Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Meeting of Father and Son

Original text:佛言大王。如是如是。愚痴异生。寡闻无智。于可意触。而生爱乐。心生染着。造如是业。身业三种。语业四种。意业三种。造作彼业。刹那迁谢。是业灭已。不依东方。南西北方。四维上下。中间而住。至命终时。见先所作。心想中现。如彼睡觉。忆梦中事。最后识灭。自业现前。

If the karmic affinity between sentient beings from past lives is very deep, then when they meet in this life, when the Ālayavijñāna manifests the seeds, they will have special feelings toward each other. Even without meeting face to face, merely by hearing a voice, or seeing written words and photographs, one can sense a certain affinity from past lives—whether a wholesome affinity or an unwholesome one. Without meeting or speaking, there will be an unusual feeling. Some people feel something special merely upon hearing a name.

For those who formed a very deep karmic bond with the Buddha in past lives, as soon as they hear the Buddha's name in this life, their inner emotions stir, and the hairs on their body stand on end—this shows that they studied Buddhism for a long time in past lives and have a deep affinity with the Buddha. Those with profound Buddha-affinity feel a strong resonance upon hearing the Buddha's name, and spontaneously study Buddhism, recollect the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), bow to the Buddha, and praise the Buddha. Those who studied Buddhism only briefly in past lives have no particular reaction; they remain indifferent. For example, this was the case with Anāthapiṇḍada, the elder of Jetavana in India during the Buddha's time: as soon as he heard the Buddha's name, while walking along the road his body kept getting goosebumps and his hairs stood on end. He was a Buddhist disciple with extremely deep roots of goodness; having just heard the Buddha's name, he wanted to hold a banquet to make offerings to the World-Honored One, and donated his Jetavana to the Buddha as the Buddha's monastery.

For some people, as soon as they begin to encounter the Buddhadharma, the seeds of studying Buddhism from past lives manifest completely, and they quickly plunge headlong into the Dharma, no longer caring about worldly affairs—this is the power of seeds. It is the Ālayavijñāna that presents the matured karmic seeds; there are so many mysteries within this. Studying the Dharma allows one to know many truths. Without studying the Buddhadharma, in one's ignorance one only knows how to create unwholesome karma, and even when one suffers the retribution, one does not know what is going on, and there is no way to bring an end to the bitter karma of future lives. When unwholesome karma is created and ceases, the karmic seeds remain. The most frightening thing is the karmic seeds. We may try praying to our own Ālayavijñāna not to record our unwholesome karmic actions, not to store unwholesome karmic seeds, and see whether it works? It is of no use at all, because the Ālayavijñāna does not understand the language of sentient beings, does not know the content of mental thoughts, and lacks the discriminative functions of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Therefore, the Ālayavijñāna is pure and undefiled, impartial and incorruptible. So praying to Him is useless; one can only turn back and pray to one's own mind—do not let one's mind be filled with greed, anger, and delusion, and no longer create defiled karma out of greed, anger, and delusion.