A Brief Discourse on the Essence of Consciousness
Chapter 13: The Difference Between the Mind Consciousness and the Seventh Consciousness
1. The difference between the sixth consciousness and the seventh consciousness is: the seventh consciousness is the conscious mind that makes decisions and exercises dominion, and it is also the supporting faculty upon which the mind consciousness depends for its arising. It is the seventh consciousness that dominates and directs bodily, verbal, and mental actions at every moment. The manas is what carries many habitual tendencies and inertias; it is the manas that makes decisions according to those inertias. Sometimes an event suddenly arises when the mind has no mental preparation at all, and the mind consciousness has no time to analyze and deliberate; the manas then makes a decision according to its inertia about how to handle it. When dealing with matters, what decides without time to think is the manas; what deliberates back and forth is our mind consciousness. What is decided and done hastily without thinking often leads to regret afterward, because when the mind consciousness deliberates anew after the event, it thinks that the matter should not have been handled that way. Therefore, the manas is the conscious mind that exercises dominion according to habitual tendencies and inertia, while the mind consciousness is the conscious mind of rational deliberation. These two conscious minds differ essentially and cannot be conflated into one.
2. Regarding the content of a particular dharma, if the time spent studying is short and the amount of content encountered is small, one cannot achieve a qualitative leap. At the beginning, the dharma principles one has studied are not easy to recall and not easy to integrate and comprehend thoroughly, because the initial learning is dominated by the mind consciousness; before the essentials are grasped, the mind consciousness is basically engaged in recitation and rote repetition, and it has not reached the manas. What is recited and repeated is easily forgotten; after all, before realization, the dharma is not yet one's own. Only after the manas has understood is it not easily forgotten; one can recall it anytime and anywhere, and speak it out as soon as one opens one's mouth. Therefore, for what is truly understood and realized, there is no need for memorization and recitation; when it is needed, the principle immediately becomes clear and can be articulated. What is recited and repeated, when reproduced, takes a period of time and cannot be presented immediately; it requires recollection, and even the recollection may not be complete.
3. The process by which the human mind consciousness is activated is actually one of measuring through "arising of mental activity," after which thoughts are produced.
The arising of mental activity must first occur in the manas, and only then do the thoughts of the mind consciousness emerge. Without the manas's mental activity, there is no mind consciousness's thought. In investigating the huatou, the ultimate aim is to tie the manas to the huatou, never forgetting it for a moment, morning and evening, and only then can one break through the investigation. When a thought has specific content, it is the mind consciousness's thought; when the mind consciousness's thought has not yet arisen and has no specific content, it is entirely the manas's mental activity. Even when the mind consciousness has thoughts, there is still the manas's attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition, and there is also the manas's mental activity; if there were not, the mind consciousness would immediately vanish. The mind consciousness cannot have thoughts on its own. When faculty and object contact and consciousness manifests, if the faculty once ceases to contact the object, the consciousness instantly disappears.
4. The eighth consciousness, the seventh consciousness, and the sixth consciousness—all three consciousnesses have knowing; only the objects and contents of their knowing differ. Detailed knowing of states is necessarily the knowing of the mind consciousness. The eighth consciousness knows the mental activities and wishes of the manas; the seventh consciousness knows the information discerned and the choices made by the mind consciousness; both the eighth and seventh consciousnesses know the faculty-body; the eighth consciousness knows the seeds and karmic conditions.
The mind consciousness also has the mental factor of volition; after discerning a certain person or matter, it must also make choices—choosing means affirming and negating, making judgments, and then producing subsequent thoughts and imaginings. The manas's volition is what exercises dominion and makes decisions about what the six consciousnesses should do in the next instant. When the manas makes a choice, with the cooperation of the tathāgatagarbha, the six consciousnesses will certainly take action. The mind consciousness's choices do not necessarily lead to action; only with the manas's approval and decision can action be taken—this is still the function of the manas's volitional choosing. Knowing whether one has thoughts is the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) of the mind consciousness—it is the mind consciousness's knowing. The manas cannot analyze; when the manas's discerned content and choices are unknown to the mind consciousness, it is called being baffled and at a loss.
