宗鏡錄 47.5

47.5

Answer: That it is established in sūtras and treatises is clearly documented. These eight kinds of consciousness possess three types of transformative [consciousness]: first, the ripening transformation, which is the eighth consciousness; second, the cogitating transformation, which is the seventh consciousness; third, the distinguishing transformation, which is the prior six consciousnesses. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Although the forms transformed by consciousness are of immeasurable kinds, the transformative consciousnesses are distinguished into only three classes. The first is called ripening, which is the eighth consciousness, because it is predominantly of the nature of ripening. The second is called cogitation, which is the seventh consciousness, because it constantly and reflectively cogitates. The third is called perception of objects, which is the prior six consciousnesses, because they perceive the coarse characteristics of objects." The verse of the treatise states: / "The initial [transformation] is the ālayavijñāna, / ripening and possessing all seeds. / Its grasping, location, and perception are imperceptible; / it is constantly conjoined with contact, / attention, feeling, conceptualisation, and volition; / its feeling is solely equanimous feeling. / It is unobscured and indeterminate; / contact and the others are likewise. / It flows continuously like a rushing torrent, / and is abandoned at the stage of the arhat." / The initial transformative consciousness is called ālayavijñāna in the Mahāyāna teaching. This is because this consciousness has the meanings of being the repository, that which is deposited, and that which is grasped as a store—that is, because it serves mutually as a condition with defilements, and sentient beings grasp it as their inner self. An ancient commentary explains: "First, 'repository' (active store) means the capacity to contain and store. Just as a treasury can contain and store jewels and thus gets the name 'treasury', this [consciousness] can contain and store the seeds of defilements, and therefore it is named 'store' (ālaya); it also carries the meaning of sustaining. Second, 'that which is deposited' (passive store) means that which serves as the support. Just as a treasury is that upon which jewels and the like depend, this consciousness is the locus upon which defiled dharmas depend. Third, 'that which is grasped as a store' means holding firmly without letting go. Just as a hoard of gold and silver is firmly guarded by people who grasp it as their own inner possession, it is therefore called a store; this consciousness is firmly grasped as the self by defiled manas, and is therefore called a store." The Commentary on the Awakening of Faith explains: "Regarding the eighth having the meanings of active repository and passive deposit: to begin with the passive deposit, this means the substance of this consciousness as a storehouse; it is the place where the sense faculties, physical body, seeds, and the receptacle world are deposited. Because the physical body and the rest are the nimittabhāga of this consciousness, they are like objects and images within a treasury, or like a body inside a room. If one wishes to seek the ālayavijñāna, it is found only within matter and mind; if one wishes to seek the maṇi jewel, it is found only within the blue and yellow. Next, as for the meaning of active repository, it means that dharmas such as the sense faculties and physical body are all stored within the body of consciousness, like images within a jewel. If one wishes to seek all dharmas, they are completely within the ālayavijñāna; if one wishes to seek all images, they are completely within the maṇi jewel. Together with the previous meaning, they alternate as active and passive." The Yogācārabhūmiśāstra states: "By eight kinds of meaning one proves the existence of the fundamental consciousness: 1. the characteristic of being the support and grasping; 2. the characteristic of initial arising; 3. the characteristic of clear distinctness; 4. the characteristic of having seeds; 5. the characteristic of differences in karma and function; 6. the characteristic of differences in bodily sensation; 7. the characteristic of dwelling in mindless concentration; 8. the characteristic of the time of death." Furthermore, ancient masters, relying on treatises to explain and prove the existence of the eighth consciousness, noted: The treatise says that this eighth consciousness is not an object seen by worldly direct perception; its existence is known solely by relying on the pramāṇa of sacred testimony and genuine logical reasoning. It cites seven root sūtras as proof. The Abhidharmasūtra has two verses. The first verse states: / "The realm from beginningless time / is the common support of all dharmas. / Because of this there are all destinies, / as well as the attainment of nirvāṇa." / Regarding "the realm from beginningless time": the word "realm" (dhātu) means cause. It is because the eighth consciousness, from beginningless [time] until now, can uphold the seeds of all defiled and undefiled dharmas, whether material or mental, and can also impart power to the defiled and undefiled seeds to cause them to generate actual activities. Thus the eighth serves as the two causes of supporting and generating all seeds. Regarding "the common support of all dharmas": "support" means condition. Because the eighth consciousness can transform into the body and receptacle to serve as the support for sentient beings, it serves as the support for all defiled and undefiled actualised dharmas. Because it grasps the physical body of the five material sense faculties and acts as the simultaneous support