Storehouse consciousness; Distance;

Metta with Mindfulness SG

My first question is to ask regarding storehouse consciousness.

1) Do all of us shared the same storehouse consioucness or it is seperated?
Like the mind, we can’t find the storehouse consciousness anywhere – within or external or in between. Yet whatever, we do, say, think and see are imprinted in the storehouse (8th house). How does this relate to our nature?

Second Question

2) From my conceptual understanding, there is no distance or seperation between you and me. However, i still see a seperation in my belief. Since i can’t see the truth arise from insight. Can someone “enlightened” me the rationale behind no seperation. For example, i see the clock on my table. There is air, space in between the clock and i.

Third Question

3) I am at stage of focusing on career development. My attachment to job security has increased tremendously. I am actually thinking of quitting but i can’t. I have often heard people say you need to earn money for a living and to practise. For example, you still need to pay to go for a retreat. How can i lessen this attachment to job security? Ever since i’m in the new job, i do not have the time to attend dharma talk as i have brought work home. The reason is because i am still learning on the job and also my job requires me to be responsible to the people that i am in charge of. I am also tired (physically and mentally) to meditate as i will be sleeping. i also have some mild aversion towards meditation. Oh well, really, rebirth in samsara entails “lot of suffering” and not as fun as it seems to be haaaa Smile

Jui SG

Hello Metta with Mindfulness, I have no idea how to answer the first question, and probably barely (if at all) qualified to help answer the second, but let's see if I can hdo anything here:

"No separation" here actually refers not to the content of what you're experiencing (the clock, your breath, the weight of your head) but to the actual experience itself. Call it a "feel" or "taste" if you like.

There is "air, space in between the clock and i" but the actual experiencing of these objects is not compartmentalized. If you'll allow me to use a computer analogy, it's just one big screenshot rather than a series of jpeg/gifs of one object and another object.

If you see that the actual experiencing of those things that you hold dear to you (like you body) and the things that aren't part of "you" (like the clock) actually has the same "feel" to it, then there's no separation. :)

P.S. The experts who find this wrong, please write something to stop me right now!

As for your third question:

Try to integrate your practice into daily life. Not that I'm proud of it, but I personally don't meditate much, especially of the sitting variety (for now anyway). Generally I sneak in times to be mindful and aware whenever I can. Walks to and from home, to lunch, to the restroom, in the shower, before sleep, etc.

Your job is important, and your attachment is possibly because you stand to lose a lot if you quit, given how hard it seems to find a decent job nowadays. Until you can somehow find someway out, just stick with it for now. If you have a smart phone, then it's time to load in dharma talks and dharma ebooks to read on the train as well :)

Also, maybe this might help, his site is a pretty good read overall:

http://calnewport.com/blog/2012/02/18/can-i-be-happy-as-an-investment-banker-the-difference-between-pursuing-a-lifestyle-and-following-your-passion/

http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/21/the-most-important-piece-of-career-advice-you-probably-never-heard/

Dawnfirstlight SG

My first question is to ask regarding storehouse consciousness.

Second Question

Third Question

I'd heard a lot of talks on 8 consciousness (Alaya conciousness or seed conciousness) and I'm very interested in the 8th conciousness and what's it's role. However, it is difficult to express it in words.

My understanding is each of us has different Alaya conciousness. Alaya is our Buddha nature. It is just like a teacher who is promoted to a vice principal and then to principal. It is the same person but with different titles. So, Alaya and Buddha nature are the same except that when they are at different stage, it is named differently.

I think to lessen attachments, the best method is to 随缘. Meaning you have already done your best, the rest leave it to affinity.

An Eternal Now SG

1) They are unique, not shared. The idea of a shared, universal consciousness is that of Hinduism/Advaita, not Buddhist. It is precisely because each of us have unique alayavijnana, therefore one can transform or be liberated from the alayavijnana. The Buddha does not have alaya vijnana, instead he has great mirror wisdom. However, we (who are still not fully enlightened) have alaya vijnanas which needs purification. If all of us share one alaya vijnana, then when Buddha purified his alaya vijnana, we would all have become simultaneously enlightened which is not the case.

Loppon Namdrol:

Yes, it most certainly is. Moreover, since you are a fan of Yogacara, you should be aware that while Vasubandhu, for example, rejects outer objects, he defends the existence of sentient beings possessing distinct and unique mental continuums.

In other words, yogacara does not propose that the appearance of other minds is illusory -- in fact, when you read the Mahāyāna Samgraha, for example, by Asanga, he shows quite clearly that it is because of shared traces that we all perceive the same container world. In other words, for Yogacara, individual minds are real, but not their appearances.