In emergencies, the mind consciousness discerns briefly and has no time to analyze, so it cannot influence the manas; the manas makes its choice based on past experience, and the mind consciousness merely conveys the discerned information rapidly to the manas.
If the manas has not eradicated grasping at self, it cannot vanish or perish. Directing the body's activities is the function of the manas. The mind consciousness may wish to direct the body, but it must obtain the manas's consent and its decision before the six consciousnesses can act; once the six consciousnesses move, bodily, verbal, and mental actions appear. If the six consciousnesses do not arise and act, bodily, verbal, and mental actions do not manifest.
5. Does the Mind Consciousness Have Innate Grasping at the Self of Persons?
Does the mind consciousness have innate grasping at the self of persons? If the sixth consciousness, like the seventh consciousness, already had the same cognition as in previous lives at the very moment the five aggregates are born, then it would certainly also have the same grasping nature as in previous lives, called innate grasping at the self of persons. If the mind consciousness were born with innate grasping at the self of persons, requiring no later teaching and conditioning, then it would first have to know that there is a five aggregates and know it as "self," and would have to know that there are eighteen realms and know them as "self."
But does the mind consciousness, at the moment of birth, know without being taught that there are the five aggregates? Does the mind consciousness know without being taught or learning that there are the eighteen realms? Does it recognize the functions and operations of the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness? Does it recognize the functions and operations of the eighteen realms—six faculties, six objects, and six consciousnesses? Can it distinguish the difference between itself and others? Does it have concepts of self and others? Does it have the notions of self, person, sentient being, and life span? A newly born mind consciousness clearly has none of these. If the mind consciousness had cognition of all dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, it would have grasping at the self of persons; if it lacks cognition of these dharmas, the mind consciousness has no grasping at the self of persons, nor any mental activity of wanting to grasp, because without concepts and cognition, even if it wanted to grasp, it would have no ability to do so.
If the mind consciousness were born with these cognitions, then parents and family would be spared much effort: they would not need to teach the child "this is father and mother, those are brothers and sisters, this is male and that is female, this is my thing and that is your thing," and so on. The child would open its eyes and know each person's distinctness, know its relationship with each person, know which items belong to itself and which belong to others, and would then grasp at itself and all its possessions, grasping at its living environment. Parents would not need to teach the child "this is food and that is water, this is clothing and bedding and that is a bed, this is black and that is white, this is good and that is bad, this is a lamp and that is a shoe," and so forth, because the child's mind consciousness would know all of these; the child would be born already coveting and being picky about them. Even all worldly knowledge of daily living would not need to be taught by parents—the child's mind consciousness would know it from birth, and would be born with grasping and pickiness toward these livelihood necessities, born knowing how to protect everything it owns, not letting anyone touch or take it away.
But in fact, the mind consciousness at the moment the five aggregates are born knows nothing: it does not know there are five aggregates, does not know there is a self, does not distinguish enemies from kin, has no names or any concepts, has no ability to discern wholesome from unwholesome, true from false, does not know how to protect itself, and does not know how to guard its possessions. It understands nothing; everything must rely on the patient teaching and instilling of parents and elders; otherwise it would remain forever knowing nothing.
For example, for the mind consciousness to grasp at its parents, it must first recognize its parents, know that there are parents, and know the importance of parents; only then can it grasp at its parents. For example, for the mind consciousness to grasp at gold, silver, and jewels, it must first recognize gold, silver, and jewels and understand their value before it can grasp at them; if it does not recognize them, given gold and jewels it might even bite and damage them, and would not wear them or store them away. For example, for the mind consciousness to grasp at beautiful scenery and the Venice water park, it must first recognize and understand the scenery and the park, and know how to appreciate them; only then can there be any question of grasping or not grasping.
