After Enlightenment, One's Mental Conduct Is Transformed

The patriarchs of the Chan school said: 悟后不异旧时人，只是不是旧时行履处。 This means that after attaining realization, one is still the same person as before; it is only that the mental conduct with which one deals with people and affairs has changed, no longer the same as before, different from the mental conduct of the past. The way one applies the mind in doing things has changed, one's view of the world has changed, and one's views regarding the five-aggregate body have changed. These changes show that realization is not merely an awakening of the mind consciousness—the manas must also awaken. Only then, after awakening, can one be no different from the person of old, yet no longer dwell in the old modes of conduct. If one's modes of conduct have not changed, if one's mental conduct and disposition have not changed, then one should examine whether one's awakening is genuine or false.