The True Meaning of Being Perfumed and Retaining Seeds

Some people say that the sixth consciousness cannot perfuse and taint the seventh consciousness, and can only perfuse and taint the eighth consciousness. Is this statement correct? The key is to look at what the purpose of the sixth consciousness's perfusion is, and whether the eighth consciousness can be perfused. When the sixth consciousness encounters the Buddha-dharma, it feels it is excellent, that it can eradicate ignorance and attain liberation. So it diligently studies and practices, single-mindedly seeking liberation. In this study and practice, does it perfuse the eighth consciousness, or does it perfuse the seventh consciousness?

When the sixth consciousness studies Buddhism and cultivates, can it perfuse the eighth consciousness and make the eighth consciousness also study Buddhism and cultivate? The sixth consciousness has ignorance and wants to eradicate ignorance—can it make the eighth consciousness eradicate ignorance? Does the eighth consciousness have ignorance? The Heart Sutra says that (the eighth consciousness) has no ignorance, and also no ending of ignorance. Since the eighth consciousness has no ignorance, what would be the point of perfusing it? The eighth consciousness is unarmed, deaf, mute, and blind—how could He study Buddhism and cultivate?

The eighth consciousness has no unwholesome dharmas, so how could He abandon evil and follow goodness like the sixth consciousness? The sixth consciousness wants to become a Buddha, wants liberation, wants nirvāṇa—how could the eighth consciousness have such mental activities? He Himself is the Tathāgata, He is liberated and at ease, He Himself abides in the nirvāṇa state of neither arising nor ceasing, neither moving nor still, neither coming nor going, suchness is immovable (tathatā-acalita)—what more do you want Him to do?

To have the eighth consciousness cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment—would He understand? Is it necessary for Him to cultivate? To have Him cultivate precepts, meditation (samādhi), and wisdom—He already has precepts, meditation, and wisdom, no teaching needed. To have Him eradicate afflictions—He has no afflictions at all, so how could He eradicate them?

Those who want to perfuse the eighth consciousness simply do not understand what the eighth consciousness is, do not know what perfusion is, or what the meaning of perfusion is. And so there are all kinds of anxious fretting, all kinds of deluded thinking, putting a head on top of a head, drawing legs on a snake—tossing and turning for decades, still not knowing why one studies Buddhism.

The manas has been together with ignorance since beginningless kalpas, entangled by ignorance. After the six consciousnesses are born, the manas transmits ignorance to the six consciousnesses, perfusing the sixth consciousness. After studying Buddhism, when the sixth consciousness awakens, it will lead the manas to awaken together, perfusing the manas with a little bit of enlightenment, gradually eradicating ignorance bit by bit. In this process, when the manas is perfused, seeds are produced and stored in the eighth consciousness for preservation, to be used in future lives. How are they used in future lives? When the conditions of the seeds ripen, they again perfuse the sixth consciousness; after the sixth consciousness awakens, it again studies Buddhism and cultivates, perfusing the manas, forming new seeds that are stored in the eighth consciousness. In this way, like a snowball rolling, the seeds perfusing the manas become more and more numerous, larger and larger, and ignorance becomes thinner and thinner, until finally all ignorance is eradicated and sentient beings become Buddhas.

The eighth consciousness, throughout this process, continuously receives, stores, and outputs the perfused seeds—His contribution is indispensable. If there were no eighth consciousness to store seeds and output seeds, cultivation would be merely a game; even if one cultivated, it would be as if one had cultivated in vain, with nothing retained, and in future lives there would be no merit to draw upon. The process of the eighth consciousness storing seeds is called receiving perfusion and holding seeds (受熏持种).

Classical texts are not something everyone can dissect and deeply understand the meaning of. The profound Buddha-dharma is also not something everyone can accurately fathom through speculation with the brain. No one should be self-righteous, thinking themselves to be this or that. To achieve this or that is extremely difficult, requiring immense roots of goodness, merit, and wisdom. There are also people who say that one can cultivate and become a Buddha without the eighth consciousness—who knows what they think they can use to become a Buddha. Not even recognizing one's own master, one's own benefactor of countless kalpas—the mind really should be opened up a bit.