Chapter Five: Consciousness Generates the Five Aggregates as a Seed Sprouts

Original Text: Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, when the body dies, consciousness departs. It is like a seed cast upon the earth. Held by the four great elements [earth, water, fire, wind], the seedling, stem, branches, and leaves gradually transform. Consciousness, carrying the impressions of thought, sensation, the wholesome, the unwholesome, and so forth, is held by these four factors. Abandoning the body and undergoing transformation, it is also thus.

Explanation: Once more it is said, Bhadrapāla, after the death of the five-aggregate body of sentient beings, the ālaya-vijñāna departs, migrating to another material body, analogous to a seed being buried in the earth. The four great elements (mahābhūtas) hold the seed, which then takes root and sprouts. After taking root and sprouting, the seedling, stem, branches, and leaves gradually grow. Similarly, the ālaya-vijñāna is held by the four factors: the mental power of the manas (mind-root), the sensory realm of vedanā (sensation), wholesome karma, and unwholesome karma. Abandoning the material body and migrating to another material body, it is also thus.

Original Text: Bhadrapāla addressed the Buddha, saying: "World-Honored One, how do wholesome and unwholesome dharmas hold consciousness?" The Buddha said: "Bhadrapāla, it is like a precious vaidūrya gem. Depending on the object it is near, whether black or white, the gem's color becomes white or black accordingly. The wholesome and unwholesome dharmas holding consciousness are also thus. Depending on what holds it, it becomes wholesome or unwholesome, transforming and undergoing retribution."

Explanation: Bhadrapāla asked the Buddha: "World-Honored One, what is meant by wholesome dharmas and unwholesome dharmas holding the ālaya-vijñāna?" The Buddha said: "Bhadrapāla, it is like a precious vaidūrya gem. Its color changes according to the object it contacts. If it contacts a black object, the vaidūrya gem becomes black; if it contacts a white object, the vaidūrya gem becomes white. The gem's color manifests differently depending on the object it is near. Similarly, the wholesome and unwholesome dharmas created by the five-aggregate body hold the ālaya-vijñāna in the same way. When the five aggregates create wholesome karma, the ālaya-vijñāna holds the seeds of wholesome karma, manifesting the karmic results of wholesome actions for sentient beings. When the five aggregates create unwholesome karma, the ālaya-vijñāna holds the seeds of unwholesome karma, manifesting the karmic results of unwholesome actions for sentient beings. The ālaya-vijñāna migrates within the six destinies according to the wholesome and unwholesome karma of sentient beings, causing the five-aggregate body to undergo retribution."

Original Text: Bhadrapāla again addressed the Buddha: "How does this body receive consciousness?" The Buddha said: "Bhadrapāla, this consciousness does not accumulate, does not gather, nor does it grow or change. It is like a sprout arising: the sprout does not arise from the seed remaining unchanged, nor does it arise from the seed decaying. However, when the sprout arises, the seed changes and perishes. Bhadrapāla, what do you think? Where does the sprout reside? In the seed? In the branch? In the stalk? In the leaf? Or at the top of the tree?" Bhadrapāla replied to the Buddha: "No, World-Honored One. The sprout does not reside anywhere."

Explanation: Bhadrapāla again asked the Buddha: "How does this material body receive the holding of the ālaya-vijñāna?" The Buddha said: "Bhadrapāla, the ālaya-vijñāna itself does not create karmic actions. It does not accumulate karma, does not gather all dharmas, and itself neither grows nor changes. It is like a seed planted in the earth that produces a sprout. The sprout's birth does not occur because the seed remains unchanged; rather, the seed changes and gradually disappears, and the sprout then grows. The sprout's birth is not because the seed rots and decays. However, when the sprout is born, the seed undergoes change and ultimately perishes and disappears. Bhadrapāla, what do you think? When the plant sprout is born, where does it abide? Does it abide in the seed? In the branch? In the stalk? In the leaf? Or at the top of the tree?" Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla replied to the Buddha: "It is not so, World-Honored One. The sprout does not abide in the seed, branches, leaves, or tree top."

Original Text: The Buddha said: "So it is, Bhadrapāla. Consciousness within the body abides nowhere. It is not in the eye, nor the ear, nose, tongue, body, etc. When the seed produces a sprout, it is like consciousness experiencing subtle awareness. When the flower buds form, it is like consciousness having sensation. When the flower opens and blooms, the time comes to bear fruit."

