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Vijnaptimatrata Siddhi: You think you are seeing the world,

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but actually, eight consciousnesses are conspiring.

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Please try something simple right now.

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Look up

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and glance at anything in front of you.

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A cup,

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a phone,

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or a window.

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Just a single glance,

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less than a second,

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and you probably feel

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it is a complete, single action.

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'I'

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'see'

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'that'

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'thing.'

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Seamless

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and natural.

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But the Vijnaptimatrata Siddhi tells you

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that for that single glance,

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at least eight programs started and collaborated simultaneously

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to construct the image you take for granted.

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The most unsettling part is:

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even if you search these eight programs inside and out,

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you cannot find the 'self' that gives the orders.

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Hello,

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everyone.

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I am Wang Lijie.

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In this series deconstructing Buddhist classics with modern language,

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we have gone from the Agamas to Prajna,

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to Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka.

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Today, we finally reach the toughest

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and most fascinating book of Yogacara: Vijnaptimatrata Siddhi.

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This book wasn't written by just one person.

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It is Xuanzang's compilation of ten masters' commentaries

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on Vasubandhu's 'Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only.'

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Xuanzang synthesized them into one work.

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As for why Xuanzang went to India,

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and what happened at Nalanda Monastery,

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I have covered that in my historical context series.

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I won't repeat it here.

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Today, we will do only one thing:

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dive straight into the main text

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to see how the eight consciousnesses actually operate.

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But before we dive in,

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I need to be completely honest with you.

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In the last episode on Yogacara,

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a friend left a comment that I still remember.

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He said,

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'Wang Lijie, you are a bit contradictory.'

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'On one hand, you say events are real,

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while stories are filled in by the brain.'

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'On the other, you've built an elaborate story of terms:'

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'Alaya is the hardware,'

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'the Three Natures are the software logic,'

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'Samatha-vipasyana is the patch,'

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'and the Thirty Verses are the constitution.'

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'The audience faints from your complex architecture'

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'before they even see the actual truth.'

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He used a very sharp phrase:

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'Stopping small biases'

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'but allowing a massive construct.'

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This really hit home.

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I admit he's right.

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So today, let me clarify first:

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The system of the eight consciousnesses

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is itself just a finger pointing at the moon,

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a raft to cross a river.

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I am explaining it

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not so you can worship or recite these eight terms,

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but to use it to help you

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see something you have ignored your whole life.

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The 'self' you think is stable and present all day

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is actually assembled temporarily,

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moment by moment.

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Once you realize this,

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you can discard this entire framework.

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If the Dharma itself should be abandoned,

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how much more so these eight terms?

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Alright.

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Let's return to that single glance.

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In that fraction of a second you see the cup,

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what exactly is happening?

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The first level

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is the first five consciousnesses:

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eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body.

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These correspond to the five senses.

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Think of them as five sensors,

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or five cameras.

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Their job is extremely pure:

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they only receive raw signals.

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What the eye consciousness receives

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isn't actually a "cup,"

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but a collection of colors, light, and edges.

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It doesn't recognize the cup.

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It doesn't make evaluations.

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It doesn't even know what it is seeing.

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It's like a camera's image sensor—

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click!

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it turns light into data.

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That's all.

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Note that

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at this stage,

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the "cup" doesn't exist in your world yet,

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only a pile of untranslated raw signals.

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Let me give you an example you can experience instantly.

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Listen to a foreign language you don't understand at all,

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like an Arabic radio broadcast.

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The sound waves

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received by your ear consciousness

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are exactly the same

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as those received by an Arab—

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down to the last detail.

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But to you,

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it's just a bunch of meaningless noise.

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To them,

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it's a perfectly clear sentence.

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The difference isn't in the ears,

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nor in the first five consciousnesses.

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The difference is

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their "hard drive" stores the seeds of that language,

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while yours doesn't.

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The same raw signal

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enters different systems

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and is translated into completely different things.

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You never hear the sound itself;

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you hear sound processed by your system.

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What translates these signals into "a cup,"

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and those sound waves into "a sentence,"

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is the sixth consciousness,

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what we usually call the conscious mind.

