Manifestations of Diligence in the Mental Faculty

Ruchun: Through contemplative observation, I discovered that attachment to the five aggregates is the root, while attachment to the mundane world is the manifestation. I then tried to combine the five aggregates and the mundane world with the principles of suffering, emptiness, and impermanence for contemplation. The mind-base (manas) became very vigorous, filled all day long with the Dharma of contemplation, unable to be shaken off or dismissed. At night, unable to sleep, with a head that felt swollen and hot, I had to get up and write down the content of the contemplation to clear and cool my mind. After writing, I lay down again but continued to think, as if my mind could not stop. This cycle repeated until around four in the morning, when I finally drifted off into a dazed sleep.

Not long after falling asleep, I suddenly felt my body shaking. Waking up to see what was happening, I realized it was the rhythmic sound of a distant train. In my drowsy state, I thought I was sitting in a vehicle. I got up again at seven o’clock. Ordinarily, my tendency toward sloth and torpor (sleepiness) is quite strong, but when the mind-base is diligent, it seems able to go without sleep or rest. Once this Dharma is fully contemplated and the mind-base is satisfied, I can relax and sleep well.

Commentary: The five aggregates include the mundane world; the realm of the five aggregates is precisely the mundane world. When one is diligent in practice, the mind-base shifts its attachment from worldly concerns to attachment to contemplation, reflection, and the realization of the Buddha’s Dharma. When the mind’s thoughts turn, karma turns, and the results change. If the mind’s thoughts cannot be redirected, the mind has not yet fully focused on the path, karma does not turn, and the retributive results do not change. Ruchun’s diligence is entirely the proactive diligence of the mind-base, without needing the conscious mind to urge it. On the contrary, the conscious mind is pulled around by the mind-base, unable to obtain sufficient rest.