Explanation: The Buddha said: "So it is, Bhadrapāla. When the ālaya-vijñāna enters the body of sentient beings, it is also thus without location. It is not in the upper, lower, middle, inside, or outside of the material body, nor is it in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or body. When the seed produces a sprout, it is like the ālaya-vijñāna becoming aware of the sentient being's karmic seeds. When the seedling develops flower buds, it is like the ālaya-vijñāna entering the womb and receiving the next life's material body. When the flowers bloom and ultimately bear fruit, it is equivalent to the ālaya-vijñāna producing the complete material body. The material body of the next life, composed of earth, water, fire, and wind, then develops the eye faculty, nose faculty, ear faculty, tongue faculty, and body faculty. The seed changes and disappears, and the sprout grows, like a tree growing from a sprout into a trunk, branches, leaves, and seeds – the original seed has long since vanished and is no more. The sprout cannot abide in the original branch, trunk, or tree top. When the seed produces a tree sprout, it is like the ālaya-vijñāna gradually developing sentience within the material body. When the sprout grows into a large tree about to flower and bear fruit, it metaphorically represents the ālaya-vijñāna containing the sentient being's sensations, which then produce the sentient being's sensations."

Original Text: It is like consciousness having a body. Consciousness generates the body, pervading the entire body and limbs. Seeking where consciousness abides, one cannot find its location. If consciousness is removed, the body does not arise.

Explanation: After the ālaya-vijñāna enters the womb and the five sense faculties develop, eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness arise. Sentient beings then have sensations. This is equivalent to the seed flowering and bearing fruit. The tree flowering until bearing fruit metaphorically represents the ālaya-vijñāna completing the transformation of the entire material body. After the ālaya-vijñāna generates the material body, it has no location within the present body. It does not dwell in the head or limbs of the material body, nor in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or body. The ālaya-vijñāna pervades every part of the body from head to toe, yet one cannot find exactly where the ālaya-vijñāna is located within the body. It has no specific location in the body, yet its function of holding and transforming pervades the entire body and limbs from head to toe. If the ālaya-vijñāna departs, the body immediately ceases to grow and is instantly destroyed. Without the ālaya-vijñāna, there is no birth or existence of the material body.

Original Text: When a tree fruit ripens, it becomes a seed for future trees. It is not the unripe fruit. Similarly, when the retribution ripens and the body dies, the seed-consciousness manifests. Due to consciousness, there is sensation. Due to sensation, there is craving.

Explanation: It is like when the fruit on a large tree ripens, it can serve as the seed for future trees. When the seed ripens, it can grow into another large tree in the future. If the fruit is unripe, it cannot become the seed for a future tree. Similarly, when a sentient being's karmic retribution ripens, the body of this life perishes, the karmic seeds within the ālaya-vijñāna manifest, and then the body of the next life arises. The karmic seeds stored within the ālaya-vijñāna, when conditions ripen, manifest, and the body of the next life appears. Because the ālaya-vijñāna contains the seeds of the six consciousnesses, the six consciousnesses arise in the body, and there is the sensation (vedanā) of the six consciousnesses. After sentient beings have sensations, they generate craving (tṛṣṇā). This is the chain of birth and death within the twelve links of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda): ignorance (avidyā) conditions formations (saṃskāra); formations condition consciousness (vijñāna); consciousness conditions name-and-form (nāmarūpa); name-and-form conditions the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana); the six sense bases condition contact (sparśa); contact conditions sensation (vedanā); sensation conditions craving (tṛṣṇā); craving conditions grasping (upādāna); grasping conditions becoming (bhava); becoming conditions birth (jāti); birth conditions aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. When the wholesome karmic retribution of sentient beings ripens, they should ascend to the heavens, and the human body will perish. When unwholesome karmic retribution ripens, sentient beings should fall into the three lower realms, and the human body will also perish. When karmic retribution ripens, death does not necessarily occur only in old age; it may happen even when very young.

Original Text: Bound by craving, thought is born. Consciousness grasps thought. Following wholesome and unwholesome karma, merging with the wind element, knowing the thought of parents, when causes and conditions come together, consciousness relies upon it.

Explanation: Sentient beings are bound by craving (tṛṣṇā), generating various thoughts and ideas, thus producing mental conceptions (manasikāra). The ālaya-vijñāna follows the thoughts of the manas, following the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds to produce the intermediate state (antarābhava) body. Within the intermediate state body, the manas desires rebirth, thinking of parents. The ālaya-vijñāna, blown by the karmic wind, drifts to the place where the parents are joining. When the parents' karmic conditions are complete, the ālaya-vijñāna follows the manas's thought and enters the mother's womb; the ālaya-vijñāna then holds the embryo. When the manas in the intermediate state body desires rebirth, it follows the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds, combined with the karmic wind and conditions. The consciousnesses encounter the future parents and, seeing the parents joining, rush towards them. When conditions are complete, the ālaya-vijñāna enters the womb at this time. This is the process of the intermediate state ālaya-vijñāna taking rebirth. Because sentient beings have seeds of craving stored in the ālaya-vijñāna, these craving seeds manifest in the intermediate state body. The manas, bound by craving, generates desires based on its own craving, engages with the object of desire, and is thus trapped in the mother's womb, losing freedom.

