Who Represents the Identity of Sentient Beings

Throughout countless lifetimes of birth and death in saṃsāra, what represents our identity? In the course of cultivation from an ordinary being to a Buddha, what represents our identity?

For example, at the time of attaining buddhahood, what represents the Buddha's identity? When one becomes an eighth-ground, ninth-ground, or bodhisattva of the stage of near-perfection, what represents the identity of such a great bodhisattva? When one becomes a bodhisattva of the first ground or above, what represents the identity of a bodhisattva of the first ground or above? After seeing one's true mind and attaining enlightenment, what represents the identity of a bodhisattva who has awakened to the true mind? From attaining the first fruit up to the fourth fruit, what represents the identity of a first-fruit or second-fruit worthy one? What represents the identity of a third-fruit or fourth-fruit noble one? After attaining the fruit of a pratyekabuddha, what represents the identity of a pratyekabuddha? At the stage of ordinary beings, what represents the identity of hell beings? What represents the identity of hungry ghosts? What represents the identity of animals? What represents the identity of asuras? What represents the identity of devas in the various heavens? What represents the identity of humans in the various realms of humanity?

When a sentient being dies each time, the six consciousnesses cease, the five-aggregate body ceases, and only the manas and the eighth consciousness remain, and they go together to the next life, giving birth to the five-aggregate body of the next life. This is so life after life; thus only the manas and the eighth consciousness can represent the identity of sentient beings. But the eighth consciousness of every sentient being is identical, having the same virtues, without the slightest difference. Therefore the eighth consciousness cannot represent the identity of sentient beings; otherwise, all sentient beings would have the same identity, with no distinction whatsoever. Hence only the manas represents the identity of sentient beings.

Whatever virtues the manas possesses, that is what kind of sentient being one is. If the manas has the virtues of a Buddha, one is the World-Honored One; what represents the Buddha is the Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha) accomplished through the manas, clearly distinct from the retributive body of sentient beings. If the manas has the virtues of a bodhisattva of the stage of near-perfection, the being is a bodhisattva of the stage of near-perfection; if the manas has the virtues of an eighth-ground bodhisattva, the being is an eighth-ground bodhisattva; if the manas has the virtues of a first-ground bodhisattva, having initially transformed consciousness into wisdom, the being is a first-ground bodhisattva.

If the manas has seen the true mind and realized awakening but has not transformed consciousness into wisdom, the being is a bodhisattva of the three stages of worthiness; if the manas has merely attained the fruits without seeing the true mind, one is a noble or worthy one of the Small Vehicle; if the manas has attained the fruit of a pratyekabuddha and possesses the virtues of a pratyekabuddha, the being is a pratyekabuddha.

If the mental nature of the manas is as vicious and wrathful as that of hell beings, the being is a hell being; if the manas is extremely stingy and greedy, the being is a hungry ghost; if the manas is extremely foolish and unteachable, the being is an animal; if the manas has virtues of great wrath and combativeness but possesses merit, the being is an asura; if the manas has virtues that are both wholesome and unwholesome, sometimes wholesome and sometimes unwholesome, the being is a human; if the manas has virtues in which the wholesome outweighs the unwholesome, the being is a deva of the desire realm; if the manas has virtues that are not only wholesome but also characterized by meditative concentration (samādhi), the being is a deva of the form realm or the formless realm.

The human body is the key that determines whether the next life will be higher or lower. If in studying Buddhism and cultivating practice one does not cultivate to the level of the manas, does not elevate and transform the virtues of the manas, then at the time of death, once the six consciousnesses cease, the manas will, according to its present virtues, determine the identity of the next life, and together with the tathāgatagarbha will enter the womb corresponding to the virtues of the manas—such is the law of cause and effect. Countless people cultivate like a dragonfly skimming the water, merely tasting the surface and stopping there; they do not reach the mind of the manas and do not implement the Buddha's teachings in the mind of the manas. Then the manas will carry its ignorance and continue to be reborn into the womb-storehouse of ignorance, giving birth to an ignorant suffering being. I have earnestly and repeatedly spoken about the manas and about the importance of the manas, yet there are still foolish sentient beings who refuse to acknowledge the manas: they do not let the manas attain the fruits when attaining realization, and do not let the manas see the true mind when awakening. Then in the next life, the manas that has neither attained the fruits nor seen the true mind will continue to take rebirth, but its identity will absolutely not be that of one who has attained the fruits or seen the true mind. By the time one regrets it, it will already be too late.