When You Indulge in Delusive Thoughts, You Stir Up Your Past Karma

When we begin to observe the mind, contemplating the nature of the present moment, we cannot immediately perceive the essence of mind-nature itself. What we first encounter is its surface layer. It is like looking at a mirror—you cannot see the mirror's pure luminosity right away; you first see the reflections in it.

The reflections of mind-nature come in two parts. The first is what manifests through karmic force. For example, consider this passage: "Ghosts, animals, humans, and celestial beings each correspond according to their own karmic conditions." The beings of the ghost realm, animal realm, human realm, and heavenly realm each possess their own alaya consciousness. Driven by their individual karmic forces of good and evil—"the object is the same, yet minds differ; the meaning is conventionally accepted but not ultimately real"—these four classes of beings face the same object of perception. Take water, for instance. When four beings see water, the karmic force within each mind differs, so within the single thought-moment of mind-nature in each one, four different appearances arise. In the very first instant a ghost being sees water, what appears to it is raging fire. A fish in the animal realm sees water as its palace, its home. A human being naturally sees water as water. A celestial being, whose wholesome karma is strong, sees water as a palace of towering pavilions. Hence: "the meaning is conventionally accepted but not ultimately real."

From this we can understand that appearances are not real, for they shift according to karmic force. Whatever can change is not real. Nevertheless, this portion of appearance produced by karmic force must be preserved and not destroyed, because Mahayana Buddhism observes the emptiness of all dharmas without destroying the conventional name, form, and function of phenomena. Then which appearances should be dissolved?

Consider the next point. Name and object are mutually guests; their nature should be carefully examined; in both one should likewise investigate—mere ideation and mere imputation. When the first appearance arises, it is karmic force, but our conceptual language and our thoughts begin to stir. Each person spins their own delusive thoughts and begins to interpret the appearance. Conceptual language certainly alters the appearance of a thing, and the appearance in turn stirs conceptual language. The two are mutual guests—I come to help you, and you come to help me. This is a relationship of mutual influence, and it deserves our deep reflection.

These two also produce different effects. Your appearance shapes your mode of thinking, and your mode of thinking transforms the appearance. This kind of conditioned process ought to be cut off. You cannot allow delusive thoughts to spin on endlessly, because doing so will generate intense karmic stimulation. Consider a simile. In dreams and mirror-images of past events and the like, though the object of perception is not real, the features of the situation nonetheless appear complete. It is like dreaming: although the images in a dream are illusory, while you are dreaming they seem entirely real.

Therefore we must divide these appearances into three categories. In Consciousness-Only philosophy, the first is called mere manifestation by consciousness. It refers to the very first moment—when you encounter an external object, it is like the mirror catching the first image. This appearance is the expression of karmic force. You cannot tamper with it; it is not wrong; you must accept it. If this appearance gives you a painful sensation, you must repent of it. If it gives you a pleasant sensation, you should praise your wholesome karma, your past. So when we first encounter an external object, this first moment is called mere manifestation by consciousness. Toward this appearance you should take no action.

The second moment: mere transformation by consciousness. Change has begun. Because you start to interpret it, to establish it through conceptual language, it begins to alter. It may change for the better, or it may change for the worse.

The third: mere abiding in consciousness. Trouble! Once you have interpreted it, you begin to embellish it, and then you come to dwell upon this appearance. From that point on, you will be led around by this appearance, misled by it. Because you cling to it, your mind has been stirred by it. In the Hinayana teachings, the practice of counteracting comes at the stage of mere abiding in consciousness—by that point craving and grasping have already taken hold. Mahayana Buddhism intervenes at the stage of mere transformation by consciousness: you are not permitted to transform it at all!

