Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (185)

The subject of karma creation and retribution is the mind consciousness

Original text: 大王。识为其主。业为攀缘。二种相因。初识生起。作业受报。皆不失坏。或趣地狱。或堕傍生。琰摩罗界。及阿修罗。若人若天。同分种类。相续不绝。

The Buddha said: Great King, the ālayavijñāna is the master of karma creation; the karmic actions performed serve as karmic conditions. When the ālayavijñāna takes karmic actions as its condition, that is the causal basis for the birth of the physical body in future lives. When the initial mind consciousness of the physical body arises, the karma created in past lives begins to bring retribution in this life; both karma creation and retribution are without loss or decay. This person will inevitably proceed to the hells, the ghost realm, the animal realm, the asura realm, as well as the human and heavenly realms, and the five-aggregate body corresponding to those karmic actions will continue to run on without interruption.

When the ālayavijñāna combines with karmic conditions, the initial consciousness of the next life arises. Once consciousness is produced, there is feeling of suffering; when karmic retribution manifests, it is only with feeling that retribution is formally received. So is retribution received on the body or in the mind? It is mainly received in the mind, because only when the mind has feeling is it called receiving retribution. If the physical body had no mind consciousness, then even with all kinds of suffering imposed upon it, the body would not feel any suffering—there would be no feeling of suffering. Therefore retribution is mainly received by the mind; only with a mind can one feel suffering and happiness, and without a mind one cannot feel suffering or happiness.

It is like a table made of wood: it has no karmic retribution. No matter what actions are performed upon the table, the table has no feeling whatsoever, and thus it receives no retribution. Because only with a mind is there feeling, karmic retribution is received by the mind: the mind creates karma, and the mind receives retribution—whoever creates it, receives it. Can the body create karma? If the body could create karma, then a table could also create karma, and a figure molded from clay could also create karma. But a clay figure has no mind; it cannot create karma, nor can it receive retribution. A dead person creates no karma and receives no retribution. However, the mind that creates karma is subject to arising and ceasing, is impermanent, and can be extinguished; therefore it is not real. The mind consciousness must rely on external conditions: only when the ālayavijñāna transmits seeds does the mind consciousness function; if the ālayavijñāna does not transmit seeds, there is no mind consciousness, and then nothing can be done. If one knows how to listen to this passage, and one's conditions and karmic rewards are complete, then one will not merely realize the fruit of the Small Vehicle—one can fully realize the fruit of the Great Vehicle and awaken to the tathāgatagarbha.

After the mind consciousness arises, karma creation and retribution are without loss or decay; they will not vanish without cause. Once karma is created, its retribution will certainly manifest—it is not that once the karma is done, nothing more happens. If one receives a hell body, that body continues on without interruption in the hells; for however long the hell lifespan lasts, the mind consciousness functions for that long, feeling suffering for that entire duration. The eye consciousness functions on the same physical body, the ear consciousness functions on the same physical body, and the mind consciousness functions on the same physical body. When the body is changed, these consciousnesses are changed too, and one no longer knows the affairs of past lives—one cannot recall them; this is amnesia. Because the mind has changed, there is no cognitive awareness of past-life matters.