Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (185)

The subject of creating karma and receiving retribution is the mind consciousness

Original text: 大王。识为其主。业为攀缘。二种相因。初识生起。作业受报。皆不失坏。或趣地狱。或堕傍生。琰摩罗界。及阿修罗。若人若天。同分种类。相续不绝。

The Buddha said: Great King, the Ālayavijñāna is the master of karma creation; the karmic actions performed serve as karmic conditions. The Ālayavijñāna takes those karmic actions as its object condition, and this is the cause and condition for the birth of the material body in future lives. When the initial mind consciousness of the material body arises, the karma created in past lives begins to bear its retribution in this life. Karma creation and karmic retribution—neither of the two dissipates or decays. This person will inevitably proceed toward the hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, the animal realm, the asura realm, as well as the human realm and the heavenly realm, and the five-aggregate body corresponding to those karmic actions will continue to run on without interruption.

When the Ālayavijñāna combines with karmic conditions, the initial consciousness of the next life arises. Once consciousness is produced, there is feeling of suffering; when karmic retribution manifests, it is only with feeling that retribution is formally received. So is the retribution received in the body or in the mind? It is mainly received by the mind, because only when the mind has feeling is it called receiving retribution. If the material body had no mind consciousness, then even with all kinds of suffering imposed upon it, the material body would not feel any suffering—there would be no feeling of suffering. Therefore retribution is mainly received by the mind; only with a mind can one feel suffering and happiness; without a mind, suffering and happiness cannot be felt.

For example, a table made of wood has no karmic retribution. No matter what actions are performed upon the table, the table has no feeling whatsoever, and thus it receives no retribution. Because only with a mind is there feeling, retribution is received by the mind. The mind creates karma, and the mind receives retribution—whatever is created by someone is received by that same one. Can the body create karma? If the body could create karma, then a table could also create karma, and a human figure molded from clay could also create karma. But a clay figure has no mind in it; it cannot create karma, nor can it receive retribution. A dead person creates no karma and receives no retribution. However, the mind that creates karma is subject to arising and ceasing, is impermanent, and can be extinguished; therefore it is not real. The mind consciousness must rely on external conditions: only when the Ālayavijñāna transmits seeds does the mind consciousness have function; if the Ālayavijñāna does not transmit seeds, there is no mind consciousness, and then nothing can be done. If one knows how to listen to this passage, and one's causes, conditions, and karmic rewards are complete, then one will not merely realize the fruit of the Small Vehicle—one can fully realize the fruit of the Great Vehicle and awaken to the tathāgatagarbha.

After the mind consciousness arises, karma creation and karmic retribution are never lost or destroyed; they will not vanish without cause. Once karma has been created, its retribution will certainly manifest—it is not that once karma is created, nothing more comes of it. If one receives a hell-realm material body, that material body continues on without interruption in the hells; for as long as the hell lifespan lasts, the mind consciousness functions for that long, feeling suffering for that duration. The eye consciousness functions within the same material body, the ear consciousness functions within the same material body, and the mind consciousness functions within the same material body. When the material body is changed, these consciousnesses are changed too, and the affairs of past lives are no longer known—they cannot be recalled. This is amnesia. Because the mind has been changed, there is no cognitive awareness of the affairs of past lives.