Start From the Root
July 28, 2007 
In Buddhism, cultivation means correcting one’s wrong actions. There are so many actions that we cannot name them all. But we can group these innumerable actions into three categories: physical—what one does, verbal—what one says, and mental—what one thinks. All actions fall into these three categories and are thus called three karmas. or karmic activities.
Doing something wrong, saying something wrong, or thinking something wrong—these are all erroneous actions. Correcting erroneous actions is called cultivation and this correcting should start from the mind.
In Buddhism it is said “Cultivation should start from the root.” What is “the root”? The mind is the root; that is, our thought is the root. It is the root of our speech and behavior.
If our mind is proper, then our speech and behavior will also be proper. If our mind is not proper, then it is hard for us to pretend to be proper. People will quickly see through our pretense. Therefore, we should cultivate from the mind.
~ Venerable Master Chin Kung
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