The Relationship Between Rūpa-kāya and Citta

A poor physical body condition can affect the six consciousnesses and the mental faculty. The body faculty is merely like a piece of wood composed of the four great elements, devoid of any sensation. If the physical body could feel, a corpse should also feel, and so should wood and stones. What can feel must be the conscious mind, not material form. The body and mind mutually influence each other because different states of the body's four great elements cause the Tathagatagarbha to manifest different internal six dusts accordingly, particularly different tactile dust. This results in different sensations in the conscious mind, different thoughts and behaviors, and consequently different decisions made. Similarly, the conscious mind can also influence and alter the material four great elements of the body. If the mental faculty believes it can accomplish certain tasks and possesses strong willpower, it can perform well even when the physical body's condition is less than optimal, and the state of the physical body can also change.