This is why practitioners of Buddha-recitation gather the six sense faculties. Gathering the six sense faculties does not mean controlling the first-moment appearance. It does not mean, for example, that your eyes should not see—that is not the meaning. You are only permitted to see the first moment. What is gathered are mere transformation by consciousness and mere abiding in consciousness—these two appearances must be gathered in. You are only permitted to see the appearance as it originally is, without any addition or embellishment, and to preserve it just so. In this way, when you reach the moment of death, all the karmic force of your past will have fully settled. This is what is called making a clean severance from the alaya consciousness. We must cut ourselves off from the alaya consciousness, because if your mind interacts too much with the alaya consciousness, you are in serious trouble!

Those seeking rebirth in the Pure Land must find a way to separate themselves from their past karmic force. The best method is simply to maintain the first moment in this way—through contemplation of the first moment, gathering the six sense faculties means in fact gathering the second moment.

Let me give an example. A mother and daughter lived together. After a month of hard work, the young woman received her paycheck. To reward herself, she went to a department store and bought a hat she liked. She put it on her head, looked at herself, felt very pleased, and went home. When she got home, her mother was cooking—running in and out of the kitchen, then carrying dishes to the living room, dashing back and forth between the two. The young woman's hope was that her mother would say a few words of praise—that the hat looked good on her. But her mother, running around, had no time to look. The young woman had no choice, so she put the hat on top of the refrigerator, thinking, "You'll open the refrigerator sooner or later." But when her mother went to open the refrigerator, she didn't notice it either. By dinnertime that evening, the young woman felt deeply frustrated and dejected.

Her mother said, "You seem a bit unhappy today?" The daughter replied, "Yes, I bought a hat today. I wanted to show it to you, and you didn't even look." She said this with a sense of grievance. But her mother felt even more aggrieved and said, "All you can think about is your hat. I got my hair done today, and you didn't notice it either." Sentient beings—there's no solving it. Why? Because each is spinning their own delusive thoughts. In truth, if human life involved only karmic force, things would not be this complicated. Look at why human relationships are so complex: because nowadays everyone spins more and more delusive thoughts.

Friends! When karmic force and delusive thought join forces, life becomes unsolvable—truly unsolvable! Life really should not be this complicated. If only karmic force were at work, it would be simple: it would just be a matter of who owes whom. If you owe me, then you should be a little nicer to me; if I owe you, I should be a little nicer to you. But why is life so unsolvable? It is not merely karmic force between two people—human relationships consist of each person spinning their own delusive thoughts. Occasionally, two streams of delusive thought intersect, and, oh, then everything is fine. But such intersections are rare—especially for modern people, with the proliferation of media and information.

So why are modern people so complicated? It is not necessarily that people today have heavier karmic obstacles than people in ancient times; that is not really the point. I believe it is the weight of delusive thought, not the weight of karmic obstacles. Of course, delusive thought also stimulates karmic force. What I mean is this: if you hope that at the moment of death you can quietly pass over the land-mines of the eighth consciousness and not awaken all your karmic force, the best practice is to begin gathering in your second moment—that is, to gather the six sense faculties. Because if you habitually spin the delusive thoughts of the second moment, you will very easily stir up the karmic force of the past. So the karmic force of life and death is not simply a matter of "I don't create karma in this life, so I'm fine." That is not what it means. You have created vast amounts of karma in the past, and that karmic force lies in a sleeping state. You must never awaken it. This is called the ignorance that nourishes rebirth.

Our karma comes in two forms. One is called "karmic origination"—the active, intentional creation of karma. This portion is of course quite gross and heavy, and it requires repentance. But what is even more fearsome is the kind you are unaware of, called "the ignorance that nourishes rebirth." You yourself have not created karma; you say, "I'm just sitting here spinning delusive thoughts, I haven't offended anyone—why is my karmic obstacle surfacing now?" The answer is that you have provoked the eighth consciousness! That is the crucial point! When the sixth consciousness spins a delusive thought, it activates self-consciousness; once self-consciousness is stirred, it pulls the eighth consciousness along with it. So the moment you spin a delusive thought, you stir up the karma of your past. This is what the passage is pointing to: when we begin to practice Mahayana Buddhism, first gather in your second moment, and always maintain just the single thought of the present. Break through what is false. Break through appearances established by conceptual language.