Selected Lectures on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra

Supplementary Discussion on the Four Kinds of Form

 1. Avijñapti-rūpa (unmanifest form) is a kind of dharma-āyatana-included form (dharma-āyatana-parigṛhīta-rūpa) that can manifest upon the five sense objects; it differs from visible form (sanidarśana-rūpa), shape-form (saṃsthāna-rūpa), and expressive form (vijñapti-rūpa), and is an object cognized by the mind consciousness. The mind consciousness needs to rely on visible form, shape-form, and expressive form to further analyze, compare, deliberate, and judge; through the cognition of direct perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), and non-valid cognition (anīyata), it then arrives at an overall conclusion. For example, with a flower, its avijñapti-rūpa is the flower's beauty, richness, elegance, fragrance, gracefulness, luxuriance, withering, wilting, and so on; these qualities of the flower are called avijñapti-rūpa. Visible form is the flower's colors; shape-form is the shape and size of the blossom, the shape of the branches and leaves, and the thickness of the stems; expressive form is the swaying movement or stillness of the blossom, branches, and leaves.

For example, take a person's avijñapti-rūpa: facing a person, by observing his attire and grooming, his walking, sitting, and reclining, his speech and laughter, one can sense this person's age, gender, temperament, bearing, learning, cultivation, character, temper, and disposition—all of these are called avijñapti-rūpa. These forms are not something that can be directly perceived on the surface, not something the eye consciousness can cognize by direct perception in the present moment. They can only be cognized by the mind consciousness through deliberation, analysis, imagination, and judgment; for the most part, inference and non-valid cognition are used to perform this cognition. This dharma-āyatana-included form is called avijñapti-rūpa.

For example, the softness, cotton-like quality, and warmth that manifest on a bolt of cloth—these qualities are called avijñapti-rūpa. The qualities of every kind of object are called avijñapti-rūpa. For instance, when we listen to a person's voice, there is avijñapti-rūpa in the voice itself; the mind consciousness will discriminate and deliberate: this voice sounds quite gentle, that voice sounds quite harsh; listening to this voice, one feels this person is learned and cultivated. These qualities, discriminated through analysis, comparison, imagination, deliberation, and judgment, are called avijñapti-rūpa. For example, the avijñapti-rūpa of a tree is the tree's growth rings, species, age (ancient or young), luxuriance, withering, uprightness, and so on—all inferred by the consciousness through analysis and deduction.

2. The Distinctions Among the Four Kinds of Form and the Sequence of Their Generation

Apart from the visible forms cognized by the eye consciousness—blue, yellow, red, and white, light and shadow, brightness and darkness, clouds, smoke, dust, and mist, as well as empty space—everything else is cognized by the mind consciousness. Visible form arises when the Ālayavijñāna directly takes in the minute particles formed from the four great elements' seeds of the external material sense-object, through the eye faculty's gross physical faculty (faux faculty); after taking them in, it transmits them to the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the brain, manifesting a similar inner material sense-object (inner rūpa-viṣaya). Then, upon the formed inner material sense-object, the shapes of the inner material sense-object—long, short, square, and round—will manifest.

These shapes of long, short, square, and round must be cognized and judged by the mind consciousness through comparison and analysis; this is called shape-form. Shape-form is not substantial matter; rather, based on the visible form formed at the supreme faculty—on the basis of the image of this implicative object (āśraya) composed of the four great elements—the Ālayavijñāna, through recombination, forms the dharma-āyatana-included form, which is discriminated by the mind consciousness. This discrimination comes later than the eye consciousness's discrimination of visible form, because the visible form of the inner material sense-object is manifested first; the eye consciousness must arise first, then the shape-form manifests, and only then does the mind consciousness arise. Therefore, in the first instant of seeing form, it is certainly the eye consciousness that first sees the blue, yellow, red, and white of the material sense-object; only in the second instant can it cognize the various shapes and postures of long, short, square, and round, of movement or stillness; and only at the end can it cognize the content and substantive meaning of the form-characteristics.

