Selected Lectures on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra
Volume One: The Basic Ground Section — The Ground of Association with the Five Consciousnesses
Original text:云何五识身相应地。谓五识身自性。彼所依。彼所缘。彼助伴。彼作业。何等为五识身耶。所谓眼识。耳识。鼻识。舌识。身识。
Explanation: What is the ground of association with the five consciousnesses? It includes five aspects: the self-nature of the five consciousnesses; what the five consciousnesses depend upon; what the five consciousnesses take as object; the associates of the five consciousnesses; and the activities of the five consciousnesses. What are the five consciousnesses? They are the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, and body consciousness. The ground with which the five consciousnesses are associated is the desire-realm ground. "Ground" refers to the nine grounds within the three realms. The three realms are the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. The nine grounds are: one ground in the desire realm; in the form realm, the first dhyāna heaven is the second ground, the second dhyāna heaven is the third ground, the third dhyāna heaven is the fourth ground, and the fourth dhyāna heaven is the fifth ground; adding the four grounds of the four formless heavens of the formless realm makes nine grounds.
What does the ground associated with the five consciousnesses refer to? It refers to the desire-realm ground. Only sentient beings in the desire realm possess the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body consciousnesses, with all five consciousnesses complete. The devas of the first dhyāna heaven in the form realm have no nose consciousness or tongue consciousness; they have only the three consciousnesses of eye, ear, and body, plus the mind consciousness, the seventh consciousness, and the eighth consciousness. Devas of the second dhyāna heaven and above likewise have no nose consciousness or tongue consciousness. Therefore, the ground associated with the five consciousnesses is the desire-realm ground, not including the form realm and the formless realm.
The content of the ground of association with the five consciousnesses includes five aspects: the self-nature of the five consciousnesses; what the five consciousnesses depend upon; what the five consciousnesses take as object; the associates of the five consciousnesses; and the activities of the five consciousnesses. The self-nature of the five consciousnesses is what the intrinsic nature of the five consciousnesses is, what tasks they can perform, and what functions they have. The self-nature of the five consciousnesses is one of discernment, possessing the function of discrimination; this is called the self-nature of the five consciousnesses. What the five consciousnesses depend upon means what dharmas the five consciousnesses rely upon in order to arise. The five consciousnesses must rely on the five faculties—specifically the subtle form faculties, that is, the supreme faculties (indriya)—for the five consciousnesses to arise. What the five consciousnesses take as object refers to what dharmas the five consciousnesses cling to and take as object; the five consciousnesses take as object the five material sense-objects of form, and specifically the inner material sense-objects.
The associates of the five consciousnesses refer to the dharmas that can assist the operation of the five consciousnesses, help the five consciousnesses operate and manifest, and help the five consciousnesses perform their discriminating and discerning functions; these are called associates. The associates of the five consciousnesses are the mental factors (caittas) of the five consciousnesses: attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā). The activities of the five consciousnesses refer to what the five consciousnesses can do and what functions they can perform. The activity of the five consciousnesses is discernment and discrimination—the ability to discern the five sense-objects. These five aspects together are named the ground of association with the five consciousnesses, which is the desire-realm ground, because only in the desire realm are the five sense-objects complete. What are the five consciousnesses? They are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body consciousnesses; these five consciousnesses are associated with the desire-realm ground.
Original text:云何眼识自性。谓依眼了别色。彼所依者。俱有依。谓眼。等无间依。谓意。
Explanation: Specifically speaking of the self-nature of the eye consciousness: the self-nature of the eye consciousness means relying on the eye faculty to discern forms. What the eye consciousness depends upon is the eye faculty. For the eye consciousness to arise, the eye faculty must first exist. This faculty refers to the subtle form faculty, that is, the supreme faculty located at the back of the brain. The Ālayavijñāna manifests an image of the material sense-object at the supreme faculty, called the inner material sense-object. Only when the supreme faculty contacts the inner material sense-object can the eye consciousness be generated by the Ālayavijñāna. Therefore, the supreme faculty of the eye is the coexistent support (sahabhū-āśraya) of the eye consciousness; as soon as the eye consciousness arises, it has the supreme eye faculty as its support.
