On Alaya Mind & the Wind of Impermanence

            People are travelers. We travel from yesterday to today. Today to tomorrow. We do this year after year. Japanese poet Ikkyu said that New Year's Day even though on the surface is a cause for celebration is actually just a milestone toward the afterlife. The idea of man as a traveler has been used in songs, poems, and stories for centuries. 

Original Photo by Dru! available on Flickr.com

              Our trip can be sunny, rainy or windy. It can be mountainous or deep into a valley. Or it can be as simple as a walk on a flatland, because so many things can happen on the journey. We have many encounters with various characters throughout our voyage. Misfortune comes our way. Some days are just normal. We say goodbye here and there to many good people we've met. The weather is fine on some days and bad on others.

               The nature of our soul's journey is limitless. It flows in a continual stream from the beginningless past, forward into the eternal future. The journey of this body may be short, 100 years at best. And during this time, not a single person can understand us to the core.

               Sakyamuni Buddha said, "Alone we are born, and alone we die. Alone we come, and alone we depart." Our physical bodies may have company, but our souls are all alone. We have lived our eternal life in complete solitude, and not even family can understand us at the deepest level.

           For example, husbands and wives are separate individuals, even though they are married and may act together as a family. This world may seem like a universal place where we are all sharing a common reality. However, each person is experiencing something different from their own point of view.

           We all have an Alaya Mind (Storehouse Consciousness), and this is also known as our True Self. It represents our eternal life. The Alaya Mind forms its own world from the various deeds of our distant past that are contained within it. The deeds we perform now in the present are stored into our Alaya Mind which then shapes our future.

             So in short, we're all living right now in the world of our Alaya Mind. Putting this into perspective, that means hundreds and thousands, even millions or billions of worlds are existing together in separate Alaya Minds around us. Each one lives in its own unique reality.

             A wife just can't see what life looks like through her husband's eyes, no matter how hard she tries. To understand him completely is simply out of the question. The husband can't even get a real glimpse despite his strongest efforts. A husband and wife can only know their own Alaya Mind. It's not possible to understand another person's world as they see it. It is an exclusive experience to the individual, and that is why it is said that we are born alone and die alone.

             It's also why whether we know it or not, there is a deep, restless loneliness within us. Our soul is yearning for true company. We devise numerous diversions -- joking, singing or dancing -- yet it doesn't wipe away our loneliness. Not for long at least. There still remains a recurring empty solitude, because no one gets us or understands our world completely.

               Children hold secrets from their parents, and parents don't tell everything to their kids. Husbands and wives keep quiet on a lot of issues. That is the nature of our true mind. It is one of complete solitude and hidden darkness. There is no soul that can bare it all, all the time.

              In bustling metropolises like Los Angeles, Tokyo, New Delhi, Berlin, London, or Moscow, we are constantly surrounded by people. How is it that though we are surrounded by millions, we can still feel so alone and desperately lost in the crowd? We just have no true companionship for our soul.

Original Photo by R. Mitra available on Flickr.com

               This doesn't mean we don't need to understand others or shouldn't bother to get very close to people. We must of course try to get to know people and care about them. But it is an oversized ego that believes it can truly get another person completely. It denotes someone who is 100% in the dark about their own self.

                Our Alaya Mind is hurting. There is no way we can figure out how to solve this situation. We long to bare all of our soul and need to be able to understand it. Only by knowing who we really are can we obtain absolute happiness. Listening to Pure Land Buddhism, we come closer to arriving at this life-changing moment. We come to learn our True Self fully, realize the roles of the countless buddhas, as well as fully grasp the role of Amida Buddha and the Pure Land. By listening steadily and knowing these concepts -- not just believing in them blindly -- we can finally celebrate in not being alone for the first time in our eternal life.

                 Until we find the truth, life seems to have a mysterious sadness to it. People will dwell on all sorts of thoughts to distract themselves from it -- yet it returns, again and again. We rely on systems of politics, ethics, morals, laws in an attempt to restore balance to this desperate world. 

                 Every month we have holidays with fireworks and festivals filled with people who want to escape for a while. They want to forget their solitude in the fun, but they can't seem to leave that emptiness behind when it's time to pick up trash after the party. Fireworks don't last, but it's also what makes them wonderful to look at. At best, could they go on for an hour straight, a whole day, or a full month like that? Would it even remain as exciting at that point? The thrill comes from the rareness of the experience.

