What Does Avyākṛta (Neutral/Indeterminate) Mean?

Mental actions that are indeterminate (avyākṛta) are mental actions that belong neither to wholesome karma nor to unwholesome karma; such mental actions can be recorded neither as wholesome karma nor as unwholesome karma. For example, all the mental actions of the eighth consciousness cannot be classified as wholesome or unwholesome karma. Whatever mental actions the eighth consciousness may have, none of them are stored as karmic seeds, and there is no retribution.

Then, can the mental actions of the manas be stored as karmic seeds, with wholesome and unwholesome retribution? The Śūraṅgama Sūtra explains that countless kalpas ago, among living beings there were only two consciousnesses: the eighth consciousness and the manas. Although the manas had ignorance, it also had wholesome and unwholesome mental factors; yet the mental actions of the manas could not manifest—He Himself could not create karmic actions, so there were no karmic seeds, and consequently no retribution of any kind, neither wholesome nor unwholesome.

It was not until the eighth consciousness, driven by the manas' outward grasping, gave rise to the material world and the body of the six consciousnesses and five aggregates that karmic actions came into existence. The eighth consciousness then began to record these karmic actions and store them as karmic seeds, and the five-aggregate body came to have wholesome and unwholesome retribution. But these karmic actions of the six consciousnesses were entirely directed and influenced by the manas' ignorance and its wholesome and unwholesome mental actions. Although the manas itself has wholesome and unwholesome mental actions and can direct the six consciousnesses to create wholesome and unwholesome karma, He Himself cannot create any karmic actions; therefore He is classified as indeterminate (avyākṛta). Yet although He is indeterminate, He possesses wholesome and unwholesome mental factors and can impel the six consciousnesses to create wholesome and unwholesome karma.

All mental actions of the six consciousnesses are karmic actions; they are all stored as karmic seeds and all have retribution—including wholesome mental actions, unwholesome mental actions, and mental actions that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome. All the mental actions of the manas while the five aggregates are asleep at night are not stored as karmic seeds and have no retribution. Even when one dreams after falling asleep, and wholesome or unwholesome karma is created within the dream, none of it is stored as karmic seeds, and there is no retribution. However, the mental actions of the manas can influence the behavior of the six consciousnesses; He is the guiding and principal factor in wholesome and unwholesome karma, the master who creates karma. Therefore, the one who truly receives the retribution is still the manas. On the surface, it is indeed the six consciousnesses that receive the retribution, but in essence it is the manas that receives it. The six consciousnesses can cease and can be replaced with new ones; even when the six consciousnesses are absent, it is still a retributive body—such as during sleep, at death, in the concentration of no perception, in a coma, and in the cessation of perception and feeling—in all these cases it is the manas alone that receives the retribution.