The Relationship Between Bīja and Caitasika Dharmas

The mental factors are the manifestations of the mind's functioning, encompassing mental states, thoughts, mental activities, wholesome minds, unwholesome minds, minds that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome, concentrated minds, scattered minds, wise minds, ignorant minds, minds of delusion, and so forth, covering a very profound and extensive scope. When these manifestations of the various consciousnesses arise, the eighth consciousness records and stores them everywhere and at all times, turning them into seeds. Here, seeds refer to karmic seeds, not the seven great seeds.

When body, speech, and mind operate, the mental factors and mental activities of the first seven consciousnesses are all recorded in the eighth consciousness, becoming karmic seeds. When the seventh consciousness, the mental faculty (manas), operates separately from the six consciousnesses, can its mental factors still become karmic seeds?

Can the mental faculty's solitary acts, like uttering curses or making poisonous vows, which genuinely harm someone, become karmic seeds? Can instances like the mental faculty entering a relative's dream to plead for help, or entering an enemy's dream to threaten them, or causing a dying person to appear to oneself, etc., become karmic seeds? In the concentrations of no-thought (asamjni-samapatti) and cessation (nirodha-samapatti), can the mental activities of the mental faculty become karmic seeds, such as the duration of the concentration? Can the concentration state of beings in the Heaven of No-Thought (Asamjni-sattva) become karmic seeds?

During unconsciousness when the six consciousnesses are absent, can this situation become karmic seeds? Does it constitute retribution? Sleeping for over ten hours a day, during which time the six consciousnesses are absent – can this become karmic seeds? Does it constitute karmic fruition? Celestial beings do not need to enter a womb, while humans must. Does entering a womb constitute karmic fruition? Can it become karmic seeds? Does the duration of time in the womb constitute karmic fruition? Can it become karmic seeds? When the mental faculty together with the Tathagatagarbha goes to the Pure Land to construct lotus palaces, can this become karmic seeds? Is it karmic fruition?

After sleeping all night, upon waking in the morning, one suddenly comprehends a matter or understands a principle. Do the mental activities of the mental faculty throughout this night constitute karma? Are seeds stored? Is there karmic fruition? If the mental faculty spent the whole night reciting Buddha's name, reciting mantras, reading Buddhist scriptures, or engaged in Chan meditation throughout the night, does this also constitute practice? Can one attain a result from practicing Chan meditation? If the mental faculty went to discuss the Dharma with someone in the middle of the night, can this increase wisdom in the future? If one went to ask Bodhisattva Guanyin for Dharma instruction in the middle of the night, and Guanyin patiently provided answers, upon waking up, would one then obtain the nectar of the Dharma? If one falls seriously ill, goes to seek medicine from an immortal or a Bodhisattva in the middle of the night, takes it, and recovers the next day – does this constitute karmic fruition? Can it be stored as karmic seeds? All the above situations and various mental activities constitute karma, will all be stored as karmic seeds, and all entail karmic fruition.

In the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, the first link is: Ignorance conditions volitional formations. Although the initial ignorance of the mental faculty is not a karmic seed, because of this ignorance, the mental faculty gives rise to a mind that outwardly grasps, seeking to understand some dharma. Consequently, the Tathagatagarbha accords with this, and together they create the universe and the vessel-world. Afterwards, each individual's Tathagatagarbha creates the five aggregates body. Karmic actions then appear, and subsequently, karmic seeds arise.