How the Tathāgatagarbha Records Karmic Actions and Outputs Karmic Seeds (Part 4)

To be more specific, let me give another analogy to illustrate the entire process of the tathāgatagarbha outputting seeds of consciousness and taking them back. Take a water pump as an analogy: what the water pump outputs is circulating water, and the tathāgatagarbha is like the water pump. The seeds of consciousness output by the tathāgatagarbha are like droplets of water. The water pump can send water out drop by drop, forming a water flow, and this water flow corresponds to the stream of consciousness formed by the tathāgatagarbha outputting seeds. After the water pump sends the water out, the route the water travels brings back the surrounding objects—soil, dust, grass and trees, pearls, and so on. Wherever the water flows, it brings back the debris in those places. The water is sent out and then returns, because the pump works with circulating water—what is called circulating water means that the water, once sent out, will return to the pump and then be sent out again.

If there is debris in the water pump, it will carry the debris out along with the water: if it is emery sand, it brings out emery sand; if it is soil, it brings out soil; if it is weeds, it brings out weeds. Then, along the route the water flow travels, it will also bring some debris back to the water pump along the way. In this way, the water is no longer the original water that was sent out, but water carrying debris. These objects may be filthy things, or they may be pure treasures. Among them there is soil, dust and sand, and things like waterweeds; perhaps it also carries other treasures, such as emery sand, jewels, and the like. The route the water travels corresponds to the realms of the six sense objects, and the water flow corresponds to the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of sentient beings. Along the route that the six consciousnesses of sentient beings travel, they bring back the bodily, verbal, and mental actions they have engaged in toward the realms of the six sense objects, among which there are defiled and pure karmic actions.

So what does this water pump store? It stores not only water, but also all the debris the water has brought back along the way—whether filthy things or pure things, emery sand and jewels, or stones, earth, and mud—all of it is brought back. The more things brought back, the more will be output along with the water in the future. When the pump has stored a lot and is full, it becomes easy to output; the more it carries, the more easily the conditions ripen, and the more easily the pump sends these debris out. If it carries a lot of emery sand and this condition ripens, then when the pump outputs water, the water is sent out carrying the emery sand—the water flow carries treasures, and the water flow becomes very precious.

If the water flow carries a lot of soil and dust along the way, and this is stored in the pump, then when the pump sends out water, it will also send out the debris—soil, dust, stones, or weeds—together with it. Such water is called filthy water, corresponding to the evil karma of the conscious mind, and this process is called circulation. After being sent out, the water flow returns again, and what it brings back on the return journey may be different: perhaps it brings back emery sand again, perhaps soil and dust again, perhaps other things; perhaps the emery sand is cast off, perhaps the soil is cast off—none of this is certain.