A Brief Discourse on the Essence of Consciousness
Chapter 2: The Awareness and Discrimination Functions of the Mind Consciousness
1. The Mind Consciousness Is an Indispensable Tool for Cultivation
The mind consciousness performs functions such as judging, discerning, discriminating, reasoning, thinking, investigating, and contemplating within the realms of the six sense objects, and by means of these functional operations it can know all dharmas. Once the mind consciousness ceases, we can know nothing, and all these functional operations vanish completely. A person who has attained enlightenment also has knowing, and in many dharmas this knowing carries a certain degree of Buddhist wisdom, while the knowing of ignorance and the knowing of foolishness are relatively reduced.
Therefore, it is said that even after enlightenment, bodhisattvas must still rely on the functional operations of the mind consciousness to live and act normally in the world, and must also rely on the functional operations of the mind consciousness to continue cultivating the Buddha-dharma. After enlightenment, bodhisattvas must use the mind consciousness to observe the various different characteristics of the true suchness self-nature, and to observe the deeper and subtler operations of the tathāgatagarbha; in this way they can attain the wisdom of subsequent realization or the wisdom of specific characteristics, and even the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only must arise by relying on the observational wisdom of the mind consciousness. When bodhisattvas expound the Dharma, cultivate, dress and eat, read books, or deliberate, they all use the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness is an extremely important and indispensable tool for cultivation and for living.
The patriarchs and great masters, after enlightenment, all used the mind consciousness and could not part with this tool of the mind consciousness; without the mind consciousness they could not expound the Dharma, could not cultivate, could not live, and could only enter the meditative absorption without perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti) for years on end; but without having cultivated meditative concentration to such depth, they could only remain in prolonged coma and sleep, because there would be no consciousness and no knowing nature of consciousness. Therefore we cannot say that the Sixth Patriarch expounded the true suchness self-nature without using the mind consciousness; if one claims that because the Sixth Patriarch used the mind consciousness to expound the Dharma, he was not enlightened, such talk carries great fault.
After recognizing and understanding the characteristics of the mind consciousness, one knows its many uses; sentient beings rely on the functions of the mind consciousness to survive and cultivate normally. When one finds the mind consciousness and observes its characteristics directly in the present, one can know that sentient beings truly cannot part with the mind consciousness, cannot part with its knowing nature and its discerning nature.
Finding the mind consciousness is not difficult; as long as one knows the characteristics of the mind consciousness, one can find it immediately, and can directly observe the functions it performs. It is only that without profound wisdom, one cannot yet observe it very deeply and subtly. Many people, as long as they are told the functional operations of the mind consciousness, will know which one is the mind consciousness. Finding and observing the mind consciousness is easy; it is not necessary to wait until enlightenment to realize the mind consciousness. The foundation of learning Buddhism is actually the study of the eight consciousnesses; when all eight consciousnesses have been realized, the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only can gradually become complete; when the seed-wisdom is perfectly complete, it is omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā), and with omniscience one can perfectly attain buddhahood.
2. Several Functional Operations of the Mind Consciousness
(1) Logical Thinking
Logical thinking is a rational cognitive process in which a person, in the course of knowing things, actively reflects objective reality by means of thought forms such as concepts, judgments, and inferences; it is also called abstract thinking. It abstracts the informational material of one's knowledge of things into concepts, uses concepts to make judgments, and carries out inferences according to certain logical relationships, thereby forming a relatively complete thought, which is then understood and grasped, achieving the aim of knowing. The characteristic of logical thinking is to take analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, generalization, and concretization as the basic processes of thought.
(2) Induction and Deduction
Induction is deriving universal rules from multiple individual things; for example, men, women, the elderly, and children can be inducted into "humanity." Deduction is the opposite of induction: it derives individual rules from universal rules; for example, "humanity" can be deduced into men, women, the elderly, children, and so on.
(3) Analysis and Synthesis
Analysis is breaking a thing down into its various parts for study; it is a necessary stage in knowing a thing as a whole. Synthesis is organically unifying the various parts of a thing into a whole according to their internal connections, in order to grasp the essence and laws of the thing. Analysis and synthesis mutually permeate and transform into each other: synthesis on the basis of analysis, and analysis under the guidance of synthesis.
(4) Abstraction and Generalization
Abstraction is extracting the common, essential features from many things while discarding their non-essential features, forming thought forms such as concepts, judgments, and inferences, in order to reflect the essence and laws of things. Generalization is a thought process and method for forming concepts.
(5) The Comparative Method of Thinking: Comparison can be divided into comparison among things of the same kind and comparison among things of different kinds; it can also be divided into comparison seeking similarities and comparison seeking differences—seeking differences within similarities, and seeking similarities or resemblances within differences.
(6) The Causal Method of Thinking: deriving the effect from the cause, that is, a logical way of thinking that derives B from A.
