Mental Factors of the Mind base\: A Practical Compass (Second Edition) (with over 30,000 additional words, reorganized)
Chapter 5: The Relationship Between Mental Factors (caittas) and Seeds
I. Mental Factors Are the Operational Characteristics of the Mind
Mental factors (caittas) are the operational characteristics of the mind, that is, mental states, mental thoughts, mental activities, wholesome minds, unwholesome minds, neither-wholesome-nor-unwholesome minds, minds in meditative concentration (samādhi), distracted minds, wise minds, afflicted minds, minds of ignorance, and so on—their scope is extremely deep and broad. When these operational characteristics of the several consciousnesses run forth, the eighth consciousness records and stores them at all times and places, and they become seeds. Here, "seeds" refers to karmic seeds, not to the seeds of the seven great elements.
When body, speech, and mind are operating, the mental activities formed by the mental factors of the seven consciousnesses must all be recorded in the eighth consciousness, becoming karmic seeds. When the seventh consciousness, the manas, operates apart from the six consciousnesses, can the manas's mental factors still become karmic seeds? When the manas alone curses and utters vicious oaths, and someone is truly harmed, can this become a karmic seed? When the manas enters a relative's dream to seek help, enters an enemy's dream to frighten someone, or when the manas of a dying person comes to see oneself—can these all become karmic seeds? In the meditative absorption without perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti) and the cessation absorption (nirodha-samāpatti), can the manas's mental activities become karmic seeds? Can the meditative absorption of the devas in the heaven of non-perception become karmic seeds? In a coma, when there are no six consciousnesses, can this situation become a karmic seed? Does it count as receiving retribution? Sleeping more than ten hours a day, when there are no six consciousnesses—can this become a karmic seed? Does it count as karmic retribution? Devas need not enter the womb, but humans must enter the womb—is entering the womb karmic retribution? Can it become a karmic seed? Is the length of time spent in the womb karmic retribution? Can it become a karmic seed?
All of the above situations, all these mental activities, are karma, will all become karmic seeds, and all have karmic retribution. The first link of the twelve links of dependent origination: ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ). Although the manas's initial ignorance is not a karmic seed, because of ignorance the manas gives rise to the mind and reaches outward, wanting to discern some dharma; the tathāgatagarbha then accedes, and together they create the universe of the material world (the vessel-world). Afterwards, each person's tathāgatagarbha then creates the body of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), and thus karmic activity appears, and thereafter karmic seeds are stored into the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, as soon as the manas stirs, mental karma appears and karmic seeds are formed.
II. The Manas's Independent Mental Activities Are Karmic Actions and Also Store Seeds
When a Pure Land practitioner cultivates effectively in the Sahā world, the manas and the tathāgatagarbha go to the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) and manifest a lotus platform—this is a karmic seed; when the karmic seed matures, after death one is born transformationally within a lotus flower in the land of bliss—this is the karmic retribution of cultivation. During cultivation, a karmic seed is stored; when the seed matures, one receives wholesome retribution in the land of bliss. The manas, apart from the mind consciousness,促成 the appearance of the lotus platform in the land of bliss—this should also count as karmic action, and also as the fruit of cultivation. But whether this fruit can ultimately be obtained still depends on conditions, on whether the seed can mature; if one's cultivation regresses, the immature seed withers, the lotus platform in the land of bliss disappears, and one cannot attain rebirth at the time of death.
After sleeping through the night, upon waking in the morning, the mind consciousness figures out a matter and understands a principle. Throughout that night the mind consciousness did not appear; it was entirely the manas's own independent mental activity, yet as a result it figured out a matter, and when the mind consciousness appeared, it understood the matter. This also counts as karmic action, also stores seeds, and also has karmic retribution. If the manas spent the whole night recollecting the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), reciting mantras, or investigating Chan throughout the night, even without the mind consciousness appearing, this is still cultivation—and moreover the best cultivation, the most successful cultivation. It counts as karmic action, also stores seeds, and also has karmic retribution. However, the manas's independent mental activities and investigative activities are all the result of its previous cultivation together with the mind consciousness and of being influenced by the mind consciousness; therefore the manas's independent karmic actions also count as fruit.
If the manas discusses the Buddha-dharma with someone in the middle of the night, wisdom can also grow. If in the middle of the night it goes to seek the Dharma from Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, and Avalokiteśvara patiently answers, then upon waking, the mind consciousness understands and receives the sweet dew of the Buddha-dharma. If one falls seriously ill, and the manas goes in the middle of the night to seek medicine from an immortal or a bodhisattva, and after taking it, upon waking the next day the illness is cured—this counts as karmic action, stores seeds, and also has karmic retribution.