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I want to correct a popular metaphor here.

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A tech viewer reminded me of this recently.

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Many say the eighth consciousness, Alaya, is the "OS."

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In computer logic, that's not quite right.

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The one that acts like the OS, the render engine, and the CPU

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is actually the sixth consciousness.

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It takes the raw signals from the previous five,

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instantly recalls memories,

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and labels it: "This is a cup."

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"This is my cup."

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"This is the cup my friend gave me yesterday."

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Then it judges: "It's pretty."

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"It's ugly."

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"It's clean."

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"It needs a wash."

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Then it decides:

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Should I reach out and grab it?

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Buddhism has a phrase for the sixth consciousness's weight:

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"In moving the body or speaking words, it is supreme."

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Whatever action your body takes,

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whatever words your mouth speaks,

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the final command

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is always issued by the sixth consciousness.

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The first five only handle perception;

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they do not create karma.

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But when the sixth mind thinks or speaks,

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karma is created.

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At this point,

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the picture is already quite complete.

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A sensor array.

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A powerful processor and rendering engine.

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It sounds like...

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A good camera and a strong computer...

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Could handle it all.

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Then why does Buddhism describe two more consciousnesses?

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Because two crucial elements are still missing.

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One is the sense of "self."

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The other is the memory of it all.

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Let's talk about the sense of "self" first.

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This is the seventh consciousness,

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the Manas consciousness.

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It's the quietest and most stubborn part of the system.

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It doesn't process the outside world.

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It doesn't distinguish if a cup is red or blue.

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From the moment you were born until now,

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at every single moment,

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it's doing the same thing in the background.

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It fixates on the eighth consciousness, that storehouse,

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and misinterprets that storehouse as "me."

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Buddhism describes its operation in four words:

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"Constant, discerning, pondering, and weighing."

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"Constant" means it never stops.

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Even when you're asleep, it's still on duty.

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"Discerning" is repeated scrutiny and confirmation.

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The object it "ponders and weighs"

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is always just one thing:

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that "self."

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You can understand it like this:

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The sixth consciousness is the busy, flickering front desk,

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thinking of one thing then another.

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But Manas is a background process that never exits.

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It runs only one line of code,

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and it runs day and night: "This is me.

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This is mine.

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This is me."

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The reason you feel you are the same person today as yesterday,

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the reason you feel there's a continuous,

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single, stable "me" experiencing all this,

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is because of this background process tirelessly stitching it together.

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It's the thread that sews all the fragments into a "self."

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Normally, you don't feel

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this Manas consciousness.

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But in one particular moment,

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it suddenly reveals itself.

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It's when someone makes a casual comment about you,

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perhaps just an offhand joke,

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but you feel like you've been stabbed.

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Your anger flares up instantly.

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We've discussed this before:

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Why do you hear a casual remark

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as if it were a knife?

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Now you have a deeper answer.

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That knife

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isn't cutting your ears;

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it's cutting the "self" that Manas clings to so tightly.

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Any slight touch to the "self"

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causes Manas to immediately sound the alarm

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and mobilize its entire defense.

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You think it's you who is angry,

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but it's actually that "clung-to self"

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feeling threatened.

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If one day, in that half-second before the anger rises,

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you can see: "Oh,

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that's Manas taking this as 'me' again."

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That half-second

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is where true practice happens.

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The final layer:

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The eighth consciousness,

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the Alaya consciousness.

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I said before it's not the operating system.

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So what is it?

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It's like a hard drive that's never powered down or turned off.

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All your life's experiences, emotions, thoughts, hurts, and loves

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are silently stored on this hard drive

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in the form of "seeds."

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It doesn't show up in the foreground.

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You can't feel it running,

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but it never stops.

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It turns those seeds into your current reality.

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Your current mood, habits, and preferences

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are all seeds sprouting.

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Meanwhile, it takes every thought and action of yours

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and perfumes them into new seeds,

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storing them back in.

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Seeds manifest into action,

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and actions perfume the seeds.