(7) The Method of Sequential Inference: reasoning step by step according to causal relationships, hierarchical relationships, and so on. After a cause produces a result, that result in turn serves as a cause producing the next result, thus forming a causal chain; a causal chain is a kind of sequential-inference thinking, such as the twelve links of dependent origination.
(8) The Method of Reverse Thinking: reverse thinking is the opposite of causal thinking; it infers causes from results, such as tracing the twelve links of dependent origination in reverse.
3. The Discriminative Nature of the Mind Consciousness
All seven consciousnesses are discriminating minds, all performing the function of discrimination. Apart from the discriminating minds of the seven consciousnesses, bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot manifest; one would have a mouth but be unable to speak, have a body but be unable to act. Apart from the discriminating mind, there would be no difference from a dead person; without the discriminating mind, one would know nothing about self and others, male and female, or anything about the worldly living environment; without the discriminating mind, one could not distinguish east from west or south from north, could not recognize one's parents, and could not live a normal life.
Since our bodily, verbal, and mental actions are constantly arising and constantly responding to everything around us, this shows that our seven consciousnesses are always discriminating. Discrimination is knowing, is discerning; it is the clear understanding of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects. This is the inherent discriminative characteristic of the seven deluded consciousnesses. As long as the seven consciousnesses exist, there is the discriminative knowing of the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects. When this discriminative knowing nature does not exist, it must be when the six consciousnesses have ceased and are not functioning: when asleep without dreams, when unconscious, in the state of imminent death, in the meditative absorption without perception, or in the meditative absorption of cessation. In these several situations, sentient beings precisely cannot live normally and cannot study and cultivate the Buddha-dharma; therefore, as long as the seven consciousnesses are present, there is discriminative nature.
What is commonly meant today by "non-discrimination" refers to not discriminating between good and bad people, not discriminating between rich and poor, not discriminating between superior and inferior environments, and so on; this kind of non-discrimination means not being picky and not caring, while the discriminative nature of the six consciousnesses remains plainly present and has not ceased. Only a person with genuine inner cultivation can be indifferent to and non-discriminative about certain worldly dharmas, seeing all dharmas as equal and not two; those who can cultivate to this degree are extremely, extremely rare. Sentient beings living in the world of the three realms cannot extinguish their functional operation of discriminating the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects; it must always arise and function, and cannot be extinguished even if one wishes. Where there are faculties and sense objects, consciousnesses arise to perform discrimination, and only then can sentient beings live normally.
4. What Do "Subject" and "Object" Refer To?
The "subject" is the knowing capacity of the six consciousnesses; the "object" is the dharmas known by the six consciousnesses. For example, with the two dharmas of awareness and pain, awareness is the knowing capacity of the mind consciousness and the body consciousness, and pain is the tactile sense object known by the two consciousnesses; one is subject, one is object, and only when subject and object combine can the dharma be manifested.
There are six awareness minds in total (strictly speaking, this also includes the seventh consciousness, the manas): the six consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which can discriminate and be aware of the six different sense-object realms. The dharmas that are aware-of are six: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects—the object-marks known by the six consciousnesses. The seventh consciousness can not only be aware of the six sense objects, but can also be aware of all dharmas beyond the six sense objects.
Within awareness there is feeling; feeling is the sensation of the six consciousnesses. When the six faculties contact the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses arise; after the six consciousnesses contact the six sense objects, there is feeling. The feeling of the first five consciousnesses is relatively coarse and shallow, while the feeling of the sixth consciousness is relatively subtle and complex. The body consciousness and the mind consciousness together discriminate the tactile object; the two consciousnesses together feel the pain, and the pain felt by the sixth consciousness carries emotional coloring. The awareness mind at this time includes the body consciousness and the mind consciousness, which is the subject of awareness; the tactile object is the object of awareness.
The subject of awareness and the object of awareness cannot be separated; the knower and the known cannot be separated; the observer and the observed cannot be separated. Without the object of awareness, knowing, and observation, there is no subject of awareness, knowing, or observation; without the subject of awareness, knowing, and observation, one would not know there are objects of awareness, knowing, and observation—the two depend on each other. That is to say, without the six sense objects there are no six consciousnesses, and without the six consciousnesses one would not know there are six sense objects. When consciousness arises from the conjunction of the manas and mental objects, and the three combine in contact, the mind consciousness knows the dharmas. When the six faculties contact the six sense objects and the six consciousnesses arise, and the three combine in contact, the six consciousnesses discern the six sense objects. Once the characteristics and boundaries of the six faculties, six objects, and six consciousnesses are clearly understood, all dharmas become clear.
Neither the knower nor the known is real. The dharmas known by the mind consciousness include not only the realms of the six sense objects, not only the seven consciousnesses and their mental factors, but also the eighth consciousness and its mental factors, as well as the conditionings not associated with mind, because these dharmas can also be discerned and observed by the mind consciousness.
When eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), one realizes that both subject (the seven consciousnesses) and object (the six sense objects) are empty; this emptiness means empty and illusory. If one genuinely believes in one's heart that all subjects and objects are empty, one has already reached the fruition of the first bhūmi; this emptiness means the emptiness-nature mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Ordinary people only recognize this coarsely and shallowly, but cannot yet confirm it in their hearts, because they have not engaged in genuine contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). The tathāgatagarbha also has subject and object, but He is indeed neither perishing nor ceasing; the tathāgatagarbha indeed also has a conscious nature and a knowing nature, but under ordinary circumstances, these profound contents are not taught to ordinary people, for fear that sentient beings will not understand and will misunderstand.
5. The Principle of the Arising of Consciousness and of Discrimination Is as Follows:
When the six faculties contact the six sense objects, the eighth consciousness produces the six consciousnesses. When the eye faculty contacts form objects, the eighth consciousness produces the eye consciousness; when faculty, object, and consciousness combine in contact, the eye consciousness sees form. When the ear faculty contacts sound objects, the eighth consciousness produces the ear consciousness; when faculty, object, and consciousness combine in contact, the ear consciousness hears sounds. When the nose faculty contacts smell objects, the eighth consciousness produces the nose consciousness; when faculty, object, and consciousness combine in contact, smells are detected. When the tongue faculty contacts taste objects, the eighth consciousness produces the tongue consciousness; when faculty, object, and consciousness combine in contact, the sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty tastes in the mouth are tasted. When the body faculty contacts tactile objects, the eighth consciousness produces the body consciousness; when faculty, object, and consciousness combine in contact, tactile objects are felt. When the manas contacts mental objects, the eighth consciousness produces the mind consciousness; when faculty, object, and consciousness combine in contact, all dharmas are known. The combination in contact of faculty, object, and consciousness each has its own function and its own boundary, and none can substitute for another; especially, faculty and consciousness must be distinguished. The faculty can contact and receive the object; the consciousness can discriminate and discern the object; thus sentient beings can know the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects. Therefore, as long as sentient beings have life activity, they cannot extinguish their discriminative awareness nature; they must discriminate the myriad dharmas.
6. The mind consciousness appears four or five months into the mother's womb and exists until birth; without a mind consciousness the fetus could not be born; the process of birth involves the participation of the mind consciousness, and a birth without mind consciousness would be death. A congenitally anencephalic infant also carries faint consciousness, otherwise it would be a stillbirth unable to be born; a person in a vegetative state also has weak consciousness, otherwise they too would die. As long as consciousness exists, the manas will not leave the five-aggregate body; He is extremely attached to the functional operations of the six-consciousness body, because the manas himself cannot do anything; He must use the six consciousnesses to act, and use the body to act.
7. The Discerning Nature of the Mind Consciousness in the Intermediate Body
Question: The tathāgatagarbha renders images at the site of the supreme faculty (indriya); in fact the supreme faculty is itself the object-aspect (nimitta) of the tathāgatagarbha, and the mind consciousness discerns within it. When one has a human body, the discernment of the mind consciousness is very keen; but in the intermediate body, the tathāgatagarbha likewise sustains the intermediate body, there is likewise a supreme faculty, and images are likewise rendered in the supreme faculty of the intermediate body—so why is the discernment of the mind consciousness in the intermediate body so weak? Does the mind consciousness require a material brain or brain cells as a basis in order to function?
Answer: The intermediate body is subtle material form, somewhat different from the human body. Because the physical body of the intermediate body is relatively subtle, not coarse material form, the physical body does not seriously obstruct the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness has the five superknowledges and can know many things that humans cannot know. But when the mind consciousness deliberates, reasons, analyzes, and judges, it must rely on the material form of the supreme faculty. The tathāgatagarbha must manifest mental objects at the site of the supreme faculty, manifesting them in dependence on the four great elements within the supreme faculty; if the material at the site of the supreme faculty is not well developed, the mental objects will not be clear, and the deliberative function of the mind consciousness will be obstructed and cannot be fully exercised. Then the mind consciousness cannot, through powerful deliberative activity, influence and regulate the manas; the manas, receiving no restraint, will fully display its original habitual tendencies, displaying its straightforward nature—no hypocrisy, no concealment, no affectation; whatever its nature is, that nature manifests.
The strength of the mind consciousness's deliberative activity is related to the brain, the supreme faculty. If the brain's material is underdeveloped and lacks nourishment, thinking will not be quick or agile, and cannot effectively control the manas, so the being's nature is fully exposed. Therefore, when the manas in the intermediate body goes to take rebirth, it takes rebirth entirely according to its own habitual tendencies, and those tendencies correspond to karmic seeds. If the tendencies are evil and correspond to the three evil destinies, it takes rebirth in the three evil destinies; if the manas's tendencies correspond to the three good destinies, it takes rebirth in the three good destinies.
