Commentary on the Mahayana Vijnaptimatrata Sutra
Chapter 9: How Can the Subtle Consciousness Sustain Bodies Large and Small
Original text: 大药白佛言。云何识取天身。乃至取地狱身。佛言大药。识与法界。持微妙视。非肉眼所依。以为见因。此微妙视。与福境合。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya said to the Buddha: How does the Ālayavijñāna grasp the physical bodies of devas, and even the physical bodies of those in the hells? The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, the Ālayavijñāna endows the sentient beings of the dharmadhātu with a very subtle form of vision — a minor superknowledge — whereby, without the physical eye, one can see the realms of the heavenly palaces; it is seen with the mind's eye, not relying on the eye faculty. This special function of seeing forms with the mind's eye is sustained by one's own meritorious karma; it is because of the retribution of meritorious karma that the blissful heavenly realm appears, and with the mind's eye one sees the heavenly palace summoned by one's own merit.
Original text: 见于天宫。欲乐嬉戏。见已欢喜。识便系着。作如是念。我当往彼。染爱恋念。而为有因。见已故身。卧弃尸所。作如是念。此尸是我。大善知识。由其积集。诸善业故。令我今者。获于天报。
Explanation: He saw in the heavenly palace the devas and devīs amusing themselves, playing and frolicking; upon seeing this, joy arose in his mind, and as soon as this joy arose, his mind was seized and bound within the wondrous realm of the heavenly palace. Then he thought: I should be reborn in that heavenly palace. Because this person craved the superb realm of the heavenly palace and his mind gave rise to attachment and longing, this became the cause of existence in the three realms, and the deva body of the three realms was born. When he arrived in the heavenly palace, he saw his own dead body lying in the place where corpses are discarded, and he thought: This corpse is my great kalyāṇamitra; it was because of all the wholesome karma he had accumulated that I have now obtained the good retribution of a deva.
From this we should see that whatever realm we like, we are obstructed and bound by that very realm, and whatever realm we loathe, we are likewise obstructed and bound by that very realm. Therefore, toward all realms we should give rise neither to delight nor to aversion. As long as there is mind, one will be bound, unfree, and unable to escape the cycle of birth and death in saṃsāra. To attain liberation and not be bound, one must have no mind toward any realm; with no mind, one is not bound by realms, and without grasping one attains liberation.
Original text: 大药白佛言。世尊。此识于尸。既有爱重。何不托止。佛言大药。譬如剪弃须发。虽见乌光香泽。宁不更植于身。令重生不。大药白佛言。不也世尊。已弃须发。不可重植于身。令其更生。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, since this person so cherishes and delights in his corpse, why does he not take up residence in the corpse again? The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, it is like cutting off and discarding one's hair: although the fallen hair is still black, lustrous, and fragrant, could it not be replanted on the body to grow again? The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya replied to the Buddha: No, World-Honored One; hair that has been cut off and discarded cannot be replanted on the body and set upon the head to grow again.
The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya knew that as soon as the mind gives rise to craving, one is bound by the object of that craving. This person loved his own corpse and was therefore bound by his own corpse, yet he could not return to his corpse and come back to life.
Original text: 佛言。如是大药。已弃之尸。识亦不可。重托受报。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Indeed it is so, Mahāvaidya. Such is the rule of the dharmadhātu: once the corpse has been completely abandoned — once both the seventh and eighth consciousnesses have left the physical body and the six consciousnesses have all ceased — the eight consciousnesses can no longer return to the physical body and bring it back to life.
For the physical body to be abandoned, all seven consciousnesses must have left it. If the manas has not yet left, it does not count as complete abandonment; if the manas is still present, the person can come back to life. Because where there is the manas there is the eighth consciousness, such a one is not a dead person: the six consciousnesses can arise again, and the person can revive.
Original text: 大药复白佛言。世尊。此识冥寞玄微。无质可取。无状可寻。云何能持象等。大身众生。纵身坚固。犹若金刚。而能贯入。壮夫之身。力敌九象。而能持之。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya further said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, the Ālayavijñāna is so subtle, so mysterious and profound, so hidden and recondite that it is hard to behold; it has no substance to be grasped and no shape to be sought. How, then, can the Ālayavijñāna sustain such great sentient beings' bodies as that of an elephant? How can He enter the physical body of an elephant and maintain the life of great-bodied beings such as elephants? Even though the Ālayavijñāna is as solid as vajra, how could He penetrate and enter the body of a powerful strongman whose strength matches nine elephants, and sustain it?
