The Subjectively Imagined Realm Is a Virtual Image Presented Within the Supreme Faculty

Question: Is the subjectively imagined realm manifested within the supreme faculty (indriya)? Does it have its own separate seeds?

Answer: The subjectively imagined realm is manifested within the supreme faculty, and it does have its own separate seeds. The subjectively imagined realm does not belong to the mental sense-objects associated with the five dusts (sense objects); it is unrelated to the five dusts. It is not the form included in the mental sphere (dharma-āyatana) within the supreme faculty; rather, it originates from separate karmic seeds. It is the mental sense-object discerned solely by the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta), not the mental sense-object discerned jointly with the five sense consciousnesses. However, the subjectively imagined realm is also affected by the supreme faculty: when the supreme faculty has an obstruction, the subjectively imagined realm that manifests is distorted. For example, people with cerebellar atrophy often experience hallucinations; the subjectively imagined realms they discern are all non-valid cognition, not conforming to actual reality. After the patient discriminates the confused and disordered subjectively imagined realm, erroneous notions arise, and they will speak incoherently, unlike a normal person.

Because the manas usually contacts the mental sense-objects at the brain and discerns the mental sense-objects at the brain, and the mind consciousness likewise discerns the mental sense-objects at the brain, without going beyond the brain; and since both the manas and the mind consciousness can contact the subjectively imagined realm, the subjectively imagined realm also does not leave the brain. Therefore, when the brain has a pathological change, the subjectively imagined realm becomes disordered. The subjectively imagined realm forms an image in a separate region within the brain's supreme faculty, not together with the five dusts, nor together with the form included in the mental sphere associated with the five dusts. The consciousness that discerns the mental sense-objects upon the five dusts is the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna); the one that discerns the subjectively imagined realm is the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta). Although their names differ, in essence they are one consciousness; and although it is one consciousness, it can simultaneously discern both the mental sense-objects upon the five dusts and the subjectively imagined realm. The seeds of the subjectively imagined realm come separately from the tathāgatagarbha, and are not the same seeds that generate the five dusts.

When our mind is tranquil, we can observe: whenever our mind stirs, or when we set the mind in motion, does it not simultaneously tug at the pulsing of the brain's nerves, then the pulsing of the facial nerves, and only afterward the corresponding reactions of the hands, feet, and the whole body? If so, this shows that the movement of the mind can drive the movement of the material body. When the mind moves, there is also the movement of the solitary consciousness and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses, as well as the movement of the manas. Then the conscious mind does not leave the brain, and the images of the six sense-objects and the subjectively imagined realm do not leave the brain.

The "sparks before the eyes" (seeing stars) are a subjectively imagined realm, produced due to material form (rūpa). When a person's blood pressure is abnormal and dizziness occurs, sometimes they will see stars before their eyes; in reality this is a hallucination, and no real stars exist. Yet this subjectively imagined realm of stars is still related to material form and to the brain. So where do the stars appear? They should also appear within the brain, because neither the manas nor the consciousness goes beyond the brain in conditioning all mental sense-objects. When the brain is diseased or obstructed, or lacks nutrition, the mind consciousness cannot recall things, and the subjectively imagined realm does not manifest. This shows that the subjectively imagined realm is closely related to the material form of the brain. From another perspective, when we are recollecting and daydreaming, the brain waves fluctuate, which shows that the discernment of the subjectively imagined realm by the manas and the mind consciousness affects the brain; thus the subjectively imagined realm also forms an image within the brain—it is a virtual image.

If the subjectively imagined realm does not appear within the brain, then it appears outside the body. So can the subjectively imagined realm appear outside the body, in empty space? Can the six consciousnesses discern outside the body, in empty space? Can the manas operate outside the body, in empty space? If the manas and the mind consciousness could discern in empty space, then the consciousness in empty space could be shared by everyone, without distinction between self and others. After you discern something, I would know it; when you are full, I would not be hungry—in fact, this is impossible. If you decide to cultivate, I would have decided too; if you attain enlightenment, I would have attained it too, because it would be a consciousness in empty space, with no distinction between you and me. When I am contemplating the Buddha in my mind, the Buddha's thirty-two marks are my subjectively imagined realm. If the subjectively imagined realm were in empty space, then everyone could see it; everyone would also be contemplating the Buddha, and all would have the merit and benefit thereof—in fact, this is impossible. Even the empty space we see is the empty space within the supreme faculty, not outside the mind; the empty space discerned by the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness is also within the supreme faculty, also an image. In summary, the subjectively imagined realm is an image within the supreme faculty, a virtual mark, and is not real.