1) The substance of soul is the ultimate substance of man:
the secrets of four substances of soul
To understand clearly the ultimate substance of man, we must know the true form and character of subsistence of the present and after life. As our physical body is rupa or matter that we can all see, there cannot be any question about its subsistence.
However, about the subsistence of soul which cannot be seen by common people, and about its true character, there has been great discussions from old.
Nonetheless, we are now going to discuss chiefly about the secret identity of the subsistence of soul ascertained and then discoursed by the Great Master Jajae Manhyeon of Hyeonjisa Temple. For your information, I want to inform beforehand that the most of these rare and profound arguments are not to be found in the sutras.
While we are living, we all posses the physical body and the substance of soul. If the physical body, composed of the four great elements, the earth, water, fire, and wind, is a kind of house, we can say that the substance of soul is the master of the house who is abiding in it. The substance of soul is the subject or nucleus of action and also the subject of transmigration and enlightenment.
The substance of soul is a vessel that contains the soul which is the basis for the consciousness of mankind. It bears the feature of the spirit of mankind. It also has the four multi-structure of stairway overlapped by some kind of sticky wall.
The substance of soul is a kind of bundle of energy, a living life, which holds consciousness and memory. However, it could not be seen by common people. It can be seen only by the heavenly eyes of a saint. It is composed of a super-corpuscle, smaller than an elementary particle. It also has a double function of particle and waive. If we observe it from the point of wave, the substance of soul has the extremely short wave. In other words, it is a living life which has a characteristic of an electromagnetic wave of great many vibration.
If we distinguish the four substances of soul of human according to their density and the number of vibration, that is, according to the level of quality, to number 1, 2, 3, and 4, the number 1 is highest in its quality, and the number 4 is lowest in its quality.
Starting from number 4, the lowest quality of the substance of soul, the higher the number, the density goes up and the number of vibration also increases. The substance of soul No. 4 is 100% same as our physical body. Each of the No. 1, 2, and 3 substances of soul has a slight different features, but their roots are similar.
The substances of soul No. 1, 2, and 3 move around in a group and stay alive forever. The substance of soul performs various activities and functions such as the activities of human life and emotion, the functions of desire, intellect, wisdom, storing spiritual energy, etc.
These various functions, common in some degree among the four levels of the substance of soul, influence each other. However, there are some functions each level operates independently.
The No. 4 substance of soul (ether) is the copy of physical body and has a function of linking the physical body with other three levels of the substance of soul. With the physical body, it operates as a means of maintaining the life and the basis of the function of physiology.
However, at the moment of impregnation of the parent, this No. 4 substance of soul could not enter into the work of impregnation. (However, when Buddha incarnates in human body, this No. 4 substance of soul also enters into the impregnation of parent.) It arises and then grows in the womb of mother. The No. 4 substance of soul of animals also could not enter into the impregnation of the parent. It arises and then grows in the womb of mother.
No. 3 substance of soul (astringent) assumes chiefly the functions of emotion and craving. The No. 2 substance of soul (mentality) performs the functions of analysis, reasoning, memory, etc. The No. 1 substance of soul is the subsistence of light that transcends the particle and assumes the functions of reason and supreme intelligence or wisdom.
Among these four levels of substance of soul, The No. 1 is the substance or noumenon of man, and the No. 1, 2, and 3, exception of the No. 4, are everlasting and become the nucleus or the main body of transmigration. When a person passes away, these substances of soul escape from the physical body, because they are no longer able to abide in the ruined house. In other words, leaving the substance of soul from man is called death.
2) The substance of soul is the nucleus of karma and transmigration: the path of sentient beings from hell to the Buddhahood.
All the karmic actions of good and evil will be recorded in the substance of soul. It will be like preserving the pictures taken. It does not matter how secretly you have done something good or evil, those deeds will be preserved in the substance of soul, and when those deeds meet the corresponding affinity, they will be revealed in the broad daylight.
Therefore, there will be no secret whatsoever in the world. There is a saying in our country, "The heaven and earth will know." This is exactly what it says. This is the cosmic law of cause and effect. We cannot commit any sin if we only know such teachings of Buddhism. I emphasize again that the subject of karmic action is the substance of our soul. The substance of soul always carry around the bundle of our karmic actions.
The doctrine of the Consciousness-only School claims that all karmic actions will be preserved in the alaya-vijnana, or the storehouse of consciousness. However, the storehouse of consciousness is only the idea of consciousness, or the image of sense object. Therefore, it must be understood as karmic consciousness (業識) that carries the karma, because consciousness cannot function as a main constituent of action in any event. I am going to explain it more in detail later on.
