Do not trust your own mind

When can one truly comprehend and understand human affairs and the principles of things? The Buddha said: Until you attain the fruit of Arhatship, do not trust your own mind, for your mind is not trustworthy. The body, speech, and mind of sentient beings are impure; the mind is defiled and obscured by ignorance, thus failing to perceive matters clearly and preventing the correct understanding of human affairs and the principles of things. Consequently, what manifests is incorrect or even unwholesome bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Even after realizing one's true nature, greed, hatred, delusion, and afflictions remain within the mind, along with ignorance. If Bodhisattvas have not cultivated to the fruition of the third or fourth stage, they too possess greed, hatred, and delusion. These afflictions will still manifest, leading to the creation of unwholesome karma through body, speech, and mind. However, the afflictions and karma of Bodhisattvas are slightly lighter than those of ordinary beings.

Only upon reaching the First Ground can afflictions be effectively subdued. When entering the First Ground, a Bodhisattva must be one who has attained the third or fourth fruition. All afflictions are effectively subdued, wisdom becomes profound and vast, the mind becomes purified, and initial leak-free attainment is achieved. When the mind reaches this initial state of being leak-free, possessing both meditative stability and wisdom, one can then clearly perceive certain human affairs and matters. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions performed will inevitably be purer than those of others. Only then can one have self-confidence and trust one's own mind. Of course, this often varies from person to person and cannot be generalized. Before reaching this stage, we should not be overly self-confident, as our perceptions of people, events, and issues will be prone to error due to the lack of wisdom to discern.

In summary, as long as consciousness is impure, perception is impure; as long as perception is impure, discrimination is impure; as long as discrimination is impure, thought is impure; as long as thought is impure, speech is impure; as long as speech is impure, action is impure. Because the seventh consciousness is defiled by ignorance, it leads to impure bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Impure bodily, verbal, and mental actions result in impure karmic seeds; impure karmic seeds lead to impure karmic retribution. The impurity of karmic seeds therein causes the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the next life to remain impure, leading to impurity throughout countless lifetimes, thus perpetuating the cycle of birth and death. Hence, it is evident how crucial it is to study the Buddha's teachings, practice, and eliminate ignorance and defilements!

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