The immediate condition (samanantara-pratyaya) support of the eye consciousness is the manas. This meaning is very profound: it means that throughout the process of the eye consciousness's arising and operation, it constantly relies on the manas. It arises depending on the manas's attention and volition, and after arising it operates moment by moment following the manas's directives, never for a single instant separated or interrupted from the manas. Wherever the manas points, the eye consciousness goes there. The consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) assists in seeing forms, with no dharma in between serving as a conduit or intermediary. Whatever the manas allows to be seen, the eye consciousness sees; what it does not allow, the eye consciousness does not see. The eye consciousness operates entirely in a mechanical mode, having no views of its own, like a rigid observation device. Therefore, the eye consciousness has neither wholesome nor unwholesome nature; it has only an indeterminate (avyākṛta) nature, itself creating neither wholesome karma nor unwholesome karma, only indeterminate karma. If the eye consciousness truly had wholesome and unwholesome karma, it would be at the instigation of the manas, reflecting the manas's wholesome and unwholesome mental actions. Therefore, the manas possesses the full set of wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, and does not have only an indeterminate nature.
Why can the manas direct the eye consciousness to see forms, and selectively at that? Because the manas can universally take all dharmas as object, and can take as object all dharmas manifested by the eighth consciousness, including the five sense-object realms. When the eighth consciousness manifests a car speeding toward one, the manas discerns it and reaches determination (adhimokṣa), judging that there is danger, and immediately formulates a response in mind. When the image of the car enters the supreme faculty, the manas immediately issues a directive to urgently turn the steering wheel to avoid the car. Thereupon the eighth consciousness generates the five consciousnesses and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses to cooperate fully, turning the steering wheel and averting an accident. Afterwards, the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) calms down, recalls the scene just now, feels lingering fear, and is also amazed at how the operation was just performed. This shows that the entire series of operations just now was completely controlled by the manas. Not only did the five consciousnesses not know what was happening, neither did the consciousness accompanied by the five senses, nor the solitary consciousness—yet the matter was accomplished. From this series of operations, one can see that the manas possesses all mental factors, including the five object-specific mental factors; otherwise He could not operate all affairs.
Original text:种子依。谓即此一切种子。执受所依。异熟所摄。阿赖耶识。
Explanation: The seed support of the eye consciousness refers to the intrinsic seeds of the eye consciousness itself. The operation of the eye consciousness is formed by the momentary arising and ceasing of countless eye-consciousness seeds: the first consciousness seed arises and in that instant ceases at the very place of its arising; then the second eye-consciousness seed arises at the same location and in an instant ceases there; the third seed arises at the same location and ceases at the same place. In this way, countless eye-consciousness seeds arise and cease moment by moment at the same location, forming the eye consciousness, and only then does the eye consciousness have the capacity for discrimination.
The preceding eye-consciousness seed opens and guides the position ahead, and only then can the following eye-consciousness seed arise at that position. Thus the preceding eye-consciousness seed serves as the opening-and-guiding support (āśraya) of the following seed, also called the immediate condition support (samanantara-āśraya). All eye-consciousness seeds are called opening-and-guiding supports or immediate condition supports, except the last seed. When the first eye consciousness arises, it cannot discern the material sense-object; when the second seed arises, it discerns a little; when the third seed arises, the discernment is settled, and at that point form is known.
The seed support of the eye consciousness means: upon what dharma do the seeds of the eye consciousness rely in order to arise? What dharma can generate the seeds, and where do the seeds come from? What is a seed? A seed is the most basic constituent that produces material form (rūpa) and mind (citta). The eye consciousness has eye-consciousness seeds, the ear consciousness has ear-consciousness seeds, the nose consciousness has nose-consciousness seeds—each consciousness has its own intrinsic seeds. Therefore, the eye consciousness must have eye-consciousness seeds in order to be produced.
All the seeds needed by the eye consciousness come from the Ālayavijñāna, also called the vipāka-consciousness (retributive consciousness). Within the Ālayavijñāna there are consciousness seeds—one of the seeds of the seven great elements—which, when transmitted out, form the seven consciousnesses, so that sentient beings can have the function of discernment. The self-nature of the eye consciousness must rely on seeds for the eye consciousness to be produced. For the seeds to generate the eye consciousness and make it operate, there must be a place of reliance—that is, the basis that all the seeds of the eye consciousness grasp and accept as their support, which is the Ālayavijñāna, the vipāka-consciousness. The seeds must rely on the unborn and unceasing Ālayavijñāna in order to exist, be transmitted, and operate, and to form the intrinsic body of the eye consciousness. That is to say, the Ālayavijñāna and the vipāka-consciousness are what the eye-consciousness seeds depend upon.
The name Ālayavijñāna is used before the eighth bhūmi bodhisattva stage; within it are contained the seven consciousnesses' afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, or the habitual tendencies of such afflictions. Before the eighth bhūmi, we call it the Ālayavijñāna. After the eighth bhūmi it is called the vipāka-consciousness. The vipāka-consciousness also has eye-consciousness seeds and can produce the eye consciousness. The bodhisattvas from the eighth bhūmi up to the buddha stage all have eye-consciousness seeds, able to produce the eye consciousness and perform the function of seeing forms. At the buddha stage it is no longer called the vipāka-consciousness but the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna).