For example, if someone takes up a knife or stick to harm oneself, for the mind consciousness to grasp at its own life and dodge the knife or stick, it must first know that there is life and the importance of life, and know the danger of knives and sticks; only then can it dodge them to protect its life. If the mind consciousness does not know there is danger and does not know fear, it does not know to protect itself; when any danger arrives, it is completely oblivious. For example, for the mind consciousness to grasp at cake and other foods, it must first recognize cake and understand its sweetness before it can grasp at cake; otherwise, if parents gave the cake to a dog, the mind consciousness would have no reaction whatsoever, without a trace of grasping or craving. Because at birth the mind consciousness knows nothing, if parents gave the infant away to others, abandoned it, or sold it, the infant would have no reaction at all, because the mind consciousness does not understand and does not know, so it would not grasp at itself, its parents, its family, and so on. Since the infant knows nothing at all about the five aggregates and eighteen realms, it would have no liking or disliking, no craving or grasping; therefore, the mind consciousness at the moment the five aggregates are born has no innate grasping at the self of persons—only by not understanding is there no grasping.
All these dharmas require the infant's mind consciousness to learn bit by bit in subsequent life, to be nurtured bit by bit in the postnatal environment. Only as the child gradually grows does the mind consciousness's grasping nature gradually appear, and only then will it guard its food, clothing, toys, and so on; other more complex things, such as power, status, and reputation, it still does not know, and therefore cannot crave or grasp. Its innate greedy and selfish nature is instilled by the manas; all of the mind consciousness's behavior is directed and controlled by the manas. The mind consciousness does not really have any capacity for deliberation and analysis; only after growing to a certain point, influenced by the environment and continuously instilled by the manas, does it gradually develop the capacity for deliberation and analysis, and only then does it know to crave and grasp at certain things.
The mind consciousness cannot even distinguish east, west, south, and north, and does not know wholesome and unwholesome, true and false, good and bad—so what is there for it to grasp? A newborn infant has no concept or idea of "self," no thoughts, possesses nothing; its extremely simple five-aggregates activities are entirely directed and controlled by the manas, and there are no mental deliberative activities—so how could it grasp? To grasp, there must be a certain degree of mental activity, a certain degree of thought, a certain degree of cognition; only then can a grasping mind arise. Otherwise, there is no ability or condition for grasping.
6. Does the Mind Consciousness Have Innate Grasping at the Self of Dharmas?
The content of grasping at dharmas is even vaster than the content of grasping at self, and its meaning is deeper, subtler, and harder to understand. The newly born mind consciousness recognizes no dharmas at all, so it cannot grasp. For example, for the mind consciousness to grasp at wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, it must first recognize wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep and their importance before grasping can arise and before it has the ability to grasp; if the mind consciousness does not know what wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep are, there is no mental activity of grasping, and there is no question of grasping or not grasping. For example, for the mind consciousness to grasp at power and status, to grasp at an affluent life, it must first understand what power and status are and how important they are, what their significance is, and know how to enjoy life; only then can it grasp at these dharmas and give rise to mental activity of craving. If it is completely ignorant of these dharmas, it has no way and no ability to grasp, and there is no question of grasping or not grasping. Therefore, the newly born mind consciousness has no grasping at the self of dharmas; it does not know how to grasp. The mind consciousness has no innate, inborn grasping of any kind, including grasping at the self of persons and grasping at the self of dharmas.
7. When asleep, because the manas feels the blanket is heavy, it automatically turns over, but the mind consciousness at that moment does not necessarily know. Are there then body consciousness and mind consciousness? Turning over is also a function of consciousness. The faculty itself is a passive receiver and transmitter; without consciousness operating upon the faculty, the faculty is just wood or stone. When the manas wants to turn over, it must mobilize the body consciousness and mind consciousness; once these two consciousnesses arise, they can make the body turn, and at the moment of turning there is faint body consciousness and mind consciousness.