Original text: 佛言大药。譬如风大。无质无形。止于幽谷。或窍隙中。其出暴猛。或摧倒须弥。碎为尘粉。大药。须弥风大。色相云何。大药白佛言。风大微妙。无质无形。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, it is like the great element of wind, which has no substance and no form: when it bursts forth from deep mountain valleys or from crevices in rocks, its force is fierce and violent — such a great storm or tornado could topple Mount Sumeru and pulverize it into dust. The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, the great wind that could blow down Mount Sumeru — what material form does it have? The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya replied to the Buddha: The element of wind is very subtle; it has no substance and no shape.
Mount Sumeru is countless times larger than the Earth and is composed of the hardest of the seven treasures. The Earth has soil and water, but Mount Sumeru has none of these; it is made entirely of vajra-like precious substances and is extremely hard. For a great wind to be able to topple Mount Sumeru and pulverize it into dust — what immense power that must be; it is no longer an ordinary gale or storm. The Ālayavijñāna, like the great wind, is formless and without marks, yet His power is likewise considerable: He can enter the body of a very powerful elephant, sustain the elephant's body, and keep the elephant's life continuously functioning.
Original text: 佛言大药。风大微妙。无质无形。识亦如是。妙无形质。大身小身。咸悉能持。或受蚊身。或受象身。譬如明灯。其焰微妙。置之于室。随室大小。众闇咸除。识亦如是。随诸业因。任持大小。
Explanation: The Buddha said to Mahāvaidya: The element of wind is very subtle, without substance or form; the Ālayavijñāna is likewise subtle, without substance or form — invisible, inaudible, untouchable. No matter how large or how small a physical body may be, the Ālayavijñāna can sustain and operate it, whether taking on the body of a mosquito or fly, or the body of an elephant. It is like a bright lamp whose flame is extremely subtle: placed in a room, its light dispels all the darkness of the room in accordance with the room's size. The Ālayavijñāna is the same: in accordance with beings' karmic causes and conditions, He can sustain physical bodies large and small.
The physical body of a Sambhogakāya Buddha is extremely tall and large — the Earth is as small as a ping-pong ball in the hands of a Sambhogakāya Buddha — yet the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) can also sustain the Sambhogakāya Buddha's body. The smallest bodies, such as those of mosquitoes, flies, ants, and bacteria, the Ālayavijñāna can likewise sustain. Why can the Ālayavijñāna sustain any kind of physical body equally? Because He Himself is without form or substance, without mark or color, and pervades all places: however large a body, He can pervade it completely; however small a body, He can also pervade it completely.
Moreover, the functions of the Ālayavijñāna are the same in large bodies and small bodies. The Ālayavijñāna in a bacterium and the Ālayavijñāna in an elephant, in a nāga (dragon), or in a garuḍa (golden-winged great bird) all have identical functions, without any difference. Nor does the Ālayavijñāna ever complain, saying: "Look at the karma you created, making me sustain such a small body for you." He does not complain; He has no sensations and no feelings. Nor does He complain about how tiring it is to sustain such a large body. To Him, large bodies and small bodies are the same: effortlessly He keeps sentient beings' physical bodies alive, and living normally at that.
Original text: 大药白佛言。世尊。诸业相性。彼复云何。以何因缘。而得显现。佛言大药。生诸天宫。食天妙膳。安宁快乐。斯皆业果。之所致也。
Explanation: Mahāvaidya said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, what are the characteristics and nature of the karma beings create, and by what causes and conditions do beings' karmic characteristics manifest? The Buddha said to Mahāvaidya: Those who create wholesome karma ascend to the heavenly palaces, eat the wondrous food of the heavens, and live in peace and happiness — all of this is brought about by the karmic fruit of wholesome karma. The wondrous food of the heavens appears the moment one thinks of it, coming into being by transformation, complete with a hundred flavors; no hands need prepare it, no labor is required, and no fields need be plowed — this is the meritorious fruit of wholesome karma.
Original text: 如人渴乏。巡游旷野。一得清凉美水。一无所得。受渴乏苦。得冷水者。无人持与。受渴乏者。亦无遮障。不许与水。各以业因。受苦乐报。
Explanation: It is like two people traveling across a wilderness, both feeling extremely thirsty, weary, and exhausted. Yet one of them obtained cool, delicious drinking water, while the other got not a single drop and could only endure the torment of thirst and weariness. For the one who obtained the cool water, no one handed it to him, yet he obtained it; for the one suffering thirst and weariness, no one obstructed him or forbade him water, yet he could not drink. Both were summoned by their karmic causes: each, through his own wholesome or unwholesome karmic causes, received the retribution of suffering or of happiness.