Original Text: It is like a person's face reflected in a mirror. If the mirror is not clean or clear, the face does not appear. When the mirror is clear and the face is present, the reflection appears. The reflection in the mirror has no sensation and no thought, yet it follows the person's body bending, stretching, bowing, lifting, opening the mouth to talk or laugh, coming, going, advancing, halting, and all kinds of movements. Bhadrapāla, by whose power does the reflection appear?" Bhadrapāla replied to the Buddha: "It is the power of the person. Because there is a face, there is a facial reflection. The color of the reflection is like the color of the face. Whether the faculties are complete or incomplete, it is entirely like the face."

Explanation: It is like a person's face appearing in a mirror. If the mirror is unclean or not bright, the face cannot appear on the mirror. If the mirror is clean and bright, and the face is directed towards the mirror, the facial image can appear. The image within the mirror has no sensation and no thought, yet it follows the body of the person outside the mirror in performing various actions, such as bending, stretching, bowing, lifting the head, opening the mouth to talk or laugh, coming, going, advancing, halting, and all kinds of movements. The person outside the mirror, whether speaking or moving, the mirror will correspondingly display the same actions and forms. The Buddha asked Bhadrapāla, by whose power does the image in the mirror appear? Bhadrapāla replied to the Buddha: "It is the power of the person. Because there is a human face, the reflection of the face appears on the mirror; the shadow appears in the mirror. The appearance of the face in the mirror is identical to the appearance of the face outside the mirror. Whether the six faculties in the mirror image are complete or incomplete corresponds exactly to the completeness or incompleteness of the six faculties of the person outside the mirror."

Original Text: The Buddha said: "The face is the cause of the reflection; the mirror is the condition for the reflection. Causes and conditions combining, thus the reflection appears. Due to consciousness as cause, there is sensation, perception, mental formations, and all mental factors. Parents are the condition. Causes and conditions combining, thus the body appears. Like that body-mirror: the reflection in the mirror. When the body departs, the reflection ceases. The body holds the image, which may appear elsewhere, like in water, etc. Consciousness abandons this body, holding wholesome and unwholesome karma, migrating to receive other retribution. It is also thus."

Explanation: The Buddha said: "The face of the person outside is the cause (hetu) for the appearance of the image in the mirror, while the mirror is the condition (pratyaya) for producing the reflection. When causes and conditions are complete and combined, the reflection can appear. The ālaya-vijñāna is the cause for the birth of the sentient being's next life's five-aggregate body of sensation (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), mental formations (saṃskāra), and consciousness (vijñāna); it is the cause for manifesting the various consciousnesses and mental factors (caitasika). Parents are the condition for the birth of the five-aggregate body. Thus, causes and conditions combining, the five-aggregate body of the next life appears. It is like the body facing the mirror; the body appears in front of the mirror, and the reflection appears on the mirror. When the body departs, the reflection on the mirror disappears. The external body determines the image in the mirror. When the body departs from in front of the mirror and stops before river water or lake water, the reflection again appears in the river or lake water. The body is the cause; the water and mirror are the conditions. When causes and conditions are complete, the reflection appears. Similarly, the ālaya-vijñāna is the cause; the sentient being's wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds are the conditions. Causes and conditions combining produce the five aggregates of the next life. The ālaya-vijñāna abandons the five aggregates of this life, carrying the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds, and migrates to the five aggregates of the next life to undergo the karmic results of the next five aggregates. It is also like the body leaving the mirror and going before water."

Original Text: Furthermore, like the seeds of the Nyagrodha (banyan), Udumbara, etc., although small, they can grow into large trees. The tree again produces seeds. The seed abandons the old tree and gives rise to a new tree. The old tree, having endured long, its substance and strength decline and weaken, its flavor and sap diminish and exhaust, it dries up, withers, and decays.

Explanation: Furthermore, like the Nyagrodha (banyan fig), Udumbara, and other Indian trees, their seeds, though small—perhaps smaller than a fingernail—when planted in the earth, can grow into towering trees. Once the tree matures, it bears fruit; the fruit contains seeds. The seeds leave the original large tree, are buried in the earth again, and can produce new large trees. In the end, the original old tree, with too many growth rings, its substance ages, its life force dries up, unable to produce tree seeds anymore. The flavor, sap, and juices of the tree are all exhausted; the moisture and sap within the trunk gradually dry up, and the old tree dries out, withers, and decays.

