One day, a fire broke out in the house of a wealthy man who had many children. The wealthy man shouted at his children inside the burning house to flee. But, the children were absorbed in their games and did not heed his warning, though the house was being consumed by flames.
Then, the wealthy man devised a practical way to lure the children from the burning house. Knowing that the children were fond of interesting playthings, he called out to them, "Listen! Outside the gate are the carts that you have always wanted: carts pulled by goats, carts pulled by deer, and carts pulled by oxen. Why don't you come out and play with them?" The wealthy man knew that these things would be irresistible to his children.
The children, eager to play with these new toys rushed out of the house but, instead of the carts that he had promised, the father gave them a cart much better than any he has described - a cart draped with precious stones and pulled by white bullocks. The important thing being that the children were saved from the dangers of the house on fire.
"Fire" refers to desire and its sinful daughter, lust. Desire leads to anger and hatred if a person's lust is unchecked. Lust for things like money is greed. Lust for sex leads to sexual dysfunction.
Lust for power is the worst of all — this is what the Republicans and their religious right supporters suffer from, due to self-denial and repression of their sexual urges.
"House" refers to the human body.
Thus a burning house refers to a person who is not yet Enlightened.
"Wealthy man" refers to a Buddhist priest who is given spiritual wealth through faith in the Buddha and belief in the core tenets of Buddhism, as well as the core practice of samatha-vipassana. It may also refer to the spiritual aspects of a Buddhist who practices his faith earnestly. Thus meditation provides spiritual wealth that being worldly does not. Indeed, being worldly results in spiritual poverty.
"Many children" refers to his Buddhist pupils. It may also refer to the six consciousnesses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and cogitating (thinking limited to the five senses).
The wealthy man shouting to his children to flee the burning house refers to the Buddhist meditating and discovering what the six consciousnesses are. It also refers to the call of Amida Buddha, the Name-that-calls.
"The children absorbed in their games" refers to the six consciousnesses which are too ignorant to flee the body and come to the safety of the wealthy man, to be under his control.
Not heeding the wealthy man's warning is the lot of a person who has yet to meditate, and cannot control his senses including the use of his mind.
In the second paragraph is the paraphrase of what the Buddha does: he "lies" to the six consciousnesses in order to save them. The three carts pulled by goats, deer and oxen refers to the Three Treasures of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
The children coming out of the burning house refers to the six consciousnesses being trained through meditation.
The cart draped with precious stones and pulled by white bullocks refers to samadhi, the mind focused on meditation.
In this parable is the story of a Buddhist who puts his faith in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The "lie" that the Buddha tells Buddhists is that by putting faith in the Three Treasures, one is saved from lust. The truth is this: Samatha-Vipassana meditation helps the Buddhist to place the six consciousnesses under his control.
For the Buddha is long dead, the Dharma is rarely preached, and the Sangha organized Buddhism into a religion. Since then, rare is it that the Sangha practices what the Buddha taught. Instead, the Theravada Sangha has lusted for political power, and control who becomes the leader of a nation where the Sangha are king-makers such as Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. This is the fuel for the fire, and their houses burn.
In contrast, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana sects have flourished wherever they kept their noses out of politics and instead, led the people to respect the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha through meditation and optionally chanting the Buddha's name, provided that they do not make a religion of their practice to force upon Hindus, Muslims, and the people who practice other faiths.
Let this be a warning to Buddhists and other faiths. When you turn your faith into a religion, you only cause lust to inflame desire for power and control over others. Instead, strive to turn your faith into no religion by practice of compassion. Then you shall be rewarded with spiritual treasures beyond your imagination.
YMMV
Originally posted: December 24, 2005 10:12 PM PST
Showing posts with label Six Consciousnesses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Six Consciousnesses. Show all posts
20130402
Notes on Storehouse Consciousness: Citta and Alaya
In the Lankavatara Sutra, Citta is derived from the root ci, which means "to pile up" and "to arrange in order". Thus, the Citta is akin to "a storehouse into which the seeds of all thoughts and deeds accumulate" and are stored.
Yet the Citta has two meanings, general and specific. Generally-speaking, it means "heart-mind", the emotive part of the mind which includes the activities of Manas — intellect or mind-sense which grasps mental objects — and Manovijnana (sixth consciousness), and also of the Vijnanas (the five consciousnesses).
In this sense, it represents a person's mindset or state of mind which may be dominated by emotions.
Specifically the Citta is the Alayavijnana in its relative aspects, which is distinguishable from the rest of the mental faculties i.e. the pure mind that is free of the defilements of attachment, hatred and delusion.
