Mahayana Sutra of Consciousness Revealed

[LastLegend]

Each excerpt is selected from the Mahayana Sutra of Consciousness Revealed. No pages sorry.

Great Medicine asked the Buddha, "What are the functions of consciousness?"

The Buddha said to Great Medicine, "Sensory reception, perception, mental processing, thinking, and feeling anxiety, misery, or distress are the functions of consciousness. Furthermore, consciousness is also revealed by the awakening of seeds which have been conditioned by wholesome or unwholesome karmas."

"Sensory reception, perception, mental processing, and consciousness are called the four formless aggregates. Sensory reception leads to experiencing the appearance of pain, pleasure, or neither of the two. Perception refers to cognition of the appearance of pain or pleasure. Mental processing refers to thinking, attention, and making contact. Consciousness is the lord of the body, pervading the entire body and directing all of its activities. No-transference pertains to one who has attained the bodhi fruit because one's body, speech, and mind are purified. After this person has died, his [alaya] consciousness abandons the aggregates of existence, moving away joyfully. It no longer undergoes another existence, to transmigrate via life-journeys. No more transference [into a karmic body] is called no-transference."

"Another example is a seed which, holding the color, aroma, flavor, and feel of the future fruit, leaves the tree to grow. Likewise, [alaya] consciousness abandons the current body, holding good and evil karmas, sensory reception, perception, and attention, to accept the next life as requital.”

Great Medicine further asked the Buddha, "Consciousness is invisible and subtle, without any mass or shape to find. How can it keep alive the large body of a sentient being such as an elephant or penetrate a body even if it is as hard as vajra? How does it hold the body of a strong man who can fight off nine elephants?"

The Buddha replied to Great Medicine, "The great wind element, without mass or shape, stays in a hidden valley or in a crevice. It can break out in violence, crushing Mount Sumeru to dust. Great Medicine, what are the form and appearance of the Sumeru destroyer wind?"

Great Medicine further asked the Buddha, "Consciousness is invisible and subtle, without any mass or shape to find. How can it keep alive the large body of a sentient being such as an elephant or penetrate a body even if it is as hard as vajra? How does it hold the body of a strong man who can fight off nine elephants?"

The Buddha replied to Great Medicine, "The great wind element, without mass or shape, stays in a hidden valley or in a crevice. It can break out in violence, crushing Mount Sumeru to dust. Great Medicine, what are the form and appearance of the Sumeru destroyer wind?"

Great Medicine replied to the Buddha, "The wind element is subtle, without mass or shape."

The Buddha said, "Great Medicine, as the wind element is subtle, without any mass or shape, [alaya] consciousness is the same way-subtle and without any mass or shape. However, it can hold a body whether small or large, whether of a mosquito or of an elephant. Just as a bright lamp removes darkness in a room whether large or small, so too consciousness holds a body whether large or small, according to karma."

"As an analogy, a seed is planted in the ground, but fruits appear at the top of the tree. The seed does not go from branch to branch to reach the tree top, nor does anyone put the seed on a branch. Even if the tree is chopped down, one still cannot find the seed. The seed has disappeared when the tree is formed and its roots firm. Thus good and evil karmas are all manifested through the body. However, karma is not in the body, and the body is not in karma. As an analogy, the flower is caused by the seed, but inside the seed there is no flower. The fruit is caused by the flower, but inside the flower there is no fruit. As flower and fruit develop, one does not see the development. Likewise, because of body there is karma, and because of karma there is body. As the flower falls at maturity, the fruit with its seed will appear; as the body expires at maturity, the karmic seed will leave it. Just as the seed is the cause of flowers and fruit, so too is the body the cause of good and evil karmas. Karma has no shape, without the appearance of maturity, like the shadow of one's body, with neither mass nor obstruction. The shadow is not held by or fastened to a person, but it moves around with the person. Never has anyone seen the shadow coming out of one's body. Karma and body are the same way. There are body and karma, but karma cannot be seen as something attached to the body. Yet, without the body, there cannot be karma.

"Thus, Great Medicine, the tree cannot be found in the seed. Yet, without the seed, the tree cannot be born. Just as a tiny banyan seed can grow a huge tree, so too subtle [alaya] consciousness can grow a huge body. One cannot find consciousness in the body. Yet, without [alaya] consciousness, the body cannot be."