III. The Relationship Between Karmic Seeds and Mental Factors
The tathāgatagarbha's "knowing the mental activities of sentient beings" refers to knowing the manas's mental activities. Only when the manas's mental activities arise can the tathāgatagarbha know them, and then produce the seeds of the preceding six consciousnesses for it. All dharmas are brought about by the manas as the master and decision-maker; if the manas does not choose and act, the six consciousnesses do not arise. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha certainly cooperates with the manas and certainly knows the manas's mental activities, and only afterwards can it produce the six consciousnesses to complete the manas's mental activities. In the operation of all dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha's interaction is mainly with the manas, while also according with karmic seeds. When karmic seeds mature, regardless of whether the manas needs them, likes or dislikes them, the tathāgatagarbha will manifest the karmic conditions.
Karmic seeds are the record of the operation of mental factors; bodily, verbal, and mental actions are mental factors—all actions are mental factors. When mental factors are pure, actions are pure, and karmic seeds are pure. When mental factors change, karmic seeds change. Body and mind correspond: for example, when the mental factor of anger appears, the body changes; when the mental factors of tranquility (praśama) and meditative concentration appear, the body changes. Who changes the mental factors? It is the mental factors that change the mental factors themselves—self changing self—not the Buddha changing oneself, not the tathāgatagarbha changing oneself. Therefore, cultivation is in any case one's own cultivation; do not expect anyone to substitute for you, thinking that a bit of blessing will send you to heaven—it is not like that.
IV. Can the Manas Cause the Tathāgatagarbha to Store Dharmas in Important or Unimportant Locations?
Question: Some say: When the manas personally experiences a dharma it wants to grasp at, because the mind consciousness lacks an extremely strong intention to remember it, the manas, following the mind consciousness's judgment, will not cause the tathāgatagarbha to store it in an important location, and so after a long time it is forgotten. Can the manas cause the tathāgatagarbha to store dharmas in important or unimportant locations?
Answer: The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without marks; within it there are no locations, and it has no inside or outside. The karmic seeds formed by the six consciousnesses' actions are formless, markless information, and likewise cannot have form or location. Since there are no locations within the tathāgatagarbha, there is certainly no question of locations being important or unimportant. The tathāgatagarbha also cannot discern whether karmic seeds and karmic actions are important or not—He has no such judging ability and cannot distinguish which dharmas are important or not. Therefore the storing of karmic seeds cannot be done according to whether dharmas are important or unimportant. Furthermore, even if there were important and unimportant locations within the tathāgatagarbha, it would not be the manas causing the tathāgatagarbha to store seeds according to the importance of dharmas—this does not accord with the Dharma principle, nor with the principle of the tathāgatagarbha's natural, spontaneous storing of seeds as it inherently is (dharmatā).
In fact, all dharmas created by the body and mind of the five aggregates are stored into the mind-substance by the tathāgatagarbha at all times without discrimination. Different karma means different seeds; different mental activities mean different seeds; and the kalpas in which the seeds mature also differ. What does "different mental activities" mean? It means the manas's and mind consciousness's performance in the operation of dharmas: whether there are afflictive mental factors of greed, anger, and delusion; whether there is mindfulness or heedlessness; whether intentional or unintentional; what the views and concepts are; whether there is attachment; whether there is weariness and desire to leave; whether there is wisdom or lack of wisdom; whether it is a mind in meditative concentration or a distracted mind, and so on—the list goes on; in short, it is the mental factors of the several consciousnesses. When the mental activities of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses differ, their attention to dharmas differs, their application of mind differs, and the karmic seeds formed differ. To put it plainly, karmic seeds are the record of the mind's actions; when mental activities differ, the records naturally differ.
On the other hand, regarding experienced dharmas, the mind consciousness sometimes applies the mind wanting to remember them; the key is whether the manas also wants to remember them. If the manas does not want to remember, no matter how much the mind consciousness wants to remember, it is useless, and in the end nothing is remembered. Both remembering and not remembering store seeds, but the seeds stored are completely different. If one can distinguish the master-servant relationship between the manas and the mind consciousness, one will not elevate the mind consciousness's role so highly.
V. The Manas's Discernment of Karmic Seeds
When the tathāgatagarbha contacts matured karmic seeds, it actualizes them, causing karmic retribution to manifest. As for karmic seeds that have not yet matured, can the tathāgatagarbha contact them? Of course it can contact them and discern them. The superknowledge of a doubly liberated (ubhayato-bhāga-vimukta) arhat can know events of sentient beings up to eighty thousand great kalpas before and after. Why can the arhat know things that will only happen after such a long time? Because the arhat's manas, following its own tathāgatagarbha, discerns the karmic seeds that will only mature in future lives, and the mind consciousness, following the manas, can also discern the manifestation of future karmic seeds. What bodhisattvas on the bhūmis with superknowledge can know far exceeds the arhats, beyond even the range of eighty thousand great kalpas; the Buddha's power of superknowledge is even more supremely surpassing than the bodhisattvas', able to know events one or two incalculable kalpas later. For example, the Buddha predicts to an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva that he will become a Buddha at a certain time one incalculable kalpa later, and occasionally also predicts buddhahood for first-bhūmi bodhisattvas.