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This hard drive

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is the underlying database of your entire life.

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This cycle of "seeds to action and action to seeds"

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sounds abstract,

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but you actually operate it yourself every day.

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You pick up your phone

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and watch a short video.

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This is a manifest action.

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This movement

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quietly perfumes a seed into the hard drive.

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Tomorrow, when that same boredom arises,

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this seed sprouts,

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pushing your hand toward the phone again.

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This is another manifest action,

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perfuming an even thicker seed.

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After a week,

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you have watered this neural pathway wide and deep.

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Thus, you have a habit of "uncontrollable scrolling."

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Buddhism doesn't call it a habit;

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Buddhism says

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you've been watering that seed in the Alaya-vijnana

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for an entire week.

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The reason you are who you are today

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isn't destiny;

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it was perfumed, drop by drop,

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by countless past actions.

274
00:09:18,860 --> 00:09:19,937
It sounds a bit scary,

275
00:09:20,181 --> 00:09:21,139
but look at it from another perspective:

276
00:09:21,140 --> 00:09:24,299
this is where hope lies. Since it was perfumed,

277
00:09:24,301 --> 00:09:25,597
it can be re-perfumed.

278
00:09:25,941 --> 00:09:26,138
Alright.

279
00:09:26,461 --> 00:09:28,500
Now all eight programs have appeared.

280
00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:29,378
The first five consciousnesses receive;

281
00:09:29,620 --> 00:09:31,340
the sixth translates and makes decisions;

282
00:09:31,341 --> 00:09:33,177
the seventh clings to a "self" in the background;

283
00:09:33,380 --> 00:09:35,638
the eighth stores everything at the base layer.

284
00:09:36,140 --> 00:09:38,139
Let's replay that look at the cup

285
00:09:38,140 --> 00:09:39,860
in slow motion.

286
00:09:39,860 --> 00:09:41,538
Then you'll see how it "works."

287
00:09:42,181 --> 00:09:43,518
Light enters the eyes;

288
00:09:43,581 --> 00:09:46,100
the first five consciousnesses turn it into raw data.

289
00:09:46,100 --> 00:09:47,278
In a few hundredths of a second,

290
00:09:47,421 --> 00:09:48,580
the sixth consciousness takes over,

291
00:09:48,581 --> 00:09:50,779
retrieving the concept of "cup" from the hard drive,

292
00:09:50,780 --> 00:09:54,197
naming it, judging it, and recalling a friend's face.

293
00:09:54,221 --> 00:09:55,278
A few tenths of a second.

294
00:09:55,341 --> 00:09:56,379
Meanwhile,

295
00:09:56,380 --> 00:09:58,798
the eighth consciousness hard drive is supplying the goods.

296
00:09:58,860 --> 00:10:00,259
Without the seeds it stores,

297
00:10:00,260 --> 00:10:02,278
the sixth consciousness couldn't recognize the cup at all.

298
00:10:02,341 --> 00:10:04,340
And throughout the entire process,

299
00:10:04,341 --> 00:10:07,057
the Manas-vijnana remains at the bottom, silent,

300
00:10:07,341 --> 00:10:08,820
packaging this string of computations

301
00:10:08,821 --> 00:10:11,538
into "I see a cup."

302
00:10:12,421 --> 00:10:13,018
The eight consciousnesses

303
00:10:13,380 --> 00:10:15,158
don't line up one by one;

304
00:10:15,181 --> 00:10:18,278
they operate simultaneously in overlapping layers.

305
00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:19,498
How fast is it?

306
00:10:19,860 --> 00:10:22,878
So fast you don't perceive any stitching.

307
00:10:22,900 --> 00:10:26,898
You only feel a seamless, natural "I see it."

308
00:10:27,421 --> 00:10:29,340
The most brilliant thing about this machine

309
00:10:29,341 --> 00:10:31,740
is that it hides itself so well

310
00:10:31,740 --> 00:10:33,700
that you think there is no machine,

311
00:10:33,701 --> 00:10:35,937
only a naked, direct "self."

