How to understand the three realms of consciousness and the mind of all things?

The three realms are based on mind and all things are conscious.

The mind is like a skilled painter, able to paint the world. The five aggregates are all clustered together, and it is impossible not to create them. Everything in the world was originally described by my heart. All things and phenomena are transformed by my heart. If my heart is happy and at ease, then all things will be like this.

The three realms are the desire realm where all living beings live. The form realm and the colorless realm are deluded sentient beings, flowing in the changes of birth and death. The Desire Realm is a world inhabited by beings with the two desires of sexual intercourse and eating. It extends from the Six Desire Heavens to the four continents inhabited by humans and animals in the middle and down to the Infinite Hell. The world where all sentient beings live belongs to the four jhanas and the eighteen heavens; the formless world has only the four minds of feeling, thinking, action and consciousness; the world where sentient beings go to in the materialless world is a world without form and form, but the mind dwells in profound meditation. The world where all living beings live belongs to the four sky and sky. These three realms are the realms where ordinary people go through life and death, so Buddhist practitioners aim to escape from the three realms.

The Buddha said: Karma starts from the heart, and the consequences of karma fall into the natural program programmed by the law of karma and cause and effect. From this, there are five aggregates, karma and consequences, and the three realms and six paths. Although our six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) are the basis of karma, they do not have the attributes of good or evil and do not directly create karma. The real culprit is the mind. something that has.

The three realms are based on the mind. Is this mind the conscious mind among the five aggregates? The conscious mind is contained by the consciousness aggregate among the five aggregates, and cannot generate the five aggregates. In addition to being able to produce the five aggregates, the mind in the three realms can also exist with the five aggregates. The mind that can generate the five aggregates in the world is definitely not the Dharma mentioned in the five aggregates. This mind is the true nature of each of us. This mind is neither born nor destroyed. It is inherently free and free. This mind is endowed with all kinds of merits and virtues. It is the true nature of the emptiness of self-grasping and law-grasping, and it is also what we call the Dharma body. Everyone has a true mind and a delusional mind, and we are obsessed with our own delusional mind, causing karma from confusion, suffering from karma, and falling into the three realms and the six paths of reincarnation.

The five aggregate worlds of sentient beings in the Three Realms and Six Paths are all created by the heart. People often regard the brain and heart as their own hearts, but this is not our true heart. Our true heart is infected by delusions and persistence. It has become very unreliable. It will only become reliable when ignorance is eliminated and consciousness is transformed into wisdom. With one thought, we realize that all living beings are Buddhas, so the key is how to break the delusional mind and find our true nature.

The three realms are based on mind, all dharmas are based on consciousness, and all dharmas are changed by consciousness. This heart is our Tathagatagarbha and true heart, and this consciousness is our delusional mind of making distinctions and attachments. What the Five Aggregates and Ten Thousand Dharmas talk about in Mahayana is the differential cause and effect of the Ten Dharma Realms. When we think about the differential cause and effect of the Ten Dharma Realms, we basically divide it into two directions. One is the miscellaneous cause and effect of the Six Ordinary Dharma Realms, and the other is the pure cause and effect of the Four Holy Dharma Realms. . Within this ten dharma realms, Buddha, Bodhisattva, Pratyekabuddha, and Sravaka are the four holy dharma realms, and the so-called six mortal realms are the three good realms of heaven, humans, and asuras, and the three evil realms of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals. The most important thing is to know that all dharma arises from the mind. In the eyes of ordinary people, everything is different and has the image of the ten dharma realms. In fact, it is what the mind manifests. When you reach perfection, it is the one true dharma realm, without distinction.

In addition to the six consciousnesses of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, there is also a seventh consciousness called "Mana consciousness" and an eighth consciousness called "Alaya consciousness" (also called "Alaya consciousness"). It’s called Tibetan consciousness, which means collection). The function of the first six consciousnesses is to absorb the external environment, and the manas consciousness plays an uninterrupted liaison role between the first six consciousnesses and the eighth consciousness (just like a warehouse manager, no matter good or evil, good or bad, everything is the same. stored in warehouse). However, these seven consciousnesses do not have the attributes of good and evil. The main thing lies in the eighth consciousness.

From the discussion of the Buddhist consciousness-only theory, this alaya consciousness can be regarded as a "spiritual computer" below the level of consciousness. It has the function of storing information and processing information according to natural laws of cause and effect. It is the foundation of consciousness. Therefore, it is said: "The hidden consciousness is like the sea, and the first seven consciousnesses are like the waves rising on the sea." Every human mental activity and good and evil deeds not only produce corresponding consequences, but more importantly, they also leave "seeds" deep in the heart (just like the seeds of plants, but the seeds of life are A "habit" is also a habit formed by behavior). And this kind of seed is hidden in the alaya consciousness, and this kind of seed is the main factor that promotes the continuous cycle of life and death of human beings.