for the manifest prior seven consciousnesses, the eighth consciousness can serve as the predominant condition support for all actualised material, mental, and other dharmas. Regarding "because of this there are all destinies, as well as the attainment of nirvāṇa": this eighth consciousness not only serves as the function of sustaining the defiled dharmas of transmigration, but can also serve as the function of sustaining all undefiled dharmas that accord with cessation. The second verse states: / "Because it gathers and stores all dharmas, / it is the consciousness with all seeds; / therefore it is named ālayavijñāna. / To the superior ones I have revealed it." / That is, the self-verifying portion (svasaṃvittibhāga) of the eighth consciousness, because it can hold seeds, is called the seed-consciousness. A verse of the Sandhinirmocanasūtra states: / "The ādānavijñāna is profoundly deep and subtle; / all its seeds are like a rushing torrent. / I do not reveal it to fools and ordinary beings, / fearing they would conceptualise and grasp it as a self." / "Ādāna" is translated here as "grasping and holding." Because this consciousness can grasp and hold the seeds of all dharmas, can grasp the material faculties and their bases, and can also take up the continuation of rebirth, this consciousness is called ādāna. "All its seeds are like a rushing torrent" means that all the seeds in the eighth consciousness, when struck and stirred by conditions, produce the actual activity of the transforming consciousnesses; or that the seeds undergo arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing without stopping, just like a rushing torrent. A verse of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra states: / "Just as waves upon the great ocean / are stirred up by violent winds, / and surging billows churn the deep abyss / without any cessation, / so the ocean of the storehouse consciousness is ever-abiding, / moved by the winds of external objects, / and the billows of the various consciousnesses / surge and leap into manifestation." / Furthermore, the Hīnayāna Ekottarika-āgama says: "There is a fundamental consciousness, which is that upon which all consciousnesses depend." This fundamental consciousness is none other than the eighth consciousness, because the eighth consciousness can give rise to the prior six transforming consciousnesses. Second, the Sthaviranikāya speaks of having a bhavāṅgavijñāna (constituent-of-becoming consciousness), which is precisely the eighth consciousness. The substance of this bhavāṅgavijñāna is constantly uninterrupted and pervades the three realms of existence. "Existence" refers to the three realms of existence; "constituent" (aṅga) has the meaning of cause—that is, the causes of the three realms of existence all stem from this consciousness. Third, the Mahīśāsaka school speaks of having an aggregate that exhausts saṃsāra (saṃsārakotiniṣṭha-skandha). Because this eighth [consciousness] pervades the three realms and nine levels and is constantly present, wherever there is birth and death, it constantly and universally serves as the support; it is abandoned only at the end of the diamond-like mind in the Mahāyāna, when defilements are exhausted, and therefore it is named the aggregate that exhausts saṃsāra. The transforming consciousnesses do not have this capacity, because the substance of the sixth consciousness is frequently interrupted; when entering the five mindless states, the six consciousnesses are all interrupted and inactive. At that time, [one] should not be called a sentient being, and because there would be no consciousness to sustain it, [the body] would immediately decay. Fourth, the Sarvāstivāda speaks of this consciousness as the ālayavijñāna, having four kinds of ālaya: attachment, delight, rejoicing, and pleasure. "Attachment" is the general term, generally taking the three times as its object; the other three are specific terms, specifically taking the three times as objects: "delight" is the present, "rejoicing" is the past, and "pleasure" is the future. It is precisely this eighth consciousness that sentient beings constantly grasp as their own inner self; it is the locus of true attachment, and is therefore called ālayavijñāna. The genuine logical reasonings are ten in number: First, the mind that holds seeds. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "The sūtra says: 'Because it accumulates and gives rise to the seeds of defiled and pure dharmas, it is called citta.' If this [eighth] consciousness did not exist, that mind that holds seeds could not exist." This is because the transforming consciousnesses are interrupted in the cessation concentration and so forth; because their sense faculties, objects, mental attentions, wholesomeness, and so forth are of distinct classes and easily aroused; and because, like lightning, they do not abide firmly, cannot be perfumed, and are all incapable of holding seeds, as they are not what accumulates the defiled and pure seeds. Second, the ripening mind. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "As the sūtra says: 'There is a ripening mind, karmically induced by good and bad deeds.' If this consciousness did not exist, that ripening mind could not exist." This refers to the eighth consciousness: having wholesome and unwholesome karma as causes in a previous life, it induces the eighth ripening mind as the result in the present life. The treatise says: "One must definitely admit that there is a true ripening consciousness that requites the leading karma, is pervasive and uninterrupted, transforms into the body and the receptacle, and serves as the support of sentient beings; for the body and the receptacle apart from mind are logically nonexistent." Third, the substance of realms, destinies, and types of birth. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "The sūtra says: 'Sentient beings transmigrate through the five destinies and the four modes of birth.' If this consciousness did not exist, the substance of those destinies and births could not exist." One must believe that there is an eighth consciousness serving as the substance of the three realms, nine levels, five destinies, and four modes of birth. If this consciousness did not exist, all sentient beings could not exist. Fourth, having appropriation. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'The physical body with its sense faculties is appropriated.' If this consciousness did not exist, that which appropriates could not exist." The sentient beings in the material realms possess the five material sense faculties and the internal five sense objects, which are the direct nimittabhāga of the eighth consciousness; only the eighth consciousness can appropriate them. Other consciousnesses do not have this capacity. Fifth, the three of life-span, warmth, and consciousness prove the existence of the eighth consciousness. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'The three of life-span, warmth, and consciousness mutually sustain one another to abide in continuity.' If this consciousness did not exist, a consciousness that could sustain life-span and warmth to make them abide long could not exist." Sixth, having a mind at the time of birth and death proves the existence of the eighth consciousness. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'All sentient beings, when taking birth and dying, abide in a distracted state of mind, not in mindless concentration.' If this consciousness did not exist, the mind at the time of birth and death could not exist." Moreover, when one is about to die, due to wholesome or unwholesome karma, the cold touch gradually arises in the upper or lower parts of the body; if this consciousness did not exist, that phenomenon could not take place. Seventh, citing the support of dependent origination to prove the existence of the eighth consciousness. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'Consciousness conditions name-and-form; name-and-form conditions consciousness. These two dharmas depend mutually on each other, just like bundles of reeds, arising at the same time.' If this consciousness did not exist, the self-substance of that consciousness could not exist." The Hīnayāna says: "We take the six consciousnesses as the support for name-and-form; why is the eighth required?" The treatise refutes them, saying: "The transforming consciousnesses, such as the eye [consciousness], are subsumed within 'name'. If this [eighth] consciousness does not exist, what would be called consciousness?" The author of the treatise says: The six consciousnesses, such as the eye [consciousness], are already subsumed within "name" as the aggregate of consciousness; therefore, the eighth must be obtained as the link of consciousness external to "name", to serve as the support for name-and-form. Furthermore, when humans in this world are born, at the initial moment of the intermediate state (antarābhava) when the mind grasps and links up to rebirth, because the prior six consciousnesses do not yet exist as the aggregate of consciousness within "name", name-and-form consists of only three aggregates. What do these three aggregates of name-and-form depend upon to abide for a single thought-moment? Therefore, we know and believe that the eighth consciousness exists as the link of consciousness external to "name", serving as the support for name-and-form. Eighth, citing the nutriment of consciousness to prove the existence of the eighth consciousness. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'All sentient beings abide depending on nutriment.' If this consciousness did not exist, the substance of that consciousness-nutriment could not exist." Therefore, the Buddha told the non-Buddhists: "That all sentient beings abide depending on nutriment is the correct teaching of the Perfectly Enlightened One, which others cannot know. You non-Buddhists starve your own bodies to no ultimate benefit." "Nutriment" carries the meaning of nourishing and sustaining. Ninth, citing the existence of mind in the cessation concentration to prove the existence of the eighth consciousness. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'For one who abides in the cessation concentration, bodily, verbal, and mental conditioning factors are all extinguished, yet life-span is not extinguished, nor is one separated from warmth; the faculties do not degenerate, and consciousness does not leave the body.' If this consciousness did not exist, that consciousness does not leave the body for one abiding in the cessation concentration could not exist." The author of the treatise says: For a noble person who enters the cessation concentration, bodily, verbal, and mental conditioning factors are all extinguished: inhalation and exhalation are bodily preparations; feeling and conceptualisation are mental preparations; vitarka and vicāra are verbal preparations. Because these three preparations correspond to the sixth consciousness, they are all completely extinguished in the cessation concentration. Regarding "yet life-span is not extinguished": on the seeds of the eighth consciousness, there is the continuous capacity to maintain the matter and mind of a single retributive life without interruption, which is called "life-span". Regarding "nor is one separated from consciousness": the tactile sensation of warmth is the nimittabhāga of the eighth consciousness; thus these two dharmas are not separate from the eighth consciousness. Since in the cessation concentration the preparations of body, speech, and mind of the six consciousnesses are completely inactive, yet life-span and warmth remain, we clearly know that it is precisely the eighth consciousness that serves as the support for life-span and warmth. Tenth, citing the defiled and pure mind to prove the eighth [consciousness]. