Mahayana Manifestation of Consciousness Sutra (41)

The Buddha told Bhadrapāla: "You should understand that all these are the power of karmic action. Karmic action has no form, but is operated solely by wisdom. Similarly, the mechanisms of this body perform various activities through the power of consciousness. The diverse karmic activities of celestial musicians (gandharvas), dragons, spirits, humans, devas, asuras, and others all depend entirely on this. Consciousness can produce the physical body, just as a craftsman operates a mechanism."

Explanation: The Buddha told Bhadrapāla that the mechanisms of wooden automatons are all operated by a power of karmic action. This creative power is formless and invisible, yet it causes the automatons to function through the form of wisdom, thereby accomplishing the automatons' activities. Similarly, the physical bodies of sentient beings resemble these wooden automatons. The operation of the body's mechanisms follows the same principle as that of the automatons—there exists a power of wisdom that sets the mechanisms in motion to perform various activities. The operation of the body's mechanisms relies on the power of the ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness), enabling the physical body to carry out all activities. These activities constitute the activities of the five aggregates (skandhas), encompassing all bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Here, "karmic action" (karma) refers to karmic activities, not worldly undertakings or enterprises. Any operation of the five aggregates is called "activity" (karma).

Celestial beings with spiritual powers, gandharvas, dragons, spirits, humans, devas, asuras, and others—all sentient beings within the six realms—perform their various activities entirely dependent upon the ālaya-vijñāna. The ālaya-vijñāna can produce the physical body, just like a mechanism capable of performing work. This "work" refers to operation, similar to how a robot or washing machine functions—one need only press a button to set it in motion.