Original Photo by bayasaa available on Flickr.com

               The various fireworks of our lives flicker quickly, in and out, here and there throughout the years, and a lifetime of even 100 years can disappear quietly into the smoky dark without notice. In the end, the greater the fireworks display, the greater the sorrow.

               Life is the same way. Once it's over, we're left to the hell of our own bitter solitude at death, and the fact that our soul has no accompaniment. Right now, we're billions of lonesome travelers waiting for death while fighting for survival. We hang in this critical balance day to day. 

               Our fate can change drastically just by the choices and actions we make in a single moment. Life-or-death events happen to us and our loved ones all the time, but soon even they just fade away becoming the farthest thing from our mind. We move on to the next challenge. "That's life," we say. But how long can we keep that up for?

"When at last I came to the peak that I had thought would surely be the last,

I turned my eyes to the way beyond -- mountain piled on mountain."

--Anonymous

                The Wind of Impermanence is always blowing along our journey whether we feel it beating down on our backs or not. Nothing lasts; everything changes. The Wind of Impermanence can be compared to a ghastly tiger stalking its unsuspecting prey.

               There is a tiger behind you right now, even as you read this blog. If there is a room with 100 people, there are 100 tigers lurking behind those people. This tiger waits and waits and waits. It creeps up on all of us with the utmost stealth and suddenly attacks when we least expect it. One day -- BAM! -- it has you in its jaws, clenched in its teeth. It's a huge, hungry, and vicious tiger, and it doesn't wait for you, anyone, or anything. You could be washing your face or right in the middle of a sentence.

               A professor of religion at the University of Tokyo, Hideo Kishimoto, battled with a very serious case of cancer. Kishimoto likened the idea of death to "sudden, unprovoked violence" and left a detailed account of his personal struggle with the disease:

"Death always comes suddenly. 

No matter when it appears, the one visited by Death 

looks on its arrival as a sudden intrusion. 

For the mind filled with a sense of security 

is totally unprepared for death. ...

Death comes when by rights it has no business coming.

It goes coolly where by rights it has no business going, 

like a desperado striding with dirty boots into a freshly-cleaned parlor. 

Death's behavior is outrageous. You may ask it to wait a while, but in vain. 

Death is a monster beyond human power to budge or to hold in check."

              The fearsome tiger has no compassion hunts all of us down without a shred of mercy. Its terrifying size and insatiable hunger calmly waits for the perfect opportunity to strike us. When the tiger comes closer, we may try to escape by going to the doctor and taking various medicines in order to prolong our life. But the moment will come when the tiger appears for his final lethal bite. Once we're bitten, our time here as a traveler will be over.  

Original Photo by fpat available on Flickr.com

               All of us must face the Wind of Impermanence.

               This is why we must seek the truth for who we really are and obtain absolute happiness in the here and now. Without sensing that our life is fleeting, we do not feel inclined to move into action. We must seek to know what the afterlife holds in store for us as soon as possible, before it is too late. Listening to Buddhism brings us toward the real solution to these problems. Let us listen to the teachings with sincerity and reflect deeply on the crucial matter of our afterlife.

The Reality of Mankind -- Symbols Explained

     First of all, Sakyamuni Buddha referred to the traveler as each and every one of us as human beings. It wasn’t only the Buddha who said it in this way. Many sages and wise men of old described life as a journey, and people as being travelers.

                Our life is like a journey. Last year’s journey has ended and this year’s journey has begun. When this year’s journey ends, next year’s journey will begin. So it continues.

                If a person is a traveler, there is something he must always bear in mind. It is the direction in which he must travel. In other words, he must know the destination of his journey. Likewise, we too must know the purpose of life.

                What is the objective of living? We call this the purpose of life, but people are not aware of this are travelers who travel without a definite destination. And that just doesn’t really make much sense.

                The traveler was trudging all alone in the autumn dusk. It represents the solitary state of our life. Why is human life so lonely? Sakyamuni Buddha indicates the condition of human life as, “Alone we are born, and alone we die. Alone we come, and alone we depart.”

                We were born alone in this world, so we will die alone. Our journey is all alone from beginning to end. Even though we may have company for our physical body, there is no company for our soul. No matter how many people you are surrounded by, there is still no one who can understand your soul completely.