How do Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats discern events so long ago or so far in the future? These are all results of the combination of meditative concentration and wisdom. Which consciousness in Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats knows events long before and long after? It is the mind consciousness that knows; the mind consciousness knows from the manas, the manas knows from the tathāgatagarbha, and the tathāgatagarbha knows by discerning karmic seeds. But the content the tathāgatagarbha knows differs from the content known by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses.
If the Buddha observes sentient beings, He can observe their experiences from three incalculable kalpas ago, even from countless incalculable kalpas ago—how does this happen? Events that occurred long kalpas ago appear as if right before His eyes, just like watching events happening right now—this is observed by direct perception (pratyakṣa), a directly perceived realm. This includes events that will occur long kalpas hence, appearing as if right before His eyes. Events from long kalpas ago—the karma may have long since vanished and perished; events to occur long kalpas hence—the karmic seeds are far from mature. How does the Buddha know? Which consciousness knows? Some karmic seeds have not yet even formed, the karmic actions have not yet been performed—how does the Buddha know, how do bodhisattvas know, how do arhats know?
A non-Buddhist ascetic with superknowledge can also know events one or two years or several years in the future, where the karmic seeds are likewise not yet mature—which consciousness of his knows future events? Fortune-tellers can also know what will happen before the end of one's life. Even people without superknowledge: the tathāgatagarbha can contact unmatured karmic seeds, and the manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, can know what will happen in future lives—it is only that the mind consciousness cannot know it from the manas.
Only eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas have the interfunctioning of the six faculties; the great doubly liberated arhats also have the interfunctioning of the six faculties. Ordinary superknowledge is extremely far from the interfunctioning of the six faculties, yet it can also know future events. This knowing is the mind consciousness's knowing—so can the mind consciousness know unmatured karmic seeds of future lives? Clearly the mind consciousness cannot know karmic seeds, whether present, past, or future. But the manas, relying on the great-element function of seeing of the tathāgatagarbha, may know, and the mind consciousness, relying on the manas, can know future events. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra the Buddha said the manas silently encompasses all dharmas—"encompass" means to contain and receive; "all dharmas" are all the dharmas seen by the tathāgatagarbha, and the manas can see them all accordingly.
How does the manas see? This seeing is the function of the manas's five universal mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga-caitta); the tathāgatagarbha's seeing of karmic seeds is likewise the function of the five universal mental factors. After the tathāgatagarbha contacts the karmic seeds, it discerns the karmic actions and karmic fruits corresponding to them, and then presents these dharmas. The manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, contacts and attends to these dharmas, then accepts and receives them, then grasps at them, and finally gives rise to the mental factor of volition (cetanā), making choices regarding these dharmas and producing a series of reactions. Originally, wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, the five universal mental factors, and the five particular mental factors were used to create karmic actions and leave seeds; in the end, the five universal mental factors are used to discern karmic seeds and karmic fruits, and then the five universal mental factors are used to undergo karmic retribution. The relationship between mental factors and seeds is precisely this relationship of discerning and being discerned.
VI. The Driving Role of the Manas's Mental Factor of Desire (chanda)
Karmic seeds are formed when, after the manas desires to do something, the tathāgatagarbha cooperates by producing the six consciousnesses to act. But the appearance of many dharmas is not driven by the mind consciousness; it is entirely driven by the manas alone. For example, before the five appropriated aggregates have arisen there is no mind consciousness; it is the manas that prompts the tathāgatagarbha to produce the universe of the material world as the living environment, and then to produce the body of the five aggregates; only afterwards is there a mind consciousness, only then are there the actions of the five-aggregate body, and only then do karmic seeds appear. Before waking from sleep there is no mind consciousness; it is the manas that wants to wake up, and only then can one wake. During a coma there is no mind consciousness; it is the manas that, according to the body's condition, wants to wake up, and only afterwards are the six consciousnesses produced and one wakes up.
In the mother's womb there is initially no mind consciousness; it is the manas that wants to enter the womb and enters, wants to dwell in the womb and dwells, wants to be born and is born. In the meditative absorption without perception and the cessation absorption there is no mind consciousness; it is the manas dwelling in meditative concentration, and only upon emerging from absorption is the mind consciousness produced. In all these situations without mind consciousness, the manas has desire, and this desire drives the appearance of all dharmas. Whatever the manas experiences is recorded and stored as seeds by the tathāgatagarbha, all having influence on later lives—those with superknowledge can all discern this.