312
00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:37,857
Now, please stop

313
00:10:38,100 --> 00:10:38,998
and ask one question:

314
00:10:39,341 --> 00:10:40,258
out of these eight programs,

315
00:10:40,581 --> 00:10:41,337
who is the boss?

316
00:10:41,740 --> 00:10:42,857
Who is directing them?

317
00:10:43,421 --> 00:10:45,177
Who is sitting in the center chair,

318
00:10:45,421 --> 00:10:46,638
watching all of this,

319
00:10:46,660 --> 00:10:47,817
giving the final word, "Okay,

320
00:10:48,140 --> 00:10:48,817
I've decided"?

321
00:10:49,701 --> 00:10:50,977
Your subconscious might think,

322
00:10:51,301 --> 00:10:52,317
Of course there is someone.

323
00:10:52,380 --> 00:10:53,918
That boss is "me."

324
00:10:54,221 --> 00:10:55,298
My eyes are watching,

325
00:10:55,541 --> 00:10:56,779
My brain is thinking,

326
00:10:56,780 --> 00:10:57,918
I am making the decisions.

327
00:10:58,341 --> 00:11:00,918
It feels like there's a tiny version of me in my head,

328
00:11:00,941 --> 00:11:02,557
Sitting in a small theater,

329
00:11:02,740 --> 00:11:04,077
In front of a screen,

330
00:11:04,100 --> 00:11:08,758
Aggregating all the visuals and sounds from the eyes and ears.

331
00:11:08,980 --> 00:11:11,878
And this little self watches while directing everything.

332
00:11:12,181 --> 00:11:13,118
This scenario,

333
00:11:13,181 --> 00:11:16,580
Was given a very precise name by the philosopher Dennett:

334
00:11:16,581 --> 00:11:17,898
The "Cartesian Theater."

335
00:11:18,461 --> 00:11:20,139
What’s interesting is,

336
00:11:20,140 --> 00:11:21,998
This isn't just one person's illusion.

337
00:11:22,221 --> 00:11:26,077
A psychological study of over 2,000 people tested this;

338
00:11:26,181 --> 00:11:28,717
The vast majority intuitively believe

339
00:11:28,740 --> 00:11:33,158
Consciousness happens in one concentrated, specific spot in the brain,

340
00:11:33,221 --> 00:11:36,638
As if there really is a screen and an audience seat there.

341
00:11:36,899 --> 00:11:37,620
However,

342
00:11:37,620 --> 00:11:40,197
Neuroscientists have turned the brain inside out

343
00:11:40,301 --> 00:11:41,337
And found no such screen,

344
00:11:41,541 --> 00:11:43,118
Nor any such audience.

345
00:11:43,301 --> 00:11:45,697
No single brain region acts as that "headquarters."

346
00:11:46,221 --> 00:11:48,738
The model Dennett proposed is called "Multiple Drafts."

347
00:11:49,181 --> 00:11:51,658
Countless parallel streams of information run simultaneously,

348
00:11:51,821 --> 00:11:54,597
Conflicting and being constantly rewritten.

349
00:11:54,701 --> 00:11:56,937
There is no central theater

350
00:11:57,181 --> 00:11:59,278
Where they are finally gathered and played.

351
00:12:00,061 --> 00:12:01,019
Have you noticed?

352
00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:05,118
This is exactly what the *Cheng Weishi Lun* described 1,000 years ago.

353
00:12:05,541 --> 00:12:06,097
The Eight Consciousnesses,

354
00:12:06,421 --> 00:12:07,419
Each doing their own thing,

355
00:12:07,421 --> 00:12:08,518
Running in parallel,

356
00:12:08,620 --> 00:12:10,878
With no supreme commander overhead.

357
00:12:11,301 --> 00:12:11,937
The so-called "self"

358
00:12:12,421 --> 00:12:14,518
Is not the "operator" of this machine;

359
00:12:14,541 --> 00:12:17,798
The "self" is just a result of the machine running.

