6. Mentalism Preached by Buddhism:

We have previously discussed the theory of “Icinen-sanzen". Along the same principle, there is another theory called the “mentality theory". This theory outlines how we can invite good fortunes and happiness in our lives.

In Buddhism, the five senses which aid our body to see, to hear, to smell, to taste and to feel, are referred to as “Gokan". In conjunction with the “gokan", the ability to distinguish one thing from another and judge it intuitively is known as the sixth sense.

Buddism explains that in the sixth sense exist the seventh and the eighth senses called “Manashiki" and “Arayashiki", respectively. The explanation of these senses are as follows:

The warehouse of mind, (Arayashiki):

The “raya" in Arayashiki means “storage". The crowning of the word with an “A" changes the meaning to “keep in storage". In other words, the mind is where the information is being stored.

What is stored in the “Arayashiki"? The entire history of one's life; that is all that we have seen, heared, read, said, thought and done in one's entire lifetime are stored in the Arayashiki. As mere mortals, it is almost impossible to remember all the things we do or hear in our daily lives. In fact, most of the infomation is forgotten almost instantly. What is normally retained in the memory bank is only what truly impressed us at times. But within the Arayashiki, all of the life experiences conducted with one's body, speech and mind are recorded and stored in detail.

Arayashiki is a manufacturing mechanism of destiny

What is interesting about Arayashiki is that it is comprised of three functional faculties. Look at the diagram below:

Arrow A:All of our behavior and thoughts are sowed into the Arayashiki. This process is known as “Gengyo kunshuji" “Gengyo" refers to all our daily activities and “kunsyuji" refers to the sowing of the seeds. In short, the seeds symbolize our deeds and those deeds are deeply planted into the Arayashiki.

Arrow B:These seeds will shape the character of a person. It becomes the energy to change one's destiny and will continue to function endlessly. This is known as “Shuji sho shuji".

Arrow C:The subconscious energy within the Arayashiki aids the growth of the seeds in awakening the unconscious and conscious minds. This process in turn influences our destiny. This is said to be “Shuji sho gengyo".

In this manner, our actions performed by the body, speech and the mind, which have a close affiliation with the Arayashiki, work in concert with one another creating a relationship of cause and effect.

Therefore, to think and hold grudges about a trifling event or an act will result in the sowing of a sinful seed in the Arayashiki. Negative behavior and thoughts will then reapper in one's daily life only to be counterproductive. If one does and think of good deeds, the good seeds, sowed in the Arayashiki, will provide good fortune.

In the preceding section, I have explained the theory of “Ichinen-sanzen", which stated that all thing are interrelated. And now, we learned that all of one's actions and thoughts are stored in the Arayashiki. What can be done to seek the best from all that is interrelated? What can be done to store good seeds in the Arayashiki in order to bring about good fortune?

The Arayashiki that exists deep within one's conscience will bring about good fortune if one learns to operate and control one's behavior in a proper manner. In other words, it depends on how you control your life in order that only the good seeds will be stored in the Arayashiki.

What then are good and bad seeds compriesd of? What can be done to sow good seeds into the Arayashiki and what is considerd important? Let us learn from the Buddhist doctrines and from the teachings of the great, past masters of Buddhism.

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