The Mental Volition Determines the Good and Evil of Karmic Seeds

Question: Some say: After the manas personally experiences a certain dhamma that it seeks to cling to, if the consciousness does not have an extremely strong intention to remember it, the manas, following the judgment of consciousness, will not cause the Tathagatagarbha to store it in a very important location. Consequently, over time, it is forgotten. Can the manas cause the Tathagatagarbha to store a dhamma in an important location or an unimportant location?

Answer: The Tathagatagarbha is formless and signless; there are no locations within it, nor does it have inside or outside. The karmic seeds formed by the actions of the six consciousnesses are formless and signless information, likewise without form or location. Since there are no locations within the Tathagatagarbha, there certainly cannot be any distinction of important or unimportant locations. The Tathagatagarbha also cannot discern the importance or unimportance of karmic seeds and karmic actions; it lacks this judgmental ability and cannot distinguish which dhammas are important or unimportant. Therefore, the storage of karmic seeds cannot possibly be based on the importance of the dhamma.

To take a step back, even if there were important and unimportant locations within the Tathagatagarbha, it would not be the manas that causes the Tathagatagarbha to store seeds based on the importance of the dhamma. This contradicts the Dharma principles and is incompatible with the natural, spontaneous functioning of the Tathagatagarbha's inherent nature in storing seeds.

In reality, all dhammas created by the actions of the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) are indiscriminately stored by the Tathagatagarbha into the mind-body at all times. Different karmas result in different seeds; different mental activities result in different seeds; and the kalpas (aeons) for the seeds to mature also vary. What does "different mental activities" mean? It refers to the manifestations of the manas and consciousness in the operation of dhammas—whether there is greed, hatred, or delusion; whether it is intentional or unintentional; what the thoughts and views are; whether there is attachment or aversion; whether it is with wisdom or without wisdom; whether the mind is concentrated or scattered, and so on and so forth. In short, it encompasses the mental factors (caitasika) of the several consciousnesses. The mental activities of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses differ, their focus on dhammas differs, their application of mind differs, and thus the karmic seeds formed differ. To put it simply, karmic seeds are records of the mind's behaviors; different mental activities naturally result in different records.

On the other hand, regarding the dhammas experienced, sometimes the consciousness intends to remember them. The key point is whether the manas also intends to remember them. If the manas does not wish to remember, no matter how much the consciousness wants to remember, it is useless, and ultimately it cannot be remembered. Both remembering and not remembering store seeds, but the seeds stored are completely different. If one can distinguish the subordinate relationship between the manas and consciousness, one will not overemphasize the role of consciousness so highly.