360
00:12:18,341 --> 00:12:18,697
Furthermore,

361
00:12:19,020 --> 00:12:20,158
Something today

362
00:12:20,301 --> 00:12:23,158
Demonstrates this more clearly than ever before:

363
00:12:23,181 --> 00:12:24,957
Large Language Models.

364
00:12:25,260 --> 00:12:26,217
When you chat with an AI,

365
00:12:26,581 --> 00:12:27,779
It answers fluently,

366
00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:30,138
Making you almost feel there is an "it" sitting there,

367
00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:32,118
A being with its own thoughts.

368
00:12:32,461 --> 00:12:35,158
But if you dig into those hundreds of billions of parameters,

369
00:12:35,301 --> 00:12:37,697
You won't find that "it" living anywhere.

370
00:12:38,301 --> 00:12:40,057
No single parameter is its "self."

371
00:12:40,421 --> 00:12:42,337
No single layer of the network is its "center."

372
00:12:43,541 --> 00:12:44,638
The so-called answer

373
00:12:44,701 --> 00:12:48,620
Is a result calculated by massive parameters in that instant.

374
00:12:48,620 --> 00:12:49,638
That is all.

375
00:12:50,061 --> 00:12:52,418
A continuous, personality-like "it"

376
00:12:52,701 --> 00:12:54,980
Is an effect produced by the machine,

377
00:12:54,980 --> 00:12:56,957
Not something that actually exists inside it.

378
00:12:57,421 --> 00:12:57,738
You see,

379
00:12:57,980 --> 00:12:59,419
There is no center on the Silicon-based side,

380
00:12:59,421 --> 00:13:01,059
And no center on the Carbon-based side.

381
00:13:01,061 --> 00:13:03,299
Those Indian masters over a thousand years ago,

382
00:13:03,301 --> 00:13:05,220
Relying purely on inward observation,

383
00:13:05,221 --> 00:13:07,477
Wrote down this "lack of a center."

384
00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:09,220
Whenever I reach this point,

385
00:13:09,221 --> 00:13:11,118
It sends a shiver down my spine.

386
00:13:11,740 --> 00:13:12,899
So the question arises:

387
00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:14,139
If there is no commander,

388
00:13:14,140 --> 00:13:15,817
Why do we feel so coherent,

389
00:13:15,941 --> 00:13:18,258
So seamless, and so truly that "there is a me"?

390
00:13:19,181 --> 00:13:19,538
The answer

391
00:13:19,980 --> 00:13:22,518
Is that stubborn Manas-vijnana we just mentioned.

392
00:13:22,780 --> 00:13:25,278
At every moment, it clings in the background,

393
00:13:25,421 --> 00:13:28,437
Taking that distributed, chaotic computational process,

394
00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:31,138
And forcing it into a unified, continuous "self."

395
00:13:31,780 --> 00:13:32,618
This sense of seamlessness

396
00:13:32,941 --> 00:13:34,597
Doesn't exist because there is a real self;

397
00:13:34,660 --> 00:13:38,957
It's because a tireless process is forging that seamlessness.

398
00:13:39,301 --> 00:13:42,238
Neuroscience offers a very similar explanation.

399
00:13:42,620 --> 00:13:43,758
Some scholars believe that

400
00:13:43,780 --> 00:13:47,398
The "sense of self" is essentially a data compression by the brain.

401
00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:51,878
The external world, internal bodily signals, past memories—

402
00:13:51,900 --> 00:13:53,758
the volume of information is too massive to process.

403
00:13:53,780 --> 00:13:58,059
So the brain compresses this chaos into a simple, useful label

404
00:13:58,059 --> 00:13:58,498
called "I."

405
00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:02,177
To help you make quick decisions in a dangerous world,

406
00:14:02,421 --> 00:14:03,557
and stay alive.

407
00:14:03,980 --> 00:14:05,378
Buddhism calls this "attachment to self."

408
00:14:05,740 --> 00:14:07,138
Science calls it "compression."

