Your consciousness follows six iron laws
You are unaware of any of them
In the last episode
We explored the Eight Consciousnesses
Eight programs booting simultaneously
Creating the world you take for granted
But today I have something unsettling
Those programs don't run freely
They follow rules
Extremely precise rules
So precise that an engineer
Would read this and think
This isn't a religious text
It's a system architecture document
Hello
Everyone
I am Wang Lijie
Continuing our study of Vijnaptimatrata
Last time was about collaboration
Today we look at four core components
The precision parts of this treatise
Six Laws of Seeds, Four Layers of Cognition
Three Realities and Two Obstacles
Let's take them one by one
First, the Six Laws of Seeds
As mentioned before
Alaya is a massive seed warehouse
Every thought, emotion, and action
Stores a seed in that warehouse
Seeds sprout under right conditions
Becoming your next thought or action
This cycle is 'Seeds manifest reality'
And 'Reality perfumes seeds'
I used an analogy before
Seeds are like LLM parameters
But today we go deeper into precision
The question is
What qualifies as a seed
Xuanzang gave six definitions
Missing one disqualifies it
First law
Instantaneous Perishing
Seeds must arise and perish instantly
Not a static ball waiting in storage
But a constantly refreshing state value
Think of a pixel on a screen
It looks still
But refreshes 60 times a second
If it truly stopped moving
That's a dead pixel
Static things cannot cause change
So seeds must be dynamic
Second rule
Simultaneous cause and effect
The seed and its result
Must exist at the same time
What does this mean
It doesn't mean planting a seed
And getting apples three years later
It means when the seed acts
The seed and its effect are both present
Cause and effect don't wait in line
They coexist
For example
The wick and light aren't sequential
The moment the wick burns
The light is already there
Third rule
Continuous succession
Seeds must continue without break
From beginningless time until liberation
It is always flowing
Perishing moment by moment
But perishing leads to instant birth
Birth leads to instant perishing
Continuous succession
Never interrupted for a moment
A viewer once asked
Where do seeds go after death
This rule is the answer
There is no question of where they go
Because they never stop
They flow with the Alaya-vijnana
The body is just temporary hardware
Hardware changes
But the software stream continues
Fourth rule
Determined nature
The nature of a seed is fixed
Good seeds produce good results
Evil seeds produce evil results
Neutral seeds produce neutral results
They do not mutate
This tells you fate is not random
Nor is it controlled by a god
The seed's nature determines the direction
The people and situations you meet
Are not luck
The seed's attributes wrote the outline
Fifth rule
Awaiting conditions
A seed cannot sprout alone
It must wait for all conditions to align
A seed may stay in storage for long
But without external conditions
It will not germinate
What does this mean
Fate is not predetermined
Though the seed sets the direction
Conditions determine the timing
You can delay or stop sprouting by changing conditions
From this perspective, practice
Is actively managing growth conditions
Not destroying the seed
But denying it the right soil
Sixth rule
Leading to its own fruit
A seed only produces its own kind
Material seeds produce material phenomena
Mental seeds produce mental phenomena
Cross-category seeds do not exist
This sounds like common sense
But in confused causal narratives
Many people conflate different categories
Thinking a better mindset automatically improves material life
Vijnaptimatrata-siddhi says
No
Each seed has its own track
Mental seeds change mental outcomes
Material seeds change material outcomes
The two lines run in parallel
They cannot substitute each other
Taken together, these six rules
Make 'seed' more than a vague metaphor
It becomes an operational unit bound by precise axioms
Instantaneous perishing ensures it is dynamic
Simultaneity ensures cause and effect are inseparable
Constant succession ensures continuity
Determined nature ensures predictable direction
Awaiting conditions ensures outcomes aren't automatic
Leading to its own fruit ensures tracks don't cross
Tell me
Doesn't this look like six axioms of a formal system
Now for the second part
The Four Divisions
The Six Meanings describe the rules seeds follow
The Four Divisions describe the interior of each cognitive moment
What it actually looks like
Vijnaptimatrata-siddhi says
Every cognition you have
Seeing a flower, hearing a word, remembering a thing
This moment is not a single monolith
It has at least four layers
This four-layer model was Dharmapala's proposal
Xuanzang chose it among all options
Because it was the most precise
The first layer is the objective aspect
The image presented in your consciousness
The sound or the thought itself
Note
It is not the flower outside
But the image of the flower in your mind
Rendered by your consciousness
The second layer is the subjective aspect
The capacity for the act of seeing itself
If the objective aspect is the screen image
The subjective aspect is the engine rendering it
At this point
Most philosophies stop
There is an object
There is a subject
And that is all
But Yogacara says no
There is a third layer
The third layer is self-corroboration
You do not just see the flower
You also know simultaneously
That I am seeing the flower
An instant awareness of your own cognitive activity
It requires no hindsight reflection
It occurs automatically with the cognition
The moment you see the flower
You know you are seeing it
Self-corroboration is a receipt for consciousness
Without this receipt
You cannot confirm any cognition occurred
If you see but do not know you see
How is that different from not seeing
You might ask, if self-corroboration monitors the subject
Who monitors self-corroboration
If the answer is a fifth layer
It becomes infinite recursion
The Yogacara answer is very ingenious
The fourth layer
Corroboration of self-corroboration
It verifies the third layer
But needs no fifth layer to verify itself
Why
Because the third and fourth layers verify each other
The third layer proves the subjective activity
The fourth part proves the third part's activity
The third part in turn proves the fourth
They verify each other
The loop is closed
No fifth layer needed
No infinite recursion
If this feels confusing
Here is an everyday version
You see a cat on the street
The object-part is the cat's image
The seeing-part is your ability to see it
The self-verifying part is knowing
"I am looking at a cat"
The fourth part confirms
"I definitely know I'm looking at a cat"
Layers three and four endorse each other
Forming a closed loop
So you don't doubt if you saw the cat
Unless your self-verification fails
These four layers stacked together
Mean that when you say "I see"
It is actually a four-step rendering
But your daily consciousness
Only perceives the first two layers
The last two run silently in the dark
You use them
But never notice them
Next is the third component
The Three Realms of Objects
Six Meanings of Seeds define rules
The Four Parts define structure
The Three Realms define
The nature of the reality you face
What is its true nature?