The Buddha said to Great Medicine, "Before pieces of wood come into contact to produce fire, fire can not be found in wood. Without wood, fire cannot be produced. Fire is born from the coming together of causes and conditions. Without causes and conditions, fire cannot be born. Searching through wood, one cannot find the appearance of fire. Yet one can see fire rising from wood. Indeed, Great Medicine, [alaya] consciousness produces a physical body through the parents as conditions. Searching through the physical body, one cannot find consciousness. Yet, apart from the physical body, there is no consciousness. Great Medicine, before the kindling of fire, the appearance of fire is not there.

The Buddha told Worthy Protector, "The process and transference of [alaya] consciousness are like the great wind element, which is formless, shapeless, and unidentifiable. However, wind can activate myriads of things and display myriads of conditions, whether making loud sounds as it shakes the forest or breaks off branches, whether causing pleasure or pain as it touches with cold or hot the bodies of sentient beings. Wind does not have hands, feet, face, or shape. Nor does it have various colors such as black, white, red, or yellow. Worthy Protector, the realm of consciousness is the same way. It is formless, shapeless, not shown by light. However, because of causes and conditions, it can manifest various kinds of functions. We know that the dharma realms of sensory reception and perception are also formless and shapeless. Because of causes and conditions, they manifest functions. Worthy Protector, after a sentient being dies, the dharma realms of sensory reception and perception and the dharma realm of consciousness abandon the body and leave. The way [alaya] consciousness carries the dharma realms of sensory reception and perception to accept another body is like a gust of wind sweeping across wonderful flowers. The flowers stay put, but their fragrance will flow afar. The wind-essence does not grasp the fragrance of the flowers. Fragrance and wind are both, in substance, formless and shapeless. However, without the power of wind, fragrance will not travel afar. Worthy Protector, after a person's death, his [alaya] consciousness carries the dharma realms of sensory reception and perception to the next life, which is conditioned upon the parents chosen by [alaya] consciousness. In this way, the dharma realms of sensory reception and perception accompany consciousness. Because of the quality of the flowers, one's nose can detect their scent. Because of one's olfactory power, one smells fragrance, a sense object. Wind touches the flowers because of its power. Because of the power of the wind, fragrance can reach afar. Likewise, from consciousness one has sensory reception, from sensory reception one has perception, and from perception one has mental objects. Then one knows good and evil.

"Worthy Protector, by analogy, a painter applies pigments to the wall, and he can paint images as neatly and properly as he wishes. The consciousness and intellect of the painter are both formless and shapeless, but they can create various kinds of extraordinary images and shapes. Thus consciousness and mind project the six percepts. That is, the eye sees sights and the eye consciousness is shapeless; the ear hears sounds, which are formless and shapeless; the nose detects odors, which are formless and shapeless; the tongue tastes flavors, which are formless and shapeless; and the body knows tactile sensations, which are formless and shapeless. Sense faculties and object perception are shapeless. In the same way, consciousness is formless and shapeless.

"Worthy Protector, what is the meaning of consciousness? [alaya] consciousness means seed, which can sprout a karmic body of various sorts. Also, perception, thinking, and memory are all sprouted from [alaya] consciousness. It is called consciousness because it knows suffering, pleasure, good, and evil, as well as good and evil objects.You ask me how [alaya] consciousness leaves this body to accept the next requital. Worthy Protector, the transference of consciousness into a body is like the reflection of a face in a mirror, like the markings in the mud, imprinted by a stamp. As an analogy, the light of sunrise removes darkness, which returns after sunset. Darkness has no mass, no shape, neither permanent nor impermanent, but it is always there. Consciousness is the same way. Having no mass and no shape, it is revealed through sensory reception and perception. Consciousness in one's body is like the essence of darkness, which cannot be seen or held. It is like the fetus inside the mother who does not know whether it is a body or a girl. Nor does she know whether it looks black, white, or yellow, whether it has complete sense organs, whether it has normal hands, feet, ears, and eyes. However, stimulated by hot food and drink [eaten by the mother], the fetus will move, because it perceives pain. The presence of consciousness is evident as sentient beings come or go, bend or extend, stare or blink, speak or laugh, carry heavy loads, or perform deeds. However, they do not know the whereabouts of consciousness in their bodies, nor its shape. Worthy Protector, the self-nature of consciousness permeates the sensory fields, but is not defiled by them. Consciousness permeates the six sense organs, six sense objects, and the five aggregates, which are with afflictions, but is not defiled by them. Through them, the functions of consciousness are evident. Worthy Protector, it is like a mechanism which enables a wooden machine to perform various kinds of tasks, whether talking, leaping, jumping, or dancing. What is your opinion? By whose power is this wooden machine enabled to work?"