VII. Cultivation Is the Cultivation of Mental Factors
Body and mind mutually influence and are mutually connected, with an extremely close relationship—even moment by moment they mutually constrain. The three transformative-agency (parināma) consciousnesses change the material body moment by moment, and the material body moment by moment influences the feelings and thoughts of the consciousnesses.
The Buddha said that the seeds of the seven great elements within the tathāgatagarbha are forever pure, neither unwholesome nor wholesome; no matter what wholesome or unwholesome karma these seeds help sentient beings create, upon returning to the tathāgatagarbha they remain absolutely pure. Sentient beings are constituted of pure seeds of the seven great elements; it is only that the mental factors of the consciousnesses are impure. The wholesome and unwholesome manifested by body and mind are all caused and created by mental factors. Cultivation is in fact the cultivation of mental factors to change the minds of the seven consciousnesses—not the cultivation of the seeds of the seven great elements, nor the cultivation of the seeds of consciousness. Mental factors have both enlightenment and ignorance, both wholesomeness and unwholesomeness; in the beginning all is ignorance, and in the end all is enlightenment. The intermediate process is the process of cultivating the Path and cultivating the mind. From mental factors one can understand sentient beings' mental activities; from the changes in mental factors, one can understand the degree of sentient beings' cultivation and the degree of transformation of their mental activities. After the mind consciousness changes, causing the manas to change as well, body and mind immediately change; the transformation of body and mind is mainly the result of the manas's transformation. When meditative concentration appears in cultivation, the body immediately changes; therefore meditative concentration must be the manas having concentration. When the manas's mental activities transform and it no longer severely controls the material body and grasps at objects, meditative concentration appears and the material body changes.
VIII. Habitual Tendencies Have Seeds
When something is done frequently and becomes habitual, later when encountering similar matters, one will do it unconsciously, unable not to do it—this is called habitual tendency (vāsanā). Habitual tendencies reside in the manas; what the manas habitually does has habitual tendencies manifesting, and the mind consciousness is often unaware of the manas's habitual tendencies. Habitual tendencies divide into good and bad; bad habitual tendencies belong to ignorance and afflictions. The manas has had ignorance and afflictions since beginningless kalpas, called beginningless ignorance (ādikaulya-avidyā), which has no seeds. But before beginningless kalpas the manas had no afflictive habitual tendencies, because without the actions of a five-aggregate body, habitual tendencies could not be formed. Later, after the five-aggregate body was produced, the manas used the five-aggregate body to continuously manifest ignorance and afflictions, thus forming habitual tendencies, and the ignorance and afflictions created formed seeds. Therefore habitual tendencies have seeds, while beginningless ignorance has no seeds.
Life after life, in the operations of the five-aggregate body in the mundane world, ignorance is constantly increased and decreased, causing the habitual tendencies of ignorance to be constantly strengthened and weakened. Therefore, in the study and practice of the Buddha-dharma, all ignorance and afflictions to be severed are primarily the severing of the manas's afflictions. Once afflictions are severed, the manas's afflictive habitual tendencies and the six consciousnesses' peripheral afflictions will gradually disappear completely—but this is a process. In actual practice, the mind consciousness first subdues and severs afflictions, because the mind consciousness comprehends principles quickly; upon understanding correct principles it can cultivate and realize its own mind, whereas the manas's afflictive habitual tendencies are deep and heavy and it comprehends principles slowly, making self-correction difficult. Therefore, if the manas does not subdue and sever afflictions, after the mind consciousness's afflictions are severed they will arise again depending on the manas. Cultivation is to sever all of the manas's ignorance and increase the manas's enlightenment; when ignorance is completely severed and enlightenment reaches its limit, the Buddha Path is accomplished.
IX. Secrets in the Cooperation Between the Manas and the Mind Consciousness
There are many secrets in the cooperation between the manas and the mind consciousness waiting to be uncovered; it is not as simple as popularly circulated in the world. In the operation of all dharmas, in the process of cooperation between the mind consciousness and the manas, the seeds stored differ depending on the manas's mental activities and discernment regarding the dharmas and the mind consciousness, whether there is determination (adhimokṣa) or not; the seeds stored differ depending on whether the manas is mindful or heedless; the seeds stored differ depending on whether the mind consciousness or the manas dominates; and the seeds of which the mind consciousness knows but the manas has not realized their existence differ from the seeds of which the manas together with the mind consciousness has realized their existence. The Buddha-dharma is extremely subtle; it is not as popularly circulated among worldly people. Only those with deep and subtle wisdom can sort out its threads; those with insufficient wisdom should not draw conclusions arbitrarily.
