宗鏡錄 50.27

50.27

Answer: The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: "Although all sentient beings are endowed with the eighth consciousness, various names are established for it according to differences in meaning. That is to say, it is sometimes called citta (mind), because it is that in which seeds are accumulated and gathered through the perfuming of various dharmas. Or it is called ādāna, because it holds and maintains seeds and the material sense faculties without letting them decay. Or it is called 'support of what is to be known' (jñeyāśraya), because it serves as the support for all defiled and pure dharmas that are to be known. Or it is called the seed-consciousness (bījavijñāna), because it is capable of universally sustaining the seeds of mundane and supramundane dharmas. These names apply through all stages. Or it is called the ālayavijñāna, because it stores all dharmas of the defiled class so that they are not lost, and because the view of self and other [afflictions] appropriate and store it, taking it to be their internal self. This name exists only among ordinary beings and those with more to learn (śaikṣa), not in the stage of those with nothing more to learn (aśaikṣa) or of non-retrogressing bodhisattvas, because [in the former] there is the meaning of appropriating and storing defiled dharmas. Or it is called vipāka (retribution), because it is capable of drawing forth the vipāka results of good and unwholesome karmas in birth and death. This name exists only in the stages of ordinary beings, the two vehicles, and bodhisattvas; it does not exist on the Tathāgata ground, because there are still morally indeterminate dharmas of retribution [in the former]. Or it is called the immaculate consciousness (amalavijñāna), because it is the support for all most extremely pure, uncontaminated dharmas. This name exists only on the Tathāgata ground; in the stages of bodhisattvas, the two vehicles, and ordinary beings, contaminated seeds are held and can receive perfuming, so they have not yet attained the beautifully pure eighth consciousness. As a verse of a sūtra states: 'The Tathāgata's immaculate consciousness / is the pure, uncontaminated realm, / freed from all obstacles, / associated with the great round mirror wisdom.' The name ālayavijñāna is especially highlighted here because its fault is grave and it is the first to be abandoned. The substance of the vipāka consciousness is abandoned by bodhisattvas when they are about to attain bodhi, and abandoned by śrāvakas and solitary awakened ones when they enter the nirvāṇa without remainder. The substance of the immaculate consciousness has no time of abandonment, because the time of benefiting and gladdening sentient beings is inexhaustible. Because citta and the other [names] are common [to all stages], they should be stated according to the meaning." An explanation says: The meaning of "accumulating" is the meaning of citta. The meaning of "gathering and arising" is the meaning of citta, because it can gather and generate multiple seeds, or because the seeds capable of perfuming are within this consciousness; since it can accumulate and also give rise to dharmas, this consciousness is said to have the meaning of citta. "Ādāna" is translated here as "holding and maintaining", because it holds and maintains the seeds and the material faculties; this is common to ordinary beings and noble ones. "Support of what is to be known" means that the three natures take it as their support, hence it is called the support of what is to be known. Furthermore, an ancient master said: "Ālayavijñāna has the meaning of 'storehouse'. Truly, because the true mind does not preserve its own nature, it blends in accordance with perfuming, appearing as one and appearing as eternal; therefore, the foolish take what merely appears so to be real, seize it as an internal self, and it is grasped by the view of self, hence it is called 'storehouse'. Furthermore, it can store its own substance within all dharmas, and it can also store all dharmas within its own substance. In the stage where the two kinds of view of self never arise again, the name ālaya is lost." It also says: As for the names of the eighth consciousness, from the eighth bhūmi on up there is no name "ālaya", there being only the vipāka consciousness; the seventh [consciousness] only grasps the vipāka consciousness as dharmas. Moreover, the eighth consciousness originally has no name "ālaya"; because the seventh grasps the darśanabhāga of the eighth as a self, it causes the eighth to obtain the name ālaya. When it does not grasp [it as such], it is simply called the vipāka consciousness. As for the eighth being sometimes called citta: because seeds are accumulated by various dharmas, it is therefore called citta. Although receiving perfuming and holding seeds has the meaning of accumulating and gathering-and-arising such that it receives the name citta, this is only the svasaṃvittibhāga. For example, it is like a storehouse that can store various goods, because it can hold all seeds; subsequently, it causes the seeds to arise in active manifestation, serving as the two causes of supporting-maintenance and arising for the seeds. Thus one knows that the eighth's receiving perfuming and holding seeds obtains the name citta. In the cause it holds new and old seeds, hence it is called citta; in the fruit stage it holds all old and uncontaminated seeds, hence it is called citta. This is also called the seed-holding citta. Or it is called citta, which here designates the conditioned mind; or it is called muhūrta, which here translates as the firm and real mind, namely tathatā, which is the unconditioned mind. Or it is called ādāna, which translates here as the consciousness that holds and maintains: it can hold and maintain the seeds and the physical body of faculties, with the meaning of producing continuity, which is the meaning of realms, destinies, and births; this is common to all stages. Holding and maintaining has three aspects: first, holding and maintaining the body of faculties so that it does not rot and decompose; second, holding and maintaining seeds so that they are not scattered and lost; third, grasping and linking birth in continuity: when a sentient being is at the final position of the intermediate existence (antarābhava) body, at the very first thought-moment when the eighth consciousness takes rebirth, there is the meaning of grasping and linking birth in continuity. "Linking" means binding and attaching; taking rebirth at one thought-moment within the mother's womb, it is then bound and attached thereto. It is also like a lodestone attracting iron: the iron is like the two drops of the parents' semen and blood, and the eighth consciousness is like the lodestone; in a single kṣaṇa it draws them together and abides, and at the same time the seeds of the faculties, objects, etc., also produce active manifestations from its own consciousness; this is called grasping and linking birth. As for the five embryonic stages: within the first seven days it is called kalala, shaped like thin curds; the mixing of father's semen and mother's blood is called mixed, and its own substance being impure is called filthy. Within the second seven days it is called arbuda, like a pea-sized blister; the shape of the arbuda is like curd inside and out, because flesh has not yet grown. Within the third seven days it is called peśī, meaning a slightly congealed form, like set blood. Within the fourth seven days it is called ghana, gradually solidifying. Within the fifth seven days it is called praśākhā: blown by internal winds, the forms of the faculties are produced, and the distinct forms of one body and four limbs arise. Using these thirty-five days, the five faculties are entirely complete. Within the sixth seven days is the stage of hair, nails, and teeth. Within the seventh seven days is the stage of complete faculties: because the five faculties are perfected, consciousness gradually arises, though it does not yet possess conditions such as space and light. Or it is called the seed-consciousness.