After the Six Consciousnesses Engage in Activity, Which Changes First: the Inner or the Outer Representation?

There is a saying: affliction is itself bodhi. "Affliction" on the one hand refers to greed, hatred, and delusion, killing, arson, and other such unwholesome dharmas, and on the other hand refers to everyday trivial matters such as eating, drinking, and bodily functions. "Bodhi" refers to the tathāgatagarbha. All dharmas are manifested and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha, and the outer representation is no exception. Thus the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the outer representation are all accomplished by the tathāgatagarbha, and the inner representation, of course, is also manifested and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha. All the changes of mountains, rivers, and the great earth are the doing of the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha; the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of all dharmas are all the doing of the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha.

The six consciousnesses can never directly alter the outer representation, because there are no seeds within the six consciousnesses and they do not correspond to the outer representation; moreover, the six consciousnesses are dharmas that arise later—there must first be an inner representation before the six consciousnesses can exist. Therefore, the six consciousnesses cannot possibly directly alter the outer representation. But within the tathāgatagarbha there are the seeds of the four great elements and the seeds of the seven great elements; therefore, all dharmas are decided by the tathāgatagarbha. So the direction for investigating these questions is already very clear. Since the six consciousnesses can only make contact with the inner representation and cannot make contact with the outer representation, how is it that the actions and creations of the six consciousnesses can still involve changes in the outer representation? Herein lies a great secret.

When my hand picks up a book from the table, the hand can only make contact with the inner representation of the book—what is picked up is the book of the inner representation. Yet the book of the outer representation is no longer on the table, and others can no longer see it or pick it up. What, then, is the connection between the inner and outer representations? Which comes first, the inner representation or the outer representation? Naturally, the outer representation comes first. Which changes first, the outer representation or the inner representation? Naturally, the outer representation changes first. Where does the inner representation come from? Of course, it is manifested by the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the outer representation. Therefore, in the change of any dharma, the outer representation must change first; then the changed outer representation is transmitted through the gross physical sense organs to the supreme faculty, thereby forming the inner representation.

But my hand cannot make contact with the book of the outer representation, so how could it first cause the book of the outer representation to change, thereby inducing a change in the book of the inner representation? Take another example: when the six consciousnesses create the karma of killing a person, the six consciousnesses can only make contact with the person's inner representation, not the person's outer representation. So how do the six consciousnesses cause the person's outer representation to also cease? Moreover, it is the person's outer representation that ceases and is destroyed first, and only afterward can the person's inner representation subsequently cease or be destroyed. Because the inner representation comes from the outer representation and is manifested in dependence on the outer representation, it must certainly be that the outer representation changes first, and only then can the inner representation follow and change. This great secret is left for those with the karmic affinity to investigate carefully; no more can be written about it here.