The Most Ultimate Way to Hone the Manas

The common saying goes: You should sharpen your mind, not your teeth. What is the meaning behind this saying? What do the mind and the teeth each represent? What is the relationship between the two?

When people speak, their teeth move, and language is produced. Language is a function of the mind consciousness, superficial and frivolous, not necessarily endowed with wisdom. The head and brain, however, are the place where thinking gives birth to wisdom, representing a person's true wisdom—deep, profound wisdom with insight. The manas resides there, commanding body, speech, and mind like a commander-in-chief. Once the commander-in-chief makes a move, the teeth and the whole army obey the order. Therefore, one should let the manas, this commander-in-chief, grow in wisdom—sharpen the mind of the manas—and not devote one's energy to the teeth, this army engineer. Dealing with things merely by glib talk has no power and solves nothing.

Sharpening the manas is fundamental. Once the fundamental is sharpened and perfected, all dharmas will become perfected. Merely coping with words, dealing with things through language, cannot solve the fundamental problem; if the manas is not sharpened and refined, nothing is ultimate. Therefore, possessing a wise mind is far, far better than possessing sharp teeth, abundant language, and flowery eloquence. After all, it is the mind that truly represents oneself; the teeth and language do not represent one's true wisdom. A person without a wise mind commits evil karma as soon as they open their mouth, and moreover remains unaware of it; even when undergoing retribution, they do not know why, and there is no way to counteract it or save them.