The Relationship Between Tathāgatagarbha and Memory (I)

Among the eight consciousnesses, the tathāgatagarbha is the storehouse; the source of supply for all dharmas—that is, the seeds—are all drawn out from the tathāgatagarbha. The deeds we have done in the past, and all the people, affairs, objects, and principles we have experienced, are stored as seeds in the tathāgatagarbha. If the mind consciousness wishes to discern again the people, affairs, objects, and principles of the past, it must retrieve the records from within the tathāgatagarbha and examine them.

However, only the mind consciousness has the ability to examine records. The function of memory belongs to the mind consciousness; the tathāgatagarbha itself has no function of memory. When karmic seeds manifest and become mental sense-objects (dharmas), He cannot discern those mental sense-objects; He does not discern any specific mental sense-object. Although the mind consciousness has the function of memory and recollection, without having developed supernatural powers, the sixth consciousness can only remember the people, affairs, objects, and principles experienced in this present life. Only the sixth consciousness can recollect the events one has experienced.

By what means can the mind consciousness recall past events? The events we have experienced and the bodily, verbal, and mental actions we have performed are stored in the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha in the form of seeds at the very moment they occur. Later, when the mind consciousness wishes to retrieve and discern them, they must be taken out of the storehouse. There must therefore be a certain connection between the mind consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha, and the manas serves as the bridge and link connecting the two.

The manas is like a general steward: whatever goods the mind consciousness wishes to retrieve must first be permitted and approved by the manas. If such goods exist in the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha, and the conditions of causes and circumstances allow, the tathāgatagarbha will offer them unconditionally, and the manas will hand them over to the mind consciousness to make use of. If the storehouse happens not to contain such goods, or the goods are pressed down and temporarily cannot be retrieved, the mind consciousness can only wait foolishly with empty hands, obtaining nothing and enjoying nothing.

The dharmas we cultivated and all the people, affairs, objects, and principles we experienced in past lives are also stored in the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha in the form of seeds. Can we retrieve them in this present life? Of course we can! But the mind consciousness must develop supernatural powers, so that it is no longer obstructed or influenced by the physical body of form, and without passing through the brain's supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda), it can directly discern the mental sense-objects that the manas directs attention toward and that the tathāgatagarbha manifests. If supernatural powers have not been developed, the mind consciousness will be obstructed by the physical body of form, and it will be unable to discern or recollect the events experienced in past lives.