When Mind and Mouth Are Not in Accord: Which Consciousnesses Do Verbal Speech and Mental Thinking Respectively Correspond To?

In daily life, we often encounter situations where people say one thing but mean another—words and heart at odds. For example, one inwardly feels hatred toward someone, yet the verbal and bodily actions displayed are compassion and loving care, concealing one's true inner thoughts. So are these true inner thoughts the mental activity of the mind consciousness or the mental activity of the manas? When we ordinary people can introspect and observe this state, it should belong to the mind consciousness; the true inner mind corresponds to the manas, so it should belong to the manas. But the manas is the sovereign consciousness, and the verbal and bodily actions displayed are the result of the six consciousnesses complying with the manas. So this compassion and loving care should also be the mental activity of the manas. Yet the so-called true inner thought we introspect—hatred toward someone—manifests as compassion and loving care, which is not the true inner thought. Where exactly does the problem lie?

When the mental activities of the mind consciousness and the manas are inconsistent, if the mind consciousness is powerful enough to override the manas, the manas has no choice but to submit to the mind consciousness's wishes, allowing it to speak and express itself according to its own ideas. But when it comes to getting things done, the manas still acts according to its own original intent. In this way, the mind consciousness's behavior represents only itself, not the manas. What is not the manas's intent is fakery—words and heart at odds. This is what the secular world calls "not speaking from one's heart": the mind consciousness does not speak or take a stance according to the manas's original intent. At such a time, the heart clearly harbors hatred, but the mind consciousness is unwilling to display this hateful mentality for others to see, because if others knew, they would consider one to be lacking in virtue. So, in order to appear virtuous, the mind consciousness puts on an appearance of great compassion and loving care toward others, in order to gain a good impression and good evaluations from them.

When pretending, it is entirely the mind consciousness's disguise. The mind consciousness can devise schemes or crafty plots and force the manas to agree; when the manas has no plan of its own, it also complies with the mind consciousness's arrangements. Once the mind consciousness relaxes its vigilance and no longer keeps watch over the manas, the manas will act according to its own true thoughts, and its true colors will show. Only the mental activity without the mind consciousness's disguise is a person's genuine virtue and cultivation. At such times, whether or not the manas has been cultivated can be seen.

The mind consciousness can exert a certain influence on the manas. If the mind consciousness's plans and ideas accord with the manas's mental activity, the manas will fully agree and can very quickly make a decision without hesitation. If the mind consciousness does not accord with the manas's mental activity, the manas will deliberate and ponder before making a decision. If the mind consciousness's analytical power is particularly strong and its persuasiveness great, then even if the manas does not quite approve, it will reluctantly agree. If the manas's position is very firm, the mind consciousness cannot make the manas comply and agree. If the manas is very stubborn, the mind consciousness also cannot persuade it.

If the manas is not controlled by the mind consciousness and acts entirely according to its own mental activity, this person will be very unrestrained, very innocent, very simple and honest, very willful, very stubborn—displaying entirely his own true colors: good is good, bad is bad, with a strong personality. If there is regulation by the mind consciousness, then the manas cannot fully display its true colors and must disguise itself to varying degrees, especially in front of others, and especially in front of people with whom one has vested interests—one must put on a disguise. This is because the manas is not yet good enough and therefore needs disguise; when there are people and matters one cares about, one cannot act freely according to one's nature.

If a person's inherent nature is habitual lying with lie upon lie, it shows that the manas's essential character is very bad. If the mind consciousness does not regulate it, it can never change. If the manas has no habit of lying and does not like to lie, but at times the mind consciousness insists on lying to cover up certain facts, this is disguise—the mind consciousness giving wrong guidance to the manas.