Explanation of the Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Revelation of Consciousness

Original text of the Sūtra: 贤护白佛言。世尊。众生虽知有识。如宝闭在箧中。不显不知。世尊。不知此识。作何形状。何故名识。众生死时。手足乱动。眼色变异。制不自由。诸根丧灭。诸大乖离。识迁于身。去至何所。自性如何。作何色相。云何舍离此身。更受余身。

"The eyes' color changes, and one cannot control oneself": the eyeballs become cloudy because the eye consciousness gradually disappears from the body; at this time the Ālayavijñāna and the manas must also depart one after another. When he tries to look at his family members and relatives, he can no longer see them; the eye consciousness vanishes without his being able to control it, but at this time his mind consciousness has not yet disappeared and still has awareness. At this point vision begins to become blurry, until in the end he can see nothing at all; the ears can no longer hear sounds either, and these functions gradually all cease. He knows he is about to die, yet he simply cannot exercise any control.

His manas was originally able to exercise control—why can it not do so at this time? The manas originally always insisted, "I want this, I don't want that," wanting to dominate this and control that, but at this moment it has no way to do so. This is called transmigrating according to karma: when the karmic conditions of death appear, the manas simply cannot exercise control. What is it that can exercise control? In fact, it is still the power of karma. And where does this karma come from? It is the karmic seeds of the five aggregates' karma-creating activities, collected and stored by the Ālayavijñāna, which are then transmitted out and manifest; that is to say, in reality what ultimately exercises control is still the Ālayavijñāna. Whatever five aggregates He produces in accordance with the karmic seeds, that is what five aggregates sentient beings will have; therefore He is the true master.

The manas is only a false, superficial master who appears to be in charge; it can only make decisions on certain minor matters, but when a real decision is needed, it cannot make it. At the time of death, the manas does not want to die, yet it must die all the same; when undergoing retribution for evil deeds, it does not want to undergo it, yet it still must undergo the evil retribution all the same—it can do nothing about these. However, the creation of karma by the five-aggregate body is decided by the manas, caused by the manas's ignorance; therefore the retribution is ultimately determined by the manas as well.

"The faculties perish, the great elements disperse." After the material body dies, the eye faculty no longer functions, and the Ālayavijñāna cannot produce inner material sense-objects through the eye faculty; at this time the inner material sense-object also ceases to exist, and the eye consciousness can no longer continue to arise. When faculty and sense-object contact each other, consciousness is generated; when the preceding gross physical faculty fails, and the supreme faculty at the back of the head also fails, can the external material sense-object still come in? It cannot come in, because the faculty can no longer perform its function of transmission.

Without the inner material sense-object, there is no eye consciousness, so he cannot see people. The ear faculty is the same: it too must decay and perish. Although the shape of the ear is still there, the transmitting nerves no longer function, so sounds cannot be transmitted in. When the ear faculty fails, the sound sense-object also disappears; sounds can no longer be transmitted to the supreme faculty to manifest as the inner sound sense-object, and the ear consciousness gradually disappears. The sounds he hears become fainter and fainter, until finally he can hear nothing. The nose faculty can also no longer perform its transmitting function; the odor sense-object cannot be transmitted in, and the nose consciousness gradually disappears. The tongue consciousness follows the same principle. Gradually the body faculty also ceases to function; the eighth consciousness no longer transmits the tactile sense-object, and without the tactile sense-object, the body consciousness also gradually ceases to function, and the entire body slowly loses all sensation.

What state is the manas in at this time? At this time the manas too has no way out. It knows perfectly well that this body can no longer be used, but it still holds on, because the mind consciousness has not yet perished. When the mind consciousness also perishes, the manas feels that there is no hope at all, and it will withdraw from the body; the Ālayavijñāna then follows and departs, for it cannot hold onto the material body alone—the Ālayavijñāna is the last to leave. Actually, it is not the last to leave; it departs simultaneously with the manas. If the manas is not present, the Ālayavijñāna immediately cannot hold the body and cannot remain in the material body; if the Ālayavijñāna were to leave first, then the manas could not exist either and must perish. The Ālayavijñāna cannot leave first, nor can it leave last; it must depart simultaneously with the manas.