Śrāvakas Cannot Directly Realize the True Self, the Eighth Consciousness

Faith is not the same as realization; having faith in the Buddha's words is not the same as realizing the Buddha's words. Having faith that the five aggregates are without self does not mean one has realized that the five aggregates are without self; having faith that the eighth consciousness is the true self does not mean one has realized that the eighth consciousness is the true self. Of course, faith also has levels: at the shallow level it is the faith of the mind consciousness, and at the deep level it is the faith of the manas. Even if the manas has faith, it still does not equal realization; the gap between faith and realization may be large or small, depending on who is the one having faith.

Śrāvakas, because they have faith in the Buddha's words, know that there is a true self—the imperishable eighth consciousness—but due to limitations in their mental capacity they cannot realize it directly; once they do realize it, they become bodhisattvas who have seen the path of the Great Vehicle. A śrāvaka is not the same as a bodhisattva. If a śrāvaka makes the resolve not to enter nirvāṇa without remainder, he can be a bodhisattva of the common teaching (tongjiao), but not a bodhisattva of the separate teaching (biejiao); only after realizing the eighth consciousness does he become a bodhisattva of the separate teaching.

When śrāvakas hear the Buddha's words, they know at that moment that there is an eighth consciousness which is the true self, but anything more detailed they do not know. They have not engaged in actual contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the eighth consciousness; they do not know what the true relationship between the five aggregates and the eighth consciousness is, nor do they know how the eighth consciousness gives birth to and sustains the existence and functioning of the five aggregates.

After śrāvakas have faith in the Buddha's words, they engage in detailed and subtle contemplative practice in meditative concentration (samādhi) on the impermanent, suffering, empty, and non-self nature of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, and finally reach the conclusion that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are indeed suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self. In this way they eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) that takes the five aggregates as self, attain purity of the dharma eye, and gain an initial capacity for and enjoyment of liberation.

Because śrāvakas have never engaged in actual contemplative practice on the eighth consciousness, and lack the ability to do so, they cannot arrive at a definitive conclusion as to whether the five aggregates are the eighth consciousness or not the eighth consciousness. Only after Great Vehicle bodhisattvas realize the eighth consciousness can they, as it truly is, contemplate that the self of the five aggregates and eighteen realms is an illusory self subject to arising and ceasing, and is indeed not the eighth consciousness. Before that, everything is faith in the Buddha's words—believing that what the Buddha taught is true.

When bodhisattvas attain the patience with the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) and specifically attain the wisdom of the varieties of paths, they can gradually and truthfully observe that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are in fact also the eighth consciousness, part of the functioning of the eighth consciousness. They can observe directly and presently how the eighth consciousness specifically flows forth the seeds of consciousness and the seeds of the four great elements, how it flows forth karmic seeds, forming the continuous functioning of the five aggregates and eighteen realms. Only then do they gradually realize that all dharmas are the eighth consciousness, that sentient beings are already within the one true dharma realm, and that all dharmas are the eighth consciousness, true suchness. Before that, everything is merely similar understanding, inference, speculation, imagination, and faith in the Buddha's words—it cannot be called direct realization.

Because śrāvakas have not engaged in actual contemplative practice on the eighth consciousness and have not realized the eighth consciousness, it is impossible for them to reach the conclusion that the five aggregates and the eighth consciousness are neither identical nor different. This definitive conclusion can only be reached by Great Vehicle bodhisattvas who have realized it directly. If a śrāvaka can reach this definitive conclusion, he immediately becomes a Great Vehicle bodhisattva of true meaning, a bodhisattva of the separate teaching.

Śrāvakas, through contemplative practice and investigation, realize that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are empty, but this emptiness does not refer to the emptiness/voidness (śūnyatā) nature of the eighth consciousness. Śrāvakas lack this wisdom and can only realize the kind of emptiness that is destruction and ruin—an emptiness that is not ultimate. Only Great Vehicle bodhisattvas can realize that the five aggregates are the emptiness nature of the eighth consciousness, contemplating the entirety of the five aggregates as the emptiness nature of the eighth consciousness. That would mean attaining the bhūmis and possessing the consciousness-only seed wisdom (ālaya-vijñāna seed wisdom), with very, very deep contemplative wisdom and very, very deep meditative concentration.

Without actually realizing the eighth consciousness, one cannot observe directly and presently whether the five aggregates are the eighth consciousness or not; unable to observe the functioning of the eighth consciousness within the body of the five aggregates, one cannot discern whether the five aggregates are different from or not different from the eighth consciousness. What is imagined is not direct realization; what is inferred is not direct realization; having faith in the Buddha's words and repeating the Buddha's words is not direct realization.

If one takes logical reasoning and inference as direct realization, then at the time of death the trouble will be enormous. At that point one will discover that everything is not what one usually imagined and believed. No matter how one scrambles in panic then, it will be of no avail. What is most terrifying is that, because one no longer has faith in the principles one previously studied and accepted, a mind of slandering the Buddha-dharma will arise, and one will then go to the evil destinies. Even Great Vehicle bodhisattvas, whose main practice is the study of the Great Vehicle, if they have not realized the Great Vehicle dharma, cannot truthfully observe what the relationship between the five aggregates and the eighth consciousness really is, or how exactly the five aggregates are different from or not different from the eighth consciousness. Reasoning cannot substitute for direct realization; otherwise, any worldly person with a bit of cleverness could realize the eighth consciousness and become a Great Vehicle bodhisattva—there would be no need to take refuge in the Three Jewels, no need to cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and all of the Buddha's preparatory teachings would be useless.