True Awareness and Deluded Awareness

Awareness is divided into true awareness and false awareness. False awareness refers to the first seven consciousnesses, while true awareness is the eighth consciousness. For ordinary beings, the eighth consciousness lacks the function of introspecting upon itself, and thus it is said that He has no self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). Self-validating cognition is the ability to verify one's own existence, to perceive one's own existence and operation. A mind that can perceive its own existence is a mind with the nature of self; it is a mind that acknowledges itself, a mind capable of self-validating its own existence.

The mind consciousness can observe the mental sense-objects (dharmas), observe states of experience, observe the five sense consciousnesses and the seventh consciousness, and after seeing the mind, it can observe the eighth consciousness. The mind consciousness can also observe itself, so it not only has self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) but also self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana); it can know that it is knowing the states of mental sense-objects, know its own operating state, and know its own mental activities. The true awareness of the eighth consciousness, however, has no nature of self; He is a mind without self-nature, never considering Himself to be real, never perceiving His own existence, never acting as a master, and never observing the six sense-objects. Therefore, within the six sense-objects, the eighth consciousness has neither self-cognition nor self-validating cognition. Because He is not aware of the six sense-objects, He does not give rise to thoughts or mental activity toward states of experience; He has no notions, no views and opinions, is pure and undefiled, has no afflictions or habitual tendencies, and has no ignorance.

After seeing the mind and awakening to the Path, as wisdom grows, one will observe that the seventh and eighth consciousnesses also have self-validating cognition, yet they do not introspect upon themselves within the states of the six sense-objects. The general principle in studying the Mahāyāna Dharma is that the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, is not a worldly mind within the five aggregates and eighteen realms; it is a mind without the nature of self, and He does not consider that there is a self or what belongs to the self. The seven consciousnesses, however, all have the nature of self, always saying "how I am this or that," always speaking of "me and mine," all having a self and what belongs to the self.

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