Original text: 大药。应当以是。见善恶业。如空中月。白黑二分。
Explanation: Mahāvaidya, from the retribution they receive, one knows whether what they receive is a wholesome or an unwholesome retribution. By observing each sentient being's enjoyments and provisions, one knows whether that being has created wholesome or unwholesome karma, meritorious or unmeritorious karma. The retribution of wholesome and unwholesome karma is like the moon in the sky, divided into the white moon and the black moon, very distinct. During the white-moon period the moon grows ever brighter; during the black-moon period the moon grows ever darker. During the black-moon period no moon can be seen in the sky — it is utterly dark; during the white-moon period the moon in the sky is very bright. Comparing black and white, the distinction is very clear. The wholesome and unwholesome karma of sentient beings is likewise very distinct: some live by begging, while others live in splendor and grandeur, and thus we know whether the karma they created is wholesome or unwholesome.
Original text: 又如生果。由火大增。熟便色异。如是此身。由福增故。生胜族家。资产丰盈。金宝溢满。胜相显盛。或生诸天宫。快乐自在。斯皆善业。福相显现。
Explanation: It is also like an unripe fruit: when steamed over a great fire, once cooked its color changes; the colors of unripe and ripe fruit are different — when an unripe fruit becomes ripe, its color changes. The physical body is the same: because beings' meritorious karma increases, they are born into a family of superior lineage, obtain abundant assets, and possess countless gold and jewels; the marks of wealth and honor fully manifest, and a most superb retribution appears — or they are born in the heavenly palaces, happy and at ease. Such is the retribution that the meritorious characteristics of wholesome karma manifest.
Original text: 譬如种子。植之于地。果现树首。然其种子。不从枝入枝。而至树首。割析树身。亦不见子。无人持子。置于枝上。树成根固。求种不见。如是诸善恶业。咸依于身。求之于身。亦不见业。
Explanation: It is like planting a seed in the ground: fruit then appears at the top of the tree, yet the seed did not travel from one branch to another and then on to the treetop; if one cuts the tree open and examines it, no seed can be found, and no one placed the seed on the branches. After the great tree has grown, its roots are very firm, yet within it no seed can be found. The seed is a metaphor for beings' wholesome and unwholesome karma: it all depends on the physical body for its existence, yet on beings' physical bodies the wholesome and unwholesome karma cannot be found. But judging from the phenomena of what the physical body enjoys, the retribution of wholesome and unwholesome karma manifests.
Original text: 如因种有花。种中无花。因花有果。花中无果。花果增进。增进不见。因身有业。因业有身。身中无业。业中无身。亦复如是。
Explanation: Because there is a flower seed there are fresh flowers, yet within the seed there are no flowers; because there are flowers there is fruit, yet within the flowers there is no fruit. Flowers and fruit serve as cause and condition for one another: after the flower grows, fruit emerges; after the fruit emerges, the flower disappears; when the fruit, as a seed, grows, flowers are born; once the flowers appear, the fruit is seen no more. By the same principle, it is because of the five-aggregate body that there is wholesome and unwholesome karma, and because of wholesome and unwholesome karma a new five-aggregate body is generated. On the five-aggregate body one cannot find wholesome and unwholesome karma, and in the wholesome and unwholesome karma one cannot find the five-aggregate body; yet the body did indeed create wholesome and unwholesome karma, and within that karma is concealed the future retributive body — the seeds of the retributive body being like the flowers and the fruit.
Original text: 如花熟落。其果乃现。身熟谢殒。业果方出。如有种子。花果之因具有。如是有身。善恶业因备在。彼业无形。亦无熟相。
Explanation: It is like flowers that, once mature, fall away, whereupon the fruit appears. When beings' five-aggregate bodies grow old and perish, the wholesome and unwholesome retribution of a whole life appears. It is like having seeds first, whereupon flowers and fruit appear by virtue of the seeds; likewise, because there is the five-aggregate body, the causes of wholesome and unwholesome karma exist in full. Wholesome and unwholesome karma has no form and no mark of ripening.
With seeds, flowers and fruit are born; the seed is the cause of flowers and fruit, and within the seed flowers and fruit are contained. The cause of wholesome and unwholesome karma is the physical body of the five aggregates: it is through the five aggregates that wholesome and unwholesome karma is created, yet the karma thus created itself has no mark of arising or ripening.
Original text: 如人身影。无质无碍。不可执持。不系着人。进止往来。随人运动。亦不见影。从身而出。业身亦尔。有身有业。而不见业。系着于身。亦不离身。而能有业。
Explanation: It is just like a person's shadow cast on the ground: formless and without mark, without substance or obstruction, it cannot be touched, and no one can grasp it. The shadow does not bind the person; whether advancing or halting, coming or going, the shadow moves along with the person, yet one cannot see the shadow emerging from the body. The karmic retributive body is the same: where there is a physical body there is karmic retribution, yet one cannot see the retribution binding the physical body; at the same time, the retribution cannot appear apart from the physical body.
