can be accomplished by the mind consciousness alone. What kind of intelligence is that? Truly not worthy of admiration!

When practitioners encounter problems, they should learn to contemplate in accordance with the Dharma. Having a certain capacity for logical thinking is one's greatest wealth, providing inexhaustible benefit life after life.