In the form of Citta-matra, Mind-only, "Citta" is identifiable with the Alaya in its absolute aspect.
Alayavijnana means storehouse consciousness, for alaya is a storehouse "where things are hoarded for future use." As a cumulative faculty, the Citta is thus identified with the Alayavijnana. Yet the Alaya "is not a Vijnana," and "has no discerning power in it."
Indeed, the Alaya "indiscriminately harbours all that is poured into it through the channel of the Vijnanas."
The Alaya is the mind-stream, the stream of consciousness which is neutral, indifferent, and non-judgmental.
Regarding citta, the mind is first calmed during samatha meditation.
Then the mind is purified when liberating insight arises during vipassana meditation.
Reference:
Lankavatara Sutra: http://lirs.ru/do/lanka_eng/lanka-nondiacritical.htm
Citta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citta
Vipassana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassana
Instructions on breath meditation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapanasati_Sutta
Yet the Citta has two meanings, general and specific. Generally-speaking, it means "heart-mind", the emotive part of the mind which includes the activities of Manas — intellect or mind-sense which grasps mental objects — and Manovijnana (sixth consciousness), and also of the Vijnanas (the five consciousnesses).
In this sense, it represents a person's mindset or state of mind which may be dominated by emotions.
Specifically the Citta is the Alayavijnana in its relative aspects, which is distinguishable from the rest of the mental faculties i.e. the pure mind that is free of the defilements of attachment, hatred and delusion.
In the form of Citta-matra, Mind-only, "Citta" is identifiable with the Alaya in its absolute aspect.
Alayavijnana means storehouse consciousness, for alaya is a storehouse "where things are hoarded for future use." As a cumulative faculty, the Citta is thus identified with the Alayavijnana. Yet the Alaya "is not a Vijnana," and "has no discerning power in it."
Indeed, the Alaya "indiscriminately harbours all that is poured into it through the channel of the Vijnanas."
The Alaya is the mind-stream, the stream of consciousness which is neutral, indifferent, and non-judgmental.
Regarding citta, the mind is first calmed during samatha meditation.
Then the mind is purified when liberating insight arises during vipassana meditation.
Reference:
Lankavatara Sutra: http://lirs.ru/do/lanka_eng/lanka-nondiacritical.htm
Citta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citta
Vipassana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassana
Instructions on breath meditation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapanasati_Sutta
20130313
The Truth of Non-self (poem)
The self is empty of existence,
though all sentient beings claim
otherwise, even to the point of
threatening the truth talker
with imprisonment and abuse.
Yet she who talks the truth
bases her words on the Bodhi Mind
and its effect on her mind,
the sixth consciousness,
through the samadhi of truth.
Why would she who sees the truth
keep silent about Emptiness,
when it opens her eyes to
nonexistence of the self?
Only a fool agrees with the world.
This is the truth of non-self,
that the self is nonexistent.
He who denies this to be true,
is but a sentient being, lost
in this world of birth-life-death.
though all sentient beings claim
otherwise, even to the point of
threatening the truth talker
with imprisonment and abuse.
Yet she who talks the truth
bases her words on the Bodhi Mind
and its effect on her mind,
the sixth consciousness,
through the samadhi of truth.
Why would she who sees the truth
keep silent about Emptiness,
when it opens her eyes to
nonexistence of the self?
Only a fool agrees with the world.
This is the truth of non-self,
that the self is nonexistent.
He who denies this to be true,
is but a sentient being, lost
in this world of birth-life-death.
20130217
The Eight Consciousnesses Revisited (poem)
Introduction
In this world of birth-life-death,
when we do not interact with the world we live in,
reality appears non-existent.
Through the six senses organs
and their corresponding objects
we interact with the world.
During sleep or unconscious,
our six consciousnesses are dormant.
The Sixth Consciousnesses Arise
Reality exists through our experience of phenomena.
By interacting with it through the six senses,
we constantly experience reality as being real.
Our experiences are moderated by our mind as consciousness.
Therefore reality exists because we constantly interact with it.
While awake and fully conscious, our six consciousnesses arise.
When eyes see a visual object, sights lead to visual consciousness arising.
When ears hears a sound, sounds lead to auditory consciousness arising.
When nose detects an odor, smells lead to olfactory consciousness arising.
When tongue detects tastes, tastes lead to gustatory consciousness arising.
When body feels tangibles, feelings lead to tactual consciousness arising.