Original Text: Thus, when the consciousness of these small beings abandons the body, riding on its own karma, it may receive various kinds of large bodies. Furthermore, like barley, wheat, sesame, mung beans, masa, etc., all kinds of seeds and fruits: because of the seed, sprouts, stems, flowers, and fruits grow and mature. Thus, because there is consciousness, following the migration of the life-form, there is immediately sensation.

Explanation: Just as tree seeds leave the tree and give rise to a new tree, small sentient beings like ants, bacteria, etc., their ālaya-vijñāna abandons its own body, carrying the karmic seeds it has created, perhaps to receive the bodies of various large types of sentient beings. Thus, small animals may become large animals, and their merit may increase somewhat. The smaller the animal, the less merit it possesses, and the more limited its mental functions. For example, earthworms, flies, mosquitoes, ants—all are sentient beings with very low merit and many functional limitations. Furthermore, like every plant has its fruit; because of their seeds, they can produce sprouts, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits, finally growing to maturity, like barley, wheat, sesame, mung beans, masa, etc. Thus, because sentient beings possess the ālaya-vijñāna, following the sentient being's karma, migrating into the body of the next life, sentient beings obtain a new five-aggregate body, and then again have awareness.

Original Text: Furthermore, like a bee alighting on a flower, delighting, loving, clinging, sipping the flower's nectar to nourish itself. The bee abandons this flower and dwells on another flower. It may abandon fragrance for stench, or abandon stench for fragrance. Wherever it is, it loves itself, clinging and binding with greed.

Explanation: Furthermore, like a bee landing on a flower, delighting in the flower, clinging to the flower, sipping the flower's nectar to nourish itself. The bee abandons this flower and flies to another flower; it may abandon fragrant flowers and land on foul-smelling ones, or abandon foul-smelling flowers and land on fragrant ones. Depending on where they are, they enjoy themselves, lingering and craving various flower scents. The ālaya-vijñāna is also like this. Because of the merit karma held by sentient beings, it obtains a heavenly body, and the heavenly being enjoys superior pleasurable results. The bee metaphorically represents the ālaya-vijñāna; the flower represents the five-aggregate body. The ālaya-vijñāna goes from one body to another, but the ālaya-vijñāna itself does not cling to the five aggregates. The bee goes from one type of flower to another—fragrant flowers, foul-smelling flowers—sipping nectar to nourish itself, thus having attachment. The ālaya-vijñāna does not undergo karmic results; it does not undergo the results of any wholesome or unwholesome karma. The one who undergoes the results of wholesome and unwholesome karma is actually the seventh consciousness (manas), which continues into future lives. The results are endured by the seventh consciousness. However, the ālaya-vijñāna itself has no sensation except equanimity (upekṣā); it has no pleasant or painful sensations. The suffering is still endured by the six consciousnesses. The six consciousnesses of this life cease; new six consciousnesses arise in the new five-aggregate body, and the new six consciousnesses undergo the new karmic results.

Original Text: Consciousness is also thus. Due to meritorious karma, it obtains bodies among the gods, experiencing superior pleasurable results. Or, abandoning the heavenly body, due to unwholesome karma, it obtains the retribution of hell, experiencing numerous painful results. Revolving and migrating, it becomes various bodies.

Explanation: The ālaya-vijñāna is also thus. Because sentient beings possess sufficient merit, they are born with heavenly bodies, and sentient beings experience superior pleasurable karmic results with the heavenly body. When the merit karma is exhausted, the ālaya-vijñāna leaves the heavenly body and, following unwholesome karma created in previous lives, goes to undergo the hellish retribution, experiencing the numerous painful results in hell. Sentient beings revolve like this ceaselessly within the six destinies, born into various bodies, undergoing various karmic results. Sentient beings' rebirth depends on the karmic seeds stored within the ālaya-vijñāna. Whichever karmic seed ripens first, sentient beings follow that karmic seed to migrate and undergo retribution. The flower the bee lingers on metaphorically represents the five-aggregate body. Flowers have fragrance and stench; the five-aggregate body has wholesome and unwholesome karma, undergoing not only bodies in the three lower realms but also bodies in the three higher realms. Although the bee clings to the flower, the ālaya-vijñāna does not cling to the five-aggregate body. On the contrary, sentient beings cling to the ālaya-vijñāna, especially the manas, which is fond of the ālaya-vijñāna. The manas does not know there is an ālaya-vijñāna, but it considers all the functions of the ālaya-vijñāna as belonging to itself. Hence, in the Śrāvakayāna teachings, there is mention of the four aspects of ālaya: love for ālaya, delight in ālaya, fondness for ālaya, and pleasure in ālaya. Because of various bonds of greed and attachment, sentient beings revolve through thousands of rebirths, manifesting various bodies and undergoing various karmic results.

