Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (182)

The Ālayavijñāna Faithfully Records and Outputs Karmic Seeds

The Ālayavijñāna is fair and impartial. It will not say, "The five aggregates were created by Me and belong to Me; I must conceal their evil deeds. No matter what evil karma the five aggregates commit, I will not record the karmic seeds or output the karmic seeds, and will not let the five aggregates suffer evil retribution." The Ālayavijñāna has no such mental activity. Like a video camera, it is honest and without deception. All karmic actions performed by the five aggregates are automatically recorded mechanically, without any selection, faithfully recording every action and deed, down to the smallest detail. After being recorded, they are stored as seeds within the mind-substance. When the causal conditions are complete, the karmic seeds are output, and the seeds will take root and sprout, then bear fruit, and the retribution will appear.

There are extremely many examples that illustrate how the Ālayavijñāna faithfully actualizes the karmic results of sentient beings. For example, if in a previous life person A had an evil karmic affinity with person B, and B is reborn into A's family in this life, that counts as the conditions ripening and the seed sprouting. When the child grows up, that counts as blossoming. When the time comes, B will harm and take revenge on A, and A's retribution will appear. The preceding process is all flowers, sprouts, branches, and leaves. When the retribution arrives, A may possibly realize what this child came to do—it turns out he came to collect a debt, to take revenge. The vast majority of people, even after receiving retribution, do not understand this principle. Before this, they have no awareness and simply do not know that such a special karmic affinity exists. Because of the evil affinity from a past life, the two people come together in one place to settle the karmic seeds, and neither of them knows it.

Long ago, there was a man who deliberately beat a mouse to death, and it happened that this mouse was a female mouse. After the female mouse died, she was unreconciled and made an evil vow to take revenge. In a later life she was reborn as a woman. When the woman grew up, she met this man, and the two fell in love at first sight, dated, and married. The two of them had changed their life circumstances, and because of the bewilderment of crossing the intermediate state (antarā-bhava), neither recognized the other and neither knew about their past-life affairs. It was karmic affinity that bound the two together. After marriage, this woman tormented the man for his entire life, but did not take his life. The man suffered greatly from being tormented all his life. As long as the karmic seeds were not extinguished and the karmic retribution had not been fully received, the two could not separate. Why is this so? Their karmic seeds were both stored in their respective Ālayavijñānas. When the conditions were complete, the karmic seeds manifested, taking root, sprouting, blossoming, and bearing fruit. The man was tormented by the woman for his whole life, and when the two met, neither could have imagined such an outcome. Who decides these matters? Karmic affinity decides, and the seeds stored in the Ālayavijñāna decide. Even the tathāgatagarbha does not have the final say—He does not concern Himself with this; He merely actualizes the karmic seeds faithfully.

If sentient beings had deep karmic affinities in past lives, then when they meet in this life and the Ālayavijñāna actualizes the seeds, they will have special feelings toward each other. Even without meeting face to face, merely by hearing a voice, or seeing writing or a photograph, one can sense some kind of affinity from past lives—whether a wholesome affinity or an evil affinity. Without meeting or speaking, there will be a peculiar feeling. Some people feel something special merely upon hearing a name.