Worthy Protector replied to the Buddha, "My wisdom and knowledge are too shallow to determine this."

The Buddha told Worthy Protector, "We should know that it is by the power of performance. The power for performing deeds is formless but directed by intelligence. Thus, a body-machine can do things with the power of consciousness. Rsis, gandharvas, dragons, humans, asuras, and others all depend on it to perform various kinds of deeds. [Alaya] consciousness can form the body as a work machine. Consciousness, without any form or mass, has the mental power to hold the dharma realm. It can know events even in one's past lives. By analogy, the pervasive sunlight shines equally on sentient beings with evil karma, corpses, impure things, and stinking things, but it is not defiled by them. [Alaya] consciousness is the same way. Although it is in the body of a pig or a dog that eats impure things or of one trekking the evil life-journeys, it is not defiled.

At that time the youth Worthy Protector Superior bowed down at the feet of the Buddha. He asked the Buddha, "Where does [alaya] consciousness enter the embryo inside the egg of a chicken or goose, the shell of which is dense? If the embryo dies within the egg and if the eggshell has no crack or hole, where will [alaya] consciousness exit?"

The Buddha replied to Worthy Protector, "By analogy, if black sesame seeds are processed with campaka flowers, the oil will become aromatic and be called campaka oil. It is far superior to ordinary sesame oil. The oil initially does not contain any aroma but becomes aromatic after the seeds have been processed with the flowers. The fragrance does not crack the sesame seeds in order to enter or to exit, nor does it leave any substance in the oil. However, because of the force of causes and conditions, the aroma is blended into the oil and the oil becomes aromatic. The way [alaya] consciousness moves into or out of the embryo of a chicken or a goose in spite of the eggshell is like the transference of campaka fragrance into the oil. The transference of [alaya] consciousness is like the flow of sunlight, the shine of a jewel, or the fire from firewood.

"[Alaya] consciousness is also like a seed. When a seed is planted in the ground of transformation, sprout, seedling, stem, and leaves will successively appear above the ground. Then flowers in a variety of colors-white, off-white, or red-may appear, and fruits in a variety of flavors may ripen. The same great earth, supported equally by the other elements, grows different things according to the seeds. Thus, the dharma realm of one's [alaya] consciousness will [successively] produce bodies in black, white, yellow, or red, with various kinds of characters whether gentle or violent, to undergo life and death. Worthy Protector, consciousness has neither hands nor feet, nor joints nor speech. In the dharma realm, the power of memory is strong. After a sentient being dies and [alaya] consciousness abandons the current body, [alaya] consciousness, with the power of memory, is the seed for the next life. Apart from consciousness, there is no dharma realm; apart from dharma realm, there is no consciousness.[alaya] consciousness and its dharma realm move away, together with [the karmic] wind, the realm of subtle memory, and the realm of sensory reception."

Worthy Protector further asked the Buddha, "If so, why does World-Honored One say that consciousness is formless?"

The Buddha said, "Worthy Protector, there are two kinds of form, the internal and the external. Eye consciousness is internal, and eye is external. In the same way, ear consciousness is internal, and ear is external; nose consciousness is internal, and nose is external; tongue consciousness is internal, and tongue is external; body consciousness is internal, and body is external. Worthy Protector, a person who is blind by birth dreams of a beautiful woman, and he sees clearly her hands, feet, and beautiful features. He loves the sights as he dreams. When the night's sleep is over and daylight arrives, the blind man describes to a crowd the pleasing things in his dream, saying, 'I saw a beautiful woman whose features were uniquely exquisite, a garden with lush flowers, and hundreds and thousands of well-adorned people, who frolicked merrily. Their skin was lustrous, their shoulders were plump, and their arms were long and rounded like an elephant trunk. I gained great happiness from my dream, and my heart was gladdened.' Worthy Protector, this man was born blind, who has never seen anything with his eyes. Why can he perceive sights in his dream?"


http://www.buddhism.org/Sutras/2/Sutras41.htm

[FiveSkandhas]

Exquisite. Thank you for posting this.

