Brief Discussion on Material Elements (Draft)

IV. Objective Realm with Substance

Question: "Carrying" has two meanings: transformative carrying (carrying semblance) and carrying within. Carrying within refers to the apprehending consciousness carrying within itself its own mind, or its associated mental factors, or the perceiving aspect apprehending the apprehended aspect, the self-witnessing division and the witnessing self-witnessing division mutually apprehending each other, etc.; alternatively, fundamental wisdom can carry within itself the arising of the characteristic of suchness, and the semblance of an object can also be called carrying within. This is explained from the perspective of the self-nature division of consciousness; the apprehended apprehended aspect is carried out by the self-nature division of consciousness and is called carrying within.

Explanation: Transformative carrying refers to the semblance of an object, also called the object of consideration. This carries the meaning of "apprehended object." This is explained from the perspective of having an external essential substance, where the semblance of an object is called transformative carrying or carrying semblance. Transformative carrying is brought over from the external apprehended aspect of directly perceived objects, manifested based on the external apprehended aspect, resembling the external apprehended aspect; it is the internal apprehended aspect apprehended and considered by the seven consciousnesses.

Carrying within refers to the apprehending consciousness carrying within itself its own mind, or its associated mental factors, or the perceiving aspect apprehending the apprehended aspect, the self-witnessing division and the witnessing self-witnessing division mutually apprehending each other, etc.; alternatively, fundamental wisdom can carry within itself the arising of the characteristic of suchness, and the semblance of an object can also be called carrying within. This is explained from the perspective of the self-nature division of consciousness; the apprehended apprehended aspect is carried out by the self-nature division of consciousness and is called carrying within.

Carrying within is performed by the apprehending consciousness, the seven consciousnesses, primarily the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, with the sixth consciousness being predominant. It carries within one's own characteristic (meaning introspecting oneself), or one's own mental factors (introspecting one's own mental factors), or refers to the perceiving aspect (the capacity to perceive) of the seven consciousnesses apprehending the apprehended aspect (the consciousness-mind perceiving sense objects), or the perceiving aspect apprehending the self-witnessing division, the perceiving aspect apprehending the witnessing self-witnessing division, etc. Alternatively, it refers to the consciousness of wisdom that has realized the eighth consciousness, the Tathagatagarbha, which can apprehend the characteristic activity of suchness of the eighth consciousness. Consciousness can observe the true and thusness nature of the eighth consciousness, the nature capable of attaining Buddhahood.

Carrying within is a method of apprehension distinct from transformative carrying of the directly perceived objects of the external apprehended aspect. The semblance within the seven consciousnesses that appears to be an object is also carried out by the seven consciousnesses. The imagined realm is entirely carried out by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses; it does not depend on the external apprehended aspect to exist. When consciousness observes its own mental activities, your mental activities and mental factors are carried out by consciousness. When consciousness observes the eighth consciousness, observes the five sense consciousnesses, observes the seventh consciousness, or when consciousness observes itself, the objects being observed are all carried out by consciousness. When our eyes see a cup, consciousness also cognizes the cup; this kind of objective appearance is the objective realm with substance, which depends on the external apprehended aspect of the cup. Being in a distant place and closing one's eyes to recall the image of parents' faces in the mind — this is the imagined realm, carried out by consciousness.