A Brief Discourse on the Essence of Consciousness
Chapter 15 Questions and Answers
1. Does the mind consciousness have sleep? What is called the sleep of the mind consciousness? If the mind consciousness has sleep, then during sleep the mind consciousness must exist, able to discern sense objects, able to deliberate and observe, having emotions, and unable to cease. If that were the case, then it would not be sleep at all—it would be no different from being awake.
For example, suppose I have family and relatives in the Sahā world. When I leave the Sahā world, are the family and relatives of the Sahā world still mine? Are they still under my charge? Whatever happens to them has nothing to do with me, and I bear no responsibility. Within the dharma of sleep, there is no mind consciousness and no five sense consciousnesses—what does the matter of sleep have to do with the six consciousnesses that have ceased? If there are matters to handle, one can look to the manas to handle them; if the manas cannot handle them, it will let the six consciousnesses handle them—and then there would be no sleep, yet the six consciousnesses still do not possess the mental factor of sleep.
Who is it that enjoys the flavor of sleep and experiences sleep? Without the six consciousnesses, the six consciousnesses cannot experience it; of course it is the manas that experiences sleep. If the manas does not wish to experience sleep, He will decide not to sleep, and no matter how the mind consciousness protests, it is useless. If the mind consciousness enjoys sleep, the next day it will lack energy and be listless; with insufficient energy, things will not be done well. This is a special case of dreaming, not the normal state. Therefore one cannot say that the mind consciousness has sleep; the mind consciousness is not present at the scene of sleep, so the matter of sleep does not accompany the mind consciousness's activities.
What is the general state of sleep? What is the common feature among all people? What is the usual state? Setting aside special cases, once these questions are clarified, one will know whether the mind consciousness has sleep. The overall condition of sleep is the cessation of the six consciousnesses—what ceases are the consciousness accompanied by the five senses and the solitary consciousness. When dreaming, there is a solitary consciousness, but it has little capacity for deliberation and observation; body and mind are in a state of rest, whether there are dreams or not. The solitary consciousness corresponding to sleep with dreams is a special case, not the usual situation. Therefore within sleep there are no six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses do not sleep.
True sleep is the state of rest in which the six consciousnesses have ceased, with no clear-acting mind consciousness and no consciousness accompanied by the five senses; in this state there are no six consciousnesses. Therefore the six consciousnesses do not have the dharma of sleep. It is the manas that controls the presence or absence of sleep, controlling the arising and ceasing of the six consciousnesses.
2. Do the six consciousnesses have the dharma of sleep?
Whatever dharmas the six consciousnesses may have, they must exist under conditions in which the six consciousnesses exist. If the six consciousnesses themselves do not exist, how can one even speak of them possessing any dharma? Without consciousness-minds, there are no mental factors of those consciousness-minds. For example, if there is no person named Zhang San, one cannot say what belongings Zhang San has; if there is no house, do not talk about what is inside the house. By the same reasoning, since there are no six consciousnesses during sleep, do not speak of the six consciousnesses having the dharma of sleep. Then whose dharma is sleep? It is the dharma of the manas. Although the manas does not sleep, the manas requires sleep according to the body's condition, in order to resolve the body's fatigue and drowsiness. If there is no sleep, the body becomes exhausted, and the manas cannot normally use the six consciousnesses to complete various tasks. That is to say, sleep is what the manas needs, decided by the manas, and is the manas's active behavioral choice. The purpose of the manas choosing sleep is to enable the five-aggregate body to work better. If the five-aggregate body is not fatigued and weary, the manas will let the five-aggregate body continue operating without interruption—this is exactly how devas are. Therefore sleep corresponds to the manas, not to the six consciousnesses; only when the six consciousnesses cease is there sleep.
3. Why can one not hear the sound of speech in a dream yet know what is being said?
The production of verbal sounds requires certain conditions. First, the mind must have initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) and wish to express something; then the wind touches the navel, and the breath follows from the navel all the way up, touching the throat and tongue, and verbal sounds come out. The loudness of the sound is related to the strength of the breath, the strength of the breath is related to the weight of initial application and sustained examination, is related to the intensity of the emotions of the manas and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses, and is related to the mental factors.