The shadow is a metaphor for wholesome and unwholesome karma, which operates along with a person's five-aggregate body. Karmic retribution is formless, and so is the shadow. Retribution exists along with the body and also along with karma, yet we cannot see the karma — we can only see the physical body. From the physical body we know whether the retribution is a wholesome or an unwholesome one, and we know what karmic deeds the five-aggregate body performed in past lives — wholesome karma or unwholesome karma.
Original text: 如辛苦涩。殊味诸药。能涤净除。一切病患。身体充悦。颜色光泽。人见之者。知服良药。药味可取。熟功无形。视不可见。执不可得。而能资人。肤容色泽。
Explanation: It is like medicines of different flavors — pungent, bitter, astringent — which can treat and cleanse away all illnesses, making the body's countenance moist and lustrous and the physical body healthy; at a glance others know he has taken good medicine. The flavor of the medicine can be smelled, but the curative effect it produces is formless and without mark — the eyes cannot see it and the hands cannot grasp it — yet the medicine can nourish a person, giving the skin luster and the complexion brightness.
Original text: 业无形质。能资于身。亦复如是。善业资者。饮食衣服。内外诸资。丰饶羡丽。手足端正。形容姝好。屋室华侈。摩尼金银。众宝盈积。安宁快乐。欢娱适意。当知此为。善业之相。
Explanation: By the same principle, the wholesome and unwholesome karma created by sentient beings is formless, without substance and without mark, yet it can support the physical body, so that the body receives either a blessed retribution or a blessingless one — just like the medicine nourishing the body. When a being creates wholesome karma, that karma nourishes the five-aggregate body: food and drink, clothing, bedding — everything within and without the body is nourished into wealth and splendor; his hands and feet are well-formed, his countenance dignified, his physical appearance adorned and upright; his dwelling environment and house are magnificent and luxurious, with maṇi jewels, gold, and silver, the room filled with piled-up precious treasures; he lives in peace and happiness, in joy and contentment. Seeing a being enjoying such a life, one should know these are the characteristics of wholesome karma: this person created wholesome karma and obtained a wholesome retribution. Karma itself is without mark, yet from the physical body the features of karma can manifest.
Original text: 生于下贱。边地贫穷。资用阙乏。悕羡他乐。饮食粗恶。或不得食。形容弊陋。所止卑下。当知此为。恶业之相。
Explanation: What, then, is the retribution of those born into lowly, frontier, or poor families? Their provisions are lacking — always missing something; their food is coarse and unpalatable, or there is nothing to eat at all; they often go hungry and cold, constantly envying others' happy lives, not knowing this is the retribution of the unwholesome karma they themselves once created. Their features are ugly, their faces without flesh and their bones protruding — showing they bear the mark of poverty, not the mark of merit; they are thin and withered, without luster; the places they dwell in are lowly tribes, mountain gullies and wild lands. Judging from these living conditions of sentient beings, one knows these are all characteristics of unwholesome karma — the retribution of creating unwholesome karma.
Original text: 犹如明镜。鉴面好丑。镜像无质。取不可得。如是识资。善不善业。生人天中。或生地狱。畜生等中。大药。应当如是。见业与识。和合迁化。
Explanation: It is like a bright mirror that can reveal whether a face is beautiful or ugly. The image in the mirror has no substance or obstruction — it is only a shadow — yet we cannot take that shadow out of the mirror. Seeing beings' retribution, one knows what karmic deeds they have created, just as seeing the image in the mirror one knows the face of the person outside the mirror. Using the principle of mirror imaging as a metaphor: within the Ālayavijñāna are concealed the wholesome and unwholesome karma created by beings, and this karma can cause beings to be born among humans and devas, or among the beings of the three evil destinies — the hells, animals, hungry ghosts, and so forth. Mahāvaidya, one should view it thus: beings' karmic seeds and the Ālayavijñāna combine together in just this way and migrate into the five-aggregate body of the next life.
Original text: 大药言。世尊。云何微识。能持诸根。能取大身。佛言大药。譬如猎者。入于山林。持弓毒箭。而射香象。箭毒沾血。毒运象身。支体既废。根境同丧。毒流要害。身色青赤。犹如淤血。毒杀象已。便即迁化。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya asked the Buddha: World-Honored One, why can the Ālayavijñāna, so subtle and refined, sustain beings' six sense faculties (the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind faculties), and also grasp great-bodied beings such as elephants, garuḍas (golden-winged great birds), and nāgas (dragons)?
The Buddha said to Mahāvaidya: It is like a hunter who enters the mountain forests carrying a bow and poisoned arrows and shoots a great fragrant elephant. The poison on the arrow seeps into the elephant's blood, and the poison is carried by the blood throughout the elephant's body. Thereupon the elephant's limbs become powerless and cannot move, the five faculties can no longer be used, the realms of the six dusts vanish, the six consciousnesses cease, and the elephant dies. The venom flows to the vital parts such as the heart, and the whole body turns blackish-blue, as if the blood had congealed. After the poison has killed the elephant, the elephant dies.
