The Profound Meaning of Vijñapti-mātra in the Diamond Sutra (XXI)

The Buddha taught that what must be subdued are these seven deluded minds. How are they to be subdued? The World-Honored One said: "All classes of sentient beings—whether born from eggs, from wombs, from moisture, or by transformation; whether with form, without form, with perception, without perception, or neither with nor without perception—I cause them all to enter the unattached Nirvāṇa and attain liberation. In this way, though I liberate immeasurable, countless, boundless sentient beings, truly no sentient being attains liberation." Sentient beings within the three realms are divided into four modes of birth, nine realms of existence, and twenty-five categories. Egg-born refers to sentient beings who do not dwell in a maternal womb and are not born from parents; the manas (mind faculty) carries the Ālaya-vijñāna directly into an eggshell. When external conditions such as temperature are met, the embryo develops, hatches out, and emerges, like chickens, ducks, snakes, and birds. Womb-born refers to sentient beings whose manas, carrying the Ālaya-vijñāna during the intermediate state (antarābhava), enters a mother's womb. When the six sense faculties grow and mature, they emerge from the womb.

Womb-born beings include all humans, most animals, a portion of ghosts, and a portion of asuras. Moisture-born refers to beings without merit born under specific conditions of temperature and humidity (such as near water, the sea, or in damp soil and air), like various insects and bacteria, and a portion of asuras. Transformation-born refers to beings who come into existence through transformation, such as devas in the various heavenly realms, beings from other lands, non-human beings like ghosts and spirits, beings in the hell realms, a portion of asuras, and a small portion of animals, as well as Bodhisattvas and Arhats with spiritual powers. Beings with form (rūpa) refer to sentient beings in the desire realm and form realm who possess a material body. The material body is also called the rūpa-skandha (form aggregate), the physical form that exists from the moment of conception in the fertilized egg until birth and final dissolution. It is only because the Ālaya-vijñāna and the first seven consciousnesses dwell within and sustain this material body that it can perform various physical, verbal, and mental actions and karmic formations. This is called the rūpa-skandha. Otherwise, it would be a corpse or insentient matter, like plants or minerals.