Store Consciousness - Verse Two

In us are infinite varieties of seeds--
seeds of samsara, nirvana, delusion, enlightenment,
seeds of suffering and happiness
seeds of perceptions, names and words.

In the store consciousness are infinite varieties of seeds. Some will transform into plants that bear fruits of joy, some will transform into plants that will bear bitter fruits. For example, if we do not practice mindful consumption, we will end up suffering from ailments.

The Buddha-nature is within us. We can practice the five mindfulness trainings to water the seed of enlightenment. Or, we can use our time and energy to chase material objectives. Our actions water the seeds in the store consciousness. They nurture the resulting sapling into a thriving tree laden with fruits. If the seed we watered was that of the nature of anger, we may not enjoy its fruit.

Also stored are the seeds of perceptions. Our perceptions are not reality. They are just perceptions. When we fall in love, we cling to one aspect of that person. We see her as a lover and only see this aspect. We do not seem to understand that she also may want to have a career or play the role of a sister or a mother. Or, perhaps she wants to work towards enlightenment. Our perception of our loved ones may be only one aspect of reality but when we think of her, this erroneous perception arises from the store consciousness because that is what we stored there. Perhaps because of the books we read, perhaps because of what we saw in movies, perhaps because of what our friends told us or perhaps because of our experiences.

In a very popular Bollywood movie, the lead actor asks the actress, "How will I identify my soulmate? Will she be carrying a sign saying 'I am the one'?". In samsara, we are caught in signs. We recognize a person by her voice, her appearance etc. When someone calls out her name, then this image arises. We recognize our mother, father etc. in this manner. If Buddha walked by, we would not know. If this "soulmate" walked by, we would not know. We would be looking for signs. Looking for Buddha at religious sites. Looking for soulmate, perhaps, at pubs and bars and restaurants.

There are three pairs of signs of phenomena. The first pair - universal and particular. All citizens of India are also called Indians. This is their universal sign. Each citizen has a name. This is his particular sign. The second pair - unity and diversity. Irrespective of which part of India an Indian citizen resides in, he can own an Indian passport. However, depending on where he is born or where he lives he may speak a different language or enjoy a different cuisine compared to other Indians. The third pair of signs - formation and disintegration. We classify based on our perception of birth and death, creation and destruction, coming together and breaking apart etc. We associate age with people and objects, 'like old man' or 'old house'. All signs that we use to recognize people and objects can be classified into one or the other of these categories.

Names and words are stored in our store consciousness along with the signs that we associate with them. So when someone says 'red ball', we all identify the same ball. However, it is not necessary that each one's actual perception of the shade 'red' is the same. To identify objects of the same color is not the same as identifying the same color. For all we know someone is seeing what we perceive as blue wherever we see red but is identifying it as red because that is the name associated with that color in his store consciousness.

We use words to communicate. We can see misunderstandings happening quite often because the perceptions that we have associated with the word or expression may be different. To a Buddha, love is free from conditions and expectations but when we love someone we expect to go on dates and holidays. When that does not happen, we suffer.

For example, we create an image of a 'girlfriend' based on our experiences. Maybe this person's girlfriend is very intimate with him, when she is with him. So he begins to see her as an 'intimate person' and when she is trying to be a 'realtor' or a 'professor' or a 'friend' to someone, then he thinks that perhaps she is being the 'intimate person' with her coworker or her friend. He suffers and makes her suffer.

Using our perceptions, names and words we create a world of our own, which is far from reality. Most of the time we experience sufferings due to our perceptions.

In order to be free from suffering we must walk through the doors of emptiness, signlessness and aimlessness. When we want to practice signlessness, we have to see the universal in the particular, the particular in the universal. Unity in diversity and diversity in unity. Disintegration in formation and formation in disintegration. It is easier to do this with the help of a teacher. Looking deeply we can also see emptiness and impermanence.

(Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.)

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