If no poison were applied to the arrow, then after hitting the fragrant elephant the wound would be only superficial, healing after a while, and the elephant would not fall. But when a poisoned arrow pierces the skin, the poison seeps into the blood and is carried throughout the body; when it reaches the heart, the elephant falls. As soon as the poison reaches the heart, it flows through the whole body, the body's five faculties can no longer operate, and the manas, seeing this, resolves to abandon the elephant's physical body, whereupon the elephant dies. One who dies of poisoning turns bluish and dark because the blood no longer circulates. Where the blood does not circulate, the body is blackish-purple; where it does circulate, the skin remains its natural fair color.
Original text: 于意云何。毒与象身。多少大小。可得比不。大药白佛言。世尊。毒与象身。多少大小。其量悬殊。不可为对。犹如须弥。比之芥子。
Explanation: The Buddha said to Mahāvaidya: What do you think of this? Comparing the poison with the elephant's body in quantity and in size — can they be compared? The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya replied: World-Honored One, compared with the elephant's body, the poison differs so vastly in quantity and size that no comparison is possible — it is like comparing Mount Sumeru with a mustard seed; the disparity is too great to compare.
How large is the elephant's body, how heavy, and how little poison was there? Why could such a tiny amount of poison kill the elephant? A poison the size of a mustard seed felled an elephant as large as Mount Sumeru — showing that although the poison is little, its effect is immense. And the Ālayavijñāna is not even as large as a mustard seed, yet the function He performs is likewise infinitely great — something sentient beings cannot imagine; it is inconceivable.
Original text: 佛言大药。如是识弃此身。以取诸根。弃此诸界。随业迁化。亦复如是。
Explanation: The Buddha said to Mahāvaidya: Thus it is that the Ālayavijñāna abandons this body and then takes up the faculties of another body, causing the faculties that grow on that other body to be so as well; abandoning all the eighteen realms of this body and migrating in accordance with karma onto another body is also thus. Do not think that, not even being the size of a mustard seed, the Ālayavijñāna is insignificant — His functions are truly immense, beyond imagination.
Original text: 大药复白佛言。世尊。云何微细之识。任持大身。而不疲倦。佛言大药。须弥山王。高八万四千由旬。难陀乌波难陀。二大龙王。各绕三匝。二龙大息。摇振须弥。内海中水。咸变成毒。此二龙王。长大力壮。和修吉龙德叉迦龙二大龙王。亦与之等。
Explanation: Mahāvaidya further said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, why can the Ālayavijñāna, so subtle, sustain the elephant's physical body without ever growing weary or tired? The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, the King of Mount Sumeru is eighty-four thousand yojanas high. The bodies of the two great nāga kings, Nanda and Upananda, each coil three times around Mount Sumeru. When the two nāgas are greatly enraged, they shake Mount Sumeru, and the waters of the inner seas all turn to poison. These two nāga kings are long-bodied and mighty; the two great nāga kings Vāsuki and Takṣaka are equal to them in body and strength.
Original text: 于意云何。 四龙王识。与蚊蚋识。宁有异不。大药言。世尊。四龙蚊蚋。其识无异。
Explanation: Mahāvaidya, what do you think? Is there any difference between the Ālayavijñāna of the four nāga kings and the Ālayavijñāna of a mosquito? The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya said: There is no difference between the Ālayavijñāna of the four nāga kings and that of the mosquito; their functions are the same. It is only that the functions of the mosquito's Ālayavijñāna are restricted: what could originally overturn heaven and shake the earth can, as a result, only sustain such a tiny body.
The Ālayavijñāna sustains the bodies of elephants and nāgas yet has never felt weariness. When we do things, the mind consciousness feels tired, and the manas decides to rest or to sleep. The manas discerns the state of fatigue and also discerns the condition of the entire physical body, then engages in deliberation (manasikāra) and makes choices, and the Ālayavijñāna complies with the manas, doing as much as possible of what it wants. The moment-by-moment condition of the entire physical body can all be manifested by the Ālayavijñāna; the seventh consciousness can be cognizant of all of it and fully understand it, then make decisions anytime and anywhere, continuously regulating the body so that it feels comfortable and does not become fatigued.
When thirsty, the manas decides to drink water; when sitting until the back aches, it decides to change posture, or decides to stand up and move around — in all these the manas is the one who decides as master. Yet the manas itself never grows weary and has never rested. The Ālayavijñāna, since beginningless kalpas, has also never rested and has never known weariness or fatigue. If we knew what the Ālayavijñāna does every day, great wisdom would appear. Whatever dharmas there are, all are transformed and produced by the Ālayavijñāna; as for how He transforms and produces them, that must be gradually contemplated through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) after enlightenment.