[LastLegend]

You are welcome dude!

[LastLegend]

The Sutra says consciousness is neither dirty or clean, I think, it’s just karma...not a part from our functioning aggregates. I don’t know. It’s too confusing. Make it simple!

[Giovanni]

The Sutra says consciousness is neither dirty or clean, I think, it’s just karma...not a part from our functioning aggregates. I don’t know. It’s too confusing. Make it simple!

Well certainly I am confused. Are you saying that consciousness is karma?

[LastLegend]

The Sutra says consciousness is neither dirty or clean, I think, it’s just karma...not a part from our functioning aggregates. I don’t know. It’s too confusing. Make it simple!

Well certainly I am confused. Are you saying that consciousness is karma?

No. Why?

[Giovanni]

The Sutra says consciousness is neither dirty or clean, I think, it’s just karma...not a part from our functioning aggregates. I don’t know. It’s too confusing. Make it simple!

Well certainly I am confused. Are you saying that consciousness is karma?

No. Why?

So if ‘it’ in that sentence is not consciousness..what IS “just karma”? And what would non functioning aggregates be?

[LastLegend]

Ahhhh I see.

Karma gives us problems. Aggregates create karma.

[Giovanni]

Intentionality ..cetana in Sanskrit sem pa in Tibetan is the skandha most operant in creating karma-vipaka.
We have no choice but to act. But we can keep our actions in line with good intention. This is most likely by developing compassion and Bodhicitta.

[LastLegend]

In meditation, act of intent shouldn’t arise should just be the awareness.

[Giovanni]

In meditation, act of intent shouldn’t arise should just be the awareness.

And that’s where you are?

[LastLegend]

In meditation, act of intent shouldn’t arise should just be the awareness.

And that’s where you are?

Try to be

[SilenceMonkey]

Intentionality ..cetana in Sanskrit sem pa in Tibetan is the skandha most operant in creating karma-vipaka.
We have no choice but to act. But we can keep our actions in line with good intention. This is most likely by developing compassion and Bodhicitta.

Cetana is not a skandha... maybe you are thinking of samskara?

[LastLegend]

Thinking, mental processing, cognition or perception these involve a process of various functions interacting together.

[Giovanni]

Intentionality ..cetana in Sanskrit sem pa in Tibetan is the skandha most operant in creating karma-vipaka.
We have no choice but to act. But we can keep our actions in line with good intention. This is most likely by developing compassion and Bodhicitta.

Cetana is not a skandha... maybe you are thinking of samskara?

You are correct of course. The problem is I am having to juggle between the English, Italian, Sanskrit and Tibetan and I am not even good at the Italian!

[LastLegend]

We can argue over which skandhas are labels as such but it comes down to what’s actually observable in mind and which ones cause issues. Like if there is act of grasping (not really a technical function) but describes the deliberate act of ‘getting’ information through a mental process such as thinking. If we are talking about a tree we would need to know what a tree is, it’s branches, and leaves. Analyzing it to be empty would require a mental process.

[SilenceMonkey]

We can argue over which skandhas are labels as such but it comes down to what’s actually observable in mind and which ones cause issues. Like if there is act of grasping (not really a technical function) but describes the deliberate act of ‘getting’ information through a mental process such as thinking. If we are talking about a tree we would need to know what a tree is, it’s branches, and leaves. Analyzing it to be empty would require a mental process.

Yeah, I think you're right. Especially for zen, which doesn't use analysis as a method. It's all mind.

[LastLegend]

We can argue over which skandhas are labels as such but it comes down to what’s actually observable in mind and which ones cause issues. Like if there is act of grasping (not really a technical function) but describes the deliberate act of ‘getting’ information through a mental process such as thinking. If we are talking about a tree we would need to know what a tree is, it’s branches, and leaves. Analyzing it to be empty would require a mental process.

Yeah, I think you're right. Especially for zen, which doesn't use analysis as a method. It's all mind.

It doesn’t but for most of us, we still experience delusional thoughts. I think it’s helpful to know how our mind works.