What Is Deliberate?

Deliberateness is the conscious suppression, taming, regulation, influencing, and guiding of the mental faculty (manas); it is the conscious leading and admonishing of the mental faculty. At this stage, the mental faculty has not yet been influenced or cultivated into wholesome habits. Once the mental faculty is successfully influenced and wholesome habits are formed—like an ox becoming docile and shedding its stubborn temperament—consciousness no longer needs to manage, suppress, or tame the mental faculty. There is no longer a need to act deliberately; one can instead follow along with the wholesome habits of the mental faculty without transgressing the rules.