Mind Consciousness Should Effectively Permeate and Transform the Manas

Many people, when facing situations and circumstances, involuntarily display emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and only afterward do they realize it; they then say that these emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were arranged long ago and are beyond their control. In fact, these are all the afflictive habitual tendencies of the manas, the manas' natural reactions, manifested through the six consciousnesses. After the emotions have manifested, the mind consciousness awakens and becomes clear, and only then does it discover that it just experienced joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. When the mind consciousness discovers this, it feels as though it were not something it could control, and so, having no alternative, it says these emotions were arranged long ago and are beyond its control. If the mind consciousness has a higher degree of awareness, better meditative concentration, and stronger powers of observation, it can observe some of the manas' emotions and mental states, and can even control the emotions to some extent. Especially in ordinary times, one should engage in much self-education, thereby permeating the manas and changing some of the manas' afflictive habitual tendencies that should not exist.

Some people's mind consciousness also has improper thoughts and emotions and lacks the ability to educate themselves and carry out effective psychological construction, so they make the excuse that no matter how the mind consciousness struggles, it cannot struggle out of the circle of the manas' habits. If the mind consciousness, no matter how it struggles, cannot escape the circle of the manas' habits, then what use is cultivation? Cultivation is precisely about using the mind consciousness to change the manas. If the mind consciousness struggles diligently enough, the manas will have no choice but to comply with the mind consciousness, and cultivation will then get on the right track.

Because of the manas' various mental activities, thoughts, and emotions, all kinds of bodily, verbal, and mental actions are brought forth. If one wishes to have pure and wholesome bodily, verbal, and mental actions, one must give full play to the mind consciousness's dynamic initiative and guiding role, actively guiding the manas toward goodness, and creating pure bodily, verbal, and mental actions as well as bodily, verbal, and mental actions endowed with merit. If the manas' habitual tendencies are too heavy, then even though the mind consciousness knows something is evil, it cannot change it—just like a drug addiction flare-up: even knowing the drugs harm oneself, one still takes them. When sentient beings' afflictions are heavy, even though they know it is affliction, even though they know afflictions have faults and dangers, their afflictions still do not cease. This is the state of beginning-stage practitioners; the path of cultivation is still very long.