Within the vipāka-consciousness there are seeds of transformational birth-and-death (parināma-maraṇa); birth and death have not yet been exhausted. The meaning of "vipāka" (retribution) is this: the karma we create now is stored as karmic seeds in the vipāka-consciousness, and retribution is received only when the conditions ripen in the future. The time of receiving retribution is at another time, called "different time" (vipāka at a different time)—retribution can only be received in the future, whether in one's later years or in a future life; only then do the karmic conditions ripen and the retribution manifest. Or the retribution is received in a different place: we create karma in the Sahā world or in the human world, and in a future life receive evil retribution in the hells, or good retribution in the heavens, or still receive retribution in a similar kind of body, with only the location changed. Retribution in a different kind of body means the type of material body that creates the karma and the type that receives the retribution are different—not a body of the same kind of sentient being. Thus the mind-basis that contains karmic seeds ripening at different times, in different places, and in different kinds of bodies is called the vipāka-consciousness.
Original text:如是略说两种所依。谓色。非色。眼是色。余非色。眼。谓四大种所造眼识所依净色。无见有对。
Explanation: The objects upon which the eye consciousness depends for its arising are two: one is material form, the other is non-material form. Material form is the eye faculty. The eye faculty refers to the supreme faculty of the eye, not the gross faculty (the physical eye); of course, it also cannot be separated from the gross faculty of the eye. If the gross faculty is intact but the supreme faculty is damaged, the eye consciousness still cannot arise; for the eye consciousness to arise, there must be an intact supreme faculty.
Because the eye consciousness is produced at the supreme faculty located at the back of the brain, only when the supreme faculty is intact can the Ālayavijñāna take in the external material sense-object and transform it into the inner material sense-object at that location. Only when the inner material sense-object contacts the supreme faculty of the eye does the Ālayavijñāna produce the eye consciousness. The supreme faculty at the location where the Ālayavijñāna produces the eye consciousness is also constituted by the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind; the area at the back of the head belongs to material form, and all material form is constituted by the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. This supreme faculty is a subtle form faculty, a pure form; it is "invisible yet resistant" (anidarśana-sapratigha). "Invisible" means it cannot be seen by the naked eye, because it is inside the back of the head; a doctor can see it through surgery, or a person with supernatural powers can see it, but ordinary people's eyes cannot see it. "Resistant" means it corresponds to the material sense-object.
Original text:意。谓眼识无间过去识。一切种子识。谓无始时来乐著戏论熏习为因。所生一切种子异熟识。
Explanation: The non-material form upon which the eye consciousness depends is the eye consciousness's immediate condition support and its own seeds, and the seed support—the Ālayavijñāna, the vipāka-consciousness. The immediate condition support means that eye-consciousness seeds arise and cease one after another continuously, operating with equal continuity without interruption; the later seed must rely on the preceding seed to open and guide its position, forming the continuous flow (stream) of eye-consciousness seeds and giving rise to the discriminating nature of the eye consciousness. The support of all seeds means the eye consciousness must rely on the Ālayavijñāna, the vipāka-consciousness, to produce its eye-consciousness seeds. The Ālayavijñāna that contains all seeds—since beginningless kalpas, because the seven consciousnesses delighted in and clung to the conceptual proliferation (prapañca) of the five aggregates and the three-realm world, being perfumed by it as a cause, and created karmic actions taking the false as true.
Taking this as cause, the Ālayavijñāna stored the karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses, received the perfuming, and became the Ālayavijñāna containing seeds of arising and ceasing karma, becoming the vipāka-consciousness capable of producing sentient beings' karmic retribution. "The vipāka-consciousness of all seeds thus produced" refers to the eighth consciousness, that is, the Ālayavijñāna. Because sentient beings delight in conceptual proliferation, taking illusory dharmas as real, playing in the three-realm world, engaging in proliferating concepts since beginningless kalpas, taking the five aggregates as real dharmas and the world as real, and then creating bodily, verbal, and mental actions—the karmic seeds are stored into the eighth consciousness. Taking this proliferation as cause, the Ālayavijñāna containing seeds of arising and ceasing was formed. This Ālayavijñāna is precisely the non-material form upon which the eye consciousness depends.