The great saint who could read the substance of soul can tell everything about the man when he only sees the substance of soul of the man. In other words, he can read the personality of the man exactly as it is. It is not the level of the sorcerer who reads the spirit of a man.
When we die and enter the nether world (冥府), the King of Hades (閻羅大王) immediately reflects the substance of our soul in the mirror at the entrance of the hall to judge our evil deeds. This is the reason that this author calls all the karmic actions recorded in the substance of soul as the scoreboard of our life.
In other words, it is the total summation of the score-sheet of transmigrating life we have lived for eons of immeasurable time. There is a saying in Korea, 'the seed of mind (마음씨)'. It is also the score-sheet of our life. The 'seed of mind' is all the potential power that contains our karmic deeds and then surfaces whenever it happens to meet its corresponding affinity. It means that the seed of karma is already planted in the mind whenever one takes an action.
The 'kindly mind' could mean that overall it is superior to the 'evil karmic power', and when we just say 'mind', it means the state the substance of our present defiled mind. However, the mind is sometimes used in the sense of the original Buddha-nature. In that case, it means the immaculate pure substance of soul without any particle of dust.
Anyhow, we all go either to hell or reborn in the animal form, or go to heaven according to each of our score-sheet. Thus the realms we go according to the score-sheet of our past life when we die, are the following six spheres: the hungry ghost, animals, human, the giant demon-spirit, and heaven. And unless we are released from transmigration, we must live such life in the eternal cycle of transmigration. This is what we call the transmigration in the six realms of karmic existence.
The transmigration in the six realms of karmic existence is created by the active cause of common karma (共業) which is actually the combination of karma committed by all sentient beings.
Therefore, if all the sentient beings stop committing evil deeds now and perform good deeds instead, the three evil paths (三惡道) of the realm of hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of animal would vanish. The way of life in the six realms of reincarnation varies according to the karma. Among the six realms, two realms are where humans and animals abide with their physical body and the substance of soul. The rest of the four realms are the realms where the dead spirits abide with their substance of soul only.
Among the animals that transmigrate are the ones that posses the substance of soul. The substance of soul of the animals, exception of dragon, enters into the twelve branches of zodiacal signs of animals (十二干支). The substance of soul that enters into the animals are commonly those of mammals. However, some enter into a part of birds, fish, and amphibious animals. The substance of soul does not enter into the body of insects. Therefore, mosquitoes, flees, and day-flies into which the substance of soul does not enter are of natural born and natural death.
Either entering into the heavenly realm, falling straight down to hell, or reborn as an animal after death are definitely not the matter of our mind. It is also not the story of a remote country, or the story that might not happen, or someone else's story, not mine. It is an urgent matter that will happen in the near future when we die.
The gist of the view of our life and death is to expand the horizon of life from the transmigration of the six realms of karmic existence to the realm of enlightenment. This is also the starting point and the terminus of the Buddhist view of birth and death. The object of the Buddhist practice is to be released from the afflictions of the transmigration of the six realms of karmic existence and attain enlightenment.
As I have alluded above, the terminus of the object of Buddhist practice is to become a master in selfless quietude in the ultimate realm of enlightenment and then attain the Buddhahood. Above all, if you have arrived at your final destination of practice, you must return and deliver with your own hand the sentient beings who are struggling in the swamp of ignorance and then lead them to the path of Buddha. This is the unsurpassed practice of Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. This is also what we call the deliberation of the world.
This was also the meaning of the Buddha who manifested Himself in the mundane world--the sole objective of Buddha's manifestation in this world (一大事因緣). There are four Buddhas who are performing the Bodhisattva-practice in place of the World-honored Buddha. They are none other than Manjusri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra, or the Bodhisattva of Great Vow and Action, Avalokiteshvara, or the Bodhisattva of Great Love and Compassion, and Ksitigarbha, or the Earth Treasury King of Great Vow Bodhisattva.
It is beyond words how they are performing the great Bodhisattva-practices for the sake of the sentient beings, and this is the reason why we call them Bodhisattvas instead of Buddhas which they truly deserve to be called. Thus Buddhism is such a great religion that delivers the world, and at the summit of it abides the World-honored Buddha.
In conclusion, as all the subjects or the main constituents of karmic action, retribution for good or evil deeds, transmigration as well as enlightenment are the substances of soul, it is a long journey of the substance of soul from the sentient beings in hell to the Buddhahood.
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