The Key to Governing Body, Speech, and Mind Lies in Taming the Mind Root

By mastering the manas (mind-root), one can master the actions of body, speech, and mind of the six consciousnesses. The manas of Arhats has long been subdued, with afflictions eradicated; they harbor no attachment or craving for the worldly realm. From the Third Fruition onward, their minds attain liberation, and their bodily, verbal, and mental actions become pure. When going out for alms, they keep their eyes fixed on the ground one foot ahead, with a lowered and compliant gaze, neither looking left nor right nor elsewhere. Their eyes do not engage randomly with forms, nor does their mind wander in thought, remaining either single-pointed or thought-free. When the eyes unavoidably encounter form objects, they simply recognize the form and cease, without generating feelings or perceptions, much less grasping. They leave no karmic seeds, undergo no further becoming, and their Four Dignified Deeds move both celestial and human beings.

If external conditions attempt to influence them, the consciousness remains untainted, and the manas is even less affected. Even if consciousness shows slight agitation, the manas remains unmoved, for afflictions have been utterly severed. Arhats do not use consciousness to urge, supervise, or regulate the manas; instead, the manas regulates consciousness. However, ordinary beings who are relatively advanced in practice must constantly use consciousness to guide, regulate, and restrain the manas in all places and at all times. Because the manas has not been influenced (through habitual tendencies), without regulation, it would trample others' crops, revealing its inherent nature. Thus, those who always rely on consciousness to remind themselves are still far from the Way. As for those whose consciousness itself is confused and unclear, they cannot even be said to have any practice at all. Only after the manas has been influenced, and ignorance is eradicated, can bodily, verbal, and mental actions gradually become pure, spontaneous, and self-aware, requiring no guarding.