Why does the manas decide to turn over? Because it discerns that the blanket is heavy. The manas contacts the mental object of the blanket, knows it affects the body, and lets the body consciousness and mind consciousness come out to discern. The body consciousness and mind consciousness feel the heaviness, the manas decides to turn over, and then the body consciousness and mind consciousness turn the body together. If turning over happens more frequently, sleep is poor, and the next day one feels physically exhausted, because the six consciousnesses keep appearing and the body has not rested well. If turning over in sleep were not the function of the six consciousnesses, then when one is in a coma and the manas wants to move the body, it should be able to move it; but in a coma, the body cannot move—although the manas constantly wants the body to move and to wake itself up, it cannot do so.
When turning over at midnight, because the body is fatigued and the mind consciousness is weak, it may not be able to introspect upon its own actions. The degree of strength or weakness of the mind consciousness differs, and so does its power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala). Therefore, some people know what state they were in at midnight and what they did, while others do not. When they do not know, the mind consciousness manifests little, sleep is deep, and sleep quality is good; but there is also rapid and faint discernment by the mind consciousness. When the mind consciousness is faint, one can hardly feel the mind consciousness's own existence and operation. At such times the manas's function is prominent and obvious; much of what the manas directly discerns the mind consciousness does not necessarily know, and the manas has no names and cannot express it.
The manas silently encompasses all dharmas, but the mind consciousness is not like this. Therefore, what the manas discerns is always more than the mind consciousness, and far subtler and deeper than the mind consciousness. So the manas's dharma is deeper, subtler, and more important than the mind consciousness's; whether one becomes a Buddha depends entirely on the manas. The manas's operation itself cannot be called simple or complex, because the manas's discerning wisdom regarding the six objects is poor; the manas is not very capable of introspective analysis of its own operation of contacting and discerning mental objects. Only when a mental object is too important and it wants to discern it but cannot discern clearly does it summon the mind consciousness to come out and discern.
8. Question: The five faculties and five objects are always in contact—is this dharmatā, regardless of whether the manas attends or not? As long as there is contact, does the eighth consciousness unconditionally give rise to the five consciousnesses? Does the manas attend only to mental objects, or does it attend to all six objects?
Answer: The five gross faculties are constantly in contact with the five objects. The tathāgatagarbha constantly transmits and transforms the five objects through the five gross faculties into the supreme faculties (indriya), giving rise to the inner five objects and mental objects. Thus the inner five objects and mental objects constantly appear in the supreme faculties at the back of the brain, and the five objects and five supreme faculties are also constantly in contact; yet the five consciousnesses cannot arise at all times. In many instances there are no five consciousnesses to discern the inner five objects, and we are not aware of the states of the five objects. That is to say, the arising of the five consciousnesses is conditional. What conditions? The arising of eye consciousness has nine conditions; the arising of ear consciousness has eight conditions; the arising of nose consciousness has seven conditions; the arising of tongue consciousness has seven conditions; the arising of body consciousness has seven conditions. If the five consciousnesses arise, the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) must arise, and the five consciousnesses together with the mind consciousness jointly discern the five objects (including mental objects).
Thus the six consciousnesses sometimes appear and sometimes do not. The most important precondition for their appearing is certainly the manas's attention. If the manas does not attend, the mind consciousness certainly cannot appear, and of course the five consciousnesses cannot appear either. The manas's attention is therefore crucial. The manas certainly attends to mental objects, so that the mind consciousness can arise; but does the manas attend to the inner five objects? If the manas does not attend to the inner five objects, the tathāgatagarbha will not comply and cooperate to give rise to the five consciousnesses, and then the mind consciousness will not arise either.