"Yojana" is an Indian term: a small yojana is forty li, a middle yojana is sixty li, and a great yojana is eighty li. Calculate how tall and large Mount Sumeru is at eighty-four thousand yojanas high. The bodies of the two great nāga kings Nanda and Upananda are long enough to coil three times around Mount Sumeru — surely large enough? Yet the garuḍa (golden-winged great bird) preys precisely on these nāgas. How large must the garuḍa be? It is beyond imagination: when it spreads its two wings, it can blot out the sun, and the Earth becomes dark and lightless.
In the four great oceans there are four great nāga kings, one nāga king in each great ocean. The Ālayavijñāna of the four nāga kings is identical to the Ālayavijñāna of the mosquito, yet the mosquito's Ālayavijñāna sustains such a tiny body — that is determined by the mosquito's karmic seeds. The Ālayavijñāna manifests physical bodies in accordance with karmic seeds: the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) can manifest a Buddha's body, while sentient beings' Ālayavijñāna makes them ordinary beings (pṛthagjana). The functions of the Ālayavijñāna are the same, but the bodies transformed and produced differ, all because of differences in the power of karma. The Buddha's undefiled consciousness can manifest a great trichiliocosm, and indeed countless trichiliocosms; as for the mosquito's Ālayavijñāna, it can only let the mosquito suck a little blood, and sometimes cannot even manage to obtain a bit of food. So the power of karma is also formidable: it can restrict the superb functions of the Ālayavijñāna.
Original text: 佛言大药。如一小渧。跋错那婆。入四龙口。四龙便死。于意云何。小渧药毒。龙口中毒。何毒为大。大药白佛言。龙口毒大。小渧药毒。甚为微少。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, if a tiny bit of the poison called "Bacuonapo" (a kind of poison prepared by oneself), just one drop the size of a water droplet, enters the mouths of the four nāga kings, the four nāga kings will die at once. Do not think that although the four nāgas can fill the four great oceans entirely with poison, just one tiny drop of this Bacuonapo poison is more than the nāga kings can bear — they will surely be poisoned to death. Mahāvaidya, what do you think? Which is more virulent: the medicinal venom of one water drop's quantity, or the venom in the nāgas' mouths? The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya said: The venom of the nāgas' mouths is more virulent; the poison of a tiny water-drop size is far too minute.
This tiny water-drop-like venom is utterly negligible, out of all proportion to the nāgas' bodies and to the virulence of the poison the nāgas spew from their mouths, yet it can have such a great effect as to poison the nāga kings to death. The Ālayavijñāna is not as large as a water drop, nor as large as a dust mote; He has no mass and no shape, yet the function He performs is boundlessly vast — He can manifest all the worlds of the ten directions. Is that powerful or not? Truly powerful and wondrous!
Original text: 佛言大药。大身众生。力敌九象。微妙之识。无色无形。非分别量。随业任持。亦复如是。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, those great-bodied beings have strength matching nine elephants. As for elephants, it depends on what kind of elephant: the elephants in the heavens are called fragrant elephants, and there are ones even mightier than these fragrant elephants, whose strength matches nine elephants. The subtle Ālayavijñāna is without color or form; He Himself does not discriminate any dharmas and does not know dharmas' good or bad, beautiful or ugly, large or small, square or round, yet in accordance with beings' wholesome and unwholesome karma He sustains their physical bodies — likewise possessing such power as the poison.
Original text: 如尼瞿陀子。极微细。种之生树。婆娑广大。枝条百千。于意云何。其子与树。大小类不。大药言。世尊。其子与树。大小相悬。如藕丝孔。比虚空界。
Explanation: It is like the extremely tiny nyagrodha seed, the seed of a very tall tree: once this seed is planted in the ground, a towering great tree grows — a tree vast and spreading, with hundreds and thousands of branches reaching into empty space, very tall and large. Mahāvaidya, what do you think — can this tiny seed be compared with the great tree? Mahāvaidya said: World-Honored One, the disparity between this seed and the great tree is immense — like comparing the holes in a lotus root with the realm of empty space; they simply cannot be compared.
Original text: 佛言。如是大药。树于子中。求不可得。若不因子。树则不生。微细尼瞿陀子。能生大树。微细之识。能生大身。识中求身。身不可得。若除于识。身则无有。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Indeed it is so, Mahāvaidya. If you seek the great tree within the tree's seed, you cannot find the great tree. Yet were it not for the tree's seed, the great tree could not arise. Likewise, the subtle Ālayavijñāna can give birth to beings' great bodies, but if you seek the great body within the Ālayavijñāna, it is utterly unobtainable — it cannot be found. If there were no Ālayavijñāna, there would be no physical body.