Original Text: Consciousness is like turmeric, red sandalwood, padma (lotus), etc. Their seeds are all white. Breaking open the seed, one does not see the sprout or flower, nor different colors.

Explanation: The ālaya-vijñāna is like turmeric, red sandalwood, padma (lotus), and other various flowers. The seeds of these flowers are all white. Breaking them open, splitting them apart, one sees neither the flower sprout nor the flower's color. But planting the seed in the earth and watering it will produce a flower sprout; the sprout, following seasonal conditions, will bloom, flourish, and become either red or white, brilliantly colorful. The flower's color and sprout are not within the seed, yet without the seed, there would be no flower sprout or future flower color.

Original Text: Planting it in the earth, moistening it with water, sprouts, etc., appear. Following the season, they flourish, flowers and fruits bloom gloriously, either red or white, in various colors. The color and sprout, etc., are not in the seed. Yet, apart from the seed, they cannot arise.

Explanation: After the seed is planted in the earth and watered, it takes root and sprouts. Thus, the seed follows the season and grows, producing stems, branches, flowers, and fruit. The flowers and fruit may be red or white, possessing various colors. The seed does not contain the flower's color or sprout, but through planting the seed and allowing it to grow, the flower sprout and color appear. If the flower sprout and color were separated from the seed, they could not grow. With the seed, there is the growth of the flower. If the seed changes or is destroyed, it cannot flower or bear fruit. When a new seed forms, it can again be planted and bear fruit, revolving continuously like this. Different seeds produce different flowers and different fruits. The seed metaphorically represents the ālaya-vijñāna; the sprout and flower represent the five-aggregate body starting from the fertilized egg. One cannot find the five-aggregate body or karmic results within the ālaya-vijñāna, but when conditions are complete, the ālaya-vijñāna can produce the five-aggregate body and karmic results. The ālaya-vijñāna contains the seeds of the six elements: earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, which can generate the sentient being's five-aggregate body. However, the six elements cannot be separated from the seed of perception (darśana) within the tathāgatagarbha. The seed of perception within the tathāgatagarbha, combined with the six element seeds—these seven great seeds combining—can produce the sentient being's five-aggregate body. There must also be the karmic seeds created by sentient beings. Earth, water, fire, and wind, plus the space element, form the environmental realm for existence and the material body. The consciousness element forms the seven consciousnesses. When the sentient being's five aggregates are complete, the karmic results manifest. Therefore, the sentient being's five aggregates cannot arise apart from the ālaya-vijñāna.

Original Text: After consciousness abandons the body, the flesh body's appearance, the sense faculties, the sense bases—none are seen within consciousness. Causes and conditions combining, consciousness, with subtle sight, subtle hearing, sound, touch, taste, dharmas, and mental entry, knowing the wholesome and unwholesome karma already created, takes on a bodily retribution. Like a silkworm spinning a cocoon, it creates and entangles itself, undergoing transformation within.

Explanation: After the ālaya-vijñāna abandons the body, the material body and its facial appearance, the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, and the objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mind—none exist within the ālaya-vijñāna. The ālaya-vijñāna contains no six sense faculties, six sense objects, no material body or appearance. Yet, when conditions are complete, the ālaya-vijñāna, following the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds created by sentient beings and the manas's conception of the five-aggregate body, again manifests the sentient being's five-aggregate body. The material body and appearance arise; the six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses are complete. Sentient beings again possess sensory awareness, and karmic results manifest. It is like a silkworm spinning a cocoon, entangling itself, revolving in birth and death within that entanglement. The five-aggregate body is the karmic result body, the retribution body. Sentient beings have karmic results and must undergo retribution in the six destinies. The Buddha also has three bodies; among them, the saṃbhogakāya (enjoyment body) is the karmic result body, the karmic result attained from the wholesome dharmas cultivated over three great asamkhyeya kalpas, all being extremely superior wholesome results. The bodies of Bodhisattvas are also karmic result bodies, primarily consisting of wholesome results, far more superior than those of ordinary beings. The karmic result body of ordinary beings is attained through karma created over beginningless kalpas, always with more unwholesome karma than wholesome karma. Therefore, it is mostly unwholesome results with few wholesome results. Once this karmic result body is born, it is like a silkworm spinning a cocoon, creating and entangling itself. The karmic results of sentient beings are self-created and self-endured; they entangle themselves in the six destinies without liberation. 'Migrating consciousness' refers to the ālaya-vijñāna, constantly migrating from the present body to the karmic result body of the next life. 'Storehouse consciousness' also refers to the ālaya-vijñāna, which stores the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds of sentient beings, storing all seeds of karmic results.

