The Fifty Verses

Mind is a field
in which every kind of seed is sown.
This mind-field can also be called
"all the seeds."

In plain wordsMind is a field; every seed is sown in its soil.

In us are infinite varieties of seeds—
seeds of samsara, nirvana, delusion, and enlightenment,
seeds of suffering and happiness,
seeds of perceptions, names, and words.

In plain wordsIt holds every kind of seed — both samsara and nirvana.

Seeds that manifest as body and mind,
as realms of being, stages, and worlds,
are all stored in our consciousness.
That is why it is called "store."

In plain wordsSome seeds are innate, some inherited, some sown in childhood.

Some seeds are innate,
handed down by our ancestors.
Some were sown while we were still in the womb,
others were sown when we were children.

In plain wordsEvery seed is at once individual and collective.

Whether transmitted by family, friends,
society, or education,
all our seeds are, by nature,
both individual and collective.

In plain wordsThe quality of our life reflects the quality of our seeds.

The quality of our life
depends on the quality
of the seeds
that lie deep in our consciousness.

In plain wordsStore consciousness receives, keeps, and ripens what we water.

The function of store consciousness
is to receive and maintain
seeds and their habit energies,
so they can manifest in the world, or remain dormant.

In plain wordsIts work is to hold our seeds and habit energies.

Manifestations from store consciousness
can be perceived directly in the mode of things-in-themselves,
as representations, or as mere images.
All are included in the eighteen elements of being.

In plain wordsWhat we perceive are images the mind itself makes.

All manifestations bear the marks
of both the individual and the collective.
The maturation of store consciousness functions in the same way
in its participation in the different stages and realms of being.

In plain wordsAll things bear both marks; store consciousness ripens through the realms of being.

Unobstructed and indeterminate,
store consciousness is continuously flowing and changing.
At the same time, it is endowed
with all five universal mental formations.

In plain wordsEver-flowing and unobstructed, it moves with the five universals.

Although impermanent and without a separate self,
store consciousness contains all phenomena in the cosmos,
both conditioned and unconditioned,
in the form of seeds.

In plain wordsImpermanent and without a separate self, it holds all things as seeds.

Seeds can produce seeds.
Seeds can produce formations.
Formations can produce seeds.
Formations can produce formations.

In plain wordsSeeds give rise to seeds, and to formations, and back again.

Seeds and formations
both have the nature of interbeing and interpenetration.
The one is produced by the all.
The all is dependent on the one.

In plain wordsInterbeing: the one contains the all.

Store consciousness is neither the same nor different,
individual nor collective.
Same and different inter-are.
Collective and individual give rise to each other.

In plain wordsNeither the same nor different, neither one self nor many.

When delusion is overcome, understanding is there,
and store consciousness is no longer subject to afflictions.
Store consciousness becomes Great Mirror Wisdom,
reflecting the cosmos in all directions.
Its name is now Pure Consciousness.

In plain wordsWhen delusion ends, it becomes Great Mirror Wisdom.

Seeds of delusion give rise
to the internal formations of craving and afflictions.
These forces animate our consciousness
as mind and body manifest themselves.

In plain wordsSeeds of delusion give rise to craving and inner knots.

With store consciousness as its support,
manas arises.
Its function is mentation,
grasping the seeds it considers to be a "self."

In plain wordsLeaning on store consciousness, manas arises and grasps a self.

The object of manas is the mark of a self
found in the field of representations
at the point where manas
and store consciousness touch.

In plain wordsManas finds a self where it touches store consciousness.

As the ground of wholesome and unwholesome
of the other six manifesting consciousnesses,
manas continues discriminating.
Its nature is both indeterminate and obscured.

In plain wordsObscured and indeterminate, it colours the wholesome and unwholesome.

Manas goes with the five universals,
with mati of the five particulars,
and with the four major and eight secondary afflictions.
All are indeterminate and obscured.

In plain wordsManas moves with the universals, the particulars, and the afflictions.

As shadow follows form,
manas always follows store.
It is a misguided attempt to survive,
craving for continuation and blind satisfaction.

In plain wordsAs a shadow follows a form, manas always follows store.

When the first stage of the bodhisattva path is attained,
the obstacles of knowledge and afflictions are transformed.
At the tenth stage, the yogi transforms the belief in a separate self,
and store consciousness is released from manas.

In plain wordsOn the bodhisattva path, the belief in a separate self dissolves.

With manas as its base
and phenomena as its objects,
mind consciousness manifests itself.
Its sphere of cognition is the broadest.

In plain wordsResting on manas, mind consciousness opens the widest field.

Mind consciousness has three modes of perception.
It has access to the three fields of perception and is capable
of having three natures.
All mental formations manifest in it—
universal, particular, wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate.

In plain wordsIt perceives in three modes, three fields, three natures.

Mind consciousness is the root of all actions of body and speech.
Its nature is to manifest mental formations, but its existence is not continuous.
Mind consciousness gives rise to actions that lead to ripening.
It plays the role of the gardener, sowing all the seeds.

