Seeing Through The Illusion: Part Three

So today we're going to talk about the final consciousness.

So we've spoken about our five consciousness,

Our eye,

Nose,

Mouth,

Tongue,

Tasting,

Hear,

Ear and touching.

And we spoke about the sixth consciousness which is your mind,

Your thoughts and your behaviors.

And then last week we spoke about the seventh consciousness which is your ego.

So today we want to talk about the eighth consciousness.

So the eighth consciousness is the alaya consciousness or your storeroom consciousness.

This one is really important.

So everything we take in through our five senses,

Everything we think with our sixth sense,

All gets stored in your alaya consciousness.

So don't think that this alaya consciousness is like one little cupboard we've got in our brain and everything goes in that.

It's all different parts of our brain.

It's stored in.

Sorry.

So whatever you hear will be stored in your auditory part of your brain.

Whatever you see will be stored in your visual.

But everything,

So to make it simple,

We call it one thing,

Alaya consciousness,

But everything is stored there.

So whatever you've taken in over all of your life is stored in this alaya consciousness as a potential.

So this is important because it is just a potential.

So what we're saying is that whatever we take in,

Whatever we think,

Then it's stored as a karmic seed.

Now I'm not talking about past lives here.

I'm talking about everything that you're taking on board in this life is stored as a potential.

So it will just stay there dormant.

So only when you water them will they start to become an influence.

So if you just think you start to get impatient.

So the first time you're impatient,

You plant that karmic seed.

But the next time you start to get impatient,

You start to water that seed and that seed then starts to become stronger.

So if you are looking in neuroscience,

You will say that these are your neuro pathways.

The more you do something,

The stronger it becomes to your behaviour.

So Buddhism is saying the same thing,

That you,

Whatever you do,

Action you do the first time will just plant that karmic seed as a potential.

The more you do it,

The more you water that seed,

The more it becomes stronger.

It becomes part of your behaviour.

It becomes part of who you are,

Your character.

So you get impatient first time,

Just planting the seed.

The next time you do it,

You start to water that seed.

The more you start to get impatient,

The more then you start to water it,

You become irritable.

Then you carry on being impatient,

You get frustrated.

And then in the end,

You just get an angry person.

And your anger just comes up automatically.

And it comes up from this alaya consciousness.

So whatever karmic seed you're putting into your brain,

Is a potential that is going to if you keep watering it,

It is going to become part of who you are,

Part of your actions.

So remember,

All this is done subconsciously.

So you know that without thinking,

You become angry.

And the reason for that is because you've planted that karmic seed,

And you've watered that seed.

So now without even thinking,

We get angry,

Somebody shouted us,

We automatically shout back.

So that is because we've planted those karmic seeds over a period of years,

And we've watered them.

So all of your subconscious behavior is all coming from this alaya consciousness.

But it all has to go through that seventh consciousness,

Before it becomes our behavior.

And that is why it then starts to get tinted by this ego,

This sense of self,

This who I am.

So I don't want you to think that this alaya consciousness is who you are,

Because it isn't.

This is not a soul.

This is not a self.

This is not permanent.

Whatever you're taking in,

You're constantly changing that alaya consciousness.

Every time you learn something new,

You see,

You hear,

You touch,

You taste something new,

Even your thoughts,

And we'll come back to that in a moment.

But everything that you're taking in over all of your life is being stored.

Now it's up to you whether you water it or you don't water it.

That is down to you.

But once you've started watering it,

It becomes automatic behavior.

And that's where it starts to become a problem,

Because we're not consciously thinking here.

We are just reacting through this karmic seeds that we've planted in the past.

So they are not you.

So just because,

So say you've done this,

You've had your impatience,

And you've watered it so much that now anger just automatically comes.

So we can't see directly into this alaya consciousness,

Because it's subconscious.

So we can't directly see what is there.

But we can indirectly see it by our behavior,

By our biases,

By our discriminations.

So that is how we can see what is in this alaya consciousness.

And that is how we can change it.

So don't think that this is who you are.

This is a solid permanent self.

And don't think that alaya consciousness is what goes,

You know,

From life to life.

It is completely impermanent.

It is totally changing.

So the five senses,

What we take in for our five senses is probably a little bit easier to understand.

But also your sixth sense,

What you are thinking,

Your thought processes,

Also get stored in the alaya consciousness.

So we need to think carefully here.

So if we're constantly thinking,

Oh,

God,

I hate that person,

I hate that person,

We're planting those karmic seeds,

And we're watering it.

So we need to be careful of our thought process.

So this is,

There are three ways like there were with the seventh consciousness,

That we can work on this alaya consciousness.

So I've spoken about impatience,

That impatience can lead to anger.

But you see,

Patience can lead to a sense of calm,

And empathy and compassion.