In a dream there are only the eighth consciousness, the manas, and the solitary consciousness; there is no consciousness accompanied by the five senses, and the body faculty also does not function much. Although the manas and consciousness have the wish to express, language and sound cannot be produced. The forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas in a dream all belong to the subjectively imagined realm, which only the solitary consciousness can discern; the five sense consciousnesses and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses cannot discern them. Therefore the ear consciousness cannot hear the sounds in the dream. Although there is no verbal sound, one can still understand what the other party is expressing, because the manas does not need language or sound to understand the thoughts of the other party's manas. Since consciousness in a dream is not constrained by a physical body, it has minor superknowledges; it can also understand the other party's meaning, and can also ascend to the heavens and descend into the earth.
4. Question: A child's mind consciousness is new, but the manas is already an "old hand." When a child looks at the ceiling, he should know that it is the ceiling—knowing the "name" but not the "word." The tathāgatagarbha has not input the "word" seeds, so the child cannot say what it is. Is this correct?
Answer: If a child knows that it is the ceiling, he must have learned it—someone must have told him that it is the ceiling before he can know it. But before he has learned to speak, he cannot express it and lacks verbal expression. When the mind consciousness has learned expression, because language seeds differ, each child's manner and method of verbal expression differ, and the results differ—some express clearly and endearingly, while others express unclearly.
Seeds need to encounter conditions in order to manifest; when conditions are not complete, the seeds temporarily do not function. The manifestation of language seeds requires the condition of the mind consciousness learning environmental knowledge. When the mind consciousness does not yet have worldly knowledge, the language seeds do not function.
5. Question: When encountering matters, I always think of the worst; my afflictions grow heavier and heavier. Can this be changed into thinking of the good?
Answer: The reason one always thinks of the worst when encountering matters is, first, because of grasping at self, caring a great deal about the matters one encounters and one's own vital interests, fearing that those matters will turn out badly—therefore one thinks of the worst and makes the worst plans. Another reason is lack of confidence in oneself, feeling that things cannot succeed, while in fact deeply wishing for one's own success. Lack of self-confidence is a kind of self-conceit; because there is a self within the mind, one cares about matters related to self and cannot help thinking of the worst. Thinking of matters in the worst way is like casting a curse; as a result, some matters will indeed develop toward the bad. Because truly thinking of the worst means the manas is thinking of the worst; if the power is strong, the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate, and matters will truly not develop toward the good and will often be ruined.
To change this situation, the most fundamental point of entry is to lighten one's grasping at self and what belongs to self. Take everything lightly, accord with conditions and do not care too much, and afflictions will diminish greatly. One must change one's habits of thought, apply proper attention (yoniśo-manaskāra) to the matters one encounters, or adopt an attitude of according with conditions. Because everyone has wholesome and unwholesome karma, the matters one attracts include good things and bad things; even those as noble as emperors and imperial relatives cannot avoid encountering all kinds of good and bad matters. "When soldiers come, oppose them with generals; when water comes, dam it with earth"—with the mental preparation of receiving retribution according to karma, one can take things lightly.
If one always thinks of matters in the best way, and the manas's power is great, the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate, and gradually matters can be brought to a good outcome. For example, when the body is ill, if one is not pessimistic psychologically, has full confidence in the body, and always thinks that the body will surely recover, this is equivalent to giving oneself a good suggestion. The tathāgatagarbha can know this suggestion; if the manas devises a plan, the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate, and the body will imperceptibly improve. If the mind is not ill but one constantly thinks about illness, the tathāgatagarbha will also cooperate, and gradually illness will come to find the body. This is the function of a person's mental intentions: good mental intentions and good suggestions yield good results; bad mental intentions and bad suggestions yield bad results. It is like casting an evil spell on someone—casting an evil spell on others and casting one on oneself both yield bad results. If one makes a wholesome vow or wholesome wish, it benefits both others and oneself, because behind it there is the tathāgatagarbha, and He will cooperate with you.
