Ālaya-vijñāna Is the Formless and Characteristicless Mental Dharma

The store consciousness is a formless and appearance-less mental phenomenon, not a material phenomenon; therefore, on material phenomena, the form of the store consciousness cannot be found, thus it is said that the eyes do not possess the store consciousness, for if it were present, one would see it. Similarly, in the physical body, there is no store consciousness; if the store consciousness were present, not only could one see it, but also feel it. In reality, we neither see the store consciousness, nor feel it, nor smell it, nor hear it, nor think of it. Only through practicing meditation can one realize the function of the store consciousness.