                A vast wilderness represents the history of our True Self. This physical body will die within the span of a hundred years or so. However, Buddhism teaches that our life is eternal. Our physical body can be compared to a bubble on the surface of a great river. A bubble forms and disappears instantly, without even bothering the flow of the river.

                The white bones represent the death of our family, friends, acquaintances, and people we know. We are shocked whenever we see or hear about their deaths. That feeling of shock is referred to as having seen the white bones. It includes the panic or pain we feel when we observe natural disasters and tragedies on the news. Come to think of it… we have been trampling over such scattered bones – the deaths of others – for all these years.

                The huge, hungry tiger is compared to the Wind of Impermanence, or put simply – death. There is nothing in this world with shape that does not crumble. Therefore, the physical body of man will have to die one day. There is no means by which those that have been born can avoid death. Moreover, since death is the most fearful thing of all to human beings, it is compared to the hungry tiger. At the time of Buddha it was considered to be the most ferocious creature in India.

                The ferocious tiger is also known as the Tiger of Impermanence. It is stalking behind each one of us from the time we are born. Tonight might be the very night we’re bitten by it.

                The man running away from the tiger in this parable shows how hard we try to escape death by running to the doctor or taking various herbal remedies when we get sick. As a result of such precautions, the average human life span has increased. Many years ago it was 50. Today it is roughly about 80 years. It is possible to prolong life to a certain extent, but there is no way of escaping death.

                The things we rely on daily – money, wealth, fame, position – are compared to the pine tree.

                No matter how many of these things we may possess, we cannot escape from reaching the grasp of the Tiger of Impermanence. No matter how much material wealth you have, it cannot shield you from dying.

                What is the significance of the wisteria vine, to which the traveler was hanging to? The wisteria vine is compared to our lifespan.

                If you hear that “all living things die,” you will agree with it at once. Deep in your mind though, you are still counting the time you have left. “I’m not going to die for another ten or 20 years,” you may say. But it’s shorter than you think.

                For evidence, recall your past ten years. Were they long… or were they short? They must have gone by before you knew it. If that is so, the next ten years will be just as short.

                Also a wisteria vine is very thin and brittle, and so are our lives. We think our vines are strong like an iron cable, but it can snap on us in just an instant. Even still, we just refuse to accept this idea.

                The two mice represent day and night. Day is bright, so it is the white mouse. Night is dark, so it is the black mouse. Day and night are taking turns shortening our lives. To have lived one day today means we went one step forward to the day of our death.

                Death plays no favorites. Whether it is at a wedding or on a New Year’s Day, the mice keep on chewing and the vine is bound to be cut eventually. That very moment is death… the end of one’s journey. So what happens when one dies?

                Find out more about the role of the afterlife in the next post on the Reality of Mankind series. You can learn about the meaning behind the symbols of the bottomless blue ocean, the three dragons, and the drops of honey.

The Reality of Mankind -- The Parable

         When learning Buddhism, the most important thing to know is the purpose of listening to its teachings.

           First of all, Buddhism is of course the teachings of the Buddha who lived 2500 years ago. Buddha is also known by the name Sakyamuni Buddha.

           Sakyamuni explained for us why we listen to Buddhism with a famous parable that shocked even the renowned Russian writer of War and Peace.

"I have never heard any parables which reveal human reality 

as genuine as this Eastern fable."

--Leo Tolstoy

           It was during the time of Sakyamuni, a king by the name of Shoko, came to a Buddhist lecture. Sakyamuni was pleased at his attendance since it tended to be difficult for people in power to listen due to their vanity and high position.

          Because of this rare visit, Sakyamuni decided to preach about the purpose of listening to Buddhism in a famous parable called:

“The Reality of Mankind”

Billions of years ago, a traveler was trudging all alone across a vast wilderness. It was a lonely evening in the fall, and the cold wintry wind swept across the bitter plain. 

Original Photo by Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore available on Flickr.com

              The traveler was hastening his pace toward home when suddenly, he spotted some white objects scattered along the roadside. He picked one up, wondering what it could be and to his horror discovered it was a human bone.

Original Photo by Dallas Krentzel available on Flickr.com

“Now why would there be human bones scattered around here?” the traveler wondered as he felt an eerie feeling come over him.

 He cast his eyes around but saw neither a graveyard nor a funeral home nearby. Seized with a very chilling feeling, the traveler couldn’t even take a single step forward.

 As he kept staring at the white bones, he heard a weird growl and the sound of ominous footsteps coming at him.

