The Realization of Dharma Requires the Simultaneous Realization of the Sixth and Seventh Consciousnesses

The true realization of all dharmas is simultaneously attained and acknowledged by both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. If only the conscious mind believes something to be a certain way, while the mental faculty does not accept it, neither knowing nor understanding the principles acknowledged by the six consciousnesses, then the mental faculty has not been successfully permeated. It has not realized the Buddha Dharma, and no transformation can occur in body, mind, or the perceived world. This is because consciousness operates on a superficial level, its thinking is relatively shallow, and it lacks autonomy, relying entirely on the direction of the deeper mental faculty. If the mental faculty has not been successfully permeated, it will continue to govern all actions and activities of consciousness based on its original, ingrained perceptions. Thus, the independent views of consciousness alone cannot exert their proper effect.

The mental faculty is the sovereign consciousness, commonly referred to as the subconscious mind deep within. If the mental faculty, at its deepest level, acknowledges certain matters and principles, it will impel physical, verbal, and mental actions to align with those acknowledged principles. Although, before severing self-attachment, the mental faculty still harbors attachments and afflictions and cannot fully make choices according to realized principles, nevertheless, its fundamental perspective has already shifted. When the mental faculty severs afflictions and self-attachment, the inner sense of self dissolves, and the permeation is then completely successful.

The process of conscious thinking is the very process through which the mental faculty comes to understand principles. This is an essential and unavoidable process. Consciousness must think, and it must think deeply. Without thinking, the mental faculty cannot comprehend the principles. If principles understood by the conscious mind remain unknown to the mental faculty, physical, verbal, and mental actions will not change. The mental faculty must rely on the content and information processed by consciousness to grasp the principles understood by consciousness. If the conscious mind does not think, no information is transmitted to the mental faculty; it cannot discern, cannot comprehend the principles, cannot facilitate a shift in perspective, and thus physical, verbal, and mental actions remain unchanged. Therefore, in our cultivation and study of the Buddha Dharma, we must be adept at thinking, making good use of the conscious mind to contemplate and observe phenomena according to principle and Dharma. In practicing the Buddha Dharma, we must not allow consciousness to remain perpetually in a state of no-thought and no-awareness, nor leave it idle and useless. If we do, we cannot deeply comprehend the principles, and our wisdom will not grow.