Commentary on the Mahayana Vijnaptimatrata Sutra

Section Five: The Ālayavijñāna Receiving the Body of the Next Life Is Like the Wind Element Blowing Flowers

Original text:贤护。众生死此。受觉法界识界。皆舍离身。识运受觉法界。受余身者。譬如风大。吹众妙花。花住于此。香流至远。风体不取。妙花之香。香体风体。及与身根。俱无形色。而非风力。香不远至。

Explanation: Bhadrapāla, after sentient beings die in this world, the dharma realms of feeling and awareness of the six consciousnesses as well as the dharma realm of the Ālayavijñāna all leave the material body, and the Ālayavijñāna carries the dharma realm of feeling and awareness to receive another material body. This situation is like the wind element blowing across many wonderful flowers: the flowers remain here, but their fragrance drifts far away with the blowing of the wind. The wind does not grasp the fragrance of the flowers; neither the fragrance nor the wind has form or color, yet without the power of the wind element, the fragrance would not drift far away.

After sentient beings die, the seven consciousnesses and the Ālayavijñāna all abandon this body. When the six consciousnesses have all ceased, the manas wants to leave the body, and the Ālayavijñāna will leave the body. Without the six consciousnesses there is no aggregate of feeling; without feeling there is no awareness; a body without awareness or cognition is just a corpse. The Ālayavijñāna then transfers the dharma realm of feeling and awareness onto another (next-life) material body. How does He transfer it? After the dharma realm of feeling and awareness ceases, the Ālayavijñāna goes to take conception, forming another material body; at a certain point, the six consciousnesses are again produced on that other material body, and the dharma realm of feeling and awareness appears; the new material body then has feeling and awareness, and can be aware of and experience form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. The Ālayavijñāna, by giving rise to the six faculties, the six objects, and the six consciousnesses, transfers the dharma realm of feeling and awareness onto the material body of the next life, causing the next-life material body to produce the dharma realm of feeling and awareness, and the material body then has the functions and roles of the five aggregates.

This phenomenon is like the wind element blowing over wonderful fragrant flowers. When the wind blows the flowers, it does not blow them away, but it can carry the fragrance of the flowers far away. The wind is a metaphor for the Ālayavijñāna; the fragrance is a metaphor for the aggregate of feeling of the five aggregates; the flowers are a metaphor for the material body of sentient beings. Although the Ālayavijñāna does not take the material body away, He takes away the dharma realm of feeling and awareness. This is only a metaphor; in fact, the Ālayavijñāna manifests the functions of the six consciousnesses on another material body, so the material body has feeling and awareness, and thus has the nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, and can perceive the six objects.

The fragrance of flowers can drift very far with the wind; where can the five-aggregate body be transferred to? It may be very far — to a Buddha-land in other worlds — or it may be transferred to the heavens or to hell, far from our human body. The wind itself has no intention of acquiring the fragrance, yet the fragrance is carried away by it. The Ālayavijñāna Himself has no five aggregates; He merely carries the seeds of the five aggregates to other material bodies and produces the five aggregates again, and thus there is the dharma realm of feeling and awareness.

The fragrance itself and the wind element itself are both without form and color; likewise, the seeds of sentient beings' body faculty are also without form and color. The Ālayavijñāna contains the seeds of the body faculty; when the conditions are complete, the seeds of the body faculty will generate another material body. This is the result of the seeds of the body faculty carried by the Ālayavijñāna combining with various conditions; perhaps what arises is the antarābhava, or perhaps it will be the material body after conception. The antarābhava is also a body; any body faculty formed from seeds has form and color. The Ālayavijñāna is like the wind: if not for the power of the Ālayavijñāna, the five aggregates and the dharma realm of feeling and awareness could not flow and transfer onto the next-life material body in other worlds.

