The Key to Governing Body, Speech, and Mind Lies in Taming the Manas

Managing the mental faculty (manas) properly allows one to govern the actions of the six consciousnesses through body, speech, and mind. An Arhat's mental faculty has long been subdued; afflictions are severed, and there remains no attachment or craving for the mundane world. Starting from the third fruition (anāgāmi), the mind attains liberation, and the actions of body, speech, and mind become pure. Ordinarily, when going out for alms, they look only at the ground one foot ahead, with a lowered gaze and submissive demeanor, not glancing sideways or elsewhere. Their eyes do not engage objects recklessly, their minds do not wander aimlessly, abiding in single-mindedness or thoughtlessness. When the eyes inevitably encounter form objects, they merely perceive the form and cease, without generating feeling or perception, much less grasping. They leave no karmic seeds, undergo no further becoming, and their dignified deportment in the four great postures moves both human and celestial beings.

If external conditions attempt to influence them, the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) remains untainted, and the mental faculty is even less affected. Even if the mental consciousness stirs slightly, the mental faculty remains unmoved, for afflictions are utterly exhausted. Arhats do not use the mental consciousness to urge, supervise, or regulate the mental faculty; instead, the mental faculty regulates the mental consciousness. Whereas ordinary beings who are relatively advanced in practice must constantly and everywhere use their mental consciousness to supervise, regulate, and restrain the mental faculty. Because the mental faculty has not been tamed, without regulation it would trample others' crops, and its inherent nature would be exposed. Therefore, those who always rely on the mental consciousness to remind themselves are still far from genuine practice. As for those whose mental consciousness is confused and unclear, they cannot even be said to have any practice at all. Only after the mental faculty is tamed and ignorance is eradicated can the actions of body, speech, and mind gradually become pure, spontaneous, and self-aware, requiring no further guarding.