So if you plant a seed of patience,

And then you keep watering it,

Then you're going to become a much calmer person,

A much kinder,

Much more caring person.

So it works both ways.

It's not just about bad things,

You know,

The anger and everything.

It's also the good things that we do.

And this is how we can start to change our alaya consciousness is to look at our ethics,

Look at our behavior,

Look at our morals and values.

Because if you're constantly going to get angry with people and shout at people and mistreat people,

Then that is what you're planting.

And that those karmic seeds are what are going to influence the way you act in the future.

But if you're more kind,

You're more caring,

And you're a much more compassionate person,

Then of course,

This is going to be who you become,

This is going to be your behavior.

So it works both ways.

So one way of so that alaya consciousness is not a solid thing,

So we can change it.

So if you're constantly putting negativity in it,

Then that's going to be your behavior.

But if they then change to a more positive,

Then you're going to actually override the negative.

So the best way to explain this is that if you had a glass of water,

And you put a bit of salt in that,

And then you tasted the water,

It would taste really,

Really salty.

But if you took that same bit of salt and sprinkled it into a lake,

And then you drank the water,

You wouldn't taste or hardly taste that salt at all.

So the water is your alaya consciousness,

And that salt is either your positive or your negative.

So if you've got lots of negative,

That's the cup,

And you put a,

I mean,

You've got a little bigger positive,

So it's the cup of water.

So it's just a little bit of good,

A little bit of positive.

But you sprinkled the negative,

The bad in,

Then it is going to affect you.

But if you have a big,

Huge lake of good,

And you just do every now and again,

A little bit of bad,

It is not going to affect you.

So we need to make sure that our alaya consciousness is a lake of goodness,

And not that small part of badness.

So some people think of the alaya consciousness as a cesspit,

Where everything is just,

All the horrible things are just stored.

So you know,

People say that children playing video games and killing and everything is okay,

Because it's on a screen,

It doesn't make any difference.

But it does.

Because every time they play these games,

They're planting these karmic seeds.

Every time you watch something violent,

Then you're planting those seeds.

So you're constantly planting the negativity in you.

So we have to be really careful what we allow in to this alaya consciousness.

So the first practical part is that be careful,

Be more mindful of what you're seeing,

And what you're listening to,

And what you're taking in through your five senses,

And the way you're thinking,

Because you can change that alaya consciousness.

So even if you are a totally negative person,

We can change that.

We don't have to be that angry person where you have people say,

I've always been an angry person.

We don't have to stay that way.

Okay,

Maybe we've watered those seeds at the moment,

But we can plant new ones,

And we can start to water them.

Because then the more patient we're going to be,

Those impatient seeds are going to fade away and be overridden by the patient ones.

So one way of dealing with this alaya consciousness is to make sure that we are more patient,

That we are more caring,

We are more compassionate,

Because they are then the seeds that you're planting.

Ensure that what you're thinking is more negative than it is,

Sorry,

More positive than it is negative.

So another way is to,

Through insight,

Through really understanding these eight consciousnesses,

Because if you can really think about them,

And reflect on them,

And really understand them,

Then of course,

Then you're going to understand that you are in control of what goes into that alaya consciousness.

This is your mind.

And if you are constantly looking at negative things,

Reading negative things,

Listening to bad negative things,

Because that's what you're planting.

So you have control of what is going in,

Not fully,

Because we come across things,

See things that we don't want to,

Or hear things we don't want to.

But if you just leave them as a potential,

Then they're no harm.

But if you're constantly going to water them,

Then they become part of your behavior,

Who you are.

So through your ethics,

You can change what's going in.

And through understanding the eight consciousnesses,

Then you can really see how you are working,

How your life is.

And the final one is the most important one,

Really,

For the alaya consciousness.

And that's the meditation,

And meditate on your behavior.

And that's what we're going to do.

Now we're going to do a meditation and look at our behavior.

Because what we're doing here is we're going to look at one thing,

Part of your behavior,

One behavior that you dislike about yourself.

So I'm going to ask you to think about that and really focus on that one behavior you don't want.

And then we're going to jump ahead.

And we're going to look at how,

How do I want to act?

How do I want to be?

And then we're going to come back again to the present moment.

And we're going to think of an action plan of how we get from where we don't want to be at the moment,

That behavior,

To where we do want to be.

And do think of little things that I can start to do to change that behavior.

Because what you're doing then is you're planting new karmic seeds.

And as you do this new behavior,

And you do your action plan to where you want to be,

You're now watering that.

So the person that you are that you don't like will fade away.

And it will be overridden by the person and the behavior that you do like.

So the more you do this practice,

The more that you look at and have to be,

You know,

Totally honest with yourself here,

That okay,

This is not good.

This is how I am.

This is my behavior.

This is the one thing I want to change.

And just stick on one thing.