Original Text: Consciousness is also thus. Consciousness itself generates the body, then entangles itself. It itself abandons the body and receives another retribution.

Explanation: The ālaya-vijñāna is also thus. After generating the various material bodies of sentient beings, it itself is enveloped within the karmic results of sentient beings. Then it again abandons the body to undergo the karmic result body of the next life. 'Consciousness itself generates the body, then entangles itself'—actually, the ālaya-vijñāna does not entangle itself. It is the five aggregates of sentient beings themselves that create karma and entangle themselves. The karma is created by the seven consciousnesses; the deluded mind creates karma. Then the ālaya-vijñāna again produces the deluded mind to undergo retribution; the seven consciousnesses entangle themselves with wholesome and unwholesome karma. Simultaneously, the ālaya-vijñāna is bound to the karmic result bodies of sentient beings, one after another, unable to receive a more superior body. The ālaya-vijñāna departs from the present body and generates another karmic result body, causing the five-aggregate body to undergo retribution. Is the ālaya-vijñāna itself entangled? It is also entangled. Originally, it is a perfectly good Buddha, but because sentient beings create karma, it is defiled by these seeds and must be entangled by these karmic seeds. It must transform and hold the bodies of beings in the three lower realms and cannot hold a Buddha's body. This is also a kind of entanglement, but it is not entangling itself; it is entangled by the karma created by sentient beings. It itself remains autonomous. Although the ālaya-vijñāna itself is very autonomous, not undergoing karmic results, not bound by karmic obstructions, from the perspective of external form, it still appears entangled. Affected by the karmic seeds of sentient beings, it must manifest the karmic result body of hell or the animal realm; it cannot freely become a Buddha, manifest a Buddha's body, or manifest a heavenly body. Although the ālaya-vijñāna itself is liberated, it cannot receive and hold other, better bodies. From this perspective, it is bound. The eighth consciousness at the Buddha stage is the amala-vijñāna (immaculate consciousness), containing no defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses. The ālaya-vijñāna of sentient beings is the defiled consciousness, containing the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses. If sentient beings create wholesome karma, the ālaya-vijñāna is also entangled by wholesome karma and must produce a heavenly body, bound by the heavenly karmic results. If a Bodhisattva creates wholesome karma and ascends to heaven to enjoy blessings, they are also bound by wholesome karma. Sometimes, even if one does not want that karmic result, it is unavoidable. When human, undergoing wholesome karmic results, one is sometimes bound and unable to attain peace, for example, wanting tranquility but being unavoidably surrounded by many people, lacking freedom. Wholesome karma is also a kind of sensation (vedanā). All sensation is suffering (sarvam duḥkham). However, the Buddha's karmic results contain no suffering, no distress, because the Buddha's karmic results are uncontaminated (anāsrava).

Original Text: Because there are seeds, there are form, scent, and flavor. Consciousness abandons the body. Wherever it migrates, the sense faculties, objects, sensations, and the dharmadhātu all follow it.

Explanation: Because there are seeds, the objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mind (the six sense objects) exist. After the ālaya-vijñāna abandons the present body, the seeds of the six sense objects migrate with the ālaya-vijñāna to another body. In the other body, the object of the eye faculty—form—appears; the object of the ear faculty—sound—appears; the object of the nose faculty—smell—appears; the object of the tongue faculty—taste—appears; the object of the body faculty—touch—appears; the object of the mind faculty—mental objects—appears. Thus, the six consciousnesses are born accordingly, and the sensation realm (vedanā-dhātu) is also born accordingly. The six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses—the eighteen dhātus—all appear. This is a complete sentient being.

Original Text: Like a wish-fulfilling gem, wherever it is, joyful things follow it. Like the sun, wherever it is, light follows it. Consciousness is also thus. Wherever it migrates, sensation, perception, and the dharmadhātu, etc., all follow it.