Original text:彼所缘者。谓色。有见有对。此复多种。略说有三。谓显色。形色。表色。表色者。谓青黄赤白。光影明暗。云烟尘雾。及空一显色。形色者。谓长短方圆。粗细正不正高下色。表色者。谓取舍屈伸。行走坐卧。如是等色。
Explanation: What the eye consciousness takes as object is form—taking material form as object, corresponding to the inner material sense-object, contacting the inner material sense-object. This material sense-object is visible and resistant; it corresponds to the eye consciousness, which can see it and discriminate it. Broadly speaking, form includes three kinds—actually four kinds; here three are briefly discussed: one is visible form (niyata-rūpa), one is shape-form (saṃsthāna-rūpa), and one is expressive form (vijñapti-rūpa). There is also a fourth kind, the unexpressed form (avijñapti-rūpa), which is not discussed here. What is visible form? "Visible" means it can be displayed and seen, including the colors of blue, yellow, red, and white; light, shadow, brightness, and darkness—all belong to visible form. Clouds, smoke, dust, and mist also belong to material sense-objects, corresponding to the eye consciousness.
"The visible form of empty space" refers to empty space, voidness. Because empty space is the boundary-aspect of form, this boundary-aspect of form also corresponds to the eye consciousness and is an object discerned by the eye consciousness. Empty space is not truly existent, but the eye consciousness can see that there is nothing there, that it is void. The eye consciousness can discriminate whether there is a material sense-object opposite; where there is an object there is form, where there is no object there is emptiness. Therefore the eye consciousness can discriminate voidness, and this emptiness is also a kind of visible form. Visible form is blue, yellow, red, and white; light, shadow, brightness, and darkness; clouds, smoke, dust, and mist, as well as empty space, and so on.
Shape-form: "shape" is the shape of things. This shape includes the material forms of large and small, long and short, square and round, coarse and fine, high and low, straight and crooked. For example: the appearance of a pot of flowers and the form of its branches, the shape of flower stems; the height, stoutness or slenderness of a human body, and the body's various postures; the shapes of objects such as long, short, square, round, and so on. These shape-forms are not what the eye consciousness can discriminate. The eye consciousness can only discriminate direct-perception objects, whereas shape-forms must be judged through analysis, comparison, and deliberation. There is no absolute tall or short, fat or thin, long or short; conclusions are reached through comparison.
For example, a pencil compared with a wooden stick is short, but compared with a match it is long; without comparison, one cannot define whether the pencil is long or short. The capacity for such comparative thinking is the nature of the mind consciousness; it is the mind consciousness that performs discrimination, inference, and judgment. Therefore, it is the mind consciousness that discerns shape-forms. Shape-forms are the form included in the dharma-āyatana (dharmāyatana-saṃgṛhīta-rūpa) manifested on the inner material sense-object of a mixedly-grasped realm (adhipati-pratyaya realm); they exist depending on the mixedly-grasped realm, belong to mental sense-objects, and are therefore objects discerned by the mind consciousness.
Expressive form is an accumulated form-appearance, a false appearance formed by its continuous arising and ceasing: the preceding form-appearance arises and ceases, and the following form-appearance arises and ceases at a closely adjacent, different location; countless arising-and-ceasing form-appearances continuously accumulate, forming the movement and activity of the form-body. On the surface it appears real and continuous; in actuality it is discontinuous and false. Due to the transformation of conditions of the form-appearances, all form-appearances do not arise at the same location but arise at different, mutually connected locations, forming the continuous change of form-appearances. Sentient beings who see this feel that the form-body is moving and active, but in fact it is not.
These form-appearances continuously arise, cease, and move—sometimes moving without interruption, sometimes with interruption, with pauses in between. The distances these form-appearances move are near or far, and the range of activity of the form-body is correspondingly large or small. Or these form-appearances arise, cease, and continue to operate ceaselessly at the same location, such as sentient beings' sitting, lying down, standing, sleeping, and facial expressions like anger, joy, remorse, and shyness. It also includes the arising-ceasing changes and activities of various objects in their original places, such as the flickering of lamplight, the shining of sunlight, the growth of plants, and so on.
In short, expressive form is the various movements of the limbs and material bodies of sentient beings, such as taking and relinquishing, bending and stretching, walking and standing, sitting and lying down. Grasping or discarding certain objects is called taking and relinquishing; bending and stretching the limbs is called bending and stretching; coming, going, stopping, rising, sitting, and lying down are called walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Inanimate objects also have expressive form, which will be discussed later. These forms all express the various behavioral actions of sentient beings manifested externally, which others can see and oneself can also know; hence they are called expressive form. Expressive form is false form; it is the form included in the dharma-āyatana manifested depending on material form—the mental sense-object manifested on the inner material sense-object of the mixedly-grasped realm. The eye consciousness cannot discriminate it; it is the object discriminated by the mind consciousness.
