Commentary on the Sutra of the Compendium of Father and Son (182)

Ālaya Consciousness Faithfully Records and Outputs Karmic Seeds

The ālaya consciousness is impartial and selfless. It does not claim that the five aggregates were created by it or belong to it, nor does it harbor the intention to conceal their misdeeds, refrain from recording the karmic seeds generated by the evil acts of the five aggregates, prevent the output of karmic seeds, or shield the five aggregates from negative karmic retribution. Like a camera, it is utterly honest and without deceit. It automatically records all karmic actions performed by the five aggregates in a mechanistic manner, making no selections, faithfully documenting every deed and action down to the minutest detail. Once recorded, these are stored as seeds within the mind-body. When the causal conditions mature, the karmic seeds are output, the seeds take root and sprout, bear fruit, and the karmic retribution manifests.

There are numerous examples illustrating how the ālaya consciousness faithfully actualizes the karmic results of sentient beings. For instance, if person A had a negative karmic connection with person B in a past life, and B is reborn into A's family in this life, this signifies the maturation of the causal conditions causing the seed to sprout. The child growing up represents the flowering. When the time arrives, B will harm or take revenge on A, and A's karmic retribution manifests. The preceding processes represent the flower, sprout, branches, and leaves. When the karmic retribution arrives, A might realize the purpose of this child's existence – that they came to collect a debt, to exact revenge. However, the vast majority of people do not understand this principle even after receiving retribution; they remain unaware beforehand and have no knowledge of such a special karmic connection. It is the negative karmic link from past lives that brings the two together to resolve the karmic seed, yet neither is aware of it.

There was once a man who deliberately killed a rat, which happened to be a female rat. After death, the female rat, unwilling to accept this, made a malevolent vow for revenge. In a subsequent life, it was reborn as a woman. When the woman grew up, she met the man. The two fell in love at first sight and got married. They were reborn into different circumstances, and due to the obscuration between lives, neither recognized the other nor remembered their past life connection. It was their karmic link that bound them together. After marriage, the woman tormented the man for his entire life, though she did not take his life. The man suffered greatly throughout his life under this torment. As long as the karmic seed was not exhausted and the retribution not fully received, the two could not separate. Why did this happen? Their karmic seeds were stored within their respective ālaya consciousnesses. When the causal conditions matured, the karmic seeds manifested, took root, sprouted, flowered, and bore fruit. The man was tormented by the woman for a lifetime. When they first met, neither could have imagined this outcome. Who decides these matters? It is determined by the karmic link, by the seeds stored within the ālaya consciousness. Even the Tathāgatagarbha does not decide this; it does not interfere. It merely manifests the karmic seeds faithfully.

If sentient beings shared a deep karmic connection in a past life and meet in this life, when the ālaya consciousness manifests the seeds, they will have a special feeling towards each other. Even without meeting, merely hearing a voice, seeing written words, or looking at a photograph can evoke a sense of some past-life connection – whether positive or negative karma. Without meeting or speaking, an unusual feeling arises. Some people feel something peculiar merely upon hearing a name.