The nature of continual scrutiny and deliberation is not fixed and unchanging

The continual scrutiny and deliberation of the manas refers to the characteristic of the manas in ordinary sentient beings; it is a sign of lacking wisdom, lacking meditative concentration, and having an impure mind. A person with meditative concentration will reduce the frequency of the manas' deliberation; a person with wisdom will let the mind empty out and no longer deliberate indiscriminately; when wisdom deepens, everything becomes clear, and there is no longer any need to deliberate. Once one cultivates to the point of a pure mind, the mind within is limpid and waveless, abiding in tranquility, with no mental preoccupations, and certainly will not deliberate at will.

Chan Master Shou'an of the Tang dynasty said: 南台静坐一炉香，终日凝然万虑亡。不是息心除妄想，只缘无事可思量。 The Chan masters realized the true reality of the Dharma realm; with regard to the world of the five aggregates, their minds are emptied, the mind attaches to nothing, deliberation ceases, and there is nothing left to deliberate about. After Chan Master Danxia attained enlightenment, nothing hung on his mind; so leisurely was he that he lay on the bridge every day. No matter who crossed the bridge, he closed his eyes and shut out what he heard, utterly refusing to engage in continual scrutiny and deliberation. What matter that has not been seen clearly would still warrant continual scrutiny and deliberation? Ordinary beings have very low wisdom and disordered minds; they cannot see clearly any of the affairs of the world, which they keep upon their minds, and so habitually engage in continual scrutiny and deliberation without a moment's rest—that is called being busy and chaotic.

The arhats have done what was to be done and will undergo no further existence; all worldly and world-transcending matters have been emptied out for them. They merely eat and sleep, maintaining basic life activities, and certainly do not engage in continual scrutiny and deliberation. A person who continually scrutinizes and deliberates does not even possess basic meditative concentration; unable to sort things out, such a person cannot enter nirvāṇa without remainder. One who at the time of death is still continually scrutinizing and deliberating, unable to let go of anything, cannot be reborn in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī), cannot evoke the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to extend their hands in welcome, and can only attract the karmic creditors of the shadowy realm.

Even the Chan masters who have just seen the Path in the Mahāyāna have nothing left to deliberate about; the Buddhas and the great bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis possess transcendent wisdom, and certainly do not engage in continual scrutiny and deliberation like ordinary beings. Why do ordinary beings continually scrutinize and deliberate? Because their merit is meager and they lack wisdom, they cannot see through worldly affairs; their minds are stuffed with miscellaneous matters and their thoughts are chaotic and disordered, so they cannot help but continually scrutinize and deliberate. Some people cannot even sleep soundly, dreaming chaotically all night and waking up utterly exhausted. Therefore, the nature of continual scrutiny and deliberation applies to ordinary beings who lack wisdom, lack meditative concentration, and have impure minds; it does not include sagely ones who possess the Way.

Even among ordinary sentient beings, whose manas has generally not been effectively regulated, they can still distinguish the relative urgency and importance of matters, and can also see through some things; many unnecessary matters are no longer kept on the mind, and so are not deliberated; matters too familiar to be thoroughly known by heart are also not deliberated. It is like someone who has already entered middle school: there is no need at all to deliberate about simple arithmetic and basic subject knowledge; matters held firmly in hand need no deliberation; matters seen clearly are no longer deliberated. It is evident that ordinary beings can also reduce continual scrutiny and deliberation, not constantly keeping the mind restlessly worrying over everything.

Although the manas has the function of deliberation, it need not be used at every moment; the less one deliberates, the more peaceful the mind. When there is too much rumination, the mind is anxious and fatigued, sleep is poor, and one must take sedatives to suppress the brain's activity. Meditative concentration can reduce and control scattered and disordered thoughts, effectively suppress the brain's activity, relax body and mind, and can also focus the mind to concentrate on deliberating a single problem, giving rise to wisdom. The deeper the meditative concentration, the fewer the mental preoccupations; the less one deliberates, the lighter it becomes, even to the point of none. The amount of deliberation varies from person to person and from time to time, changing at any moment. The less the ignorance, the higher the wisdom, the lower the desires, and the less need for deliberation.

If one empties out body and mind, sets aside many worldly dharmas and does not deliberate, purifies the mind and reduces desires, concentrates the mind and calms thought, so that meditative concentration and wisdom arise, one will realize the direction of the first fruit, the first fruit (srotāpanna), the second fruit (sakṛdāgāmin), the third fruit (anāgāmin), and the fourth fruit (arhat of the fourth fruit). The arhat has already departed from desire, has done what was to be done, and will undergo no further existence; he has nothing left to do in the human world, and deliberates very little. The Buddhas have perfectly possessed all wisdom, with not a single dharma unknown or unrealized; therefore they need not deliberate. They abide in the Land of Perpetual Stillness and Light (常寂光土), their minds quiescent and extinguished, still and without thought.

Deliberation and rumination are directly connected with a person's spirit and will. A person with a peaceful spirit manifests as calm in mind and spirit, even-tempered and composed, with little deliberation or none at all. A person with an unsettled spirit manifests as excessive rumination, vexation and confusion, wild fanciful thoughts, absent-mindedness, pondering back and forth, and a restless mind like a monkey and a horse. If a doctor understands the principles of spirit and will, and knows how to observe people's minds, then in treating illness he will treat the root, not merely treating symptoms without addressing the underlying cause—treating the head when the head aches and the foot when the foot aches—and he will also become a psychological therapist. If a psychological therapist knows how to observe people's minds, he will know what kind of psychological and emotional state leads to what kind of bodily reactions and symptoms, and then he can not only regulate psychological problems but also resolve bodily and physiological problems.