When mind ideates, thoughts leads to mental consciousness arising.
the Seventh and Eighth Consciousness
From the mind arises
two more consciousnesses,
base consciousness and
storehouse consciousness.
When mind experiences a disturbing emotion or attitude, self grasping leads to deluded awareness.
When mind experiences reflexive awareness, memory leads to all-encompassing foundation consciousness.
The Sense of Self is of the Mind
According to the Tibetan Lama Thrangu Rinpoche,
When sometimes you have a sense of self,
and you think “I”, that is an operation
not of the seventh consciousness
but of the sixth.
The Three Mental Consciousnesses
In the Chittamatra and Svatantrika-Madhyamika schools,
three mental consciousnesses exist, mental consciousness,
base consciousness, and store-house consciousness.
Of these three consciousnesses, mental consciousness
and base consciousness are active, and
the store-house consciousness is not active
being a subtle, neutral level of consciousness.
In it, traces of past actions are stored as "seeds"
ready to ripen into future experience.
For their further manifestations and activities, these seeds are potential energy
retained by the store-house consciousness, which receives impressions
from all functions of each of the other seven consciousnesses.
Seventh Consciousness as Source of the Other Consciousnesses
According to conventional Yogacara tradition, deluded awareness,
being the base consciousness, is the "source" of
the other seven consciousnesses, which all evolve and transform
based on experience of phenomena which make up reality.
The Names of the Seventh and Eight Consciousnesses
According to the Tibetans lamas of Vajrayana,
base consciousness is called emotional consciousness.
Lama Chökyi Nyima calls it afflictive aspect of consciousness.
Padmakara calls it defiled emotional consciousness.
Gyurme Dorje, the Agyur Rinpoche, calls it deluded consciousness.
The store-house consciousness is called all-ground consciousness.
Called the "seed consciousness" or container consciousness,
it serves as the "container" for all experiential impressions
Store-house Consciousness Empowers Rebirth
The store-house consciousness accumulates all potential energy
for the mental and physical manifestation of a sentient being's existence.
It is the storehouse-consciousness which induces transmigration
or rebirth, causing the origination of a new existence.
Base Consciousness Focuses Inward
In Tibetan Buddhism, the base consciousness
focuses inwards on the ground of all (alaya)
that is mistaken for a self that is real,
which results in all experience of reality
then consists of the choice of wanted or unwanted.
Always present, it is the basis for
all ordinary mental states,
be it virtuous, non-virtuous or neutral,
The base consciousness only stops
when the Bodhi Mind arises,
in the highest state of samadhi,
or during the non-abiding nirvana —
the great nirvana beyond
both ordinary existence in Samsara —
this world of birth-life-death, —
and in the basic nirvana of self-power.
Tathagata and Alaya Vijnana are One
Both the Lankavatara Sutra and Ch'an & Zen agree:
the Tathagatagarbha and alaya vijnana are one,
identical and fundamentally pure.
Atman is the permanent, unchanging self,
and prakrti, the original and primal nature
from which all things evolve, whether
it be mental, emotional and physical.
Though the Tathagatagarbha looks similar to atman
and alaya vijnana, prakrti, the Tathagatagarbha
conforms to the non-self doctrine,
and alaya vijnana is the mind-stream.
Mind-stream or consciousness-stream,
both streams are the same, but
cannot be reified as atman at all.
Ayatana (sense bases): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayatana
Salayatana (the six sense bases): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%A2a%E1%B8%8D%C4%81yatana
Eight consciousnesses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Consciousnesses
http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eight_consciousnesses
In this world of birth-life-death,
when we do not interact with the world we live in,
reality appears non-existent.
Through the six senses organs
and their corresponding objects
we interact with the world.
During sleep or unconscious,
our six consciousnesses are dormant.
The Sixth Consciousnesses Arise
Reality exists through our experience of phenomena.
By interacting with it through the six senses,
we constantly experience reality as being real.
Our experiences are moderated by our mind as consciousness.
Therefore reality exists because we constantly interact with it.
While awake and fully conscious, our six consciousnesses arise.
When eyes see a visual object, sights lead to visual consciousness arising.
When ears hears a sound, sounds lead to auditory consciousness arising.
When nose detects an odor, smells lead to olfactory consciousness arising.
When tongue detects tastes, tastes lead to gustatory consciousness arising.
When body feels tangibles, feelings lead to tactual consciousness arising.
When mind ideates, thoughts leads to mental consciousness arising.
the Seventh and Eighth Consciousness
From the mind arises
two more consciousnesses,
base consciousness and
storehouse consciousness.
When mind experiences a disturbing emotion or attitude, self grasping leads to deluded awareness.