Original text: 大药复白佛言。云何金刚坚固。不可坏识。止于危脆。速朽身内。佛言大药。譬如贫人。得如意宝。以宝力故。高宇雕镂。妙丽宫室。园林郁茂。花果敷荣。象马妓侍。资用乐具。自然而至。其人于后。失如意宝。众资乐具。咸悉销灭。
Explanation: Mahāvaidya further asked the Buddha: Why can the Ālayavijñāna, as solid as vajra and indestructible, dwell within a fragile, swiftly decaying body? In the Diamond Sutra the Ālayavijñāna is also called the vajra indestructible body: the physical body can decay and perish, but the Ālayavijñāna is as solid as vajra and indestructible. The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, it is like a poor man who obtains a wish-fulfilling jewel (cintāmaṇi): by the power of the jewel, provisions appear at will — lofty buildings with carved ornamentation, wonderful and magnificent palaces, lush and luxuriant gardens, blooming flowers and ripened fruit, elephants, horses, carriages, attendants and servants — all the implements of living and objects of enjoyment appear naturally before him. If that person later loses the wish-fulfilling jewel, all those implements of living and objects of enjoyment vanish completely.
The wish-fulfilling jewel is magical and solid, extremely secure; even a thousand vajras could not destroy it. Yet the provisions it transforms and produces can swiftly scatter and decay. The Ālayavijñāna is like the wish-fulfilling jewel: He can never be destroyed, yet the physical body He gives birth to and sustains can swiftly vanish and perish. This physical body and its provisions that we now have are manifested by the Ālayavijñāna; why then does He not provide us with better provisions? Because the Ālayavijñāna is limited by our karmic power and manifests the means of survival in accordance with our own wholesome and unwholesome karma.
Original text: 如意神宝。坚固真牢。纵千金刚。不能毁坏。所生资用。虚假无常。速散速灭。识亦如是。坚固不坏。所生之身。速朽速灭。
Explanation: The wondrous wish-fulfilling jewel of the world is solid and secure; even a thousand vajras cannot destroy it. But the implements it manifests are false and impermanent, swiftly scattering and swiftly perishing — destroyed as soon as destruction is due, vanishing as soon as vanishing is due, dispersing as soon as dispersal is due. The Ālayavijñāna is likewise solid and indestructible, but the five-aggregate body He gives birth to swiftly decays and swiftly perishes.
Never mind a thousand vajras: even tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or countless vajras could not destroy the Ālayavijñāna; no person or thing can destroy the Ālayavijñāna. Why can the Ālayavijñāna not be destroyed? Because He is formless and without mark, unborn and unceasing. If the Ālayavijñāna had form and mark, however solid, He could still be demolished and lost. When the world has all perished and there is no world, there are no dharmas at all; no solid treasure can exist — vajras and wish-fulfilling jewels alike can vanish and be seen no more, because all marks must rely on the world in order to exist; without a world, all marks have nothing to rest upon.
The physical body is not solid: it swiftly arises and swiftly perishes. A human body perishes within one hundred eighty years. Many people feel that this lifetime is very long, but in the eyes of devas it is merely a few minutes. Some beings such as mosquitoes and insects also live out a whole lifetime, yet that lifetime of theirs is, in our eyes, only a few minutes or a few hours; some bacteria disappear within a few minutes of being born — even if we do not kill them, they soon vanish. Even if devas have lifespans of several thousand years — and those thousands of years of theirs are several hundred or even several thousand times longer than our human thousands of years — in the eyes of bodhisattvas in other Buddha-lands, that is still a very short lifespan.
Some people think that once they reach the land of bliss (sukhāvatī), they can turn around and come right back. But during that one turn, the time of a finger-snap, how much time would have passed in our Sahā world? Perhaps even the Earth would be gone. Time is a false mark: it can be long or short depending on our merit. The greater the blessings, the longer the time one experiences; the smaller the blessings, the shorter the time. Conversely, in the three evil destinies, the smaller the merit, the longer the time of suffering: one year in the hungry-ghost destiny is equivalent to several hundred or several thousand years in our world.
One year in the hells is several thousand years in our human world. The more suffering beings experience, the longer time feels; the happier beings are, the shorter time feels. The eighty thousand great kalpas of the Heaven of Non-Perception (asaṃjñā) — how long that equals on the human Earth cannot be calculated, yet for the devas there it passes in the snap of a finger. If we sit in meditation and enter concentration for one hour, to others a long time may have passed, but for us we emerge from concentration very soon: happy time feels short, painful time feels long.
