Chapter Two: How Does the Ālaya-vijñāna Migrate to Receive a New Body?

Section Two: How the Ālaya-vijñāna Receives Another Body

Original Text: What is its intrinsic nature? What form does it take? How does it abandon this body and receive another body?

Explanation: What is the intrinsic nature of the ālaya-vijñāna? What is its form? Why can it leave this physical body and receive another physical body?

The "intrinsic nature" mentioned here refers to the ālaya-vijñāna. It is independent, unborn, and undying; therefore, it possesses intrinsic nature. All other dharmas are produced phenomena subject to birth and death, unfree dharmas; thus, they lack intrinsic nature. What is the intrinsic nature of the ālaya-vijñāna? What form does it have? How does the ālaya-vijñāna, at the end of life, abandon the present physical body and go on to receive another physical body? How does it transform to produce another body? The questions posed by Bhadrapāla Bodhisattva to the World-Honored One concern the key issue of sentient beings' cyclic rebirth. Here, "receiving a body" means the ālaya-vijñāna is about to grasp and hold the next body, discarding the body that is about to die, and then manifesting, grasping, and receiving the physical body of the next life.

After the dissolution of the four great elements of a sentient being's physical body, the ālaya-vijñāna, together with the manas (mind faculty), leaves the physical body and then takes rebirth in the next physical body. It will also manifest another physical body. The specific form of the body manifested is determined by karmic seeds, dictated by karma. In most cases, there is first an intermediate existence (antarābhava), followed by birth into one of the various realms. However, if born into the heavenly realm, there is no intermediate existence; similarly, if descending into hell, there is no intermediate existence.

Where the ālaya-vijñāna goes depends on which karmic conditions ripen at the time of that person's death. For example, if one created evil karma in a past life and did not learn wholesome dharmas in this life, the power of the evil karma being strong, at death one will descend into the three evil destinies according to the evil karma created. However, if wholesome karma created in this life ripens, and the wholesome karma outweighs the evil karma, then at death one will be born into a wholesome destiny according to the wholesome karma. The ālaya-vijñāna migrates according to the karmic conditions of sentient beings. At the time of death, it depends on which karmic condition ripens first. If the wholesome karma we created in this life is small and cannot withstand the ripening of that evil karma, even if we have studied Buddhism, when the evil karmic condition manifests, we will still go to the three evil destinies to undergo retribution.

Although many people study Buddhism, those whose wholesome karma is truly great are exceedingly few. Eighty percent or even more people will descend into the three evil destinies. Despite studying Buddhism in this lifetime, they still cannot avoid descending into the three evil destinies because the wholesome karma they performed in this life is small, while their evil karma from past and present lives is abundant and heavy. For instance, if one harbors greed, a heavy heart of greed and stinginess will lead to rebirth in the hungry ghost realm. If hatred and ignorance are heavy, one will undergo retribution in hell or as an animal, respectively. Among those who study Buddhism, these evil karmic afflictions are almost entirely uneliminated and unsubdued. The afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are only fully severed upon attaining the third fruition (anāgāmi). Even upon attaining the first fruition (srota-āpanna), only the coarsest afflictions are eliminated; the roots of the afflictions remain.

Some might say that the Buddhist scriptures state that upholding the five precepts enables one to attain a human rebirth, and since they uphold the five precepts, they will surely attain a human rebirth. However, this is not necessarily so. Firstly, one cannot correctly judge whether one has indeed upheld the five precepts properly. Secondly, even if one claims to have truly upheld the five precepts, if an evil karmic condition from a past life happens to ripen, then one must follow that evil karmic condition into the three evil destinies and undergo birth and death, with no choice. As for the merit of upholding the five precepts, one will receive the wholesome retribution only when the wholesome karmic condition ripens. Heavenly beings also uphold the five precepts. Beings in the desire realm heavens, form realm heavens, and formless realm heavens do not violate the five precepts; they create no evil karma whatsoever. Yet, after death, some directly descend into hell. This shows that the hellish evil karmic condition has ripened, and thus it cannot be avoided.

When the heavenly beings' blessings are exhausted and the karmic seeds for hell ripen, they will follow their karma to hell to undergo retribution, because the evil karmic seeds accumulated since beginningless time have not been eliminated, and the wholesome karmic conditions have not yet ripened or lack sufficient power; they will still fall into evil destinies. Where sentient beings go at death depends on which directing karma (ākṣepa-karma) has greater power and which karmic condition ripens first. Although some people have created evil karma, if they can sincerely and wholeheartedly generate pure great vows, and at the time of death the power of the wholesome vows outweighs the power of the evil karma, they can be born into wholesome destinies relying on this great vow power. Therefore, for Buddhists, attaining the first fruition is an urgent matter. If one attains the first fruition in this life, one can attain the first fruition again in the next life, or perhaps the second fruition (sakṛdāgāmi), and thus for life after life, one will not descend into the three evil destinies to suffer. Continuing further, upon attaining the third (anāgāmi) and fourth fruitions (arhat), one severs afflictions and achieves liberation of mind and liberation through wisdom.

