The Seven Consciousnesses Are Also Unattainable

The seventh consciousness seems to gain something, as if it has obtained the five desires and six sense objects of the world, but in reality it has gained nothing. Because of ignorance and delusion, it forcibly believes it has obtained something, when in fact it has obtained nothing and can obtain nothing—laboring and toiling in vain, scheming in vain, exhausting all its cunning, only to end up having busied itself in vain for a lifetime, life after life, generation after generation.

These matters need to be quietly contemplated within meditative concentration (samādhi), pondered and verified over a long period, before one can know what it is that one cannot obtain. Studying Buddhism and cultivating practice means breaking through one's own ignorance and recognizing that one obtains nothing; thereafter, one no longer seeks anything and no longer wishes to gain anything—and thus one attains liberation and becomes a Buddha.

Once the seventh consciousness knows that in the end there is nothing to be gained, its mind will be empty and non-active (asaṃskṛta); yet even in non-action it must still do things to benefit self and others. When doing things with an empty mind, there is nothing sought, no consideration for personal gain, no personal aims or motives, no weighing of personal benefit, loss, success, or failure. In this way, although one has done many things, it is as if one has done nothing—one does not feel one has merit, does not arrogantly claim credit, does not feel smugly self-satisfied, and does not engage in exchanges of benefit with other people or groups. Being unselfish is far easier than being non-attached; one must first achieve unselfishness before one can achieve non-attachment. Only by not considering personal gain can one gradually attain the state of gaining nothing and seeking nothing.