The Relationship Between the Movement of the Mind and Energy

Let us observe carefully: when the mind stirs, does the body faculty move along with it? When the mind stirs, does the material body undergo change? When the manas stirs, does the brain's nervous system undergo change? When the manas gives rise to a thought, brainwaves are certainly produced along with it. When the mind stirs—for example, when greed arises—water is produced in the body; when anger arises, one's hair stands on end in fury and one's face turns red and neck grows thick. In other words, as soon as the mind stirs, the body faculty changes. In fact, all these bodily changes are caused by the greed and hatred of the manas. When the conscious mind feels embarrassed, the material body also changes—for instance, blushing and a flustered heart appear. When the mental activities of the mind consciousness influence the manas, the material body will exhibit certain reactions. This is why it is said that mind and body are mutually dependent and mutually influential.

The manas itself is also a conscious mind; it has feelings, thoughts, and mental processes. As soon as thoughts and mental processes become active, brainwaves are produced; with brainwaves, energy and heat are emitted, resulting in blushing and flushing, heat throughout the body, restlessness, blood surging, trembling all over, gesticulating with hands and feet, and so on. When the mental processes of the manas stir, brainwaves are produced in the brain. The electric-current-like fluctuations in the brain are a form of energy that spreads rapidly throughout the body like an electric current. This energy is similar to kinetic energy and is material form (rūpa). Therefore, when the mind of the manas stirs, it can set the whole body in motion, and the energy can pervade the entire body.

How can the mind cause the energy of material form to arise? This is an extremely great secret. The arising, ceasing, and transformation of material energy is, in the final analysis, the function of the three transforming consciousnesses. The eighth consciousness is the first transforming consciousness; it specifically provides the seeds of the four great elements and the five great elements, generating the energy of material form, including thermal energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy. These energies are aggregated from the arising, ceasing, and transformation of the four great elemental particles—molecules, atoms, electrons, ions, and so on—in material form. If the seeds were not arising and ceasing moment by moment, the kinetic energy within the particles could not be aggregated. The seed of the space element forms the space within the particles, enabling the particles to undergo arising-ceasing movement along certain orbits. It is precisely the arising and ceasing of these seeds and the movement of the particles that produce kinetic energy, potential energy, and thermal energy. These energies can instantly pervade the whole body, flowing through the capillaries and meridians throughout the body.

Why does the eighth consciousness produce these energies? Because of the stirring of the mind of the manas, the second transforming consciousness, the eighth consciousness transforms the seeds of the four great elements in accordance with the changes in the mental factors (caittas) of the manas, and the energy of material form is thereby produced, transformed, and flows along, spreading from the central nervous system throughout the body. The manas's commands are likewise issued through the central nervous system to the whole body; the six consciousnesses, the third transforming consciousness, arise, mental activity (manaskāra) appears, bodily and verbal activities operate, and the manas's commands are instantly accomplished—without anyone noticing, extremely swiftly. The workings within this are infinitely mysterious, infinitely complex, infinitely precise, infinitely swift, and infinitely illusory. It can be said to be an interwoven net of illusions, unfathomably mysterious.

The mind can also cause the arising of energy that is not material form, called mental power—for example, strong mental force, unyielding fortitude, indomitable perseverance, courage and tenacity, high spirits, fighting spirit, eagerness to try, restless impulse, indomitable will, soaring enthusiasm, being a hundred times more energized, and so on. These mental powers enable a person to overcome all difficulties and are a priceless treasure for accomplishing all endeavors. The energy of material form may have a price, but the power of the mind is priceless, and it can unlock material energy. Therefore, the activities of the conscious mind can prompt the material body to generate energy; the energy initially produced is the brainwave, which contains kinetic energy, thermal energy, and potential energy.

The manifestations of energy on the material body include, for example, a swollen head, a red face, a thick neck, heat, cold, and bodily movement. From these states one can see that the manas has had mental activity, has had thoughts, has engaged in deliberation and discernment. As soon as the manas stirs, the material body moves along with it. Herein lies the manifestation of mind and body leaning upon each other, mutually dependent and mutually influential. The seven consciousnesses themselves are formed by the moment-by-moment arising and ceasing of seeds of consciousness linked together. The phenomenon of the arising and ceasing of seeds of consciousness can also produce non-material energy, which enables the seven consciousnesses to flow and engage in activities without cease, with mental factors constantly arising—joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, partings and reunions, deep contemplation—producing faith and conviction, thereby driving the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the energy of material form. There are very many mysteries here that need to be observed and explored; if meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom are insufficient, they cannot be observed.

The six sense objects are phenomena formed by the moment-by-moment arising and ceasing of the seeds of the four great elements. The arising and ceasing of seeds—ceasing after arising, arising after ceasing—is a kind of driving force, propelling the flow and transformation of the six sense objects, endowing them with material properties and energetic effects. The seeds are like waves in the ocean: the waves of arising and ceasing propel the ceaseless flow of the great sea, thereby producing the energy of motion. Energy is produced by the phenomenon of arising and ceasing; one arising and one ceasing, one ceasing and one arising, is motion, and where there is motion there is energy. The seeds of the four great elements are always arising and ceasing at an extremely rapid pace, one following another without interruption, arising, ceasing, and transforming very quickly, and flowing along certain orbits in their arising and ceasing—thus energy waves are produced.

Energy is a kind of force, including the force of mind and the force of matter. The force of matter is produced by the rapid movement of particles; the essence of material movement is the arising-ceasing transformation of the seeds of the four great elements, with the addition of external forces causing the arising-ceasing transformation of the seeds of the four great elements to run along certain trajectories. The production of force is emanated and reflected by the phenomenon of arising and ceasing; without arising and ceasing there is no force. Where there is force, it means that all worldly dharmas are constantly arising and ceasing, arising and ceasing endlessly, or else the energy produced by phenomena of arising and ceasing within a period of time. These phenomena are precisely the direction of research in modern science's quantum mechanics.