I mean,

I'm sure,

Like all of us,

We're human beings,

There are many,

Many things that we want to change about ourselves.

There are many behaviors that we don't particularly like,

That we just keep doing,

Because we've planted that karmic seed,

And we've started watering it.

So it's become our behavior.

But you can change.

You don't have to be that angry person that you always are,

Or the irritable person you always are,

Or whatever behavior you don't like,

We can change that.

So through this meditation,

We're going to do now,

We're going to,

I'm going to ask you to think of one behavior that you really,

And remember here,

That you don't have to tell anybody,

This is all going on in your head.

So you can be totally honest with yourself about your behavior that you don't like,

Just one thing,

Pick one thing.

And then we'll move to the future and envisage this new person,

This new behavior,

The person I want to be,

Not the person I am at the minute,

The one I want to be.

And then we'll come back,

And we'll think,

Or you will think of little ways that you can start to change,

To change that behavior.

Each time,

Just remember,

Each time you do that little thing towards changing your behavior,

You're planting new seeds.

And the next time you do it,

You're watering that seed.

And the more that you do it,

It's going to override the behavior you don't want.

We are going to slip back.

So throughout all of this,

When you've got your action plan of change,

You have to keep setting an intention every morning to focus on this.

Because remember,

Your subconscious mind will totally overpower your conscious mind,

If you are not bringing awareness and mindfulness to the change.

So you set an intention every morning,

And sometimes you'll slip back,

It's okay.

But the more that you keep doing,

Heading towards this new behavior,

The more that you slowly do that,

Then the more that you are watering that,

That will become who you are,

That will be where your neurons are firing,

And not the old behavior.

It takes time,

It isn't easy,

We have to constantly keep reminding ourselves,

No,

That's not my behavior I want to be,

This is,

But we can change.

So and once you've changed one thing in your life,

Then that is going to be your motivation to keep doing it,

But just do one thing at a time.

Okay,

So we'll do this meditation now.

So get nice and comfortable,

And lightly close your eyes.

And I want you to look at the behavior that you want to change.

So just spend a moment and think of just one thing,

One behavior you would like to change.

And just to help you really engage with this behavior,

I want you to think about how does it make you feel when you act in this way?

And how do you think it makes other people feel around you when you start behaving this way?

So really try to engage with this behavior you want to change.

So maybe think about the last time you behaved this way,

And think about what was the outcome at that time.

So now I want you to jump to the future,

And think about the behavior that you would rather have.

So we looked at the behavior we don't want,

So what is the behavior that you do want?

And as you're imagining this new behavior,

I want you to think about how do you think that it will make you feel when you have this new behavior?

And how do you think that it is going to affect the people around you?

How will they feel with your new behavior?

Just visualize a moment the type of person you want to become.

And just think what type of change is this new behavior going to bring?

Will you be happier?

Will you be less negative?

Less stressed?

How is this new behavior going to make you feel?

What difference will it make in your life?

So now let's bring ourselves back to the present moment.

So you've looked at the behavior and the person that you don't want to be,

And you've looked at now the person that you want to be,

And your new behavior,

And how it's going to make you feel.

So I want you to spend a couple of minutes now thinking of a few actions that you'll need to take to make that change in your behavior.

And set yourself some intentions for the coming week.

But don't make these changes too complicated.

Just use little baby steps that are going to slowly move you towards the person you want to be and the new behavior.

So remember,

Don't make big grand plans to change.

Just keep it simple.

Just little baby steps.

And each morning you get up,

Just reinforce these intentions.

And during the day,

If you slip and you go back to your old behavior,

It's okay.

Just reinforce those intentions again.

The more you do this,

The closer you'll get to your new behavior and the type of person that you really want to be.

So now just slowly start to open your eyes.

So you see that we can change.

So by understanding these eight consciousness,

It gives us a chance to change.

Because if we understand now that everything that we see,

Everything we smell,

We taste,

We hear,

We touch is going to be stored somewhere in the alaya consciousness.

And if we understand that everything that we think in our sixth consciousness is going to be stored.

And if we understand that this sense of a self is only the seventh consciousness,

It is nothing real.

We are not a real solid person.

So it helps us to let go of that ego.

And if we can understand the eighth consciousness,

That they are just seeds,

Karmic seeds that we are planted.

We do not need to water them.

But if we do,

And we have watered them,

And it's made us behave in a certain way,

We can change that behavior.

We can plant new seeds.

The new seeds are going to override the old seeds.

So that eighth consciousness is constantly changing.

But it's changing from us the way that we take everything on board.

So we can change.

If you think that you are a negative person,

You are a jealous person or an angry person,

You can change that.

You don't have to be constantly being run by this eighth consciousness,

The subconscious mind.

We can bring the subconscious into the conscious by looking at our behavior,

And then changing.