In the intermediate body, because of problems with the supreme faculty, the mind consciousness's deliberative capacity is weak and the manas's habitual tendencies have great force; things are often in complete correspondence with karmic force. For example, those beings in the netherworld all display their original habitual tendencies, without rationality and without concealment. Rationality is the mind consciousness's capacity for reasoning in accordance with reality and its capacity for regulation; when the mind consciousness's deliberative power is weak, it cannot regulate the manas, and when the manas's afflictions are heavy, this manifests as lack of rationality.
Foolish sentient beings have almost no deliberative power in their mind consciousness and live entirely by inertia and habit. At the time of taking rebirth, they take rebirth according to the manas's habitual tendencies, that is, according to karmic force—except for those who receive blessing and support. Therefore, if the manas does not change and its tendencies correspond to the three evil destinies, it will certainly go to the three evil destinies to suffer. Only by eradicating the view of self and becoming a noble one of the first fruit or above can one be guaranteed not to go to the three evil destinies, because at that point the three fetters are severed and one is no longer bound and dragged to the three evil destinies.
8. The Mental Activities of the Six Consciousnesses
The mental activities of the six consciousnesses are the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness. The aggregate of perception is the perception of the six consciousnesses: the eye consciousness's perception, the ear consciousness's perception, the nose consciousness's perception, the tongue consciousness's perception, the body consciousness's perception, and the mind consciousness's perception. Perception means there is a mark upon the mind: the mind takes the mark, discerns the mark, and grasps the mark—this is perception. All six consciousnesses can discern their corresponding marks of the six sense objects, and then grasping and acknowledging the appearances of the six sense objects is perception. Then designations arise, followed by other mental activities—this is the aggregate of volitional formations. The mind's internal mental activities, including choosing, deciding, and fabricating, belong to the aggregate of volitional formations, within the scope of the volition mental factor. These mental activities are led primarily by the mind consciousness. The five consciousnesses, relying on the mind consciousness, also have their own perception and volition; they have the aggregate of perception and the aggregate of volitional formations, have choosing and fabricating, but do not have designations.
9. The Subtle Mind Consciousness Without Notions
What are the various states of the mind consciousness, and what does the subtle mind consciousness refer to? When our relatively coarse discriminative activity of consciousness is not manifest, when relatively obvious and strong awareness is not manifest, and when emotional feelings and various psychological activities are not manifest, ordinary people believe the mind consciousness has ceased and no longer exists; some even think this is entering meditative concentration with no consciousness. In fact, the subtle mind consciousness still exists and is still performing the function of discernment; it is only that the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) is not as strong as before.
For example, when the body is in a state of tranquility and the mind has settled, awareness diminishes; it seems one does not know the feelings of body and mind, seems to have no notions, appearing somewhat dazed and blank, as if one has forgotten the body's existence and has no thoughts; but the mind consciousness has not ceased—it is still quietly perceiving. One can still see and feel the bright, warm sunlight outside the window, knows that the surroundings are quiet, knows that one has no particular thoughts, and knows that one feels tranquil and comfortable at this moment; perhaps the mind is even subtly thinking about irrelevant things—this is subtle scattered thought. All of this is the result of the mind consciousness functioning; if the mind consciousness did not function, one would fall asleep or become dazed and dim.
Another example: when studying Buddhism and cultivating meditative concentration, as the mind gradually settles, one feels as if there are no thoughts or ideation; some people then believe they are already mindless and that consciousness has been extinguished. But everything in the surroundings can still be keenly observed; only the mental sensations are much subtler. Whether the colors before one's eyes are bright or dark is still known in the mind; whether there is movement or stillness at one's ears is also known; if someone comes over and touches one, that too is known. Since there is knowing, there must be a mind consciousness discerning and perceiving—that is a relatively subtle mind consciousness functioning; consciousness has not been cut off and vanished. Still less should one take this subtle consciousness, which lacks coarse discrimination, to be the tranquil eighth consciousness—that would be a great, great error.
Another example is the meditative state of entering samādhi: preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), the first dhyāna, the second dhyāna, the third dhyāna, the fourth dhyāna, and the four formless absorptions, and so on. In all these absorptions there is the discerning activity of subtle consciousness or extremely subtle consciousness. Except in the non-Buddhist absorption without perception, where there is no consciousness, or in the arhat's absorption of cessation, where consciousness does not exist, all other absorptions have the presence of consciousness—only it is subtle or extremely subtle and not easily perceived. Only because the mind consciousness's power of introspection is weak and it is not easy to introspectively detect the existence of consciousness does one then believe oneself mindless, with all consciousnesses extinguished.
10. "Equal-immediacy" (samanantara) means that seeds of the same kind arise and cease in continuous succession, equal and uninterrupted. For example, with the consciousness-seeds of the mind consciousness: the previous one arises and ceases at a certain location, and the next one immediately follows, arising and ceasing at that same location; seed after seed of consciousness arises and ceases in sequence, and only thus can the mind consciousness carry out continuous activities of recognition and discernment.