Some will ask: when sitting in meditation cultivating concentration, or in daily life when one does not want to discern the five or six objects at all, why do the six consciousnesses still come out to discern the six objects, and one cannot avoid them even if one wants to? This is because the manas's tendency toward engagement is too heavy; its habits are hard to change, and the mind consciousness's restraining force upon it is not strong enough—the mind consciousness is helpless at such times. Only after the manas has been tamed and its tendency toward engagement weakened can the six consciousnesses become concentrated; the content one does not wish to discern no longer appears, and one can be single-mindedly focused, achieve concentrated deliberation, or eliminate initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra).
By this reasoning, for the six consciousnesses to arise and discern form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma, there must be the operation of the manas's attention and volitional mental factor; only then can the six consciousnesses arise. Otherwise, the six consciousnesses and their discerning activities are impossible. The six consciousnesses all obey the manas's command; it is the manas that decides which states to discern. What the manas does not decide to discern, what the manas does not want to know, will certainly have no six consciousnesses to discern it. There is no case of the six consciousnesses disobeying the manas's intent and decisions—that is absolutely impossible. To summarize: the contact of the five gross faculties with the five objects does not require the manas's attention, but the discernment of the five and six objects by the five and six consciousnesses definitely requires the manas's attention.
9. Question: As the saying goes, "one mind cannot attend to two things"—this refers to the mind consciousness, which cannot think about or carry out two things simultaneously. But the manas universally engages with all dharmas, or before it has finished engaging with one dharma it engages with another; because the interval is a kṣaṇa, too short a time, it can also be understood as simultaneously engaging with multiple dharmas. Within this, is it a good opportunity to distinguish the mind consciousness from the manas?
Answer: The worldly saying that "one mind cannot attend to two things" means that if one mind is used for two or more things, the use is poor: energy is scattered, the mind becomes coarse, discernment is not fine or clear, thinking is unclear, and wisdom cannot emerge. In fact, the mind consciousness and the six consciousnesses can attend to two or three things at once; because ordinary people's meditative concentration is very poor and their power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) is also very poor, when energy is slightly scattered, discernment of the six objects becomes unclear, consideration of problems is not meticulous or thorough, manifesting as carelessness, sloppiness, muddled confusion, not knowing why things are so—wisdom is rather inferior.
When the mind consciousness has not been trained, to deliberate well on some matter it must think single-pointedly; otherwise it cannot think it through clearly. When the mind consciousness has been trained and has good concentration, it can use one mind for many purposes, engaging several dharmas simultaneously and doing all of them well. For example, the worldly saying "eyes watching six roads, ears listening to eight directions" is like this—only one cannot think too finely, but overall things can be arranged well. For instance, some people, when a major event looms, often appear very calm; at that time all their energy and abilities are mobilized and brought into play, all matters are considered and arranged very thoroughly, the brain spins at high speed, and the speed of work is astonishing. Worldly people at work are sometimes like this too; each person's energy and abilities differ greatly, and both concentration and wisdom vary.
The manas can simultaneously engage with multiple dharmas, and can also engage with multiple dharmas in continuous, unbroken succession, kṣaṇa after kṣaṇa. If it engages with dharmas among the six objects, the mind consciousness will inevitably discern along with it, so the mind consciousness can also engage with multiple dharmas. To distinguish the mind consciousness from the manas, it is easier to distinguish them in terms of dominion and decision-making, and easy to distinguish them in terms of habitual tendencies, inertia, and function; when things happen suddenly, it is easy to distinguish the functions of the mind consciousness and the manas; and it is relatively easy to distinguish the mind consciousness and the manas in terms of shallow-level versus deep-level psychological operations.
10. The six consciousnesses, through the manas, store seeds in the eighth consciousness; all dharmas pass through the manas. The manas is the relay station and bond connecting the six consciousnesses and the eighth consciousness; the manas silently encompasses all dharmas. The manas is the reliance and support for the defilement or purity of the six consciousnesses: if the manas is defiled, it will direct the six consciousnesses to create defiled karma; if the manas is pure, it directs the six consciousnesses to create pure karma. On the other hand, all the content that the six consciousnesses discern and produce is transmitted as information to the manas; only then can the manas discern, deliberate (manasikāra/manana), and exercise dominion—and at the same time this information drops into the eighth consciousness and is stored as seeds. All of the manas's own activities also drop into the eighth consciousness and are stored as seeds. Then, in studying the Buddha-dharma, we should understand where the starting point and the final point of practice lie.
