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Duy Bieu Hoc No8
The fourth gatha in the Fifty Verses on Manifestation Only reminds us of two kinds of seeds: innate seeds—which have existed from beginningless time, without a starting point or an ending—and transmitted seeds. Time, space, and consciousness are one unified reality (without time there is no space, and vice versa), just as the universe is made up of eight elements: earth, water, fire, air, space, time, direction, and consciousness. Each element contains the other seven, expressing the nature of interbeing and indivisibility; in the same way, innate seeds and transmitted seeds are not in opposition but support each other to help manifest the true seed that is inherent in each person.
Within us flows the stream of ancestral seeds—talent, virtue, suffering, clumsiness—from the moment of conception, which our parents and the environment of mindfulness practice have “sown” into our store consciousness. Practicing looking deeply (to see clearly the seeds deep in the alaya consciousness) helps us to water the seeds of happiness and liberation, and to transform the seeds of suffering. The Sangha is the place where each person nurtures wholesome habits of peace; at the same time, teachers and practitioners need to maintain the limits of their strength, continue walking meditation, rest, and nourish body and mind so as not to become tired or exhausted when in contact with suffering.