The sequential condition/immediate condition (samanantara-pratyaya): "equal" means equal, identical, the same—for example, eye-consciousness seeds and eye-consciousness seeds are equal and identical; mind-consciousness seeds and mind-consciousness seeds are equal and identical; manas seeds and manas seeds are equal and identical. "Immediate" means without gap, without interruption—one right after another, no break, no gap. The meaning of the sequential condition is: seeds of the same kind of consciousness—one arises and immediately ceases, and the very next consciousness seed arises at the position where the previous seed arose and ceased, then ceases again, with no gap between them, continuous. The previous consciousness seed can lead the next consciousness seed to arise; it is the condition for the next seed's arising, and can open up the place where the next consciousness seed arises.
As long as a consciousness exists, there is a sequential condition; when the consciousness ceases, the sequential condition also no longer exists. In the state of Nirvāṇa without remainder, the manas itself does not exist, its consciousness seeds need not arise, and the sequential condition does not exist either. This is one of the conditions for the arising and operation of consciousness, and does not include all the conditions.
11. Question: When I am deliberating on a dharma, my mind is simultaneously talking to itself about other matters, without speaking aloud. Which mind is the deliberating mind? And which mind is the one talking to itself? Is everything with language and words, whether spoken aloud or silent, the function of the mind consciousness?
Answer: The consciousness that can deliberate on dharmas is the mind consciousness—colloquially called "mulling over" or "figuring out"; the one talking to itself in the mind is also the mind consciousness. Whether or not there is language and words, it is all the mind consciousness. Because the mind consciousness is relatively fine and detailed, it can analyze details and understand specific situations. The seventh consciousness cannot; it can only grasp a rough general picture, not specifics, not details. The mind consciousness can attend to multiple object-realms, but is easily scattered and distracted, with the consciousness dividing its stream, so attention disperses. But when meditative power is quite good, one can handle several matters at once; the mind consciousness can fully divide its stream without being greatly affected.
12. The "awareness mind" generally refers to the seven consciousnesses—the knowing that is aware of the six sense objects; in special contexts it refers specifically to the mind consciousness, because the mind consciousness's awareness is the strongest and its range the broadest.
"Hun-soul" always refers to the mind consciousness, which can engage the realms of the six sense objects and discern them; because it can discern the realms of the six sense objects, it can be frightened into panic—the soul leaving the body, the soul flying and the spirit scattering, the soul lost and the spirit fallen, the soul not guarding its abode. The manas forever guards the body, never leaving, never losing, never scattering it; otherwise the body would become a corpse. The eighth consciousness is even more so.
13. Carefully experience which consciousness bodily, verbal, and mental actions correspond to, and which consciousness's fabrications they mainly embody. Of course, all bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot be apart from the manas, nor from the mind consciousness, but there are still some differences among them. Bodily action is the fabrication of the six consciousnesses—this surface phenomenon is already very obvious; although behind it there is the manas's directing role and the manas's following role, there is also the role of the eighth consciousness.
Verbal action is mainly the fabrication of the mind consciousness, with the mind consciousness as the primary agent. Of course, the five consciousnesses also cooperate in it; there is also the manas's directing role and following role, and moreover the role of the eighth consciousness. Mental action is rather led by the mental conduct of the manas, mainly manifesting the manas's thought and disposition. Although there is also the role of the mind consciousness, and moreover the role of the eighth consciousness, mental action absolutely and completely corresponds to the manas—it is the manas's ideas and views, even though there is the mind consciousness's supervising and regulating role.
14. Is Not Feeling Pain a Good Thing?
Pain is the tactile object felt jointly by the body consciousness and the mind consciousness; it is an inner object-aspect, all manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. One kind of tactile object comes from contact at the body's surface; another kind comes from within the body. Non-Buddhists who cultivate superknowledges can be reborn in the highest heaven, yet still cannot escape saṃsāra and birth-and-death; what does cultivating the ability to endure pain, to be unaware of pain, amount to? Liberation is liberation through wisdom and has nothing to do with minor superknowledges. Only eradicating the view of self can exempt one from the karma of the three evil destinies, and eradicating the view of self and the three fetters are both contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of wisdom, results of wisdom, and have nothing to do with being able to endure pain.
If one no longer feels pain, does not feel pain when injured, does not know how badly one is injured, does not know that one is gravely ill and may be dying, then one will not try to save oneself and may die. If one has cancer but does not feel pain, does not feel pain even in the late stage, does not feel pain even at the moment of death, the final result is death—a painless death. Pursuing a body without sensation, a mind without feeling or awareness, is of no benefit. The true Path is not these things, but great wisdom; with wisdom one can gain everything, without wisdom one can lose everything; whether liberation or the attainment of buddhahood, all depend on wisdom.
15. The mind consciousness is a dharma arisen from causes and conditions: there must be object-realms, the manas's attention (manaskāra) and volition (cetanā), and the eighth consciousness transmitting seeds; and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) additionally requires the cooperation of the five sense objects and the five consciousnesses before the functional operations of the mind consciousness can manifest. The functional operations of the mind consciousness include being aware of the various dharmas, being aware of the five consciousnesses, being aware of the manas, being aware of the functional operations of the eighth consciousness, and it can also introspect its own mind.