Engage often in meditation, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), and reflection; give yourself good suggestions, which is equivalent to encouraging and cheering yourself on—suggesting to yourself how good you can become, what wishes you can fulfill, and how you will be in the future. This is called a wholesome wish. Making a wholesome wish is a good suggestion, and in the future things will become good. If the manas makes a vow, the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate to realize the wish. The Buddha always urges us to make pure great vows and wholesome wishes precisely for this meaning: if one makes the vow to become a Buddha, one can become a Buddha; if one always says "I cannot become a Buddha," then one cannot become a Buddha. But sooner or later one must still make this great vow of becoming a Buddha—the greater and more courageous the vow, the faster it is realized. This is a matter between the manas and the tathāgatagarbha.
Use the mind consciousness's frequent wholesome deliberation (manasikāra/manana) to perfume the manas; give yourself a good suggestion: "My ability is abundant, I can handle this matter well, I can eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), I can see the mind and realize the nature, I can handle all matters well." Then carefully deliberate on how the matter should be done, and imperceptibly the matter will be done well. Often engaging in such inner dialogue, psychologically suggesting to yourself—meditation, suggestion, hypnosis, perfuming, and so on—brings many benefits to yourself. When going to sleep, lie down and relax body and mind, set some positive, uplifting suggestive phrases for yourself, and dialogue with yourself in your mind—that is, the mind consciousness dialoguing with the manas. Over time the perfuming will take hold, and when encountering matters you will be full of confidence.
6. Dharmas that arise in dependence on others are also conditioned dharmas
"Arising in dependence on others" means dharmas that can only arise by relying on other dharmas; those "others" are the conditions for the dharma's birth, so what arises in dependence on others is conditioned dharma. Dharmas born of causes and conditions do not exist apart from the conditions on which they depend; when the conditions change, the dharma changes accordingly; when the conditions cease, the dharma ceases accordingly. Therefore the conditionally arisen dharmas that arise in dependence on others are illusory and unreal dharmas, false dharmas, empty, subject to arising, ceasing, and change.
Conditioned dharmas include the five faculties, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses. The eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body are conditioned dharmas; they depend on numerous conditions to be born, exist, and develop and change—they are unreliable dharmas. Therefore we cannot rely on them completely, cannot always rely on them. When cultivation reaches a certain point and one relies on them not at all, the mind becomes empty, and one will attain liberation. The six sense objects are conditioned dharmas, born, existing, and developing and changing in dependence on numerous conditions; therefore the six sense objects are unreliable and cannot be relied upon. We should gradually free ourselves from dependence on the six sense objects, reducing greed, love, and grasping toward them; when cultivation reaches a certain point and one relies on the six sense objects not at all, the mind becomes empty and one attains liberation.
What dharma do we rely upon in order to have dependence on the six sense objects? Grasping the six sense objects requires the six consciousnesses; after the six consciousnesses discriminate the six sense objects, they come to depend on them. What dharma grasps the six sense objects and requires the six consciousnesses? It is the manas that grasps the six sense objects, then gives rise to the six consciousnesses, using the six consciousnesses to seize the six sense objects; the manas then grasps the six sense objects again, and grasps again the functions of the six consciousnesses—thus the cycle of birth and death continues unceasingly. The mind that grasps is the manas, using the six consciousnesses as tools to seize; in reality, the one that seizes is still the manas. The six consciousnesses are also conditioned dharmas, born, existing, and developing and changing in dependence on numerous conditions; they are unreliable dharmas, dharmas that cannot be relied upon. Therefore we should gradually distance ourselves from the six consciousnesses and reduce dependence on them. When cultivation reaches a certain point and one relies on the six consciousnesses not at all, the mind becomes empty, and one will attain liberation.
To whom are all these truths spoken? They are spoken to ourselves. Whom does "we" refer to? Whom does "ourselves" refer to? Both refer to the manas. The six consciousnesses are the messenger soldiers, responsible for transmitting this information to the manas for it to know; what to do and where to go is decided by the manas, which makes the final call. If this information remains only with the six consciousnesses and is not transmitted to the master, the manas, then it is of no use; it cannot influence or change the master's intentions and choices, and everything will remain as before, with the cycle of birth and death continuing without end.
How can these truths and this information be transmitted to the manas? Cultivate meditative concentration; deliberate and engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) within dhyāna. The deeper the meditative concentration, the better the transmission effect, and the more the manas can absorb and digest this information and the more it can change its intentions. Then all ignorance and grasping will vanish completely, one will be liberated from all dharmas, and there will be no suffering of birth and death.
