The Relationship between Physical Body Repair and Mind

If you want the qi to sink into the dantian, just breathe deeply and let the qi descend all the way down to the dantian; combined with visualization—visualizing the qi reaching the dantian—you can guide the qi to the dantian. Keeping the mind on the dantian can also draw the qi to the dantian; the qi follows the mind, and wherever the mind goes, the qi and blood will follow. But is this "mind" the mind of the manas, or the mind of the mind consciousness? 

The functions and operations of the physical body are of two kinds: one is the operation of the tathāgatagarbha alone, and the other is the combined functional operation of the manas working together with the tathāgatagarbha. To put it plainly, most of the functions of the physical body involve an element of the manas' attention (manaskāra); where the manas' mind does not reach, many things cannot be accomplished. The mind consciousness may attend to and guard the dantian all it wants, but there will be no real effect. When the mind consciousness guards the dantian, it is a false guarding—the qi will not follow it there. The mind consciousness cannot guide the qi or the blood; it can only guide the manas, and this is the mind consciousness' greatest and most useful ability. 

The repair and regulation of the tissues and cells of the physical body also involve, in part, the participation of the manas. If the manas cooperates actively, maintains an optimistic attitude, and is neither anxious nor impatient, the body's positive energy will rise, and the body will repair itself more quickly. Whether or not the manas participates makes a great difference in the repair of the physical body. For example, during acupuncture, if you add mental intention—adding it to the tip of the needle—the effect is very obvious and rapid, and the physical body can change immediately. If someone has cultivated genuine qi and uses it in combination with acupuncture, the effect is even more remarkable—enough to transform the four great elements of the body, so that the physical body recovers quite rapidly and may be restored almost instantly. If there is genuine qi circulating in the body, and one pours it with the palm into another person's back, the stronger the mental intention, the more qi enters the body and the faster the qi circulates within it, and the body will improve immediately. When the qi and blood are abundant, the body is healthy. 

Wherever the mind goes, the qi goes; therefore, when the manas actively participates in the repair of the physical body, recovery is quite rapid. Where the mind does not reach, circulation is not smooth, or does not occur at all. For example, if one's attention is scattered while eating, digestion will be poor; and right after a meal, if one concentrates intently on thinking about problems, the qi and blood of the stomach will be insufficient, which also impairs digestion—and over the long term, stomach illness will develop. Another example: if one's attention is scattered while urinating or defecating, the elimination will be obstructed and not smooth. Thus the force of mental intention is extremely great. How is this force of mental intention produced? When the power of meditative concentration (samādhi) increases, the power of the mind grows stronger, and this power of the mind is precisely the power of mental intention.