Original text:贤护。众生身死。识持受觉法界。以至他生。因父母缘。而识托之。受觉法界。皆随于识。亦复如是。如从花胜力。而鼻有嗅。从嗅胜力。而得香境。又如从风身胜力。得风色触。因风胜力。香得至远。如是从识有受。从受有觉。从觉有法。遂能了知。善与不善。

Explanation: Bhadrapāla, when the material body of sentient beings dies, the Ālayavijñāna, carrying the seeds of the dharma realm of feeling and awareness, goes on to the next life. In the antarābhava, due to the conditions of the father and mother, the Ālayavijñāna enters into the fertilized egg, and nāma-rūpa arises. The dharma realm of feeling and awareness all follows the Ālayavijñāna and enters the material body of the next life — it is also like this. Just as, because of the surpassing power of the flowers, the nose can have the nature of smelling, and because of the nose's surpassing power of smelling, the fragrant object can be smelled. Also, for example, because of the surpassing power of the wind body, there is contact between the wind and the flower's form; and because of the wind's strong power of conveyance, the fragrance drifts far away. By the same principle, because of the Ālayavijñāna, feeling arises; because of feeling there is awareness; because of awareness there is the manifestation of dharmas, and sentient beings can thereby know the wholesome and unwholesome nature of dharmas.

The Ālayavijñāna contains the seeds of the dharma realm of feeling and awareness. When conditions mature, He outputs the karmic seeds of feeling and awareness and the seeds of the six consciousnesses; feeling and awareness appear, and sentient beings have the functions of feeling and awareness. The seeds of the body faculty first, relying on the conditions of the father and mother, produce the body faculty; then the seeds of consciousness are successively born and begin to function. The seeds of the four faculties of eye, ear, nose, and tongue are born relying on the body faculty; the seeds of the six consciousnesses, relying on the conditions of the six faculties and six objects, also begin to function. Thus, in various ways, the dharma realm of feeling and awareness arises again.

Because flowers have fragrance and the nose faculty has the function of smell, relying on the smelling nature of the nose faculty and the power of the nose consciousness, we are able to smell the fragrant object of the flowers. The nose faculty takes in the scent-object of the flower's fragrance; faculty and object come into contact, the nose consciousness discerns the scent-object, that is, it takes in the mark of the scent-object, and thus smells the flower's fragrance; through the functions of the nose consciousness and the mind consciousness, taking the mark of the scent-object, the fragrant object is obtained. Only with consciousness can there be obtaining; without consciousness there is no obtaining. "Obtaining" means taking a mark, grasping.

Because the wind element itself has the power of conveyance, wind and form come into contact; once wind and flower touch, the fragrance drifts elsewhere. By the same principle, the Ālayavijñāna also has the function of transmitting seeds. After a person dies, the Ālayavijñāna contacts the karmic seeds and carries the five aggregates to the next material body in another world. Because of the wind's push, the fragrance can drift very far away. Likewise, because of the Ālayavijñāna, the seeds of the dharma realm of feeling and awareness can be transferred onto another material body. The wind element is a metaphor for the Ālayavijñāna, the flowers for the body faculty, and the fragrance represents the seeds of the dharma realm of feeling and awareness and of the five aggregates. The nose faculty has the nature of smelling because of the function of the nose consciousness; only then can we smell fragrance and have awareness. This shows that feeling and awareness are the functions of the six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses can take the six objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and the six objects can manifest on the mind consciousnesses.

Why can the six consciousnesses take the six objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas? Because there is a material body and there are six faculties, and because there is the Ālayavijñāna — the Ālayavijñāna can transmit the six objects over; the six consciousnesses arise depending on them, feeling and awareness appear, and the object-realm manifests. This shows that the Ālayavijñāna can transform and produce the six objects, and can also transform and produce the six consciousnesses; only the six consciousnesses can take the six objects. From the Ālayavijñāna, feeling can arise; from feeling there is awareness; with awareness, marks can appear. For example, the Ālayavijñāna transmits sound over; faculty and object contact and the ear consciousness arises; the ear consciousness hears the sound and there is feeling; with feeling there must be sensation, and the sound manifests on the ear consciousness. Because of the nose consciousness, the scent-object can be discerned and can manifest. From awareness there is dharma: because there is awareness, the dharmas of the six objects appear; "dharma" represents the six objects, and "awareness" represents the six consciousnesses.