409
00:14:07,660 --> 00:14:09,337
The terminology is worlds apart,

410
00:14:09,660 --> 00:14:10,860
but the hands are pointing

411
00:14:10,860 --> 00:14:12,778
at the same moon—that "Self"

412
00:14:13,221 --> 00:14:14,057
is a function,

413
00:14:14,260 --> 00:14:15,460
not an entity;

414
00:14:15,461 --> 00:14:16,258
a verb,

415
00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:17,638
not a noun.

416
00:14:17,860 --> 00:14:18,697
Let me add one more stroke

417
00:14:18,980 --> 00:14:20,758
to make this picture more three-dimensional.

418
00:14:20,900 --> 00:14:21,498
The Eight Consciousnesses

419
00:14:21,780 --> 00:14:23,298
are called "Heart Kings" in Yogacara.

420
00:14:23,701 --> 00:14:24,758
They are eight kings.

421
00:14:24,980 --> 00:14:26,057
But every king

422
00:14:26,260 --> 00:14:27,740
is followed by a group of attendants

423
00:14:27,740 --> 00:14:28,418
called "mental factors."

424
00:14:29,100 --> 00:14:31,238
For example, the basic ones: Contact,

425
00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:33,457
when consciousness meets an object;

426
00:14:34,181 --> 00:14:34,618
Attention,

427
00:14:34,941 --> 00:14:36,138
when focus shifts toward it;

428
00:14:36,780 --> 00:14:36,977
Feeling,

429
00:14:37,421 --> 00:14:39,618
the instant of pleasure or discomfort;

430
00:14:40,221 --> 00:14:40,418
Perception,

431
00:14:40,900 --> 00:14:42,138
grasping the image;

432
00:14:42,860 --> 00:14:43,057
Volition,

433
00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:45,077
which drives you to act.

434
00:14:45,660 --> 00:14:48,097
So what you think of as "I had a thought"

435
00:14:48,541 --> 00:14:50,998
is never a lone consciousness moving by itself.

436
00:14:51,181 --> 00:14:52,197
It is a king

437
00:14:52,301 --> 00:14:53,577
leading an entire team of attendants

438
00:14:53,860 --> 00:14:54,918
into action at once.

439
00:14:55,541 --> 00:14:57,638
Even the simplest flicker of a thought

440
00:14:57,701 --> 00:15:00,597
is the collaborative work of a small team.

441
00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:01,817
At this point,

442
00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:03,539
the most crucial sentence

443
00:15:03,541 --> 00:15:04,798
can finally be spoken.

444
00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:06,658
The "I" you have spent your life searching for

445
00:15:07,100 --> 00:15:09,118
is never found within any single consciousness.

446
00:15:09,541 --> 00:15:10,577
It's not in the eyes,

447
00:15:10,900 --> 00:15:11,980
not in the thoughts,

448
00:15:11,980 --> 00:15:13,077
nor in the memories.

449
00:15:13,341 --> 00:15:15,457
It is "between" the operations of the eight consciousnesses.

450
00:15:16,181 --> 00:15:16,977
Like a rainbow,

451
00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:19,477
it does not exist within any single droplet of water,

452
00:15:19,620 --> 00:15:21,238
yet it is indeed

453
00:15:21,341 --> 00:15:23,837
manifested by countless droplets together.

454
00:15:24,221 --> 00:15:25,778
If you reach out to grab the droplet of "I,"

455
00:15:26,260 --> 00:15:27,398
you will always catch nothing.

456
00:15:27,860 --> 00:15:28,697
Yet clearly,

457
00:15:29,061 --> 00:15:31,278
you live within that rainbow every day.

458
00:15:31,821 --> 00:15:32,018
Alright.

459
00:15:32,500 --> 00:15:33,299
By now,

460
00:15:33,301 --> 00:15:34,171
you probably sense

461
00:15:34,181 --> 00:15:38,418
why the Discourse on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only breaks this down so minutely,

462
00:15:38,660 --> 00:15:39,918
almost inhumanly so.

463
00:15:40,581 --> 00:15:43,357
It's not to test if you can memorize eight terms.

