Buddhism Is Reason, And Science is Reasoning

It is fascinating to see those fMRI pictures emerge and show how our brain pulsates when we think, feel or do something.

The more details we know about our brain’s inner workings, the farther we seem to drift from the answer: what is Consciousness?

Buddhism also has been asking the same questions as neuroscientists today. Intriguing concepts and philosophical constructs result from thousands of years of observing the mind and its workings. One of those concepts is called The Nine Consciousnesses.

In Nichiren Buddhist tradition, it is one of the core concepts that millions of members of the SGI (Soka Gakkai International — Buddhist lay organisation) study and apply to their everyday lives.

There must be something in the water of Buddhism if it can discuss the concepts that neuroscience has addressed in a way that aligns with the science but adds to it a new layer. In one of his letters to his followers in 1277, Nichiren said: Buddhism is reason. Religious philosophy must align with science but reach deeper than contemporary science can do.

What does this concept of the Nine Consciousnesses tell us?

It is a bridge between the individual and the universe.

It helps us connect with the rest of life that exists in myriad forms. It tells us that we are one with everything else but individuals in our current form. It also tells us that everything is interdependent, like the famous Indra’s net. Pulling one string in it puts the whole net in motion — the butterfly effect in action.

As separate individuals, we still have the characteristics of human creatures. We might be unique and different at a close-up, but we see the human race as a big picture. And same goes for all living beings. And mind you, the whole universe is a living thing according to Buddhism.

Uniqueness starts when life takes a form, for example, a human. We have our sensory organs: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. In Buddhist thinking, they all have their individual Consciousness. They would not be able to send the signals to form the external world without this Consciousness of their own.

So, there we have five first consciousnesses.

After the sensory organs have done their bit comes the Sixth Consciousness, which integrates all the information from the sensory organs. We form patterns and identify objects and their relationships to that Consciousness. The Sixth Consciousness paints a picture for us of the world around us.

Then comes the Seventh Consciousness. It is our ego in psychological terms: our conscious and subconscious mind. It looks at the picture that the sixth consciousness paints and forms opinions, feelings, thoughts and our responses to all that. We think, therefore, we are — as Descartes put it: Cogito, ergo sum.

And this is the point where neuroscience, psychology and sociology stop.

These sciences slice individual existence in separation and look at those particles of the universe through a microscope, trying to see more profound details and understand the workings of matter. They may identify patterns in social behaviours, but ultimately they look at the individual — whether neuron or person — as a separate entity.

In Buddhism, we think there is still more than just individual existence.

There is the Eighth Consciousness. It is the repository of our karma: the cosmic hard drive of the essence of our thoughts, words and deeds. But instead of being a single cloud server in the cosmic Amazon cloud, the Eighth Consciousness is a network that connects individuals to their families, societies, races, nationalities and ultimately to all life in the universe. It makes it possible for us to fear snakes even if we have not seen one before. It gives us a sense of belonging and connection that otherwise would not be possible.

But there is more.

The Ninth Consciousness is the highest of the consciousnesses. It is the potential of life that flows through and permeates both matter and energy. It is the infinite possibility to create life, sustain it and nurture it to find new forms while using the karmic tendencies and essence as the blueprint of the unknown by using the infinite past and old as the raw material.

It is the enlightenment of the Buddhas of the infinite past and future. It is the energy and potential we can draw from to transform everything for the better now and in the future.

How to tap into that infinite potential of the Ninth Consciousness?

How to open our lives for that energy to flow? In Nichiren Buddhism, it is a simple form of practice that millions of people worldwide do every day. It is not science but a spiritual or religious way to align our life with everybody else’s lives and ultimately with the whole universe. It means to be in rhythm with the diversity of life instead of acting against it.

In my next article, I will elaborate on this practice, so stay tuned.