The awareness of the six consciousnesses means: the eye consciousness can see, the ear consciousness can hear, the nose consciousness can smell, the tongue consciousness can taste, the body consciousness can feel, and the mind consciousness can know — this is called awareness. What dharma manifests from the eye consciousness? The form object manifests. Without the eye consciousness, could you know there is a form object? When the eye consciousness takes the form object, the form object is displayed. For example, only with the eye consciousness can one take the mark of the cup on the table; without the eye consciousness, could one take the mark of that cup? Then one would not know there is a cup. Only when the eye consciousness appears can the cup be discerned; the eye consciousness takes the mark of the cup — this is the eye consciousness taking the form object.

Another example: because there is the ear consciousness, sounds can be heard, and the ear consciousness takes in the sound object. Without consciousness, could anything be taken? This process of taking is the process of perception: one is the function of knowing, and the other is the function of taking marks. Perception is the mental factor of perception, and can also be called the aggregate of perception. The aggregate of perception first discerns; after discerning, knowing what this is — that is taking; after discriminating, the mark is taken; then a name is attached to it — this is the entire process of perception. Only with the nose consciousness can the scent-object be taken; with the body consciousness one can take touch-objects such as the warmth of sunlight, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; because the mind consciousness takes the dharma-object, it can know all dharmas, and thus knows wholesome and unwholesome, right and wrong, good and bad.

Original text:贤护。又如画工。料理壁板。诸所画处。如法端洁。随意所为。图绘众像。则工之识智。俱无形色。而为种种。奇容异状。

Explanation: Bhadrapāla, likewise, before a painter paints, he needs to prepare the wall panel: first he cleans the area to be painted, removing debris and dust from the panel and setting it upright, so as to paint. After the canvas is cleaned, he can paint at will, however he wishes. The painter paints relying on the mind consciousness that wants to paint for creativity and conception. The wise mind consciousness is without form and color, yet it can create various extraordinary appearances and marvelous forms with form and color — beautiful landscapes, figures, and scenes — and the entire artistic conception of the painting can be brought forth. But the mind with which the painter creates and conceives while painting is formless.

Original text:如是。识智无形。而生六色。谓因眼见色。眼识无形。因耳闻声。声无形色。因鼻知香。香无形色。因舌知味。味无形色。因身知触。触无形色。法入诸境。皆悉无形。识无形色。亦复如是。

Explanation: By the same principle, the wisdom of the Ālayavijñāna is also without form and color, yet it can give rise to six kinds of object-realms: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. That is: seeing form through the eye faculty — the eye consciousness is formless; hearing sounds through the ear faculty — the ear consciousness is formless; knowing smells through the nose faculty — the nose consciousness is formless; tasting flavors through the tongue faculty — the tongue consciousness is formless; feeling touch through the body faculty — the body consciousness is formless; knowing dharmas through the manas — the mind consciousness is formless. The Ālayavijñāna is without form and color — it is also like this.

Without the Ālayavijñāna, the six consciousnesses could not appear and discern. Here the Buddha also reveals the content of ultimate reality: the painter's six consciousnesses and the Ālayavijñāna are all without form and color, yet they create all kinds of painted scenes and artistic conceptions.

Original text:贤护。识弃此身。受他生者。众生死时。识为业障所缠。报尽命终。犹如灭定。阿罗汉识。如阿罗汉。入灭尽定。其阿罗汉识。从身灭转。

Explanation: Bhadrapāla, after the Ālayavijñāna abandons the material body of this life, it will go to the material body of the next life and receive the next-life body ("another life" means a different life). When sentient beings die, the Ālayavijñāna is wrapped up by the karmic actions and karmic obstructions created by the seven consciousnesses; when the retribution of this period is exhausted and life ends, the Ālayavijñāna abandons the sentient being's body. It is like the six consciousnesses of an arhat in the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti): when an arhat enters the cessation attainment, the six consciousnesses disappear from the material body; likewise, when sentient beings die, the Ālayavijñāna also disappears from the material body.

Original text:如是死者之识。弃身及界。乘于念力而作。是知彼如是。我某乙生平。所作事业。临终咸现。忆念明了。身之与心。二受逼切。

Explanation: It is also like this when sentient beings die: the Ālayavijñāna abandons the sentient being's material body and the eighteen dhātus. The Ālayavijñāna's abandoning the body is done following the manas's power of mindfulness, in coordination with the functional role of the manas's volition mental factor. At this time the dying person knows that this life has ended; in the instant before death, all the deeds done in this life appear in the mind, each one can be recalled, the object-realms clear and distinct, and at the same time both body and mind feel the pressing torment of suffering.

