How does the feeling of hunger arise?

After food is digested in the stomach, the stomach becomes empty. The manas discerns this condition, and the perception wishes to make further distinctions, so the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the body consciousness and the mind consciousness to discern the sense-object of hunger. When the body faculty contacts the sense-object of hunger, at the same time the manas contacts the dharma-object upon that sense-object; the tathāgatagarbha produces the body consciousness and the mind consciousness, and these two consciousnesses feel the sense-object of hunger. After discerning it, the mind consciousness produces verbal designations and concepts, defining this condition as hunger, and decides that one should eat; it then transmits this information to the manas. The manas contacts, attends, feels, and perceives; after deliberation (manasikāra/manana), it concludes that one should eat, and thus decides to eat. The tathāgatagarbha cooperates with the manas, gives birth to the six consciousnesses, and the eight consciousnesses operate in harmony, arranging the matter of eating.

Both fullness and hunger are sense-objects, one of the six sense-objects. How do they arise? When we eat and take food into the stomach, the stomach contacts the food and can feel the food—whether it is full or not full. This is actually also the feeling of the body consciousness. When it is full, that is the sense-object of fullness; afterwards, the food is gradually digested, and when the food has all been digested, the stomach becomes empty, the body consciousness feels hunger, and food is needed to fill the stomach.

Of course, the body consciousness alone cannot yet feel the sense-object; the mind consciousness must also be present to feel it in coordination. At the same time, dharma-objects also manifest upon the sense-object, and the manas faces them; when faculty and object contact each other, the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to the body consciousness and the mind consciousness to feel the phenomenon of hunger. The six sense-objects are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, and the sense-object of contact is likewise manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. Sense-objects such as hunger, thirst, cold, and heat follow the same principle: they are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha according to the specific conditions of the body and the environment. Then the body faculty contacts these sense-objects, the manas contacts the dharma-objects upon them, and the tathāgatagarbha produces the body consciousness and the mind consciousness; we then feel these sense-objects of hunger, thirst, cold, and heat.

In short, the tathāgatagarbha produces the six faculties and produces the six sense-objects; when the six faculties contact the six sense-objects, the six consciousnesses are then produced. Only when the three—faculty, object, and consciousness—contact in harmony can sentient beings' five aggregates carry out their various discriminating activities. Therefore, all dharmas are the wondrous function of the tathāgatagarbha.