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The Characteristics of Seeds 2
When we encounter difficulties in communication, we often blame the other person and forget to look back at ourselves. Both sides carry their own conflicts and inner struggles; only when we know how to love ourselves and love them, to recognize the loneliness, sorrow, and anger in ourselves and in them, will our hearts feel lighter. Mindful breathing is the main path that leads us back to our body and mind:
- First is regulating the breath—harmonizing the breath so that it becomes gentle, not hurried or rough.
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Next is regulating the body—sitting upright but relaxed, not tense.
By maintaining mindfulness and concentration on the breath (in and out, deep and slow) for a few minutes, the breath will become gentle and soft, bringing peace to body and mind.
Store consciousness (the eighth consciousness), manas or the faculty of appropriation (the seventh consciousness), and the consciousnesses that perceive objects (the first to the sixth consciousnesses) are the three kinds of consciousness in Manifestation-only Buddhist psychology; among them:
- Store consciousness is “direct and true perception,” containing seeds—formless seeds that give rise to myriad forms and appearances.
- The first characteristic of seeds is momentary impermanence, always changing; the second characteristic is cause and effect are not separate;
- The fifth characteristic is waiting for conditions—a seed only manifests when the conditions are sufficient;
- The sixth characteristic is neither existent nor non-existent—it cannot be determined as existing or not existing according to fixed concepts.