While the mind consciousness has not yet vanished, body and mind are both pressed by the two feelings — both body and mind are in great pain. The pain of the body is due to the dissolution of the four great elements; the pain of the mind is, first, despair over life, second, parting from loved ones, and third, being unable to continue craving the world; thus body and mind suffer the torment of pain.

Because of the karmic actions the dying person created throughout life, the karmic seeds remain; at the time of death the Ālayavijñāna will, following the karmic seeds, transfer to the next life. If he created the karma of an animal, he will be bound by the animal karma, and the Ālayavijñāna will receive an animal body; if he created the karma of a hungry ghost, he will be bound by the hungry-ghost karma, and the Ālayavijñāna will go to a hungry-ghost body, and the retribution received in this life comes to an end. At the time of death, the Ālayavijñāna, like the six consciousnesses of a fourth-fruit arhat in the cessation attainment, abandons the material body and departs.

When an arhat, having completed the four dhyānas and eight samādhi attainments, enters the cessation of perception and feeling, the first six consciousnesses all cease, leaving only the seventh consciousness and the Ālayavijñāna. Of the seventh consciousness's five universal mental factors, the feeling mental factor and the perception mental factor cease; the manas then has no feeling mental factor or perception mental factor and no function of knowing; it still has the three mental factors of attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), and volition (cetanā), and can still attend to the sense body and the material world manifested by the Ālayavijñāna; it can still attend to and contact the condition of the material body, then give rise to the volition mental factor and make decisions — for example, giving rise to a decisive mind: He may wish to manifest the six consciousnesses in order to emerge from samādhi, or He may wish to extinguish the material body entirely and enter nirvāṇa — all these are decided by the manas's volition mental factor. When sentient beings die and the Ālayavijñāna leaves the body, it is the same as the six consciousnesses of an arhat leaving in the cessation attainment.

When a dying person's first six consciousnesses cease, the manas knows it, and at the same time observes the condition of the material body, knowing it can no longer be used and there is no hope; the volition mental factor decides to leave the material body and seek a new one, and the Ālayavijñāna, according with the manas, slowly leaves the material body — the two leave together. Thus the consciousness of the dying person abandons both the material body and the eighteen dhātus, riding on the power of mindfulness of the manas, because all these actions are driven by the manas, directed by the manas's volition mental factor.

Afterwards, the manas still wants to take conception and possess a material body. The Ālayavijñāna, according with this power of mindfulness of the manas, either produces an antarābhava for its use, or directly takes birth in the heavens. The manas does not want to extinguish itself, because He has not eradicated the attachment to self and always wants Himself to continue existing, to have another five-aggregate body to use again; the Ālayavijñāna accords with Him and manifests the antarābhava — this is acting by riding on the manas's power of mindfulness. At the time of death, if all the manas's powers of mindfulness vanish, the Ālayavijñāna can no longer output the seeds of the five aggregates and eighteen dhātus; the five aggregates and eighteen dhātus gradually cease, the manas also ceases, and there is nirvāṇa without remainder. Generally, when ordinary sentient beings are dying, the manas also decides to leave the material body, mindful of taking conception into the five-aggregate body of the next life; the Ālayavijñāna accords and manifests the antarābhava — this is acting by riding on the manas's power of mindfulness.

When sentient beings are on the verge of death, they know their life is thus ending; all the wholesome and unwholesome deeds of a lifetime all manifest, recalled clearly without the slightest confusion — this is the recollection arising in the mind consciousness. At this time the sentient being has not yet breathed his last. Before a person is about to go, the entire course of his life flashes by rapidly like a movie; the mind consciousness knows what he did in this life and where he is going — whether to be born into a wholesome destiny or an evil destiny — he knows it all; afterwards the mind consciousness ceases. The manas knows there is no hope and leaves the material body, carrying its attachment and craving for self, and thus an antarābhava appears.