But the mind consciousness cannot introspect at all times. After falling asleep, consciousness disappears and cannot be aware, much less introspect; while dreaming, consciousness has awareness but rarely has the power of introspection; when unconscious, consciousness disappears—no awareness, no introspection; at death, consciousness disappears—no awareness, no introspection; in the intermediate body, consciousness has awareness but weak introspective power; from the second dhyāna upward, consciousness has awareness but extremely weak introspective power, or no introspection; in the absorption without perception, consciousness disappears—no awareness, no introspection; in the absorption of cessation, consciousness disappears—no awareness, no introspection. Dull people have awareness but weak introspective power, or no introspection.
16. Is the Mind Consciousness the Nature of Awareness?
The mind consciousness has the functional operation of awareness, but it cannot directly be called the nature of awareness. Because the nature of awareness represents the awakened mind-nature, generally referring to the non-ignorant nature of the fundamental eighth consciousness, and sometimes also referring to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that possess great wisdom after awakening; when there is no wisdom and no awakening, it cannot be called the nature of awareness. One may say the mind consciousness has a knowing nature, able to know the various realms of mental objects.
17. For all material forms, whether or not a consciousness observes them, their state is the same; it is not the case that when a consciousness observes them they are in one state, and when no consciousness observes them they are in another state. Without consciousness observing, who could know what state material form is in? One could only guess, and dharmas arrived at by guessing are neither reliable nor credible. Therefore not all science has scientific validity.
For example, take Zhang San's appearance: whether or not others' consciousnesses observe it, there will generally be no great difference. One's own house, whether or not one is home, whether or not one observes it, is always that way, with no difference or change. Including all the material forms one can come into contact with, whether or not one observes them, their object-aspects are more or less the same, with no difference or alteration.
18. The Mind Consciousness With Designations and the Mind Consciousness Without Designations
When an infant looks at the ceiling, it does not yet have the concept of "ceiling," yet the eye consciousness and mind consciousness have already arisen; at this time the mind consciousness has no designations, but the designation-seeds of humanity do exist—only the conditions for producing designations are not yet ripe. Designations correspond to the mind consciousness; they are established by the mind consciousness. The mind consciousness is divided into two kinds: the mind consciousness with designations and the mind consciousness without designations. That is to say, after the mind consciousness discerns, designations may appear, using designations to express its initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra), or designations may not appear. The mind consciousness first has examination and deliberation, and only then do designations arise and names and marks are established.
When the eye consciousness looks at the ceiling, the eye consciousness certainly arises first, and then the mind consciousness must be present in cooperation before the ceiling can be discerned; only after the mind consciousness discerns is there examination, and only then can designations appear. But the infant's mind consciousness at this time has no concepts, only examination, because it has not yet undergone postnatal learning and has not formed the concept of "ceiling," and does not yet possess the knowledge needed for survival; therefore at this time there is only examination, without designations.
19. Mental objects inherently exist upon the five sense objects, together with the five objects constituting the object-realm; they cannot exist independently. For example, the beauty of a flower is the mental object of the flower, existing together with the flower's substance; where there is a flower there is beauty, and when the flower disappears, the beauty is also gone. It is not that after the mind consciousness discerns, the flower's beauty is newly produced; it is only that the manas cannot discern this mental object in a subtle way—it must be subtly discerned by the mind consciousness, and only then can one know the flower is beautiful. The beauty is first contacted by the manas, but since it cannot discriminate it in detail, it is handed over to the mind consciousness, which can discriminate the flower's beauty; even while discriminating, it cannot discern the beauty apart from the flower—apart from the flower, the mental object of beauty cannot be found.
The manifestation of beauty is manifested jointly by the three transformative consciousnesses and cannot be apart from the manas. Upon form objects there can simultaneously appear the mental objects of visible form, expressive form, and non-expressive form; charm belongs to non-expressive form; temperament, cultivation, and refinement all belong to non-expressive form, appearing simultaneously and in the same place as the form object, inseparable.
20. The Important Role of the Mind Consciousness's Deliberation and Observation
Judging from the phenomena of the mystery of the intervening birth (forgetting past lives at rebirth), drunkenness, sleepwalking, and hypnosis—how great exactly is the role of the mind consciousness? When discussing the manas, everything is attributed to the manas while the mind consciousness is neglected. Now we deliberate on the role of the mind consciousness; this is the most important link in eradicating the view of self.
The approach to this question should be as follows: deliberate and analyze the various phenomena of the mystery of the intervening birth, identify what phenomena there are, and then from these phenomena observe what the role of the mind consciousness is, what its characteristics are, and how important it is—this is called the introspection of the mind consciousness, also called self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana).
