The Ninth Consciousness: Amala Consciousness

"Those weren't just illusions? They were real portals to all the heavens and worlds?"

With his mouth agape in astonishment, Subhūti in the Good View City let out a gasp of disbelief.

Beside Subhūti, Li Xi also stared intently at the Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures with a furrowed brow, his Heavenly Eye silently opening at some point. However, even with the Heavenly Eye that could see through all things, he could not perceive the true nature of the Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures.

The past is a blur, the future is uncertain...

Even now, with the Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures manifested in the world, its essence remains in a state of constant flux, much like the dynamic interplay of Yin and Yang. "What is reflected on those fruits... is the place where people's hearts yearn for."

After a brief observation, Li Xi came to this conclusion.

Now, anyone who sees that Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures will have their deepest concerns and longings projected onto it.

Li Xi even realized that this special projection was accomplished through the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, a channel directly connecting to the subconscious sea of all beings. Thinking of this, Li Xi couldn't help but look up at the Buddhas and Bodhisattva who were also participating in the battle.

Compared to Li Xi, the Buddhas and Bodhisattva appeared even more astonished at this moment.

"The place where people yearn for the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss!?"

On the other hand, after being reminded by Li Xi, Subhūti quickly connected the Buddha to Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land.

The power manifested by this Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures is remarkably similar to that of Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss of Ultimate Bliss.

Both are places that people yearn for, and both are places of eternal bliss.

The only difference between the two is that the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is more closed and independent, while this Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures is based on reality. "That too is a legacy of Mahākāśyapa!"

After a moment of silence, Subhūti came to an affirmative answer.

The birth of this Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures is definitely related to Mahākāśyapa, and it may even be the manifestation of his spirit after his death, similar to the relics of the Buddha after his passing.

After all, Mahākāśyapa was a reincarnation of Amitabha Buddha, and his beliefs were aligned with Amitabha's.

Given that he himself possessed the strength of Great Luo True Immortal, it wouldn't be uncommon for him to give birth to an object of enlightenment like the Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures. The question now is, why did Mahākāśyapa deliberately leave these things behind?

Having followed Li Xi's investigation to this point, Subhūti is now basically certain that Mahākāśyapa, hailed as having the "greatest understanding," deliberately died in this era to accumulate immense karmic connections and forcibly disrupt the existing order of spacetime...

All the clues left behind by Mahākāśyapa indicate that Chi was able to be killed by Li Jingshu and Divine Lord Meng Zhang because Chi willingly chose to die. As for his motives for doing so?

From Subhūti's perspective, it's not actually that hard to guess.

It's nothing more than rewriting one's own origins and changing the future of Amitabha Buddha's reincarnation.

For the vast majority of Dao Proving One, given the opportunity, they would never hesitate to make the same choice as Mahākāśyapa.

The biggest difference between the two is perhaps simply that Mahākāśyapa was too reckless.

Under the Dao Ancestor's "Sword of Subduing Devils and Suppressing Demons and Suppressing Monsters," the cause and effect of the past, present, and future were severed, and all those Dao Proving One were forcibly cut off from their original bodies.

In such situations, the first choice for those Dao Proving One is often self-preservation, which means abandoning their embodiment in this era.

But Mahākāśyapa did the opposite.

After sacrificing their own Dao Path in exchange for a brief period of peak achievement.

The pool went even further, gathering the karma of all living beings and awakening the legendary Ninth Consciousness — Amala Consciousness.

In the future Buddhist practice system, the five senses of sentient beings will be called the five consciousnesses, corresponding to the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body respectively.

The Sixth Consciousness consciousness—consciousness—is formed by the convergence of these five senses and distinguishes between "self" and "external things."

Subsequently, in order to break free from the Three Hun and Seven Po System and the rules of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, so that each "self" after reincarnation could retain the memories of the previous life.

Buddhist practitioners have further explored the Seventh Consciousness —the Manas Consciousness.

The concept of "Manas Consciousness" originated from Amitabha Buddha and Xu Jia, and was perfected after the Buddha Ancestor's birth.

The emergence of Manas Consciousness broadened the path for Buddhist practitioners, while also deeply imprinting the concept of "self-attachment" into the Buddhist practice system. Instead of pursuing external cultivation, it consolidates the concept of "self" to its extreme.

Even after countless reincarnations, the original "me" is still able to remain, and gradually awakens the memories of the previous life as time goes by.

This is the Manas Consciousness, the Ego-Clinging Consciousness.

A kind of "self-awareness" that never ceases, whether one is awake, asleep, or unconscious.

Corresponding to this is the Alaya Consciousness, the sea of consciousness formed by the subconsciousness of all beings.

However, in the time of Mahākāśyapa, Chi creatively proposed the "Theory of Nine Consciousnesses."

Mahe Kāśyapa regarded the Alaya Consciousness, which gathers the subconsciousness of all beings, as "defilement," the root of their confusion and distress.

When all beings are no longer confused and distressed...

When the "defilement" of the Alaya Consciousness transforms into "purity"...

The Ninth Consciousness envisioned by Mahākāśyapa— the Amala Consciousness— was thus formally activated.

Thanks to this characteristic, Mahākāśyapa also referred to Amala Consciousness as "Stainless Consciousness" and "the Source of Buddha-Nature."

One is without defilement or purity, without self or attachment.

All sentient beings are me, and I am all sentient beings.

One Buddha has ten thousand forms, and all forms are Buddha.

That is a supreme state where "all sentient beings are Buddhas," a state unique to Buddhism known as the "Great Luo Golden Immortal."

When all things become one with me, when I am all things, can't I be considered a "Great Luo Golden Immortal"?

"Wait... Could it be that Mahākāśyapa has truly awakened the Stainless Consciousness?"

As if suddenly realizing something, Subhūti's pupils dilated in shock as he exclaimed.

Only now did Subhūti vaguely realize that Mahākāśyapa's various choices might have stemmed from seeing a future even more distant than his own? The "defilement" of the Alaya Consciousness and the "purity" of the Amala Consciousness are actually relative concepts.

For example, Subhūti himself never believed that Amala Consciousness was qualified to be called the Ninth Consciousness.

Subhūti firmly believed that the Amala Consciousness pursued by Mahākāśyapa was merely another form of Alaya Consciousness.

To unify the subconscious of all living beings, to unite the desires of the people, and to transform those complex and varied desires of the masses into pure "purity." Let's set aside the question of whether such a possibility exists.

To put it simply, who will act as that unified "clean" entity?

When all living beings share a single thought, a single will, and a single common aspiration, they have indeed reached the supreme state of "all beings are Buddhas."

But who is that "Buddha"?

What, then, is the will of billions of people?

More importantly, after erasing the differences between individuals, are they truly still themselves, possessing the same heart and the same will? "Mahākāśyapa, that madman!"

"He actually dared to use his will to unify the subconscious of all living beings!?"

"Using the Manas Consciousness to infect the Alaya Consciousness, using self-consciousness to dominate the consciousness of all beings—you've truly gone mad long ago!" Staring intently at the Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures, Subhūti couldn't help but grit his teeth and curse.

Putting aside all appearances, doesn't the "heart's desire" embodied by that Wondrous Tree of Seven Treasures perfectly align with Mahākāśyapa's philosophy?