Having been created, bad karma is … transferred into and deeply embedded in the spiritual realm. We human beings have “five senses”: those of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body. Actually they are only the five senses which we can recognize. Buddhism teaches that there are two more undetectable realms stored deep in our psychological mind, “Mana-shiki” and “Alaya-shiki”.

Mana-shiki is a realm which is dominated by illusion or selfishness. This is an unconscious mind which loves the self and prioritizes self-merit. As proof of the existence of this realm, there is an example: When we see a group portrait, we first check ourselves – where we are in the picture and how we look. We do this whether we’re looking at a family portrait, a reunion picture or even a photo with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Mana-shiki always prioritizes the self, unconsciously.

Alaya-shiki is psychologically deeper than Mana-shiki, so we are unable to sense this realm at all. Because this realm stores information on various experiences and rebirths, it is called the “storehouse-consciousness.” All the information on what we see, hear, speak, think and how we act throughout our life is planted and recorded into this Alaya-shiki. In other words, all behavior carried out by the body, mouth and mind are planted into the Alaya-shiki as data which is used to generate spiritual energy for the future, or karma. This information includes things such as previous lives, memory of rebirth and human birth information too, which we are not consciously able to remember. This information is not erased when we are reborn.