The power of ignorance and karma obscures sentient beings' minds so that they cannot see the supremely solid Ālayavijñāna. Where there is karma there are delusive thoughts and attachments; where there is ignorance there are delusive thoughts and attachments; where there are delusive thoughts and attachments there are obstructions — seeing only the false and not the true, one cannot realize the true reality of the dharmadhātu. If one repents much, one can dissolve karma and remove obstructions, and only then can one's cultivation get on the right track. If at the time of death the karma has not been dissolved, there will be obstruction: one cannot be reborn in a good destiny and may instead fall into the three evil destinies to suffer. Karmic obstructions make beings' minds unclear at the time of death so that they cannot recollect the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), obstructing rebirth in the human destiny, the good destinies, and the Pure Land. Only through repentance, dedication of merit (pariṇāma), cultivating wholesome dharmas, and accumulating much merit — so that the power of vows exceeds the power of karma and merit exceeds the power of karma, the stronger force migrating first — can one be reborn in a good destiny in an instant.
Cultivation means always making the power of wholesome karma greater than the power of unwholesome karma, always receiving wholesome retribution, with unwholesome karma continually postponed. In future lives, once one's power of the Path has grown strong, receiving karmic retribution becomes a trivial matter, no longer a problem. For example, suppose one killed someone in the past but has now become a bodhisattva who has attained several bhūmis: that unwholesome karma of killing becomes a small matter, not enough to obstruct the study and cultivation of the Buddha's Path. Having achieved success in cultivation, one's merit has increased; giving up a life is no big deal, and one can even transform many physical bodies to benefit oneself and benefit others. Another example: if one has now become a great millionaire and meets a creditor demanding repayment, paying back a small debt is no problem at all — a mere lift of the hand — whereas when one was poor and lowly, even a tiny debt could not be repaid. Once one cultivates wholesome dharmas and the power of merit grows great, any debt can be repaid, no problem, until finally one cultivates and attains buddhahood.
Original text: 大药言。世尊。柔妙之识。云何穿入。粗鞕色中。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Mahāvaidya said: World-Honored One, the Ālayavijñāna is formless and without mark, so subtle and pliant — how does He penetrate into the coarse and hard physical body?
For example, an elephant's skin is extremely coarse, hard, and thick — how does the Ālayavijñāna get in? The Ālayavijñāna does not penetrate through the skin: before the elephant is born, the Ālayavijñāna has already entered, and thereafter He continuously maintains the elephant's body. No matter how thick the elephant's skin grows, He does not come or go through the skin, nor does He come and go through any part of the elephant, because the Ālayavijñāna, having no form or substance, has no coming or going. After the elephant dies, the Ālayavijñāna does indeed leave the elephant's body, yet even then there is no appearance of leaving; no one can see the Ālayavijñāna enter or leave the elephant's body — hence it is said that the Ālayavijñāna neither comes nor goes.
Original text: 佛言大药。水体至柔。激流悬泉。能穿山石。于意云何。水石之质。鞕软如何。大药言。世尊。石质坚鞕。犹若金刚。水质柔软。为诸乐触。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, water is utterly soft, yet when the current is extremely rapid, cascading down from a hanging cliff, it can pierce through mountain rock. Comparing the textures of water and rock, how do their hardness and softness compare? Mahāvaidya said: World-Honored One, rock is extremely hard, like vajra; water, however, is soft, and when it touches the body it is a pleasant contact.
Comparing the textures of water and rock, the difference in hardness is indeed enormous. Yet the soft water can have such a great effect as to pierce through rock. Therefore, hard things are not necessarily truly hard, and soft things are not necessarily fragile.
Original text: 佛言大药。识亦如是。至妙至柔。能穿刚鞕。大身之色。迁入受报。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Mahāvaidya, the Ālayavijñāna is likewise: supremely subtle and supremely soft, yet He can penetrate the hardest physical bodies, migrating into the bodies of great-bodied beings so that they receive their retribution.
Saying the Ālayavijñāna is "soft" is merely a metaphor. A consciousness-mind that is formless, without mark, and without material obstruction cannot be called soft or hard; yet that He can dwell within all hard, large bodies is indeed subtle and hard to conceive. When the consciousness-mind of a ghost or spirit attaches to the body of an elephant or a nāga, is that a kind of penetration and entry? No. Does it dwell inside the elephant's body? Nor that either — it is merely a mode of sustaining.
The Ālayavijñāna likewise admits no notion of penetrating or not penetrating: every consciousness can sustain material form and perform its due functions. If a ghost or spirit attaches to a piece of wood or to a stone, it can also make the stone or wood move, without entering into the stone or wood; if a ghost or spirit attaches to a house, it can also make the house move, yet it is not inside, outside, or in the middle of the house. In the past there was a kitchen god who attached to a cooking stove and took the stove as his own body, yet on the stove the kitchen god could not be found at all. The Ālayavijñāna is the same: He has no material body and no shape, yet He has the function of sustaining.