The mind in the three realms is not the consciousness in the five aggregates, and the consciousness in the consciousness of all things is not the conscious mind in the six consciousnesses.

All things are not born based on the consciousness in the six consciousnesses, but rely on the six roots of dharma, that is, the alaya consciousness of the eighth consciousness. The alaya consciousness can be understood more as the contact through the six consciousnesses. The transmission of that consciousness finally forms the habits, subconsciousness and experience habits in one's own mind. The stronger our habitual habits, the stronger our discrimination and dualistic thinking.

The emergence of every current psychological activity of human beings must be caused by the seeds hidden in the Alaya consciousness. This is called "the emergence of seeds", but of course this phenomenon requires various conditions. Sufficient, just like plant seeds can germinate and grow only when they have suitable temperature, humidity and other factors. However, this current mental activity and karma will continue to leave new seeds (that is, newly smoked seeds), which are stored in the warehouse of Alaya Consciousness. This is also called "current generation seed." Because the seed produces the present, and the present produces the seed, it becomes “the seed begets the seed.” Because it is continuous, it adds new landscapes to the garden of life.

Alaya consciousness is dualistic, that is, it has the inherent "awareness" (the true mind, the real "I") that is neither born nor destroyed, and it also has birth and death. Know truthfully that there is no birth and death in the self-awareness of your mind, and there are no false thoughts (the seeds of karma) that arise. Therefore, although human beings go through life and death in the cycle of karma, there is actually no subject or entity that actually undergoes reincarnation. Because the matter of reincarnation is like flowers seen in the sky due to dizziness or blindness, like hallucinations, like suffering and joy in dreams, they all appear in the true heart of Rigpa, and everything can be manifested. Stay true to your true self. However, the true and unobstructed nature of the true mind of Rigpa has not been reduced at all. It is just because sentient beings are blinded by these delusions and cannot benefit from the wonderful effect of the unobstructed freedom of the true mind of Rigpa.

Alaya consciousness can give birth to the three realms, six paths, five aggregates and all dharmas. He can give birth to the six consciousnesses of consciousness. He is the mind-only heart of the three realms. He is the consciousness-only consciousness of all dharmas. He was born in the eighteen realms. , the six-consciousness mind appears through various conditions, and the six-consciousness mind then makes all kinds of thoughts and all kinds of fabrications. Only in the process of fabrication can all dharmas be born. Saints who practice the Three Vehicles of Bodhi must rely on the eighth consciousness, which is true and non-empty, to realize the selflessness of people and the selflessness of dharma. Because the eighth consciousness is true that people have no self and dharma has no self. It is not transformed through cultivation. It is what it is. People with the eighth consciousness have no self, and dharma has no self. Therefore, they can achieve liberation only after they get rid of their self-seeing and self-attachment to the five aggregate bodies.

Consciousness only means that all things, objects and thoughts are realized by our consciousness. All things and thoughts are Dharma, and our discriminating mind is consciousness. Once upon a time, Master Hanshan entered the inner courtyard of Tushita and asked Maitreya Bodhisattva: "What is consciousness? What is wisdom?" (Wisdom is wisdom, consciousness is knowledge.) Maitreya Bodhisattva said: "Discrimination is consciousness, non-discrimination is wisdom; relying on consciousness Defilement is purified by wisdom; defilement involves birth and death, and purity does not include Buddhas.” Speak simply and clearly. We humans are always distinguishing between good and bad, big and small. This is consciousness. Therefore, all things and thoughts are "appeared only by the mind and changed by consciousness only." As long as we can "get rid of defilements, return to purity, and turn our consciousness into wisdom," we can become Buddhas. "Abandoning stains and returning to purity" means to discard all stained things (i.e., things that are attached to the body), put them down, and return to nothing. Jing means nothing, not purity. There is still something gained when there is purity. Therefore, the "pure" here is what Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva teaches us: "All six roots are taken in, and pure thoughts follow one after another." "Transforming consciousness into wisdom" means to transform our eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms, the eighth consciousness into the wisdom of the great round mirror, the seventh consciousness into the wisdom of equality, the sixth consciousness into the wisdom of wonderful observation, and the first five consciousnesses into the wisdom of perfection. Wisdom. As long as we can transform our consciousness into wisdom, we can restore our true colors and regain our wonderful true heart.