               “What's that noise ahead?” the traveler wondered.

               To his terror, it was a huge tiger, fierce from starvation.

Original Photo by gsloan available on Flickr.com

     In an instant, he realized the meaning of the bones all around him. Travelers who had journeyed here like himself had become the tiger’s prey, and these bones were the remains of their dead bodies. The tiger lunged at him.

      Realizing his life was in danger, he ran back down the road he had come from with all his might.

                   However, no matter how desperately or quickly he could run, a human being is no match for a tiger at full speed. There was just no way he could outrun this fierce predator.

                   And so the distance between them drew closer and closer. He could even hear the tiger’s violent snorts trailing behind him.

      Somewhere in his haste, the traveler made a wrong turn leading him toward a steep cliff. “Oh no!” he cried. “I’ve taken the wrong road!” But it was much too late to turn back now.

Original Photo by eggrole available on Flickr.com

        Now there was a large pine tree that grew near the edge of the cliff in front of him, but he knew well it was useless to climb it for safety, because tigers are expert tree climbers.

Original Photo by DrBartje available on Flickr.com

            The frantic traveler while running around in circles  – not knowing what else to do – managed to find a lifesaver. It was a wisteria vine hanging from the base of the pine tree leading down the precipice.

Original Photo by Erza S F available on Flickr.com

             “At last! This will do the trick!” The traveler quickly lowered himself down the vine just in time, narrowly escaping the hungry tiger's jaws. It growled with intensity and clawed at him from atop the cliff.

                             “Thanks to this vine, I’m safe for now,” he thought with a sigh of relief.

               Thinking he was soon to be out of danger, the traveler looked down coolly, only to gasp out of surprise and terror.

                What he saw was a vast, bottomless ocean with swift currents dangerously forming a whirlpool.

Original Photo by NASA Earth Observatory available on Flickr.com

                           But not only that... amidst the whirlpool were three dragons – a blue dragon, a red dragon, and a black dragon – waiting for him to fall. Their mouths were wide open ready to devour him.

                           Seeing how dreadful each dragon was, the traveler tightened his grip on his thin vine.

                  He felt that he was now in the worst situation imaginable.

                  Even so, after hanging around for a while, he began to feel hungry. The traveler looked around for something edible.

                  Upon gazing upward, he discovered what horrified him the most. It was more frightening than either the menacing tiger or the three deadly dragons below him. He involuntarily cried out from the sheer terror.

                  Two mice, a white mouse and a black mouse, had appeared above him and were now taking turns gnawing at the vine, his only lifeline. The traveler’s face turned pale and his body was shaking in fear. He shook the vine rigorously to shoo the mice away, but to no avail.

                               Each mouse just kept taking turns chewing on his wisteria vine.

Original Photo by USFWS Mountain Prairie available on Flickr.com

                   But a strange phenomenon started occurring as he shook the vine. With each shake, something had come dripping down.

                   The traveler caught some of it with his hand and to his utter astonishment discovered it was a delicious-looking drop of honey. Instinctively, he licked it and found it to be the most delicious honey that he had ever tasted in his life.

                    He wondered, “Why would honey be dripping down from above?” And as he looked up again he saw a beehive on the branch from which the vine hung.

Original Photo by minicooper93402 available on Flickr.com

                    Hoping to taste it once more, he shook the vine again and as he hoped, more honey came dripping down.

                     “Once more. Just once more.”

                     The traveler kept on licking the honey intoxicated with delight, and forgetting all the dangers he was in from the tiger, the three dragons, and even the dreadful black and white mice. All he had in mind now was how to obtain more honey.

Original Photo by Siona Karen available on Flickr.com

                      When Sakyamuni Buddha’s sermon reached this point, someone in the audience shouted.

                                  “Noble Sakya! Please stop!” It was King Shoko. “I am too frightened to hear this story anymore. How can this traveler be so foolish? How could he ever forget he was in such danger, simply being distracted by little drops of honey?”

                        “Please listen more carefully, King,” Sakyamuni Buddha replied. “This traveler refers to you. He represents not only you but the whole human race.”

                                    At these words, a clamor arose among the entire audience and everyone took to their feet from the shock of Sakyamuni's bold statement.

                                    The Buddha went on to describe in detail how the traveler in this story represents the reality all human beings even to this day.

                                     Find out what each symbol means in the next Reality of Mankind series right here on this blog.