Original text:又显色者。谓若色显了。眼识所行。形色者。谓若色积集。长短等分别相。表色者。谓即此积集色生灭相续。由变异因于先生处不复重生。转于异处或无间或有间或近或远差别生。或即于此处变异生。是名表色。
Explanation: Below, visible form, shape-form, and expressive form are further explained. What is visible form? Visible form is the differentiated form manifested by light and brightness and the like. One aspect: the differing degrees of brightness and darkness of an object itself manifest different colors, giving rise to the differentiated appearances of colors such as blue, yellow, red, and white. Another aspect: the differing degrees of brightness of external light give rise to differentiated form-appearances such as light and shadow, bright and dark. Blue, red, and white, under illumination of different degrees of brightness, also display different color differentiations.
Due to the rotation and revolution of the earth and other celestial bodies, the extent to which various objects on the planets and empty space are illuminated by sunlight differs, and their degrees of brightness differ; objects and empty space produce various degrees of luminosity—very bright, relatively dim, or pitch black. Therefore even light has differentiations. Darkness also has differentiations: there is extreme blackness, slight darkness, and other different dark shades; these differentiations also arise because the incoming light differs. Dark appearances have many differentiations; light itself also has many color differentiations; object colors have differentiations—all these visible forms we see have differentiations. Therefore visible form is a kind of luminous differentiation, the sense-object appearance discerned by the eye consciousness.
Shape-form is the accumulated differentiation of long, short, and so on—the differentiated appearances of long, short, square, and round manifested on the form-body. These differentiated appearances of long, short, square, and round are called shape-form; they belong to the form included in the dharma-āyatana and are discerned by the mind consciousness.
Expressive form is the differentiation of movement based on karmic function. That is, due to certain karmic conditions, the material bodies of sentient beings produce various movements and activities to adapt to the needs of survival. These movements and activities, through the continuous arising and ceasing of various form-appearances, produce changes in form-appearances, or continuous changes in spatial position. These various differentiated form-appearances produced depending on various karmic conditions, capable of movement and operation, are called expressive form. For example, the movements and changes of the hands, fingers, arms, legs, head, and eyes are called expressive form.
Original text:如是一切显色形色表色是眼所行眼境界。眼识所行眼识境界眼识所缘。意识所行意识境界意识所缘。名之差别。
Explanation: All such visible form, shape-form, and expressive form is the realm of the eye in which the eye operates, the realm of the eye consciousness in which the eye consciousness operates and which it takes as object, and also the realm of the mind consciousness in which the mind consciousness operates and which it takes as object. When we discriminate material sense-objects, it is two consciousnesses—the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness—discriminating simultaneously. The eye consciousness cannot discriminate material form alone, and the mind consciousness cannot discriminate material form alone; the two must combine to discriminate material form together. The eye consciousness discriminates the coarse visible forms; the mind consciousness discriminates the subtle form included in the dharma-āyatana, namely shape-form, expressive form, and unexpressed form. The two consciousnesses must depend on each other to coexist. The eye consciousness cannot operate alone, cannot discriminate material sense-objects alone; it must rely on the mind consciousness. The mind consciousness relies on the eye consciousness to discriminate the mental sense-objects manifested on the material sense-object. The mind consciousness cannot discriminate alone the mental sense-objects displayed on the material sense-object; it must rely on the eye consciousness to complete the discrimination.
What the mind consciousness can discriminate alone is not the mental sense-object on the material sense-object, not the mental sense-object on the five sense-objects; what it discriminates is the subjectively imagined realm. He can discriminate alone the mental sense-objects in dreams and in meditative concentration—the mental sense-objects that exist without depending on the five sense-objects, including the mental sense-objects taken as object by the distracted mind. At such times the mind consciousness is called the distracted solitary consciousness, the dream solitary consciousness, and the meditative solitary consciousness; the mental sense-objects it discerns differ from those manifested on the five sense-objects. For the eye consciousness to discriminate material sense-objects, there must be the mind consciousness, discriminating and operating together. The eye consciousness cannot discriminate material sense-objects by itself alone—cannot alone read a book, cannot alone look at sunlight, at darkness, or at empty space; it cannot operate alone. For the eye consciousness to operate, there must be the mind consciousness to cooperate; the two operate in combination to complete the function of seeing forms.