Expressive form is the state of an object's movement and stillness, such as sentient beings' bodies walking, standing, and reclining, greeting and seeing off guests, bending, stretching, bowing, and looking up. This form is the dharma-object manifesting upon the inner material sense-object formed at the supreme faculty in the back of the brain; it is formed by the visible form composed of the four great elements undergoing recombination, manifests subsequent to visible form, and is the content cognized by the mind consciousness. Therefore, in seeing and cognizing form, it is certainly the eye consciousness that arises first to cognize, then the mind consciousness arises to cognize, and thereafter the two cognize simultaneously. Because visible form and expressive form appear in a sequential order, the faculty contacting the object also occurs in sequence, the corresponding consciousnesses arise in sequence, and the cognition occurs in sequence.

To summarize: there must first exist a substantial form-body formed from substantial seeds of the four great elements—that is, visible form exists first, even though this visible form is an image of the external material sense-object, also directly taken in and transformed by the Ālayavijñāna from the four great elements. Afterwards, upon the transformed image, through recombination again, the dharma-object is formed; among these, long and short, square and round, tall and short, thick and thin, crooked and straight, are called shape-form. Expressive form is the state of movement, the state of stillness, and bodily postures—for example, the physical body's walking, standing, sitting, and reclining, bending over, sitting, standing, and lying down; this is called expressive form. Inanimate objects also have expressive form, such as the myriad postures of a flower or a pot of flowers, or the posture of a tree's trunk, branches, and leaves; when the wind blows and the branches sway, this belongs to expressive form. All of these can only be known by the mind consciousness through comparison, analysis, deliberation, and inference; the eye consciousness cannot cognize them.

There is an essential difference between this material sense-object and the dharma-object manifesting upon it. The material sense-object is the inner replica-image (inner nimitta) directly manifested by the Ālayavijñāna at the supreme faculty, directly taking in the earth, water, fire, and wind of the external material sense-object; the dharma-object is transformed and combined once again on the basis of this inner replica-image, forming the dharma-āyatana-included form, called the dharma-object—it is a secondary transformation. The dharma-object arises dependent upon the material sense-object's earth, water, fire, and wind; it is discriminated by the mind consciousness, and the eye consciousness has no way to cognize it.

Since the material sense-object and the dharma-object are closely connected, when the eye sees form, the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness will mutually depend on each other, and neither can cognize the material sense-object alone. It is certainly the eye consciousness that first cognizes the color of the form-body, or what is called light and darkness, dust, smoke, and mist swirling about, as well as the emptiness that is the boundary-aspect of form—this is discriminated by the eye consciousness. Then the mind consciousness immediately follows and cognizes. First one sees the substantial form, then sees the dharma-object manifesting upon the substantial form; therefore the mind consciousness cognizes after the eye consciousness, and the two mutually depend on each other to jointly discriminate the material sense-object.

By the same principle, the first five consciousnesses all discriminate simultaneously with the mind consciousness: it is certainly the five consciousnesses that first discriminate form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, then the mind consciousness discriminates the dharma-objects upon those form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, and thereafter they discriminate simultaneously. The mind consciousness discriminates later, separated from the five consciousnesses that discriminated first by only a single instant, connecting together extremely rapidly. Because our minds are not refined, we simply cannot perceive this; it seems as if the eye consciousness and mind consciousness discriminate simultaneously, the ear consciousness and mind consciousness discriminate simultaneously, but in fact there is a sequential order. After three instants there is no longer any interval: the first is the eye consciousness's seeds arising to cognize, the second is the mind consciousness's seeds arising to cognize, the third is the eye consciousness's and mind consciousness's seeds arising simultaneously to cognize, and thereafter the eye consciousness's and mind consciousness's seeds always arise simultaneously.

The first is certainly the eye consciousness arising first, the ear consciousness arising first, the nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, and body consciousness arising first—all with the mind consciousness behind them. After all have arisen, the seeds of the five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness arise simultaneously again, discriminating simultaneously. Thus the first five consciousnesses cognize the substantial matter composed of the four great elements, cognizing visible form; the mind consciousness cognizes the dharma-object—the dharma-āyatana-included form—manifesting upon the substantial matter of the four great elements, namely shape-form, expressive form, and avijñapti-rūpa, which differ essentially from those material sense-objects of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch mentioned before.