What Are Unconditioned Dharmas?

The unconditioned dharmas refer to two aspects: one is the innate unconditioned nature of the true mind, and the other is the acquired unconditioned mental nature possessed by the seven consciousnesses of the deluded mind through cultivation. The unconditioned is without arising or ceasing, while the conditioned involves arising and ceasing. The eighth consciousness possesses both conditioned and unconditioned natures.

The unconditioned nature of the eighth consciousness means that the self-nature of the mind is non-acting; it is mindless toward all dharmas, lacking the mental volition to actively create any dharma, and does not exercise control over any dharma. Although the eighth consciousness engages in creation and mental activity when bringing forth all dharmas, its mental nature remains unconditioned—it has no mind of active creation, does not know what it is creating, is utterly unaware of objective dharmas, has no desire to know, yet can still give rise to all dharmas according to conditions. If the eighth consciousness were not an unconditioned dharma, there would be no unconditioned dharma whatsoever in the mundane or supramundane realms. The seven consciousnesses, no matter how unconditioned they may seem, cannot match the unconditioned nature of the eighth consciousness; even the seven consciousnesses at the Buddha stage are no exception.

How is the eighth consciousness unconditioned? Despite creating countless mundane dharmas, its mind remains empty, mindless, wishless, without arising or ceasing, without a nature of control, and without self-nature. The eighth consciousness is without self-nature; that which is without self is unconditioned—it does not act for the self, nor for any purpose, and has no self-interest. If a mind without self still belonged to conditioned dharmas, it would be a severe contradiction.

If the eighth consciousness were purely a conditioned dharma, it would necessarily be subject to arising and ceasing. How is the eighth consciousness conditioned? The act of creating mundane dharmas is conditioned. If the eighth consciousness were purely conditioned, how could the seven consciousnesses draw near to it, learn from it, and transform their own mental natures? How could the seven consciousnesses remain unmoved like a mountain in the face of all circumstances? How could the seven consciousnesses attain the unconditioned and accomplish the Buddha Way? What would the seven consciousnesses learn from the eighth consciousness? If the eighth consciousness were purely conditioned, there would be no need for us to practice meditation to realize the eighth consciousness, nor could we, after enlightenment, transfer and rely on its pure unconditioned nature. The seven consciousnesses would never be able to transform their mental natures, rendering enlightenment meaningless, as neither enlightenment nor non-enlightenment could lead to Buddhahood.