We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track. If this problem persists help us by reporting it so we can investigate it.
Watch this talk
Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Log in or create an account
Transforming Consciousness through Manifestation-Only and Mindfulness
Beginning to study the Fifty Verses on Manifestation-Only as a practical tool to transform the mind, build the sangha, and heal suffering, different from the theoretical knowledge of Consciousness-Only which is difficult to apply; after having learned thirty verses, memorizing all fifty is not difficult, but “deep understanding” is the real challenge. The first verse teaches: “Mind is the field in which seeds are sown, all the seeds are contained in it,” meaning that the mind is like the earth, preserving and maintaining all the seeds—demons, Buddhas, sages, wickedness, loyalty, betrayal—with the capacity to store (năng tàng) and the contents being stored (sở tàng).
The image of the earth—solid, thick, all-embracing—is connected with Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha (Jizō), “The earth’s gate is solid and vast, containing all,” always embracing and rescuing. When “the field of mind is penetrated, the sun of wisdom shines by itself,” wisdom naturally manifests without needing to search outside. In Manifestation-Only teachings, the basic mind or store consciousness (Alaya-Vijñāna) is both the storehouse (sở tàng) and the capacity to store (năng tàng), the foundation for the eight consciousnesses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, Alaya, Manas) and the five skandhas (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness), in which the fifty-one mental formations always accompany the eight consciousnesses, the most important being contact, attention, feeling, perception, and volition.