When mind experiences reflexive awareness, memory leads to all-encompassing foundation consciousness.
The Sense of Self is of the Mind
According to the Tibetan Lama Thrangu Rinpoche,
When sometimes you have a sense of self,
and you think “I”, that is an operation
not of the seventh consciousness
but of the sixth.
The Three Mental Consciousnesses
In the Chittamatra and Svatantrika-Madhyamika schools,
three mental consciousnesses exist, mental consciousness,
base consciousness, and store-house consciousness.
Of these three consciousnesses, mental consciousness
and base consciousness are active, and
the store-house consciousness is not active
being a subtle, neutral level of consciousness.
In it, traces of past actions are stored as "seeds"
ready to ripen into future experience.
For their further manifestations and activities, these seeds are potential energy
retained by the store-house consciousness, which receives impressions
from all functions of each of the other seven consciousnesses.
Seventh Consciousness as Source of the Other Consciousnesses
According to conventional Yogacara tradition, deluded awareness,
being the base consciousness, is the "source" of
the other seven consciousnesses, which all evolve and transform
based on experience of phenomena which make up reality.
The Names of the Seventh and Eight Consciousnesses
According to the Tibetans lamas of Vajrayana,
base consciousness is called emotional consciousness.
Lama Chökyi Nyima calls it afflictive aspect of consciousness.
Padmakara calls it defiled emotional consciousness.
Gyurme Dorje, the Agyur Rinpoche, calls it deluded consciousness.
The store-house consciousness is called all-ground consciousness.
Called the "seed consciousness" or container consciousness,
it serves as the "container" for all experiential impressions
Store-house Consciousness Empowers Rebirth
The store-house consciousness accumulates all potential energy
for the mental and physical manifestation of a sentient being's existence.
It is the storehouse-consciousness which induces transmigration
or rebirth, causing the origination of a new existence.
Base Consciousness Focuses Inward
In Tibetan Buddhism, the base consciousness
focuses inwards on the ground of all (alaya)
that is mistaken for a self that is real,
which results in all experience of reality
then consists of the choice of wanted or unwanted.
Always present, it is the basis for
all ordinary mental states,
be it virtuous, non-virtuous or neutral,
The base consciousness only stops
when the Bodhi Mind arises,
in the highest state of samadhi,
or during the non-abiding nirvana —
the great nirvana beyond
both ordinary existence in Samsara —
this world of birth-life-death, —
and in the basic nirvana of self-power.
Tathagata and Alaya Vijnana are One
Both the Lankavatara Sutra and Ch'an & Zen agree:
the Tathagatagarbha and alaya vijnana are one,
identical and fundamentally pure.
Atman is the permanent, unchanging self,
and prakrti, the original and primal nature
from which all things evolve, whether
it be mental, emotional and physical.
Though the Tathagatagarbha looks similar to atman
and alaya vijnana, prakrti, the Tathagatagarbha
conforms to the non-self doctrine,
and alaya vijnana is the mind-stream.
Mind-stream or consciousness-stream,
both streams are the same, but
cannot be reified as atman at all.
Ayatana (sense bases): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayatana
Salayatana (the six sense bases): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%A2a%E1%B8%8D%C4%81yatana
Eight consciousnesses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Consciousnesses
http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eight_consciousnesses
20040830
Take that beam out of your eye!
The Bible speaks of being non-judgmental:
Matthew 7:3 Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. - https://net.bible.org/?q=cgi-bin/netbible.pl&book=mat&chapter=7#!bible/Matthew+7
Yet this beam in the eye is rooted in something that the Bible barely mentions. It is the cause of much of the suffering in life today. Yet there is relief, and it comes not out of the Bible, but from the Buddha himself.
"The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on the eye: this is the gratification in the eye. That the eye is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in the eye. The removal and abandonment of desire and lust from the eye: this is the escape from the eye."
-Buddha, "The Connected Discourses of the Buddha"
Matthew 7:3 Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. - https://net.bible.org/?q=cgi-bin/netbible.pl&book=mat&chapter=7#!bible/Matthew+7
Yet this beam in the eye is rooted in something that the Bible barely mentions. It is the cause of much of the suffering in life today. Yet there is relief, and it comes not out of the Bible, but from the Buddha himself.
"The pleasure and joy that arise in dependence on the eye: this is the gratification in the eye. That the eye is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change: this is the danger in the eye. The removal and abandonment of desire and lust from the eye: this is the escape from the eye."
-Buddha, "The Connected Discourses of the Buddha"
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