Only by understanding the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha can one comprehend the sūtras and śāstras; to understand the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha, one must realize the tathāgatagarbha; to realize the tathāgatagarbha, one must investigate Chan; to investigate Chan, one must cultivate the six pāramitās. If all the conditions for our enlightenment are complete, then the Buddha-dharma heard within a single month would be enough for us to become enlightened many times, and to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) many times as well.
11. Question: Can it be understood this way: in the vast majority of cases, we use meaning-expressing designation (artha-abhidhāna) to think about various problems, including worldly and supramundane dharmas; at that time, although the manas participates, it participates only shallowly. Without training, it is difficult for the mind consciousness to think using manifesting-object designation (vijñapti-abhidhāna). Through training, such as cultivating concentration and acquiring a certain degree of meditative concentration, one can then dispense with meaning-expressing designation and think directly using manifesting-object designation. At that time the mind consciousness and the manas participate together, and the manas can participate more deeply. Is the above statement correct?
Answer: The meaning of manifesting-object designation is that the seven consciousnesses together with their mental factors can jointly evoke and manifest the various states, enabling others to understand and comprehend them. All seven consciousnesses have this function; it is not only the manas that has it. Meaning-expressing designation uses words, terms, and sentences to express the inner thoughts and states so that others can understand and comprehend them. This is a function possessed by the mind consciousness; the manas does not have it, nor do the five consciousnesses.
Meaning-expressing designation is divided into language and writing, and initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) with deliberation. Vitarka-vicāra and deliberation are also characteristics of the mind consciousness: the mind consciousness can comprehend the states of the six objects, and afterward can apply vitarka-vicāra and deliberation to the states of the six objects. The manas does not have this kind of surface-level function; its operation is hidden, deep, covert, and hard to detect, yet its power is considerable. If the consciousness-seeds of the two consciousnesses are less dispersed, less divided among other mental objects, then their discerning wisdom becomes even more powerful, their operative force is considerable, and they can master all dharmas. When meditative concentration strengthens, the manifesting-object designation function of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses becomes prominent; the manas's function stands out and is fully utilized and exercised, its discerning capacity becomes even more powerful, and it may be able to think through all dharmas thoroughly, with wisdom welling forth.
12. Question: Within our mind there is a "knowing" that is an unchanging observer—is that the manas? Is it the same as the "knowing" in dreams? Why does it disappear when we fall asleep? Is maintaining this luminously aware "knowing" right mindfulness?
Answer: This knowing in the mind is changing and impermanent; in many situations it can no longer know—therefore it is the impermanent, arising-and-ceasing knowing nature of the mind consciousness. In dreams there is also this knowing, and it too is the mind consciousness's knowing. But on all dharmas there is also simultaneously the manas's knowing; it is only that the manas is hidden extremely deep, and its knowing nature is very hard to discover.
Maintaining this knowing nature and being clear about the nature of the six objects belongs to methods of cultivating concentration; it is not seeing the Path. If it is not the mind consciousness's knowing within the state of seeing the mind, then the knowing that falls within the five aggregates is not right knowing, because it does not know the eighth consciousness, does not know the eighth consciousness's operation; it only knows conditioned, arising-and-ceasing dharmas and does not know the unarising-and-unceasing dharma—this is the mind consciousness's wrong knowing. True right knowing is the knowing nature of the eighth consciousness, the knowing nature of the tathāgatagarbha, which does not fall upon the five aggregates, twelve spheres, or eighteen realms; it has no outflows, no ignorance, no arising-ceasing impermanence or mutability—this is true rightness, rightness that is thorough and ultimate, needing no arising and never perishing.