Many people claim to have severed greed, feeling as if they no longer crave worldly dharmas and are uninterested in all human affairs, but in reality, they have not eliminated even a trace of it. That is a state of suppression, not a state of severance. Because they have not severed the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) nor attained the first dhyāna, and have not cultivated away the five hindrances (pañca nīvaraṇāni), it is impossible for them to sever the affliction of greed. Some others, having no sexual activity on the surface, claim to have severed the affliction of sexual desire. In reality, that is merely due to some objective reasons like the body, where sexual desire is superficially suppressed and inhibited; psychologically, it is not severed. In the intermediate existence, they will still take rebirth due to greed.

As long as there is still desire for the opposite sex, one will be reborn in the desire realm; one will not be reborn in the form realm or formless realm. Those who can truly sever greed are those who possess dhyāna attainments of the form realm or higher; they will not be reborn in the human realm of the desire realm. Bodhisattvas who have attained the first dhyāna of the form realm and above who actively remain in the human realm are exceptions. The primary causes obstructing the arising of the first dhyāna are the five hindrances: greed, hatred, sloth-torpor, restlessness-remorse, and doubt—especially the hindrance of greed among the five. If the desire for the objects of the human desire realm is strong, the first dhyāna concentration of the form realm cannot arise. Only when desires for the human realm and desire realm heavens—such as sexual desire and desire for food and drink—are subdued can the first dhyāna concentration of the form realm arise. If a person is particular about food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and enjoys forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations, the first dhyāna cannot be cultivated. Being too concerned about the living environment also precludes meditative concentration.

If one can truly be indifferent to any living environment, accepting both good and bad—not craving the good, not resenting or disliking the bad, and not generating mental activity towards the living environment—only then can one have meditative concentration. The moment a desiring thought arises, there is no concentration. Truly achieving indifference, non-attachment, and non-discrimination means not generating thoughts. In daily life, being indifferent and unattached to everything, unconcerned about the quality of the environment—only by truly achieving this can meditative concentration arise. If one is still particular about food, clothing, shelter, and the objects of form, smell, taste, and touch, the first dhyāna will not arise, and the form realm concentration cannot be cultivated.

At the very moment of attaining fruition (phala) or realizing the mind (明心 - likely referring to initial insight into true nature), if meditative concentration cannot be aroused, missing this opportunity makes it difficult to arouse the first dhyāna later on. One should seize the time when the view of self is severed, when clarity of awareness (覺明) appears and inner joy arises, to diligently cultivate meditative concentration. If there is no clarity of awareness and the power of concentration is shallow, it becomes difficult for the first dhyāna to manifest easily later on. Especially for lay practitioners, whose connection to daily life is too close, it is even harder to arouse the first dhyāna. Monastics are somewhat more distant from worldly things, making it relatively easier. Lay practitioners find it very difficult to cultivate the Buddha Dharma; life is full of events that easily stir thoughts, making it hard to cultivate meditative concentration well.

In the past, after non-Buddhist ascetics (外道) renounced the world, it wasn't just the first dhyāna—some attained the four dhyānas and the four formless absorptions (四空定). Some even attained the highest concentration of the neither-perception-nor-non-perception heaven (非想非非想天定). They went deep into the mountains specifically to cultivate meditative concentration, truly achieving a state of non-seeking towards everything in the world. Yet nowadays, even attaining the preliminary concentration of the desire realm (欲界未到地定) is so difficult for us. From this perspective, we are currently not even comparable to those non-Buddhist ascetics. Given the capacity of present-day Buddhists, how can we compare to those non-Buddhists? Yet we look down upon them. Those non-Buddhists cultivated the four dhyānas and eight concentrations (四禪八定), never shouting slogans like "let go, let go," yet they truly let go of the five desires (五欲) and six dusts (六塵). They were people who genuinely practiced and realized meditative concentration. We Buddhists, however, shout slogans all day long, yet never manage to relinquish even a little bit of worldly things in our entire lives.

