The Precept Body Itself Has the Meritorious Function of Preventing Wrongdoing and Stopping Evil.

In upholding the precepts, it is already quite good for a practitioner to avoid committing unwholesome bodily and verbal actions, but mental karma is very difficult to guard. If the mind always abides in right mindfulness, then wrong thoughts will have no opportunity to arise—this is keeping the precepts. What is right mindfulness? Recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), recollection of the Dharma, recollection of the noble Saṅgha, and mindfulness that all conditioned things are impermanent, all dharmas are without self, and nirvāṇa is tranquility. The more deeply one understands the methods of cultivating the mind, the more mental karma will diminish; as meditative concentration (samādhi) strengthens, mental karma will also diminish; and by understanding the principle of cause and effect, one's vigilance of mind becomes heightened.

In keeping the precepts, the first thing is to clearly understand the principles, not to forcibly control one's own behavior. Once the principles are understood, the manas is influenced by them, and mental karma will naturally not manifest. Among all practices, understanding the principles is the most important, for right views can guide one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions; secondly, deep meditative concentration can subdue afflictions; and finally, one must understand causes and reach their results—knowing that the arising of this matter can summon the fruit of that matter, and understanding that at the very moment all bodily, verbal, and mental karmic actions are performed, one's tathāgatagarbha has already recorded them, and the karmic retribution will certainly come to fruition—thereby the mind's vigilance is raised. All of this involves a process. After receiving the precepts and obtaining the essence of the precepts, the essence of the precepts itself has the meritorious function of preventing wrongs and stopping evil. This is even more so with the bodhisattva precept essence: the bodhisattva precepts are precepts of the mind, and to keep them completely without violation, one must cultivate to a certain bodhisattva stage; before that, violations are inevitable, differing only in severity. Receiving the bodhisattva precepts brings immense benefits: one's vigilance is greatly increased, and with the protection of Dharma-protecting virtuous deities, progress on the Path advances rapidly.