Explanation: Like a cintāmaṇi (wish-fulfilling gem), wherever it is, joyful things appear; it can manifest according to one's will. The ālaya-vijñāna is like a cintāmaṇi; wherever it appears, the sentient being's dhātu (realm) appears with it. The sensation realm (vedanā-dhātu), the six sense faculties realm, the six sense objects realm, the sensation-perception-formation-consciousness realm—all appear with it. Afterward, the sentient being's five aggregates are complete; the eighteen dhātus are complete. Just as wherever the sun is, there is light, wherever the ālaya-vijñāna is, there are the five aggregates and eighteen dhātus. The various functions and activities of the five-aggregate body all manifest because of the ālaya-vijñāna. Wherever the ālaya-vijñāna operates, the sensation realm, the perception realm, and other realms all appear accordingly because the ālaya-vijñāna has seeds that can manifest dhātus according to the seeds. Wherever the ālaya-vijñāna goes, the seeds of the five aggregates and eighteen dhātus follow. However, when the ālaya-vijñāna goes to the formless realm heavens (ārūpyadhātu), it cannot manifest the full functions of the five aggregates and eighteen dhātus. It manifests dhātus according to karmic seeds. Sentient beings in the formless realm have no form aggregate (rūpaskandha), no eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body faculties—the five sense faculties. Thus, there are no objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch—only the mind faculty, mental objects, and mind-consciousness. When the ālaya-vijñāna goes to the form realm heavens (rūpadhātu), sentient beings have no nose faculty, no tongue faculty, no smell objects, and no taste objects—lacking four dhātus—but the functions of the five aggregates are still complete. Sentient beings in the form realm heavens experience mostly pleasant sensations and extremely little unpleasant sensation. Heavenly beings have the suffering of change (vipariṇāma-duḥkha) and the suffering of conditioned existence (saṃskāra-duḥkha), but not the suffering of suffering (duḥkha-duḥkha). Except for heavenly beings in the desire realm (kāmadhātu) experiencing suffering at death—when the five signs of decay appear, their minds are very distressed. Wherever there is the functioning of consciousness, there is the suffering of conditioned existence and the suffering of change; the suffering of suffering is not necessarily present. However, in the human realm and the three lower realms, sentient beings all have the suffering of suffering. Birth, aging, sickness, and death themselves are suffering. Physical disabilities, incomplete sense faculties, are also suffering. Suffering itself is suffering, called duḥkha-duḥkha. The material body gradually aging is saṃskāra-duḥkha. Consciousness gradually weakening, gradually functioning, is saṃskāra-duḥkha. The disappearance of pleasant sensation is vipariṇāma-duḥkha. The suffering of animals is solving the problem of food and shelter. Beings in hell suffer every instant, always trying to avoid these painful sensations.

Original Text: Consciousness abandons the body, containing all natures. Form is the cause for the body. The boneless flesh body, because it has sense faculties, has subtle sensations and thoughts, knowing to grasp the wholesome and unwholesome.

Explanation: The ālaya-vijñāna abandons the material body, containing dharmatā (the nature of dharmas). Wherever it goes, it brings the seeds of the dhātus, manifesting all dharmatā. The cause of the form seeds can form the material body, from the initial boneless, fleshless fertilized egg, finally forming the material body with five sense faculties. Because there are the six sense faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—the six consciousnesses are born. With the six consciousnesses, there is sensation and thought, and the ability to know and distinguish wholesome and unwholesome, grasping wholesome and unwholesome. Here, 'knowing' refers to the knowing of the six consciousnesses, including the seeing of eye-consciousness, hearing of ear-consciousness, smelling of nose-consciousness, tasting of tongue-consciousness, touching of body-consciousness, and awareness of mind-consciousness. 'Containing all natures' means the ālaya-vijñāna contains the dharmatā of all dharmas. These dharmatā include the nature of sensation (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), mental formations (saṃskāra), consciousness (vijñāna), as well as the dharmas of the six sense faculties and six sense objects, and the dharmas of the five aggregates. The ālaya-vijñāna contains and holds all of them.

Original Text: Like jujubes, pomegranates, āmra (mango), āmalaka (emblic myrobalan), bīlva (wood apple), kharjūra (date), kapittha (wood apple), etc., various fruits, either pungent or bitter, or sour or sweet, or salty or astringent. Their flavors and powers are distinct. What they aid in digestion and maturation varies in function. When the fruit decays, the flavor and power follow the seed, migrating and transforming to be born again.

Explanation: Like jujubes, pomegranates, āmra (mango), āmalaka (emblic myrobalan), bīlva (wood apple), kharjūra (date), kapittha (wood apple), and other various fruits, their flavor strengths are each different—pungent, bitter, sour, sweet, salty, or astringent—each flavor distinct. After being eaten into the stomach and digested, they nourish the body differently, their functions varying. When these fruits decay, their flavor and strength migrate with the seed. When conditions are complete, they will be born again. The ālaya-vijñāna is like these fruit seeds—indestructible. The material body is like the fruit; the awareness, sensation, and thought are like the flavor of the fruit. The ālaya-vijñāna carries the seeds of sensation, awareness, and thought, migrating to another material body, again producing sensation, awareness, and thought, producing the five aggregates of sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. As long as there is the ālaya-vijñāna, the five aggregates will reappear. The flavor strength also metaphorically represents the five-aggregate body. The decaying fruit represents the decay of the material body and five aggregates. But that seed does not decay; that is, the ālaya-vijñāna does not decay. Although the present material body decays, the ālaya-vijñāna contains the seeds of the five-aggregate body, and in the next life, it will again produce the five aggregates.

