The Mahayana Vijñapti Sutra (48)

The migration of consciousness is like the radiance of sunlight, like the illumination of a wish-fulfilling jewel, like fire generated from wood, and also like a seed. When a seed is planted in the earth, it completely transforms within the earth. Buds, sprouts, stems, and leaves then fully manifest externally, giving rise to white and non-white flowers, red and other variegated colors, various kinds of blossoms, diverse strengths and flavors, and the ripened results they produce — all exhibiting manifold differences. Though the same earth equally provides the nourishment of the four elements, what grows differs according to the seed planted.

Explanation: The migration, entry, and exit of the Alaya-vijnana are like sunlight illuminating all things. Sunlight itself is formless and without characteristics, yet it enables all things to have luster and warmth. If sunlight were to cease, all things would immediately lose their luster and warmth. Similarly, the Alaya-vijnana enables sentient beings to have life activities and to lose them. The migration of the Alaya-vijnana is like a wish-fulfilling jewel illuminating objects; the jewel's light is formless and without characteristics, yet it causes objects to have the color of its radiance. When the Alaya-vijnana migrates to a physical body, it manifests that physical body. The migration of the Alaya-vijnana is like fire generated from wood: when the wood is ignited, fire emerges. There is no fire within the wood itself; due to causes and conditions, fire appears. The Alaya-vijnana is likewise; due to the causes and conditions of karma, it migrates into another physical body, and that physical body is born.

The migration of the Alaya-vijnana is also like a seed planted in the earth. The seed completely transforms within the earth, and the plant's bud, sprout, stem, and leaves then grow forth, fully manifesting outside the earth, giving rise to flowers of various mixed colors. Then it bears fruit. Different seeds yield different fruits, each with distinct flavors, all produced after the seeds have ripened. The same earth provides the same nourishment of the four elemental substances, yet according to the difference in the seeds, the fruits that grow exhibit manifold differences.

After the seed enters the soil and transforms within the earth, it cannot be found. Where did the seed go? Where did the bud, sprout, stem, and leaves come from? When the bud, sprout, stem, and leaves have fully grown, the seed vanishes without a trace. Where did the seed go? The arising and disappearance of all these phenomena possess a certain conditioned nature. The entry of the Alaya-vijnana into a chicken egg or a goose egg is likewise conditioned by causes and conditions; thus, the chicken egg and goose egg form, and chickens and geese hatch. The migration of the Alaya-vijnana into the body of a sentient being — whether it be a chicken egg, a goose egg, a womb-born life, or a spontaneously-born life — is like sunlight shining its light downwards, like a wish-fulfilling jewel illuminating all things with its radiance, and like wood generating fire.

It is also like a seed planted in the earth. After the causes and conditions are complete, the seed disappears, and roots, buds, stems, and leaves all grow forth. Then various variegated flowers are produced. After the flowers emerge, there is fruit, and the flavor of the fruit becomes apparent. Because the seeds are different, the fruits they bear also differ. If one seeks to find where the seed actually went, it has no destination.

Originally, it is the same earth. The earth equally possesses the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. Relying on the nourishment of the four elements, roots, buds, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits grow. However, because the seeds are different, the fruits that grow are also different. Each grows its respective fruit according to its own seed.