Which Consciousness's Mindfulness Prevails?

When practicing Qigong, directing, circulating, gathering, and utilizing qi through mental intention all stem from the mental activity of the manas (the seventh consciousness). The manas mentally directs qi to gather at the Laogong point in the palm; when the qi becomes sufficiently strong, one then mentally extends the hand to project the qi outward. Those with advanced skill can cause mountains to crumble, walls to collapse, trains to halt, and cars to reverse—this is purely Qigong. However, whether it's Qigong or any other practice, it all involves training the power of thought generated by the manas. Stronger thought leads to stronger mental power; stronger qi leads to stronger energy; then one can act as desired and be invincible in all directions.

Some might say: "The manas has no thought; it's all the thought of consciousness (the sixth consciousness)." Then try using your consciousness to generate thought. Would the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-nature) heed or manage you? Would the thought be effective? Could it produce any effect? Qigong generated by the consciousness yields no skill whatsoever and serves no purpose; it's merely flashy but useless moves, mere decoration, just acting.

Qi follows thought; it follows the thought of the manas, not the thought of consciousness. Otherwise, since everyone can generate thought with consciousness, why are there so few who master qi, and why does it require such prolonged practice to succeed? Why does it take so long? Because it involves using consciousness to train the manas—training consciousness is easy, but training the manas is not. The primary difference among sentient beings lies precisely here with the manas. Consciousness can all think and generate thought, but it is useless.