Original text:又即此色。复有三种。谓若好显色。若恶显色。若俱异显色。似色显现。
Explanation: Visible form is divided into three kinds: good visible form, bad visible form, and neither-good-nor-bad visible form. There are also those with properties different from visible form, the form included in the dharma-āyatana that exists depending on visible form and resembles form—such as shape-form, expressive form, and unexpressed form; these forms are also divided into good, bad, and neither good nor bad. The material sense-objects corresponding to the eye consciousness are also divided into three kinds: good, bad, and neither good nor bad. Good, bad, and neither-good-nor-bad material sense-objects are discriminated and felt primarily by the mind consciousness. The eye consciousness can also discriminate and feel whether visible form is good, bad, or neither—for example, when sunlight suddenly shines over, extremely glaring, the eye consciousness immediately perceives it and will quickly avoid it; this is the eye consciousness's discrimination. As for exactly how glaring, how bright, how dim, how soft the light is—that is what the mind consciousness discriminates and feels through comparison and imagination, or through direct perception.
The mind consciousness will know whether the material sense-object is good or bad; the eye consciousness also knows. The eye consciousness's discrimination is relatively coarse, relatively shallow, relatively direct, discriminating only direct-perception objects. The mind consciousness must discern through contemplative analysis, comparison, and imagination, involving inference and non-valid cognition, and sometimes also direct-perception discernment. Discerning the light and color—whether the external material sense-object is actually good or bad—reaching conclusions through comparison and contemplation is what the mind consciousness does. The eye consciousness knows in the present moment and immediately avoids, or immediately accepts, and will even look a while longer, giving rise to the mental factor of greed.
Original text:彼助伴者。谓彼具有相应诸心所有法。所谓作意。触。受。想。思。及余眼识俱有相应诸心所法。
Explanation: Below we discuss the associates of the eye consciousness. What are associates? They are the mental factors that arise simultaneously with the eye consciousness, assist and accompany the operation of the eye consciousness, and help the eye consciousness arise and produce its discriminating functions; these are called associates. What are these associates? They are the five universal mental factors. The eye consciousness has its own mental factors, called attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā). Whenever the eye consciousness manifests and operates, it must use these mental factors and rely on them in order to operate. For example, attention: the eye consciousness must draw the mind's attention to the material sense-object realm, pay special attention to this material sense-object, and focus on it—this is called attention. After attention, the eye consciousness will certainly contact this material sense-object; the eye consciousness must contact the material sense-object. The material sense-object is the inner material sense-object arising at the back of the brain, not the substantial external material sense-object; the eye consciousness can only contact the inner material sense-object.
After contact, the eye consciousness itself will give rise to various feelings: painful, pleasant, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant—the three feelings. For example, upon contacting sunlight, the eye consciousness immediately feels it is glaring and will avoid it, covering the eyes or closing them—this is painful feeling. After feeling, the mental factor of perception arises; the eye consciousness's perception is discernment—grasping the wholesome, unwholesome, or neither-wholesome-nor-unwholesome marks. The eye consciousness knows this is light and color, and moreover glaring sunlight color; it has thus discerned this material sense-object appearance. Then the mental factor of volition arises; volition is decision and action. What is decided? The decision is to avoid this intense sunlight; the action is to immediately close the eyes or immediately avoid and shield. If it is a material sense-object that is liked, the eye consciousness's five universal mental factors will arise and operate continuously until the discernment is complete and the material sense-object is clearly and satisfactorily seen. Therefore, when the eye consciousness arises, it must rely on these mental factors to operate: attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition.
Besides the five universal mental factors of attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition, the eye consciousness's mental factors also include other mental factors associated with the eye consciousness, such as the five object-specific mental factors, the eleven wholesome mental factors, the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and the secondary afflictions, and so on.
Original text:又彼诸法同一所缘。非一行相。俱有相应一一而转。
Explanation: These mental factors have the same object—all take the same kind of material sense-object appearance as object, operating upon the same material sense-object. For example, if the eye consciousness takes sunlight as object, the five universal mental factors all take sunlight as object\: attending to the sunlight, contacting the sunlight, giving rise to feeling and perception regarding the sunlight, and giving rise to the mental factor of volition toward the sunlight, producing karmic action. If the eye consciousness takes tables and chairs as object, the five universal mental factors will all
take tables and chairs as object, not each taking its own different form-appearance. Same object—taking the same form-appearance as object—yet not one mode of activity. Although the five mental factors take one form as object, each has its own mode of operation, mutually different: attention is one mode of operation, contact is one mode, feeling is one mode, perception is one mode, volition is one mode. Their modes of operation differ, but what they take as object is the same kind of material sense-object. "Coexistent and associated, each operating in turn": the five mental factors gather together, each operating, mutually coordinating. Therefore, the material sense-object taken as object by the eye consciousness's mental factors is certainly the same, but their modes of operation are different. Only when the mental factors operate together in harmony can the eye consciousness produce a continuous series of discriminating functions.
