Can the Ālaya-vijñāna Cognize Unripened Karmic Seeds?

Can the eighth consciousness apprehend unripened karmic seeds? Certainly it can apprehend and cognize them. Arhats with complete liberation, through their spiritual powers, can know events occurring eighty thousand great kalpas in the past and future. How can an arhat know events that will occur so far in the future? It is because the arhat’s mental faculty (manas) relies on its own Tathāgatagarbha to cognize karmic seeds that will ripen only in future lifetimes, and the mental consciousness, relying on the mental faculty, can thereby cognize the manifestation of karmic seeds in future lifetimes. The matters that bodhisattvas on the grounds with spiritual powers can cognize far surpass those known by arhats, extending over even greater spans of time. The Buddha’s spiritual powers and abilities are incomparably more sublime than those of bodhisattvas, enabling Him to know events occurring after one or two immeasurable kalpas (asankhyeya kalpas). For example, the Buddha predicts to an eighth-ground bodhisattva the exact time they will attain Buddhahood one immeasurable kalpa in the future, and occasionally makes such predictions even to first-ground bodhisattvas.

How do Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats cognize events so distant in the past or future? This is entirely the result of combining meditative concentration (dhyāna) and wisdom (prajñā). Which consciousness of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats knows events from kalpas so distant in the past and future? It is the mental consciousness that knows, acquiring this knowledge from the mental faculty. The mental faculty, in turn, acquires it from the Tathāgatagarbha, and the Tathāgatagarbha knows by cognizing the karmic seeds within its own essence. However, the content known by the Tathāgatagarbha differs from that known by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses.

When the Buddha observes sentient beings, He can observe experiences from three immeasurable kalpas ago, or even from countless immeasurable kalpas ago. How is this possible? Events from kalpas long past appear as if happening before His very eyes, just like events occurring right now. This is observed through direct perception (pratyakṣa), it is a directly perceived object. This includes events that will occur kalpas far into the future, also appearing as if happening before His very eyes. Events that happened kalpas long ago—the karma from them may have long since perished. Events that will occur kalpas far into the future—their karmic seeds are far from ripened. How does the Buddha know them? Which consciousness knows them? Some karmic seeds have not even formed yet; the karmic actions have not yet been committed. How does the Buddha know? How do bodhisattvas know? How do arhats know?

A non-Buddhist with spiritual powers can also know events that will happen one or two years, or several years, into the future, even though the karmic seeds are similarly unripened. Which consciousness of theirs apprehends future events? Fortune tellers can also know events about to happen just before death. Even those without spiritual powers—their Tathāgatagarbha can still apprehend unripened karmic seeds. The mental faculty, relying on the Tathāgatagarbha, can realize events that will occur in future lifetimes, though it cannot convey this knowledge to the conscious mind for the time being.

Only eighth-ground bodhisattvas can achieve the interchangeable use of the six faculties (indriyas). Arhats with complete liberation can also achieve the interchangeable use of the six faculties. Ordinary spiritual powers fall far short of this interchangeable use, yet they can still know events of future lifetimes. This knowing is done by the mental consciousness. So, can the mental consciousness know unripened karmic seeds of future lifetimes? Clearly, the mental consciousness cannot know karmic seeds, whether present, past, or future. However, the mental faculty, relying on the function of the "seeing element" (from the Tathāgatagarbha), necessarily knows. Then, the mental consciousness, relying on the mental faculty, can know events of future lifetimes. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the Buddha states that the mental faculty "silently accommodates all dharmas." "Accommodates" means to contain and receive. "All dharmas" refers to all phenomena perceived by the Tathāgatagarbha, and the mental faculty, following it, can perceive them all.