Glossary (from http://www.kheper.net/topics/Buddhism/Yogacara_glossary.html):

*Alaya-vijnana, or "store consciousness" -- one of the central technical terms of Yogacara (Vijnanavada, Vijnaptimatra) philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism. Early Buddhists taught about existence of six-fold consciousness, that is the conciousness of five types of perception (visual, audial, etc.) and of "mind" (manovijnana). The Yogacarins analysing the source of consciousness added two more kinds of consciousness. They are: klistamanovijnana, or manas, that is the ego-centre of an empirical personality, and alaya-vijnana which is the source of other kinds of consciousness. Alaya-vijnana is above subject-object opposition but it is not a kind of absolute mind: alaya-vijnana is momentary and non-substantial. Every sentient being with the corresponding to this being "objective" world can be reduced to its "own" alaya-vijnana. Therefore, classical Yogacara states the existence of many alayas.

The Alaya-vijnana is a receptacle and container of the so-called "seeds" (bija), or elementary units of past experiences. These bijas project themselves as an illusionary world of empirical subjects and corresponding objects. All other seven types of consciousness are but transformations (parinama) of alaya-vijnana. In the course of its yogic practice a Yogacarin must empty alaya-vijnana of its contents. Thus the Yogacarin puts an end to the tendency of external projections of alaya-vijnana changing it into non-dual (advaya) wisdom (jnana) of Enlightened mind.

2) Mindstreams are non-dual - empty of subject and object dichotomy, but they are each unique mindstreams, not some universal shared substratum - the view of Advaita. The idea "I am you and you are me" is false view. Minds are empty of self and duality but are relatively distinct and unique.

Here's something relevant, May 2010 entry in my e-book: ...Just had a conversation with Thusness about this.
He told me that there is a problem of saying more than what is necessary, and that it comes from a clinging mind. That is, stripping of 'individuality' and 'personality' becoming a 'Universal Mind' is an extrapolation, a deduction. It is not direct experience like "in thinking just thoughts", "in perceptions just perceptions", "in seeing just the seen" - just 'what is'.

Similarly when I experienced 'impersonality', it is just 'impersonality', but it becomes a 'Universal Mind' due to clinging which prevents seeing. And if I further reinforce this idea, it becomes a made belief and appears true and real.
Therefore when I said 'impersonality', I am not being blinded as I am merely describing what I have experienced. This Mind is still an individual mindstream, and though impersonality leads one to have the sort of 'Universal Mind' kind of sensation, one must correctly understand it.

Buddhism never denies this mind stream, it simply denies the self-view. It denies separation, it denies an observer, a thinker. It denies a perfect controller, an independent agent. This is what 'Self' means, otherwise why is it a 'Self'? An individual mindstream remains as an individual mindstream, but it is nothing related to a Self.

Hence it is important to understand liberation from the right understanding, otherwise one gets confused. There is the experience of non-duality, Anatta, 'Tada' (http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2010/04/tada.html), Stainlessness (http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2010/04/stainlessness.html), but these have nothing to do with Self. Hence if one wants to understand Presence, then one must clearly and correctly understand Presence...

An Eternal Now SG

Lastly, it is still important to have a meditation routine. Try to wake up 30 minutes earlier and have 30 minutes time to meditate... Aversion to meditation is due to the front 5 to 10 minutes when the mind and body is racing and unable to settle down. Eventually it becomes a very joyous activity (or even intensely blissful, depending) and one finds tranquility. One has to sit through the initial phase. Eventually the five hindrances subsides and then it becomes very easy.

It is like learning how to swim, cycle, etc (or do anything else) - in the beginning there may be fear or great aversion, then later one may find swimming a very enjoyable activity.

An Eternal Now SG

As for non-dual you may want to read this up: http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.sg/2008/09/no-self-nature-of-people-and-things.html

bycai SG

According to Buddha, upon suchness developed into second thought neither from the beginning nor ending, it becomes storehouse consciousness, thereafter, it further separated into bit and pieces life after life due to conflict in loving kindness.

as for the second - liken to space. for instance, a toilet paper has space in it, and if it is squeezed together, never wuld you find space collapsing. And if the paper is opened up, never wld u find space being spread out. Now, if you tear the paper into two, the space also cannot be broken into two. If you imagined being a space yourself and all that is in it has no distance and separation. A good metaphor is dream, in a dream in yr sleep when you did not even realize it is a dream that has all the separation and distance reflecting spontaneously and instaneously.

And without space, what you eat cannot be digested by the stomach as it wld be stucked there. Thus, your conceptual undestanding is those forming and ceasing of affinity, that has no basis. Buddha said without basis is used to help one another and cannot be attached over it. You cant even control your body to be same height and youth, so cannot attached over it.