Following Phenomena, Following Consciousness, Following Suchness

Acting in accordance with phenomena, acting in accordance with consciousness, acting in accordance with Suchness. Action refers to the activities of the conscious mind, specifically the activities of the six consciousnesses, including bodhi conduct, bodhisattva conduct, and cultivation. This sentence omits the subject, the mental faculty (manas), because appropriation is primarily performed by the master consciousness, the mental faculty, which grasps and appropriates, subsequently giving rise to the actions of the six consciousnesses. What kind of actions the six consciousnesses should have depends on what the mental faculty appropriates. What does the mental faculty base its appropriation on? It bases it on phenomena, on the discernment, consideration, and judgment of the six consciousnesses, on karma, on the bodhicitta mind, on the power of vows, and so on. The final term, "Suchness" (如), generally refers to the true mind's intrinsic nature. However, the mental faculty of ordinary sentient beings is unaware of the true mind's intrinsic nature, and even unenlightened bodhisattvas do not know which is the true mind's intrinsic nature; thus, they do not directly follow the considerations of the true mind. But when the true mind, in accordance with karmic seeds, is about to manifest karmic actions, the mental faculty will then follow the karmic seeds, make choices, and initiate considerations; this is also the action of the mental faculty.

In a sentence, once the subject, predicate, and object are identified, one understands what the subject intends to do and what the object is. In these three phrases, the subject is not explicitly stated, but there is the predicate "appropriate" (取) and the object "action" (行) following it. One can deduce that only the master consciousness can appropriate dharmas and can appropriate and choose actions.

The prerequisite for appropriation is "in accordance with phenomena, consciousness, and Suchness" (随事随识随如). By clarifying the connotations of these three characters—phenomena (事), consciousness (识), and Suchness (如)—one will understand what actions the mental faculty appropriates. Regardless of what dharmas the mental faculty appropriates, as long as it appropriates, actions will follow. Therefore, one should realize that after the mental faculty makes its choices, it is the six consciousnesses that carry them out. The actions of the six consciousnesses are the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five aggregates. They may be virtuous or unvirtuous actions, great or small actions, actions of selflessness and benefiting others, or selfish actions.

Since appropriation is performed by the mental faculty, and only afterward do subsequent dharmas arise, we should understand that the arising of all dharmas, the existence of the three realms, the cycle of rebirth of the five-aggregate body, and so forth, are all the result of the mental faculty's appropriation. Thus, the nominal master of the dharmas of the three realms undoubtedly belongs to the mental faculty. The importance of the mental faculty far exceeds that of the six consciousnesses. If the mental faculty does not appropriate dharmas, the six consciousnesses will not arise; there is no need for the six consciousnesses to realize the mental faculty's appropriation.

Within the twelve links of dependent origination, if there is no appropriation by the mental faculty, there will be no cycle of birth and death. It is evident that the mental faculty is the primary cause of the cycle of birth and death. Why does the mental faculty appropriate? Because of ignorance. Without the ignorance of the mental faculty, all dharmas would cease and not exist. Therefore, many Buddhists who do not focus their efforts on the mental faculty but only attend to the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna); who disregard the master and instead follow the servant, have mistaken their object. What is the result? Exertion without reward, effort in vain. To this day, the principles of realization have been explained very clearly and thoroughly. Yet there are still those who insist that merely realizing the non-self view and illuminating the mind with the conscious mind alone is sufficient. What level of intelligence is that? It is truly hard to admire!

When practitioners encounter problems, they must learn to contemplate according to principle. Possessing a certain level of logical thinking ability is their greatest wealth, benefiting them across countless lifetimes without exhaustion.