Who Represents the Identity of Sentient Beings?

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

For example, at the time of attaining buddhahood, what represents the Buddha's identity? When one becomes an eighth-bhūmi, ninth-bhūmi, or samaṛthā (equal-enlightenment) bodhisattva, what represents the identity of such a great bodhisattva? When one becomes a bodhisattva of the first bhūmi or above, what represents the identity of a bodhisattva of the first bhūmi or above? After seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment, what represents the identity of a bodhisattva who has seen the mind? From attaining the first fruit up to the fourth fruit, what represents the identity of the noble ones of the first and second fruits? What represents the identity of the noble ones of the third and fourth fruits? 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 different heavens? What represents the identity of different humans?

When a sentient being dies each time, the six consciousnesses cease, the body of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) ceases, and only the manas and the eighth consciousness still exist, and together they go to the next life and give birth to the five-aggregate body of the next life. It is like this life after life, so 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. So only the manas represents the identity of sentient beings.

Whatever virtues the manas has, that is what kind of sentient being one is. If the virtues are those of a Buddha, then 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 an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva, the being is an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva; if the manas has the virtues of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, the being is an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva; if the manas has the virtues of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva, having initially transformed consciousness into wisdom, the being is a first-bhūmi bodhisattva.

If the manas has seen the mind and realized awakening but has not yet 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 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 hateful 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 incorrigible, the being is an animal; if the virtues of the manas are very hateful and combative but it has merit, the being is an asura; if the virtues of the manas contain both good and evil, sometimes good and sometimes evil, the being is a human; if the virtues of the manas have more good than evil, the being is a deva of the desire realm; if the virtues of the manas are not only good but also include meditative concentration (samādhi), the being is a deva of the form realm or the formless realm.

The human body is the crucial point, determining whether the next life will be higher or lower. If in studying Buddhism and cultivating practice one does not cultivate down to 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 use its currently manifest virtues to determine the identity of the next life, and together with the tathāgatagarbha it 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, stopping at a shallow taste; they do not enter the mind of the manas, do not implement the Buddha's dharma in the mind of the manas, and so they let the manas carry ignorance and continue to enter 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 do not acknowledge the manas: they do not let the manas attain the fruits, do not let the manas see the mind. Then in the next life, the manas that has not attained the fruits and has not seen the mind will continue to enter the womb, but its identity will absolutely not be that of one who has attained the fruits or seen the mind. By the time one regrets it, it will already be too late.