The Relationship Between Mind Movement and Energy

Let us observe carefully: when the mind stirs, does the body faculty move along with it? When the mind stirs, does the material body undergo changes? When the manas moves, do the brain and nervous system undergo changes? When the manas gives rise to a thought, there is certainly an accompanying production of brainwaves. When the mind stirs—for example, when greed arises—water is produced in the body; when anger arises, one's hair stands on end in fury and one's face turns red and neck grows thick. In other words, as soon as the mind stirs, the body faculty changes. In fact, all these bodily changes are caused by the greed and anger of the manas. When the conscious mind feels embarrassed, the material body also changes—for instance, blushing and mental panic appear. When the mental activities of the mind consciousness influence the manas, the material body will exhibit certain reactions. That is why it is said that body and mind are mutually dependent and mutually influential.

The manas itself is also a conscious mind; it has feelings, thoughts, and thoughts-ideas. As soon as thoughts and ideas become active, brainwaves are produced; with brainwaves, energy and heat are emitted, resulting in a flushed face and heat, a body burning hot, restlessness and agitation, blood surging, whole-body trembling, gesticulating with hands and feet, and so on. When the mental thoughts of the manas move, brainwaves are produced in the brain. The electric-current-like fluctuations in the brain are a form of energy, which spreads rapidly throughout the whole body like an electric current. This energy is similar to kinetic energy and is material form (rūpa). Therefore, when the mind of the manas stirs, it can set the whole body in motion, and the energy can pervade the entire body.

How can the mind cause the energy of material form to arise? This is a very great secret. The arising, ceasing, and transformation of material energy is, in the final analysis, the function of the three transformative consciousnesses (tri-pariṇāma-vijñāna). The eighth consciousness is the first transformative consciousness, which specifically provides the seeds of the four great elements and the five great elements, generating the energy of material form, including thermal energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy. These energies are aggregated from the arising, ceasing, and transformation of the four great elemental particles—molecules, atoms, electrons, ions, and so on—within material form. If the seeds were not arising and ceasing moment by moment, the kinetic energy within the particles could not be aggregated. The seed of the space element forms the space within the particles, enabling the particles to undergo arising-ceasing movement along certain orbits. It is precisely the arising and ceasing of these seeds and the movement of these particles that produce kinetic energy, potential energy, and thermal energy. These energies can instantly pervade the whole body, flowing through the capillaries and meridians of the entire body.

Why does the eighth consciousness produce these energies? Because of the stirring of the mind of the manas, the second transformative consciousness. The eighth consciousness transforms the seeds of the four great elements in accordance with the changes in the mental factors (caittas) of the manas, and the energy of material form is thereby produced, transformed, and circulated, spreading from the central nervous system of the brain throughout the whole body. The manas's commands are thus issued through the central nervous system to the whole body; the third transformative consciousness—the six consciousnesses—arises, mental activities (citta-saṃskāra) appear, bodily and verbal activities operate, and the manas's commands are instantly accomplished, without gods knowing and ghosts perceiving—extremely swift. The operations involved are infinitely mysterious, infinitely complex, infinitely precise, infinitely fast, and infinitely illusory; one may say it is an interwoven net of illusions, unfathomably mysterious.

The mind can also cause the arising of energy that is not material form, called mental strength—for example, powerful mental force, unyielding fortitude, indomitable perseverance, courage and tenacity, high spirits, fighting spirit, eagerness to try, restless anticipation, indomitable persistence, surging enthusiasm, boundless vigor, and so on. These mental strengths enable a person to overcome all difficulties; they are a priceless treasure for accomplishing all endeavors. The energy of material form may have a price, but the power of the mind is priceless, and it can develop material energy. Therefore, the activities of the conscious mind can prompt the material body to generate energy; the energy initially produced is the brainwave, which contains kinetic energy, thermal energy, and potential energy.

The manifestations of energy in the material body include, for example, a swollen head, a flushed face, a thick neck, feeling hot, feeling cold, and bodily movement. From these states one can see that the manas has mental activity, has thoughts, has deliberation (manasikāra). As soon as the manas moves, the material body moves along with it. Herein lies the manifestation of body and mind leaning on each other, being mutually dependent and mutually influential. The seven consciousnesses themselves are formed by the moment-to-moment arising and ceasing of consciousness seeds linked together. The arising and ceasing of consciousness seeds can also produce non-material energy, which keeps the seven consciousnesses constantly flowing, transmigrating, and engaging in activities, with mental factors (caittas) continuously arising—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness; partings and reunions; deep contemplation and meditation—giving rise to faith and conviction, thereby driving the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the energy of material form. There are very many mysteries here that need to be observed and explored; if meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom are insufficient, they cannot be observed.

The six sense objects (ṣaḍ-viṣaya) are phenomena formed by the moment-to-moment arising and ceasing of the seeds of the four great elements. The seeds arising and ceasing, ceasing and arising, constitute a driving force that propels the flow and transformation of the six sense objects, endowing the six sense objects with material properties and energetic effects. The seeds are like waves in the ocean: the waves of arising and ceasing propel the ceaseless flow of the great sea, thereby producing the energy of motion. Energy is produced by the phenomenon of arising and ceasing; one arising and one ceasing, one ceasing and one arising, is motion, and where there is motion there is energy. The seeds of the four great elements are always arising and ceasing at an extremely rapid rate, one after another without interruption, arising, ceasing, and transforming very quickly, and flowing along certain orbits in their arising and ceasing—thus energy waves are produced.

Energy is a kind of force, including the force of the mind and the force of matter. The force of matter is produced by the rapid movement of particles; the essence of material movement is the arising-ceasing transformation of the seeds of the four great elements, with the addition of external forces causing the arising-ceasing transformation of the seeds of the four great elements to run along certain trajectories. The production of force is radiated and reflected by the phenomenon of arising and ceasing; without arising and ceasing there is no force. The existence of force signifies that all worldly dharmas are arising and ceasing, ceasing and arising endlessly, or are phenomena of arising and ceasing within a certain period of time, producing energy. These phenomena are precisely the direction of research in modern science's quantum mechanics.