They practiced non-Buddhist paths only due to unfavorable karmic conditions from past lives. For instance, in a past life they might also have cultivated meditative concentration, but it was according to non-Buddhist teachings; they neither took refuge in the Three Jewels nor received precepts, hence in this life they did not encounter the Buddha Dharma. Therefore, taking refuge in the Three Jewels is crucial. If one takes refuge in the Three Jewels in this life, one will take refuge again in the next life, relying on the Three Jewels to learn the Buddha Dharma, and will not go to practice non-Buddhist paths. Studying Buddhism without advocating receiving the five precepts and taking refuge in the Three Jewels is absolutely unacceptable. Without this reliance, the mind has nothing to depend upon, the foundation is unstable, and in future lives one easily drifts into non-Buddhist paths.

If one does not cultivate meditative concentration in this life, in the next life one will still be distant from the cultivation and realization of concentration, unable to even enter the threshold of concentration practice, and thus unable to realize the Buddha Dharma. Therefore, whatever Dharma the Buddha instructs us to cultivate, we should cultivate accordingly, not inventing our own methods. The Buddha instructs us how to cultivate, and we should cultivate accordingly. What the Buddha taught is all the sacred word, the ultimate teaching authority (聖言至教量), all truthful speech. Only by relying one hundred percent can one obtain the benefits of the Buddha Dharma.

Original Text: How is it that the body parts are abandoned here, yet it [ālaya-vijñāna] leads the sense faculties (入) to obtain the future retribution, receiving various bodies that are different and distinct?

Explanation: Bhadrapāla Bodhisattva continued to ask the Buddha: Why does the ālaya-vijñāna discard the body, yet lead the six sense faculties (六入) to obtain the future-life karmic retribution body? The future-life various physical bodies received by the ālaya-vijñāna have many differences; they are not the same kind of physical body.

Without the participation of consciousness, the physical body loses its function of aggregation and cannot be called an aggregate (skandha). When the physical body is combined with the eight consciousnesses, it has the functional role of the five aggregates. Among these, the ālaya-vijñāna, the seventh consciousness (manas), and the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) cannot be absent; they are essential. One to three of the five sense consciousnesses may be missing, but the sixth, seventh, and eighth consciousnesses are indispensable and must be present. Wherever the physical body dies, it is abandoned there by the ālaya-vijñāna. If born among humans, it is abandoned among humans; if born in hell, it is abandoned in hell; if born among animals, it is abandoned among animals. The ālaya-vijñāna then brings the six sense faculties (六根) and six sense bases (六入) into the new physical body, and sentient beings undergo the karmic retribution of the future life.

"The sense faculties" (諸入) refer to the eye faculty (眼入), ear faculty (耳入), nose faculty (鼻入), tongue faculty (舌入), body faculty (身入), and mind faculty (意入)—i.e., the six functions of entrance corresponding to the six sense bases. It then migrates these six faculties to obtain the future retribution. For example, a sentient being currently has a human body. After death, in the next life, it becomes an animal. On the animal body, the ālaya-vijñāna produces the six sense faculties (六入) and thus migrates the six faculties there. The six sense bases (六根) are the animal's six sense bases. The animal body possesses the six sense faculties: eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, and mind faculty. With the internal six sense faculties complete, the external six objects—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects, and mental objects—can be conducted into the physical body. The six consciousnesses can then arise based on them, and subsequently, discernment activities appear.

"Future retribution" (當來報) means the retribution that has not yet appeared now but will appear in the future. After the intermediate existence arises and ceases, the physical body of the next life appears; hence it is called "future" (當來), meaning "what should come later." To migrate the sense faculties into the physical body, the five aggregates must fully manifest before there can be future retribution. "Migrating the sense faculties" does not mean directly bringing the original eye base, etc., into the future-life body. It means that after the ālaya-vijñāna takes rebirth, within the mother's womb, based on karmic seeds, it again produces the functions of the six sense bases. Only when the six sense bases are complete is it a normal sentient being.

The ālaya-vijñāna receives various bodies that are different and distinct. Sentient beings may receive an animal body in this life. After the animal karma is exhausted, in the next life they might obtain a human body. The life after that, they might receive a ghost body. The next life after that, they might undergo a hell body, or perhaps receive a heavenly being's body. Sometimes they must undergo an asura body. Sentient beings are thus born life after life in the six realms, receiving various different physical bodies, unable to escape the suffering of birth and death. This is the difference and distinctness of sentient beings' bodies in the six realms. As for which body one receives, it still depends on the karmic seeds of the sentient being. Karma is not only created in this life; it includes all karma created in past lives combined. Whichever karmic condition ripens first determines which karmic retribution body one receives.