The Root of Dharma Lies in the Mind Root

Question: Uninterrupted mental application seems to occur only after the Dharma principles have penetrated the mental faculty, and only the mental faculty is capable of uninterrupted mental application, maintaining continuous mindfulness without interruption. In fact, are not the merits inevitably derived from the mental faculty's recognition or transformation? As long as the mental faculty genuinely recognizes and embraces [the Dharma], the merits of attaining enlightenment will naturally arise, and wisdom will also be present. This is a series of naturally occurring processes; the root of realizing the Dharma still lies with the mental faculty. Is this correct?

Answer: That is correct. Uninterrupted mental application — "uninterrupted" means continuous and unbroken. Only the mental faculty can continuously focus on the Dharma principles without cessation, throughout the day and night, morning and night, with unbroken mindfulness moment after moment. This requires the conscious mind to repeatedly cultivate the Buddha Dharma, successfully influencing the mental faculty. Once the mental faculty recognizes the Buddha Dharma as crucial, it will continuously be mindful of the Dharma, with thoughts never departing from it. One day, enlightenment will surely be attained. If the mental faculty is not mindful of the Dharma, the conscious mind's focus on the Dharma will inevitably break, unable to continuously focus on the Dharma without interruption.

Using hypnotic methods can also lead the mental faculty to recognize [the Dharma], after which the mental faculty undergoes a transformation. The degree to which each person's mental faculty recognizes and attains the Dharma differs, so the impact received varies, the transformation differs, and the wisdom attained also differs. Therefore, fundamental wisdom still refers to that which is brought about by the mental faculty.