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'Because the mind is defiled, sentient beings are defiled; because the mind is pure, sentient beings are pure.' If this consciousness did not exist, that defiled and pure mind could not exist." This means that defiled and pure dharmas have mind as their basis: they arise because of mind and abide dependent on mind, because it receives their perfuming and holds their seeds. "Having mind as the basis" means that all defiled and pure, conditioned and unconditioned dharmas have the eighth consciousness as their fundamental root. "Abiding dependent on mind" means that the manifest activities of the prior seven [consciousnesses] all abide depending on the eighth consciousness. "Receiving their perfuming" means that the eighth consciousness receives the perfuming of those prior seven consciousnesses. "Holding their seeds" means that the eighth can hold the defiled and pure seeds of the three natures of the prior seven. Therefore, the Ghanavyūhasūtra states: / "This body is like a revived corpse, / and also like a mirage in the heat; / it revolves according to the conditions of karma, / being neither illusory nor real. / Pulled along by feeling, / its nature is empty and devoid of a self. / What is cognised by consciousnesses such as the intellect / arises together with the mind. / The five consciousnesses, moreover, / arise depending on the manovijñāna. / In this way, at all times, / they operate together on the great earth. / The ālaya is perfumed by craving, / and thereby increases; / having increased itself, / it further augments the other consciousnesses. / Revolving in mutual succession without break, / it is just like a well-pulley. / Because there are these consciousnesses, / the various destinies arise; / and within these various destinies, / consciousness again increases. / Consciousness and worldly dharmas / serve mutually as causes for each other, / just as river waters flow / in unbroken succession before and after, / and like a sprout and a seed, / arising continuously in transformation. / Each of their various distinct characteristics / is manifested through discrimination. / The movement of consciousness is also like this: / after the three have combined, / they combine again, / and diverse characteristics arise. / Transmigrating in this way, / it is ever without cessation. / All internal and external dharmas / arise on account of this. / Fools do not understand mind-only; / you all should diligently observe this." / The Avataṃsakasūtra says: "Good sons, the accumulation of fictitious karma is called citta; manas cogitates; manovijñāna discriminates; the five consciousnesses, such as the eye [consciousness], perceive objects differently. Ignorant ordinary people cannot perceive this; fearing old age, illness, and death, they seek to enter nirvāṇa. They recognise neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa, and falsely generate discriminations toward all objects. Furthermore, ordinary fools consider the annihilation of future sense faculties and the objects of the five dusts to be nirvāṇa. When the buddhas and bodhisattvas realise enlightenment for themselves, they transform the ālayavijñāna and obtain the wisdom of original awakening. Good sons, all ordinary fools are confused about the Buddha's skilful means, cling to the existence of the three vehicles, and fail to understand that the three realms arise from the mind. They do not know that all the buddhas' teachings of the three times are the direct perception of their own minds; seeing the external five dusts, they grasp them as real, just like oxen and sheep, incapable of understanding, with no way to escape from the wheel of birth and death. Good sons, the Buddha teaches that all dharmas have no arising and no ceasing, and also have no three times. Why is this? Because, being manifestations of one's own mind, the objects of the five dusts are fundamentally nonexistent, and all existing and non-existing dharmas are fundamentally unarisen. Such is the realm realised by the noble ones for themselves. Good sons, ignorant ordinary people falsely generate discriminations: they grasp existence within nonexistence, and grasp nonexistence within existence; seizing upon the various aspects of the ālayavijñāna, they fall into the two views of arising and ceasing, failing to understand their own minds and generating discriminations. Good sons, you should know that one's own mind is precisely all the teachings of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Because one knows that one's own mind is the Buddha's teaching, one can purify all lands and enter all eons." Therefore, because the storehouse consciousness instantaneously transforms into the physical body and the receptacle world, it is of profoundly deep meaning: neither direct perception nor inference can measure it. Furthermore, it surpasses measure and is immeasurable, as a verse from a sūtra states: / "The dharmadhātu is not measurable, / nor is it immeasurable; / the Muni has completely transcended / both the measurable and the immeasurable." / Thus we know that the nature of consciousness is difficult for shallow wisdom to comprehend; only the Buddha can completely exhaust and penetrate it. Therefore, the Mirror of the Source extensively cites these passages, because it is subtle, secret, and difficult to know.