Eye Consciousness, Manas, and Mind Consciousness Cooperate to See Forms

When the eye consciousness sees form, what it sees are manifest forms (rūpa): blue, yellow, red, and white; light and darkness; clouds, mist, smoke, and vapor, as well as empty space. Light is itself a kind of material substance, composed of the four great elements, arising and ceasing, changing, moment by moment—it is false and illusory.

The eye consciousness itself possesses the mental factor of volition (cetanā). After receiving the form sense-object, it cognizes the form sense-object, and then the mental factor of volition arises, deciding to act—whether to avoid it or to look at it a while longer. The eye consciousness works in close cooperation simultaneously with the manas and the mind consciousness. Without the manas's attention (manaskāra) and volition, there would be no arising of the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness, and thus no five universal mental factors of the eye consciousness, nor the five universal mental factors of the mind consciousness. When the eye consciousness sees form, the seventh consciousness cannot see form; when the mind consciousness analyzes, infers, and judges, the seventh consciousness cannot do these things. All seven consciousnesses possess the nature of discrimination—consciousness is called consciousness precisely because it discriminates and cognizes; otherwise it would not be called consciousness.