A Commentary on the Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness

Original text: 贤护。众生身死。识持受觉法界。以至他生。因父母缘。而识托之。受觉法界。皆随于识。亦复如是。如从花胜力。而鼻有嗅。从嗅胜力。而得香境。又如从风身胜力。得风色触。因风胜力。香得至远。如是从识有受。从受有觉。从觉有法。遂能了知。善与不善。

Explanation: The Buddha said, "Xianhu, when sentient beings' physical bodies die, consciousness carries the seeds of feeling, perception, and the dharmas realm to the next life. Through the conditions of father and mother, consciousness lodges itself therein, and feeling, perception, and the dharmas realm all follow consciousness—likewise. Just as from the superior power of a flower the nose has the ability to smell, and from the superior power of smelling the fragrant object is obtained; and just as from the superior power of the wind body, contact between wind and form is obtained, and by the superior power of wind, fragrance travels far. Thus from consciousness there is feeling, from feeling there is perception, from perception there are dharmas, and thereby one can know what is wholesome and what is unwholesome."

The ālayavijñāna contains the seeds of feeling, perception, and the dharmas realm. When the conditions ripen, it outputs the karmic seeds of feeling and perception along with the seeds of the six consciousnesses; feeling and perception then appear, and sentient beings have the functions of feeling and perception. The seeds of the body faculty first give rise to the body faculty in dependence on the conditions of father and mother; then the seeds of consciousness are also successively born and begin to function. The seeds of the four faculties—eye, ear, nose, and tongue—arise in dependence on the body faculty; and in dependence on the conditions of the six faculties and six sense objects, the seeds of the six consciousnesses also begin to exert their functions. In this way, the feeling, perception, and dharmas realm arise once again.

Because a flower has fragrance and the nose faculty has the function of smell, relying on the smelling nature of the nose faculty and the power of the nose consciousness, we are able to smell the flower's fragrant object. The nose faculty takes in the scent-object of the flower's fragrance; faculty and object make contact, and the nose consciousness is born and discerns the scent-object, thereby taking in the appearance of the scent-object and perceiving the flower's fragrance. Through the functions of the nose consciousness and the mind consciousness, the appearance of the scent-object is taken and the fragrant object is obtained. Only with consciousness can something be obtained; without consciousness, nothing can be obtained. "Obtaining" means taking an appearance, grasping.

Because the wind element itself has the power of conveyance, wind and form make contact; once wind and flower touch, the flower's fragrance drifts elsewhere. By the same principle, the ālayavijñāna also has the function of conveying seeds. After a person dies, the ālayavijñāna makes contact with the karmic seeds and carries the five aggregates to another physical body in another world. Because of the wind's propulsion, the flower's fragrance can drift very far away. Likewise, because of the ālayavijñāna, the seeds of feeling, perception, and the dharmas realm can be transferred to another physical body. The wind element is a metaphor for the ālayavijñāna, the flower is a metaphor for the body faculty, and the flower's fragrance represents the seeds of feeling, perception, the dharmas realm, and the five aggregates. The nose faculty has the nature of smelling because of the function of the nose consciousness; only thereby can we smell fragrance and have awareness. This shows that feeling and perception are the functions of the six consciousnesses: the six consciousnesses can take in the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and the six sense objects can manifest upon the mind consciousness.

Original text: 贤护。众生身死。识持受觉法界。以至他生。因父母缘。而识托之。受觉法界。皆随于识。亦复如是。如从花胜力。而鼻有嗅。从嗅胜力。而得香境。又如从风身胜力。得风色触。因风胜力。香得至远。如是从识有受。从受有觉。从觉有法。遂能了知。善与不善。

Why can the six consciousnesses take in the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas? Because there is a physical body and six faculties, and because there is the tathāgatagarbha, the ālayavijñāna—the ālayavijñāna can convey the six sense objects over, and the six consciousnesses arise in dependence on them; feeling and perception then appear, and the object-realm manifests. This shows that the ālayavijñāna can transform and generate the six sense objects, and can also transform and generate the six consciousnesses; only the six consciousnesses can take in the six sense objects. From the ālayavijñāna, feeling can arise; from feeling there is awareness; with awareness, appearances can manifest. For example, when the ālayavijñāna conveys a sound over, faculty and object make contact and the ear consciousness arises; the ear consciousness hears the sound and there is feeling; with feeling there must be sensation, and the sound manifests upon the ear consciousness. Because there is the nose consciousness, the scent-object can be discerned and can manifest. From perception there are dharmas: because there is awareness, the dharmas of the six sense objects appear. "Dharmas" represents the six sense objects, and "perception" represents the six consciousnesses.

The awareness of the six consciousnesses means: the eye consciousness can see, the ear consciousness can hear, the nose consciousness can smell, the tongue consciousness can taste, the body consciousness can feel, and the mind consciousness can know—this is called perception. What dharmas are there from the eye consciousness? The form sense-object appears. Without the eye consciousness, could you know there is a form sense-object? When the eye consciousness takes in the form sense-object, the form sense-object appears. For instance, only with the eye consciousness can one take in the appearance of a cup on the table; without the eye consciousness, could that appearance of the cup be taken? Then one would not know there is a cup. Only with the appearance of the eye consciousness can the cup be discerned; the eye consciousness takes in the cup's appearance—this is the eye consciousness taking in the form sense-object.

Another example: because there is the ear consciousness, sounds can be heard, and the ear consciousness takes in the sound sense-object. Without consciousness, could anything be taken in? This process of taking in is the process of perception (saṃjñā): one is the function of knowing, and the other is the function of taking an appearance. Perception is the mental factor of perception (saṃjñā), and can also be called the aggregate of perception. The aggregate of perception first discerns; after discerning, it knows what this is—that is the taking; after discriminating, the appearance is taken, and then a name is assigned to it. This is the entire process of perception. With the nose consciousness, the scent-object can be taken in; with the body consciousness, such touch-objects as the warmth of sunlight, hunger, thirst, and fatigue can be taken in. Because there is the mind consciousness, which takes in the mental sense-object, all dharmas can be known—thus one knows the wholesome and unwholesome, the true and false, the good and bad.