The Neutral Feeling of the Eight Consciousnesses

The characteristic of neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā) is having no mind toward the object—neither feeling suffering nor feeling pleasure; it is a mental state that is neither painful nor pleasant. All eight consciousnesses have neutral feeling. The appearance of neutral feeling in the seventh consciousness is due, first, to the fact that He cannot make specific and detailed discriminations of the six sense objects; He is unable to perceive states of the six sense objects such as pain, sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and spiciness, and therefore there is no feeling of suffering or pleasure in His mind. Second, the objects He faces are calm and bland, not significant, and so there is no feeling of suffering or pleasure—only neutral feeling. Once the six consciousnesses discern a significant and especially meaningful state of the six sense objects—especially when it has extraordinary influence and meaning for the self—the manas will have feelings of suffering or pleasure rather than neutral feeling, and He will direct the six consciousnesses to manifest His own feelings of suffering or pleasure, such as dancing with joy and exuberance, trembling all over with rage, wailing and weeping in agony, and so on—all of these are the emotional outbursts of the manas.

The neutral feeling of the six consciousnesses differs slightly from that of the seventh consciousness. The six consciousnesses directly discern the six sense objects, and after discerning them, they do not feel that the six sense objects are particularly good or particularly bad; the mental state is somewhat neutral, peaceful, and moderate, feeling that the six sense objects may be present or absent, that the six sense objects will not have any effect on oneself—neither delighting in them nor being averse to them, and having no longing for them. In this way, the six consciousnesses feel neither suffering nor pleasure toward the six sense objects; this is the neutral feeling of the six consciousnesses.

The tathāgatagarbha also has neutral feeling, but the neutral feeling of the tathāgatagarbha is again different from that of the preceding seven consciousnesses. The neutral feeling of the tathāgatagarbha does not lie within the states of the six sense objects; the tathāgatagarbha does not correspond to the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects, because the tathāgatagarbha does not face the six sense objects, does not discriminate the six sense objects, and does not discern the six sense objects, and therefore does not experience the six sense objects. Thus the neutral feeling of the tathāgatagarbha is simply not experiencing the six sense objects—there is no feeling toward the six sense objects, and it is expediently called neutral feeling. The neutral feeling of the seven consciousnesses, however, is a feeling toward the six sense objects: when the seven consciousnesses face the six sense objects, they are neither interested nor averse—this is that kind of neutral feeling, a feeling that arises after discriminating the six sense objects but without specific discernment of them.

The neutral feeling of the tathāgatagarbha arises because He Himself cannot discriminate the good or bad, right or wrong, large or small, long or short, square or round of the six sense objects; therefore there is no feeling and no emotion in His own mind. The neutral feeling of the true mind and that of the deluded mind have this kind of difference. Neutral feeling means facing states with indifference—neither liking nor disliking them, but feeling that they do not matter. Seeing the six sense objects is fine, not seeing them is fine; having the six sense objects is fine, not having them is fine. The mind of the seven consciousnesses has this kind of feeling; this is called the neutral feeling of the seven consciousnesses.

This neutral feeling of the tathāgatagarbha is a feeling that does not discern specific states; He does not know what any specific thing ultimately is, has no definitions or concepts, and has no initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra); therefore the eighth consciousness has that plain and unremarkable kind of neutral feeling. The tathāgatagarbha also has another kind of neutral feeling, which is His neutral feeling after discernment. What does He discern? He discerns the sentient beings' faculties and physical bodies, the material environment, karmic seeds, and the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses. After discerning the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses, the tathāgatagarbha will not say that the seven consciousnesses are too pure, or consider that the mind of the seven consciousnesses is too defiled; therefore He will not generate feelings of liking or aversion toward the seven consciousnesses. His is a completely neutral feeling; He does not care at all how the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses are, and will still cooperate with the operation of the seven consciousnesses. After the tathāgatagarbha discerns the karmic seeds of sentient beings, He will not say that this karmic seed is very good or that karmic seed is very bad; therefore He will neither like the karmic seeds nor reject them, and will still output the karmic seeds as they truly are, bringing about the retribution that sentient beings deserve. This is the neutral feeling of the tathāgatagarbha.

When the tathāgatagarbha records and stores the karmic seeds of sentient beings, He will not say: this karmic seed is too terrible—if I record it, this sentient being will be in a miserable state in the future, so I will conceal it and not record it or store it. Nor will the tathāgatagarbha say: this karmic action created by the sentient being is so excellent that I must store it well and not let it be lost. Therefore, toward the karmic actions of sentient beings, the tathāgatagarbha will not generate feelings of pleasure or suffering; He is entirely in neutral feeling. When the tathāgatagarbha discerns the faculties, physical bodies, and material environment of sentient beings, He will not say how good this body and environment are, nor will He say that this body and environment are too terrible and that He should transform them into something better. Therefore, the tathāgatagarbha will not generate feelings of suffering or pleasure toward the faculties, physical bodies, and material environment; this too is completely neutral feeling.