Original text:又彼一切。各各从自种子而生。
Explanation: Furthermore, each of all these arises from its own seeds. All these mental factors arise from the consciousness seeds of the eye consciousness, arising from their own seeds. "Own seeds" means the seeds of the eye consciousness; all these mental factors are produced from the eye consciousness's seeds, arising with the eye consciousness, existing with the eye consciousness. When the Ālayavijñāna transmits the eye-consciousness seeds and produces the eye consciousness, the five universal mental factors also arise along with it. The mental factor of attention operates first, becoming alert to the material sense-object at the seed stage; afterwards it will contact the material sense-object, and then the mental factors of feeling, perception, and volition operate one after another, all operating upon the same material sense-object before one's eyes—that is, operating upon the inner material sense-object at the back of the brain.
The operation of the eye consciousness, its discernment of material sense-objects, must rely on these mental factors in order to operate. From this we can know upon what the Ālayavijñāna relies to operate: He too relies on the eighth consciousness's five universal mental factors—attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition—thus the Ālayavijñāna can operate, producing all dharmas and manifesting all dharmas. The other consciousnesses all likewise rely on mental factors to operate and to discern.
Original text:彼作业者。当知有六种。谓唯了别自境所缘是名初业。唯了别自相。唯了别现在。唯一刹那了别。
Explanation: Then what are the activities of the eye consciousness's five universal mental factors—what tasks can they perform? The functions of the eye consciousness's mental factors are of six kinds, able to perform six kinds of tasks. The first: "discerning only its own realm of objects is called the first activity." The eye consciousness's mental factors can only discern the realm corresponding to themselves, that is, the material sense-object realm; they cannot discern sounds, cannot discern scent-objects, cannot discern tactile objects—they can only discern material sense-objects, and can only discriminate the inner material sense-object at the supreme faculty. This is said of sentient beings who have not cultivated to the point of the interfunctioning of the six faculties; those who have already cultivated the interfunctioning of the six faculties are excluded. "Discerning its own realm of objects is called the first activity"—this is the first kind.
The second is "discerning only its own characteristics," meaning that attention has the function of attention—only arousing the mind, only directing the mind toward the object; it cannot contact, cannot give rise to feeling and perception, cannot deliberate and create karmic actions. In short, each mental factor cannot transcend its own boundaries. The third is "discerning only the present," meaning the eye consciousness is direct perception, able to discern the currently present direct-perception realm; it does not discern material sense-objects of the past, nor material sense-objects of the future that have not yet appeared. The five universal mental factors only take the present material realm as object—discerning only the present. Whatever is seen in the present moment is what it is; the eye consciousness does not analyze, does not reason or judge, does not compare by inference, and does not give rise to imagination and thought.
The fourth is "discerning only a single instant." Because consciousness seeds arise and cease moment by moment—at the same location, one consciousness seed arises and ceases, discerning that single instant, and returns to the Ālayavijñāna. The next consciousness seed arises and ceases, discerning the material sense-object of the second instant, and again returns to the Ālayavijñāna; the subsequent consciousness seeds proceed in like manner in sequence—discerning instant by instant, discerning the present instant. All these instant discernments connect continuously, forming the continuous discriminating and recognizing nature of the eye consciousness. Sentient beings then feel that they are constantly seeing forms, feeling this function to be very real and reliable—that this is the functional capacity of self and what belongs to self, possessed by self—and so they cling to this function of seeing forms, unable to relinquish it. Thus birth and death continue without end, and afflictions continue without end. Sentient beings are truly foolish and pitiable.
Original text:复有二业。谓随意识转。随善染转。随发业转。又复能取爱非爱果。是第六业。
Explanation: Among these, "operating in accordance with the mind consciousness" is further divided into two kinds: one is operating in accordance with wholesome and defiled [karma], the other is operating in accordance with the activation of karma. Operating in accordance with the mind consciousness means discerning the material sense-object realm together with the mind consciousness and giving rise to various mental activities; the eye consciousness cannot discern alone or give rise to mental activities alone. The eye consciousness relies on the mind consciousness and transmigrates in accordance with wholesome and defiled karmic conditions: following wholesome conditions, it makes wholesome discriminations and creates wholesome karma. Since it has wholesome mental factors, it correspondingly has unwholesome mental factors. Following evil and defiled conditions, it makes defiled, unwholesome discriminations, and can also make indeterminate discriminations that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome, because it possesses the three natures of wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate. The eye consciousness has forms it likes to see and forms it does not like to see, and sometimes also manifests a neutral disposition toward material sense-objects without liking or disliking. Toward liked forms, it gives rise to the mental factor of greed and creates greedy karma; toward disliked forms, it gives rise to aversion and creates unwholesome karma; it can also create actions that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome.
