What Exactly Is the Thought-Free Spiritual Awareness Mind?

The eighth consciousness pervades all times, all places, all locations, all realms, and all dharmas. "Pervades all times" means the eighth consciousness exists moment by moment, never leaving sentient beings, never separating from the seventh consciousness (the mental faculty), and never departing from the five aggregates. "Pervades all places" means the eighth consciousness exists within all sentient beings of the three realms and nine abodes; every sentient being possesses the eighth consciousness. Every being dwelling within the three realms and nine abodes has the eighth consciousness. Even upon transcending the three realms and entering nirvana without residue, the eighth consciousness still exists, only the sentient being themselves is absent.

"Pervades all locations" means the eighth consciousness pervades the six sense faculties and also pervades the six sense objects. When the six sense faculties of a sentient being contact the six sense objects, the existence and manifestation of the eighth consciousness are present. "Pervades all realms" means the eighth consciousness is present on the six sense faculties, present on the six sense objects, and also present within the six consciousnesses. "Pervades all dharmas" means that as long as a dharma exists, regardless of whether it can be cognized, it is sustained by the eighth consciousness; whether it is form dharma or mind dharma, it is held by the eighth consciousness; whether it is conditioned dharma or unconditioned dharma, it is sustained by the eighth consciousness. As long as a dharma exists, all phenomena, events, principles, and things are sustained by the eighth consciousness.

Many people do not understand whether the thought-free, spiritually aware mind is the sixth consciousness or the eighth consciousness. Now we will analyze this thought-free, spiritually aware mind. "Thought-free" means there happens to be an absence of thoughts and delusions at that moment. "Spiritually aware" means a lucid knowing, knowing that one is thought-free, knowing that one has no thoughts, knowing that one is temporarily free from delusions and thinking. In the thought-free state, one can even perceive other states. So, how many consciousnesses exist within this thought-free state? Since the eighth consciousness pervades all times, it certainly exists at this moment; otherwise, the five aggregates would not exist, the seven consciousnesses would not exist, and the state of being thought-free would not occur.

Does the seventh consciousness exist at this time? Certainly, it does. Without the seventh consciousness, sentient beings would enter nirvana without residue, and the state of thought-free spiritual awareness simply could not occur. Does the sixth consciousness exist here? Of course, it does. Except for five circumstances where the sixth consciousness ceases: during dreamless sleep, coma, death, the state of no-thought concentration, and the state of extinction concentration. The state of thought-free spiritual awareness does not fall into these five categories, which indicates the mind of the sixth consciousness also exists. Moreover, the ability to know the state of being free from thoughts regarding the dharma-object (mental objects) further demonstrates that the knowing mind present during thought-free spiritual awareness is precisely the sixth consciousness. As for whether the first five consciousnesses exist during thought-free spiritual awareness, as long as one can perceive the existence of the objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, that perception is the function of the five consciousnesses.

Since during thought-free spiritual awareness, at least three consciousnesses exist—the eighth, the seventh, and the sixth—if someone claims to have attained enlightenment at this moment, which consciousness have they realized? Herein lies a significant difference. If realized correctly, it is the realization of the eighth consciousness; if realized incorrectly, it is the realization of the sixth consciousness. The seventh consciousness is generally not easy for ordinary people to realize, and the eighth consciousness is also difficult to realize; this requires special conditions. These special conditions are the six paramitas (perfections) spoken of by the Buddha. If one does not fulfill the conditions of the six paramitas, it is impossible to realize the eighth consciousness, one cannot illuminate the mind to become a true meaning great bodhisattva, one cannot transcend the state of an ordinary being, and thus one cannot ensure never falling into the three evil paths in the future.

If a person's practice lacks sufficient merit, they do not uphold the precepts, their mental disposition is not yet good enough, their patience is insufficient, and they lack diligence in cultivating generosity, precepts, patience, meditative concentration, and wisdom, if their meditative concentration does not even reach the preliminary dhyāna (access concentration), if their knowledge and view of the Buddhadharma are incomplete, and if they do not understand the intrinsic nature of the eighth consciousness, then it is conceivable that such a person absolutely cannot realize the eighth consciousness, no matter what. If someone believes they have attained realization at this time, they must carefully examine which consciousness they have realized. Only after fully learning and comprehending the intrinsic nature of all eight consciousnesses can one judge one's own realization or that of others and know what has truly been realized.