This comes from a verse by Xuanzang
Expanded by his disciple Kuiji
It represents Yogacara's most precise
Classification of everything you face
First is the Realm of Nature
Objects backed by real seeds, not your thoughts
The shape, temp, and weight of water
Produced by real causes and conditions
If you want it to become wine
It will not change
Objects touched by the first five senses
And objects presented by the eighth consciousness
Are mostly in the Realm of Nature
The layer closest to reality
Second is the Realm of Mere Images
Created entirely by your consciousness alone
Without external seeds to support it
Close your eyes and imagine a Pegasus
Or dream of a city that doesn't exist
The image is clear
The experience feels real
But no real seed supports it
It's a product of the sixth consciousness
In modern terms
This is pure hallucination
The third is the realm of mere representation
This is the most subtle
A real essence exists there
But your consciousness alters it during cognition
What you see is neither pure truth
Nor pure hallucination
But a mix of truth and your processing
Take an everyday example
A colleague says something
The words have real sound waves
That is the realm of nature
But the feeling that arises after hearing it
Are they being sarcastic?
That feeling
Is the realm of mere representation
A real sound exists there
But your Manas-vijnana intervenes with a self-protective filter
Turning a neutral remark into a threat
You aren't facing the words themselves
But a synthesis of you and those words
Have you noticed?
Many things that keep you up at night
Seem less serious in hindsight
That is the representation fading
When the filter of Manas-vijnana is removed
You see the words as they truly are
Do you understand now?
This is why people can never argue clearly
Because neither is facing the realm of nature
Both face their own representations
Arguing with their own interpretations
These three categories combined
Lead to one conclusion: the reality you face
Is rarely the realm of nature
But a mix of representation and hallucination
You think you're dealing with the real world
But you're dealing with your own rendering engine
The final component
The two hindrances
Rules, structure, and the nature of reality
We've covered them all
Now ask: what exactly is holding you back?
The Discourse on the Perfection of Consciousness says
There are two types of obstacles
With completely different natures
The first is the Afflictive Obstacle
It stems from self-attachment
The firm belief that a "self" exists
Revolving around this self
Greed, anger, and ignorance constantly grow
These afflictions obscure Nirvana
Keeping you trapped in Samsara
This is what Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas aim to sever
Think of it as a software-level defect
The code logic is wrong
The system keeps crashing and rebooting
Find the logic error
Fix it
And the system runs stably
The second is the Cognitive Obstacle
It stems from phenomena-attachment
Beyond clinging to a self
You cling to the world as objectively real
And to laws as fixed and unchanging
This attachment is deeper than self-attachment
And more hidden
Afflictive obstacles cause pain
Cognitive obstacles cause ignorance
It obscures Bodhi, not Nirvana
Bodhi is
Complete wisdom without blind spots
For example
If someone severs the afflictive obstacle
They are no longer held hostage by emotions
They are peaceful
Free from greed and anger
Living with apparent clarity
But they may still use a rigid framework to see the world
They no longer suffer
But their understanding of reality has a ceiling
They fixed the software
But don't know the hardware itself is limited
Certain truths remain invisible
Not for lack of effort
But because the system doesn't support that resolution
The Bodhisattva path severs both obstacles
Not just fixing code
But upgrading the entire architecture
This is why Mahayana and Hinayana goals differ
An Arhat graduates by severing afflictions
But from the Mahayana perspective
That's only halfway
That's why Yogacara says practice has two fronts
One against affliction
One against ignorance
Many only take the first path
Achieving freedom from suffering
Which is already remarkable
But if you want to truly wake up
Not just a change of heart
But seeing things as they truly are
You must tackle the second front
And it's much harder than the first
Because it's not about emotions
It's about cognitive structure
How do you fix the tools you're using
This is a Gödelian dilemma
Alright
Today's four components
Six Meanings, Four Aspects, Three Realms, Two Obstacles
Are the core precision parts of Yogacara
Last time we saw the eight consciousnesses collaborating
Today we saw the rules they follow
The layered structure of every cognition
The three types of reality you face
And the two obstacles blocking you
Next time we enter the most anticipated part
Transforming consciousness into wisdom
The eight consciousnesses are not the end
Wisdom is the end
How to transform consciousness into wisdom
Yogacara provides a five-stage path
That is the ultimate goal of the treatise
What do you think
Are you stuck more by afflictions
Or by cognitive obstacles
Or how can you be sure
You aren't using a refined cognitive obstacle
To think you've overcome your afflictions
I am Wang Lijie
See you next time