Original Text: Thus, the seed-consciousness, wherever it migrates, sensations, thoughts, and the wholesome and unwholesome all follow it. Consciousness abandons this body and receives another retribution body. Therefore, it is called consciousness. It knows wholesome and unwholesome karma. It knows karma follows itself. It knows itself holds karma, migrating, transforming, and undergoing retribution. Therefore, it is called consciousness. Whatever the body does, it knows all. Therefore, it is called consciousness.

Explanation: Thus, the seeds of the six consciousnesses migrate with the ālaya-vijñāna to the material body of the next life. The sensation realm and thought realm also migrate with the seeds of the six consciousnesses; the wholesome and unwholesome nature of the six consciousnesses also migrates with their seeds. The ālaya-vijñāna abandons the present body and holds the karmic result body of the next life; therefore, it is called consciousness (vijñāna). The ālaya-vijñāna can discern the sentient being's body (kāya), environment (bhājana-loka), and karmic seeds; it discerns karmic seeds. Therefore, when sentient beings are dying, the ālaya-vijñāna knows their wholesome and unwholesome karma and will produce the karmic result body of the next life's wholesome or unwholesome actions. The ālaya-vijñāna also knows that the karmic seeds follow itself; it itself carries the karmic seeds and produces the five-aggregate body of the next life. Because the ālaya-vijñāna has this knowing nature, it is also called consciousness. Whatever the material body does, the ālaya-vijñāna knows it all; therefore, the ālaya-vijñāna is called consciousness. The knowing (jñāna) that knows wholesome and unwholesome karma and the knowing that knows 'karma follows me'—one is the knowing of mind-consciousness, the other is the knowing of the ālaya-vijñāna. If it is knowing karmic seeds, it must be the knowing of the ālaya-vijñāna, because mind-consciousness, without transforming consciousness into wisdom (āśraya-parāvṛtti) and without spiritual powers, cannot discern seeds. The ālaya-vijñāna discerns the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds of sentient beings, but it does not discern the specific wholesome or unwholesome nature of the karmic actions and attributes. It does not know whether a karmic seed is wholesome or unwholesome; it does not know whether a sentient being should undergo wholesome or unwholesome retribution. This is not the knowing nature of the ālaya-vijñāna; it is the knowing nature of mind-consciousness. Even the manas cannot discern it. At the time of death, mind-consciousness knows that its own wholesome and unwholesome karma will follow into the next life, that with the five-aggregate karmic seeds, it will manifest and undergo their results. The knowing of the ālaya-vijñāna is completely different from the knowing of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. The ālaya-vijñāna's knowing is non-conceptual (acittaka); it does not know the conventional nature of dharmas, only the intrinsic nature (svabhāva) of dharmas. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses only know the conventional nature of dharmas, not their intrinsic nature.

Original Text: For example, the wind element has no form to grasp, no substance to hold. Due to causes and conditions, it performs various functions, indicating the presence of the wind element. Holding cold, holding heat, carrying fragrance, carrying stench, shaking trees and forests, or blowing, fanning, striking down. Thus, consciousness has no form or substance; it cannot be grasped by sight or hearing. Due to causes and conditions, the characteristics of consciousness are fully revealed. Because consciousness holds the body, the body knows pleasure and pain. Radiance and color fill it abundantly. Coming, going, advancing, halting, speaking, laughing, joy, sorrow—all activities manifest. One should know there is consciousness.

Explanation: For example, the wind element (vāyu-dhātu) has no shape or form to grasp; it cannot be held in the hand. It has no substantial form to grasp. Yet when causes and conditions are complete, the formless wind can perform many functions; then one knows the wind element is present. For example, wind can bring cold and heat, carry fragrance and stench, blow down trees and houses, blow fans to knock over objects, etc. Through these phenomena, one knows the wind element is present. When the wind blows, there may be hot wind or cold wind; it may carry fragrance or stench. When the wind blows, tree trunks sway, or fans blow to strike objects. The ālaya-vijñāna is also like the wind—formless, colorless, without substance, invisible, inaudible, ungraspable. When causes and conditions are complete, the activities of body, speech, and mind of the five aggregates operate, and the characteristics of the ālaya-vijñāna are revealed. With the ālaya-vijñāna holding the five-aggregate material body, the five-aggregate body can know pleasure and pain. When the five-aggregate body is active, it is full of spirit, radiant in appearance, singing joyfully, laughing, coming, going, and all kinds of activities are accomplished—all because of the holding function of the ālaya-vijñāna. Therefore, it is known that the ālaya-vijñāna can perform all activities within the sentient being's body.