In plain wordsIt is the root of our actions of body and speech.

Mind consciousness is always functioning
except in states of non-perception,
the two attainments,
deep sleep, and fainting or coma.

In plain wordsIt works always, except in a few deep states like dreamless sleep.

Mind consciousness operates in five ways—
in cooperation with the five sense consciousnesses
and independent of them,
dispersed, concentrated, or unstably.

In plain wordsIt operates in five ways — with the senses, or alone.

Based on mind consciousness,
the five sense consciousnesses,
separately or together with mind consciousness,
manifest like waves on water.

In plain wordsThe five senses arise like waves upon water.

Their field of perception is things-in-themselves.
Their mode of perception is direct.
Their nature can be wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral.
They operate on the sense organs and the sensation center of the brain.

In plain wordsThey touch things directly, resting on the sense organs.

They arise with the
universal, particular, and wholesome,
the basic and secondary unwholesome,
and the indeterminate mental formations.

In plain wordsThey arise with the universal, the particular, and the wholesome or not.

Consciousness always includes
subject and object.
Self and other, inside and outside,
are all creations of the conceptual mind.

In plain wordsConsciousness always holds both a subject and an object.

Consciousness has three parts—
perceiver, perceived, and wholeness.
All seeds and mental formations
are the same.

In plain wordsPerceiver, perceived, and the wholeness that holds them.

Birth and death depend on conditions.
Consciousness is by nature a discriminatory manifestation.
Perceiver and perceived depend on each other
as subject and object of perception.

In plain wordsBirth and death depend on conditions; perceiver and perceived inter-are.

In individual and collective manifestation,
self and nonself are not two.
The cycle of birth and death is achieved in every moment.
Consciousness evolves in the ocean of birth and death.

In plain wordsSelf and non-self are not two; consciousness is an ocean.

Space, time, and the four great elements
are all manifestations of consciousness.
In the process of interbeing and interpenetration,
our store consciousness ripens in every moment.

In plain wordsSpace, time, and the elements are all manifestations of mind.

Beings manifest when conditions are sufficient.
When conditions lack, they no longer appear.
Still, there is no coming, no going,
no being, and no nonbeing.

In plain wordsWhen conditions are enough, beings appear — no coming, no going.

When a seed gives rise to a formation,
it is the primary cause.
The subject of perception depends on the object of perception.
This is object as cause.

In plain wordsThere is a primary cause, and the object as a cause.

Conditions that are favorable or non-obstructing
are supporting causes.
The fourth type of condition
is the immediacy of continuity.

In plain wordsSupporting conditions, and the unbroken flow of continuity.

Interdependent manifestation has two aspects—
deluded mind and true mind.
Deluded mind is imaginary construction.
True mind is fulfilled nature.

In plain wordsTwo aspects: the deluded mind, and the true mind.

Construction impregnates the mind with seeds of delusion,
bringing about the misery of samsara.
The fulfilled opens the door of wisdom
to the realm of suchness.

In plain wordsConstruction makes samsara; the fulfilled is suchness.

Meditating on the nature of interdependence
can transform delusion into enlightenment.
Samsara and suchness are not two.
They are one and the same.

In plain wordsLooking deeply at interdependence turns delusion into awakening.

Even while blooming, the flower is already in the compost,
and the compost is already in the flower.
Flower and compost are not two.
Delusion and enlightenment inter-are.

In plain wordsThe flower is already in the compost; the two inter-are.

Don't run away from birth and death.
Just look deeply into your mental formations.
When the true nature of interdependence is seen,
the truth of interbeing is realized.

In plain wordsDon't flee birth and death — look deeply into your formations.

Practice conscious breathing
to water the seeds of awakening.
Right View is a flower
blooming in the field of mind consciousness.

In plain wordsConscious breathing waters the seeds of awakening.

When sunlight shines,
it helps all vegetation grow.
When mindfulness shines,
it transforms all mental formations.

In plain wordsLike sunlight on plants, mindfulness transforms what it touches.

We recognize internal knots and latent tendencies
so we can transform them.
When our habit energies dissipate,
transformation at the base is there.

In plain wordsRecognise the knots within; transformation happens at the base.

The present moment
contains past and future.
The secret of transformation
is in the way we handle this very moment.

In plain wordsThis present moment holds both past and future.

Transformation takes place
in our daily life.
To make the work of transformation easy,
practice with a Sangha.

In plain wordsTransform in daily life — and practise with a sangha.

Nothing is born, nothing dies.
Nothing to hold on to, nothing to release.
Samsara is nirvana.
There is nothing to attain.

In plain wordsNothing is born, nothing dies; samsara is itself nirvana.

When we realize that afflictions are no other than enlightenment,
we can ride the waves of birth and death in peace,
traveling in the boat of compassion on the ocean of delusion,
smiling the smile of non-fear.

In plain wordsAfflictions are not other than awakening — the smile of non-fear.