464
00:15:43,740 --> 00:15:46,738
It is tackling the oldest and most painful question:

465
00:15:47,421 --> 00:15:49,217
If there is no fixed "self,"

466
00:15:49,581 --> 00:15:51,217
who is the one suffering?

467
00:15:51,860 --> 00:15:53,018
Who is in the cycle of samsara?

468
00:15:53,581 --> 00:15:54,138
And who,

469
00:15:54,541 --> 00:15:56,217
exactly, is sitting here listening to me talk about practice?

470
00:15:57,061 --> 00:15:58,918
Its answer is chillingly calm:

471
00:15:59,341 --> 00:15:59,898
There is no "who."

472
00:16:00,581 --> 00:16:01,618
There is only this system,

473
00:16:01,941 --> 00:16:03,820
moment by moment,

474
00:16:03,821 --> 00:16:04,820
operating on its own.

475
00:16:04,821 --> 00:16:05,457
But notice—

476
00:16:05,701 --> 00:16:06,980
the moment this answer lands,

477
00:16:06,980 --> 00:16:09,238
it immediately triggers an even more vital question.

478
00:16:09,740 --> 00:16:13,118
If "I" am just a result calculated by the eight consciousnesses,

479
00:16:13,260 --> 00:16:14,820
then—can this calculation

480
00:16:14,821 --> 00:16:15,418
be changed?

481
00:16:16,020 --> 00:16:19,940
Can the seeds in your hard drive that shape your destiny and temper

482
00:16:19,941 --> 00:16:21,097
be overwritten?

483
00:16:21,660 --> 00:16:25,998
Can that Manas consciousness, working tirelessly to misidentify everything as 'self',

484
00:16:26,061 --> 00:16:27,898
stop for even just one second?

485
00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:30,059
A viewer left a comment

486
00:16:30,061 --> 00:16:31,837
that I think explains it better than I can.

487
00:16:31,989 --> 00:16:32,788
They said:

488
00:16:32,860 --> 00:16:36,518
'Perhaps cultivation isn't about organizing the warehouse better'

489
00:16:36,620 --> 00:16:40,518
'or finding a more proper place for everything.'

490
00:16:41,140 --> 00:16:43,059
'Perhaps it’s the opposite:'

491
00:16:43,061 --> 00:16:45,778
'it's seeing clearly why I can't let go'

492
00:16:46,100 --> 00:16:48,457
'and why I keep trying to find a place for these things.'

493
00:16:48,919 --> 00:16:49,701
'In the end,'

494
00:16:49,701 --> 00:16:52,539
'even the manager busy tidying the warehouse'

495
00:16:52,541 --> 00:16:53,717
'must also be let go.'

496
00:16:53,941 --> 00:16:54,138
This

497
00:16:54,421 --> 00:16:57,197
is the true second half of the Vijnaptimatrasiddhi-shastra.

498
00:16:57,500 --> 00:17:00,278
Today, we have only taken this machine apart

499
00:17:00,301 --> 00:17:02,878
to see its components and how they turn.

500
00:17:03,341 --> 00:17:06,460
As for how to make this machine, which constantly fabricates a 'self',

501
00:17:06,461 --> 00:17:07,877
gradually grow quiet—

502
00:17:07,901 --> 00:17:09,637
that requires deeper mastery.

503
00:17:10,181 --> 00:17:11,758
Finally, I want to ask you:

504
00:17:12,101 --> 00:17:14,238
The next time you settle into stillness,

505
00:17:14,381 --> 00:17:16,178
try to look within for that 'self'.

506
00:17:16,980 --> 00:17:17,897
What I am curious about is:

507
00:17:18,141 --> 00:17:19,099
Is what you find

508
00:17:19,101 --> 00:17:21,317
actually a solid, substantial thing,

509
00:17:21,461 --> 00:17:23,857
or is it the very process of 'searching' itself?

510
00:17:24,661 --> 00:17:25,498
Tell me what you find

511
00:17:25,740 --> 00:17:27,557
in the comments section below.

512
00:17:27,820 --> 00:17:28,538
I am Wang Lijie.

513
00:17:28,861 --> 00:17:29,815
See you next time.