Next, deliberate and analyze in sequence what phenomena occur after drunkenness, and from these phenomena observe the role, characteristics, and importance of the mind consciousness; deliberate and analyze what phenomena occur in sleepwalking and after waking, and from these phenomena observe the role and characteristics of the mind consciousness and its importance for understanding the six sense objects; deliberate and analyze what phenomena occur during hypnosis and after hypnosis, and observe the role and characteristics of the mind consciousness in these phenomena, as well as the importance of the mind consciousness for discriminating the six sense objects.
The above approach is teaching a person to fish, rather than simply giving a person a fish. Having mastered the essentials of fishing and knowing how to fish, one can thereafter be self-reliant.
One must learn to observe, to find and analyze phenomena; the power of observation is extremely important. This is led primarily by the wisdom of the mind consciousness, within which there is also the wisdom of the manas. Only when the wisdom of the mind consciousness is first complete can the manas elevate and complete its wisdom. The wisdom of the mind consciousness comes first, the wisdom of the manas comes after. When the manas's wisdom is complete, then in later lives the manas's wisdom comes first and the mind consciousness's wisdom comes after. Then the mind consciousness, by analogy, gives rise to other wisdoms, and in turn leads the manas so that the manas also completes those other wisdoms. Life after life, in this way, step by step, little by little, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are transformed, until finally the consciousnesses are transformed into wisdom.
Many people do not even have the wisdom of the mind consciousness; countless facts and truths are laid before them, yet they turn a blind eye, without awareness or knowing, extremely foolish. Obvious and clear phenomena they cannot see through or untangle; even when told over and over again, they still do not know what is being said. If one does not even have the deliberative power of the mind consciousness, nor the capacity for observation and analysis, then one cannot speak of complete wisdom, still less of permeating and leading the manas to likewise complete its wisdom; with foolishness and ignorance unbroken, there is not the slightest hope of liberation.
21. Mental objects include material mental objects, mental-factor mental objects, and mental objects that are neither material nor mental. Material mental objects are form included in the dharma āyatana; mental-factor mental objects include the seven consciousnesses and their mental factors, and also the eighth consciousness and its mental factors; the neither-material-nor-mental includes the conditionings not associated with mind. "Form included in the dharma āyatana" refers to the mental objects manifested upon the form dharmas of the five sense objects, called material mental objects; they too are composed of the seeds of the four great elements.
Mental-factor mental objects are the eight consciousnesses and all the mental factors of those consciousnesses that the mind consciousness can engage and discern. When the mind consciousness has wisdom—especially after the transformation of the consciousnesses into wisdom—the mind consciousness can discern the eight consciousnesses and a portion of the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses; when it can discern them all, that is the buddha-fruition of the third transformation of the consciousnesses into wisdom. The manas, relying on the mind consciousness, can also discern mental-factor mental objects; after enlightenment its discernment increases somewhat, after the transformation of the consciousnesses into wisdom it can discern a greater portion, and after attaining buddhahood it can discern all.
For formless-realm devas in samādhi, the mind consciousness also attends to the meditative state, which is a subjectively imagined realm; the mind consciousness's deliberation requires a subjectively imagined realm—perhaps deliberating on material mental objects, perhaps on mental-factor mental objects, perhaps both; it is not fixed. In the living environment of formless-realm devas there is no form, and thus no form included in the dharma āyatana; so there is no environment, only the mental objects of the subjectively imagined realm, arising directly from the seeds of the tathāgatagarbha—and then it is not excluded that there may be the meditative-fruit form of material mental objects.
If the meditative state contained the mental objects of the seven consciousnesses and their mental factors, the mind consciousness would have to attend to the seven consciousnesses and their mental factors—how coarse the mind consciousness's activity would be! Is this possible? It is not. For anyone, if the meditative state contains the seven consciousnesses and their mental factors, the mind consciousness must be deliberating, and that meditative state is shallow—below the second dhyāna. From the second dhyāna upward there is no awareness or knowing, no examination or deliberation; only from the first dhyāna downward, including the first dhyāna, is there examination and deliberation.
22. How the Nature of Seeing, Hearing, Awareness, and Knowing Arises
(1) The eighth consciousness inherently contains the seeds of the seven great elements, which constantly exist within the eighth consciousness; one of them is the seed of the consciousness element. The eighth consciousness transmits consciousness seeds to produce the first seven consciousnesses; after the tathāgatagarbha outputs consciousness seeds for the first seven consciousnesses, the seven consciousnesses begin to operate in the form of mental factors.
The seventh consciousness, when manifest, also operates in the form of mental factors; the prerequisite for its manifestation is that the eighth consciousness must transmit consciousness seeds to it—and as long as one is not in the state of Nirvāṇa without remainder, the eighth consciousness transmits consciousness seeds to the seventh consciousness moment after moment; in a single finger-snap it transmits 84,000 (or eighty-one thousand) arising-and-ceasing seeds (the number is merely an analogy, indicating that the quantity of seeds output in one instant is extremely large): one seed arises and ceases; another seed arises, then ceases again; arising and ceasing, ceasing and arising again—thus forming the continuous, unbroken operation of the seventh consciousness since beginningless kalpas, with the five universal mental factors constantly accompanying the seventh consciousness in ceaseless cyclical operation.
