The Harmonious Operation of Eye Consciousness and Mind Consciousness (Part 1)

When the eye faculty contacts material sense-objects (rūpa-viṣaya), this material sense-object is the inner material sense-object (inner rūpa-viṣaya) within the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the brain, and at this time the eye consciousness arises first to discern it. Because the tathāgatagarbha first manifests the manifest color (rūpa) of the material sense-object at the eye's supreme faculty, and this manifest color corresponds to the eye consciousness and is also what the eye consciousness discriminates, when faculty and sense-object contact each other, the eye consciousness arises first. After the eye consciousness arises, it discerns the manifest color of the inner material sense-object. At the same time, relying on the manifest color that has already been transformed and manifested, the tathāgatagarbha further manifests shape-color, expressive color, and non-expressive color on the basis of that manifest color; these three kinds of form are called mental sense-objects (dharma-viṣaya), or form included in the mental sense-object base (dharmāyatana).

Form included in the mental sense-object base corresponds to the manas and the mind consciousness; it is the object discerned by the mind consciousness and belongs to the mental sense-object. When the mental sense-object contacts the manas, the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness then discerns the form included in the mental sense-object base. Thus, when we see form, in the first instant the eye consciousness first contacts the manifest color on the inner material sense-object and discerns the manifest color first; in the second instant, the mind consciousness contacts the shape-color, expressive color, and non-expressive color on the inner material sense-object and discerns the form included in the mental sense-object base; then in the third instant, the eye consciousness continues to arise, and the mind consciousness also arises continuously. So in the third instant, the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness simultaneously discern the inner material sense-object; only when the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness operate in conjunction can the inner material sense-object as a whole be completely discerned.

Only when manifest color, shape-color, expressive color, and non-expressive color are simultaneously manifested on one material sense-object can a complete appearance of the material sense-object be formed. The eye consciousness and the mind consciousness must operate in conjunction, jointly discriminating this inner material sense-object, in order to know the manifest color, shape-color, expressive color, and non-expressive color of the inner material sense-object, and to discern the material sense-object completely and clearly. In the first instant and the second instant, the material sense-object cannot be discerned clearly, and one cannot see what kind of material sense-object it is; only at the third instant can one see a little bit clearly, because at the third instant the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness together discern the complete material sense-object.

The material sense-object discerned by each seed of consciousness is compared with the material sense-object discerned previously; only when the material sense-object discerned is somewhat more than before can the material sense-objects be connected front to back, so that the mind consciousness and the eye consciousness can know what the complete image of this form-appearance is. The seeds of consciousness flow forth one by one, discerning the material sense-object bit by bit; the material form discerned by the later eye consciousness seeds must be connected and compared with that discerned by the earlier eye consciousness seeds, and only after being connected can one know what the form-appearance is.

When the mind consciousness first begins to discern, it is not yet very clear; it cannot recollect and compare the material sense-object, nor can it analyze and judge. The first instant passes very quickly, the discernment is incomplete, and there is nothing to compare with, so it is blurry and vague; the second instant also passes very quickly, and there is still nothing to compare with, so it remains blurry and unclear; only at the third instant is a little bit discerned, knowing the general content. Only after the third instant is there content available for comparison, and only then can the images of the material sense-object be connected front to back, so that one can vaguely discern a bit of content and know what kind of material sense-object it is. Moreover, the third instant is discerned jointly by the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness, so the material sense-object as a whole can be discerned; then this form can present a complete shape, and one knows an extremely faint, approximate appearance of the material sense-object. In the subsequent fourth, fifth, and sixth instants, it is still the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness together that discern the inner material sense-object, and the discernment becomes somewhat clearer; the longer the discernment lasts, the clearer and more thorough it becomes.