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

By mastering the manas (mind faculty), one can master the actions of the body, speech, and mind of the six consciousnesses. The manas of Arhats has long been subdued, with afflictions eradicated; they harbor no attachment or craving for the mundane world. Beginning from the third fruition, their minds attain liberation, and their bodily, verbal, and mental actions become pure. When going out for alms, they look at the ground one foot ahead, lowering their gaze with humility, not glancing left or right or elsewhere. Their eyes do not engage objects indiscriminately, and their minds do not give rise to random thoughts, abiding in single-mindedness or no-mind. When the eyes inevitably encounter form objects, they simply recognize the form and stop there, giving rise to neither sensation nor perception, much less grasping. They leave no karmic seeds, undergo no further rebirth, and their dignified deportment in the four postures moves both celestial and human beings.

If external conditions exert influence, even the consciousness remains unaffected, let alone the manas. Even if the consciousness shows slight agitation, the manas remains unmoved, for afflictions have been completely severed. Arhats do not use consciousness to urge, supervise, or regulate the manas; instead, the manas regulates the consciousness. However, ordinary beings who are relatively advanced in practice must constantly use consciousness to supervise, regulate, and restrain the manas everywhere and at all times, because the manas remains uninfluenced. Without regulation, it would trample the sprouts (commit transgressions), and its inherent nature would be exposed. Therefore, those who always rely on consciousness to remind themselves are still far from genuine cultivation. As for those whose consciousness itself is confused and unclear, they cannot even be said to have any practice at all. Only after the manas is influenced and ignorance is eradicated can bodily, verbal, and mental actions gradually become pure, spontaneous, and self-aware, requiring no further guarding.