If the seventh consciousness wishes to discern the six sense objects, it gives rise to the volition mental factor, and the eighth consciousness cooperates with it to give birth to the six consciousnesses. The eye faculty turns toward form objects, the ear faculty toward sound objects, the nose faculty toward smell objects, the tongue faculty toward taste objects, the body faculty toward tactile objects, and the manas toward mental objects. When the six faculties and six sense objects contact and correspond to each other, the eighth consciousness immediately transmits the consciousness seeds of the six consciousnesses. The eye consciousness begins to move; the seeds of the eye consciousness arise one by one, extremely fast, arising moment after moment, arising and then ceasing, arising and then ceasing again—thus forming the discerning nature of the eye consciousness over a period of time. The eye consciousness's discerning nature also operates in the form of mental factors, mainly operating through the five universal mental factors; of course, the eye consciousness also has wholesome mental factors, afflictive mental factors, and sometimes the five object-specific mental factors also manifest; the other consciousnesses are likewise.
When the eighth consciousness outputs consciousness seeds for the sixth consciousness, the sixth consciousness is born; the seeds are transmitted moment after moment, forming continuous mental operation—just as water flowing out drop by drop forms a stream—thereby possessing a certain force of discernment, able to perform the functions of recognition, discernment, deliberation, judgment, and so on. If the sixth consciousness must discern many dharmas, its discriminative force will necessarily be weak, and when discerning mental objects it cannot discern too clearly, and the power of wisdom cannot arise—this is the result of the manas's indiscriminate grasping everywhere. But if the manas reduces its grasping and lessens its attention, letting the mind consciousness discern only one kind of mental object, the sixth consciousness can discriminate that one dharma in detail; the eighth consciousness transmits the mind consciousness's seeds only toward that one mental object, and thus the mind consciousness's discriminative force is powerful, discernment is clear, and the power of wisdom is strong.
Then these consciousness seeds return one by one into the eighth consciousness, and are again sent out from the eighth consciousness, and return again—like a circulating water pump, revolving in ceaseless circulation—and the sixth consciousness thus continues discriminating. The operation of the sixth consciousness also takes the form of mental factors: the five universal mental factors certainly accompany the mind consciousness in its operation; there are also the other five object-specific mental factors, the wholesome and afflictive mental factors, and the neither-wholesome-nor-unwholesome mental factors—these mental factors sometimes all accompany the sixth consciousness in functioning. Through the continuous operation of the mental factors, the seven consciousnesses can discern all realms in the world, and thus we have the nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, and can discern all the dharmas of this world.
(2) When consciousness contacts sense objects—faculty, object, and consciousness combining in contact—what is the result? What are the functions of the six consciousnesses? The combination in contact of the three is extremely important; its result is that consciousness comes to have the functions of feeling, perception, and volition, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are thereby fabricated, and karmic seeds are left behind. If consciousness does not contact objects, consciousness has no function at all.
What kinds of objects does each consciousness contact? Clarify the range each consciousness can contact, and all dharmas can be understood and deliberated thoroughly. Then deliberate on what could still be done without the six consciousnesses—all these functions are fabricated by the six consciousnesses and are subject to arising and ceasing, illusory.
Beings of the formless realm have no physical body with five faculties—why then is there still the existence of the mind consciousness, and upon what does the mind consciousness depend for its existence? Upon what conditions does the powerful discerning function of the mind consciousness depend? When these questions are clarified, then in the future, whether in Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna realization, one can awaken more deeply and thoroughly. Many people's contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) is neither comprehensive nor thorough; more and more people merely understand intellectually at the level of the mind consciousness, and without realization there is no beneficial experience of merit in the mind, and afflictions remain just as heavy. Some people, seeing others talk about this and that, relying on their cleverness, can also grasp certain key points, and then feel as if they have awakened; but they have not investigated the root and substance of the problem, and therefore it is not realized enlightenment.
When a faculty contacts an object, consciousness arises; when the faculty does not contact the object, consciousness cannot arise. At the end of life, the four great elements decompose first; at this time consciousness still exists and can still discern and feel, which is why one feels intense pain. Each person's physical body is sustained by one's own eighth consciousness, and changes to one's physical body are also the result of the functions of one's own several consciousnesses. Then how could one person go and kill another person, thereby changing the state of another person's physical body? Without the mind consciousness, the five consciousnesses cannot arise and operate; discerning the six sense objects is the decision of the manas, with the manas as the master—the manas certainly contacts mental objects; if the manas does not decide and does not act as master, the eighth consciousness does not give birth to the five consciousnesses; and once the manas acts as master, it has contacted mental objects, after which the mind consciousness certainly arises, and the mind consciousness is also the co-existent basis of the five consciousnesses.
