How the Tathāgatagarbha Records Karmic Actions and Outputs Karmic Seeds (Nine)

After the water pump sends the water out, it will certainly carry out the vajra sand, carrying out sand, dirt, mud, rotten grass and the like, sending them out together with the water through the pump. Once they are sent out, the water is divided into the pure and the defiled. It is the same with our bodily, verbal, and mental actions: when the tathāgatagarbha sends out the stored karmic seeds, they certainly carry purity and defilement, because the karmic seeds themselves are divided into wholesome, unwholesome, and defiled. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of our six consciousnesses, or the mental activities of the seventh consciousness, the manas, carry wholesome and unwholesome qualities, carry purity and defilement, and then create anew and store anew. If only unwholesome karma were created, sentient beings would have no way to escape the ocean of suffering of saṃsāra and karma.

If our karmic conditions are relatively good and we have a certain amount of merit, we will encounter wholesome conditions, and our bodily, verbal, and mental actions will follow along in creating wholesome karma, at the same time perfuming the manas again, transforming the defilement of the manas. The seeds will then be replaced and renewed, the mind-ground will gradually settle into tranquility, and in the future we will receive wholesome retribution. When the six consciousnesses encounter a good condition, a pure external environment, it is like a water pump sending water to a place with vajra sand, a place with jewels: the water current will carry back some vajra sand and jewels, leaving behind some of the sand, dirt, and rotten grass, and the contents of the water will undergo a transformation. When our six consciousnesses encounter a pure environment, wholesome states, they will create pure and wholesome karmic actions, and the consciousness seeds will carry those pure and wholesome karmic actions back into the tathāgatagarbha to be stored, and in the future wholesome retribution will be received.

If there are no wholesome conditions, and the environment the six consciousnesses encounter is bad, the states unwholesome, then our six consciousnesses may follow the evil environment and create unwholesome actions of greed, anger, and delusion. The unwholesome karma will be recorded and stored, and in the future it will be output, and evil retribution will be received. It is like the water current carrying back that sand and filth, so that more and more filth is stored in the water pump; when it is output again, it is all dirty matter, all pollution. If the creation of our bodily, verbal, and mental actions becomes more and more defiled, the karmic seeds are all stored in the tathāgatagarbha, and what is sent out is entirely defiled—there will only be the result of receiving evil retribution, never wholesome retribution. Then, within the cycle of birth and death, one will live in considerable suffering.

Once we understand the entire process by which the tathāgatagarbha records, stores, and outputs karmic seeds, we must create our bodily, verbal, and mental actions with care. If our mental activities contain the afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion, being extremely vile, they will be stored as seeds of unwholesome karma, and when the conditions ripen, evil retribution—defiled retribution—will be received. Anger has the retribution of anger, greed has the retribution of greed, delusion has the retribution of delusion; as long as karmic actions are created, there will be corresponding retribution. Karmic cause and effect leave nothing out whatsoever, because all actions and creations are stored in the tathāgatagarbha, and He will sooner or later send them all out one day. They cannot remain in the tathāgatagarbha forever; when they are sent out, that is the time of receiving evil retribution.

Therefore, when creating our bodily, verbal, and mental actions, we must be careful and careful again, cautious and cautious again. Whatever the body is about to do must be carefully considered; whatever the mouth is about to say must be carefully considered; whatever the mind is about to think must be carefully considered. Do not carelessly and inattentively create bad bodily, verbal, and mental actions, bringing upon yourself bad and evil retribution—that would not be worth the loss. Even if we encounter disagreeable and vile states, we should endure them as much as possible, contemplate carefully, act cautiously, not be swayed by the vile states, keep a firm hold on our own minds, and not create unwholesome actions. Once the manas has been perfumed by wholesome conditions to a certain degree, then even when encountering any evil state, one will be able to refrain from creating unwholesome karmic actions—at that point, things will be well.