When sunlight is too bright and glaring, the eye consciousness does not like to look and will avoid it. Toward soft colors it is rather fond, and will look a few more times; sometimes it goes along with conditions—looking is fine, not looking is also fine. So the eye consciousness has mental activities, wholesome and unwholesome mental activities, and also neither-wholesome-nor-unwholesome mental activities. "Operating in accordance with wholesome and defiled [karma]" means operating in accordance with the seed conditions of wholesome and unwholesome karma: when wholesome-condition seeds manifest, it makes wholesome discriminations and its mental activity is tranquil (praśama); when evil-condition seeds manifest, it makes unwholesome discriminations and its mental activity is defiled.
Furthermore, the eye consciousness operates in accordance with the activation of karma. What is "activation of karma"? It means that when the conditions for the eye consciousness have become complete and manifest—the manas attends to the material sense-object and, through deliberation (manasikāra), decides to discern the material sense-object—then the Ālayavijñāna, knowing the manas's mental activity, manifests the material sense-object and the mental sense-objects upon it in accordance with karmic seeds and karmic conditions. When the nine conditions for the eye consciousness's arising are complete, the Ālayavijñāna will give birth to the eye consciousness, and the eye consciousness, following the manas's directive, attends to the material sense-object, contacts it, receives and experiences it, and thus discerns the material sense-object; subsequently the mental factor of volition arises, deciding to take or relinquish. Thus the eye consciousness continuously attends, continuously contacts, continuously feels, continuously discerns, until it is certain the material sense-object is correct and has been seen enough. When the karmic conditions for the eye consciousness are complete, the eye consciousness must contact the form, and thereupon the eye consciousness's aggregate of volitional formations is produced. When the karmic seeds of greed, hatred, and delusion manifest, the eye consciousness will certainly attend to forms, contact forms, continuously experience and discern forms, and give rise to various mental activities to satisfy its greedy, hateful, and deluded mental activities.
Many external material sense-objects could originally be left unseen, could remain unknown; but due to karmic obstructions, the manas has not been subdued, and its clinging (upādāna) is unceasing. The eye consciousness's own clinging and attention will also continuously manifest, continuously giving rise to attention and contact toward various useful and useless material sense-objects, and the aggregate of volitional formations will continuously operate without ceasing. After the eye consciousness sees forms, the mind consciousness gives rise to various mental activities—those wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate mental activities—causing the mind consciousness's thinking and discriminating to be unceasing, and the mind cannot attain tranquil cessation. All of this will again be stored as karmic seeds into the Ālayavijñāna, and in the future the karmic conditions of birth and death will be unceasing.
The arising of the eye consciousness thus transmigrates in accordance with karma: when karmic seeds manifest and karmic conditions manifest, the eye consciousness must arise. So sometimes, clearly one should not look at something, yet because of karmic conditions one wants to look; clearly knowing one should not look, one still looks—this is called operating in accordance with the activation of karma. When the karmic conditions for the eye consciousness's arising ripen and all nine conditions are complete, the eye consciousness will inevitably arise, the five universal mental factors begin to operate, and the eye consciousness discerns the material sense-object. Sometimes as soon as we open our eyes, whether we like to see forms or not, all the forms before us are seen—near and far, all taken in at a glance.
The sixth: the eye consciousness can grasp desirable and undesirable retribution. "Grasp" means grasping (upādāna); "desirable" means liking; "retribution" means the material sense-object, the object of recognition. Craving and aversion-with-relinquishment—these two opposing aspects both fall within the meaning of grasping. Only because one mistakenly takes the material sense-object as truly existent does one make discriminations of taking and relinquishing. Toward liked material sense-objects, one greedily grasps and looks repeatedly, sometimes unable to look enough, not knowing satiety. Toward disliked material sense-objects, one wants to avoid, relinquish, and leave immediately, no longer wishing to give rise to attention directed toward that material sense-object; thereupon the mental factor of volition decides not to look anymore. Both grasping and relinquishing are classified under grasping—avoidance, evasion, or actively wanting—all are called grasping. Thus one grasps desirable and undesirable material sense-objects: toward liked material sense-objects, the eye consciousness discerns for a longer time, with the mental factors continuously arising and rotating in repetition; toward disliked material sense-objects, one wants to avoid them. This is called grasping desirable and undesirable retribution. Thus the eye consciousness's mental factors have these six kinds of characteristics.
