The Sixth Patriarch's Enlightenment Is Direct Perception of the Eighth Consciousness

All the genuine Chan contemplative realization attained by Mahāyāna bodhisattvas consists of personally realizing the eighth consciousness, being able to observe its functions and operations directly in the present, rather than inferring the existence and functions of the eighth consciousness through reasoning and deduction—reasoning and deduction are not genuine realization. When the Sixth Patriarch heard the Fifth Patriarch expound the Diamond Sutra, he awakened, realized the tathatā, the eighth consciousness, and was immediately able to observe the eighth consciousness directly in the present, whereupon he uttered the five exclamations of "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)." All the other Chan patriarchs, at the moment of their enlightenment, likewise realized the tathatā, the eighth consciousness, without relying on reasoning and deduction. Only through genuine realization can one directly observe, in present perception, the functions and operations of the eighth consciousness, thereby obtaining the great wisdom of prajñā. When the prajñā wisdom reaches fullness, one can observe directly in the present the extremely many functions and operations of the eighth consciousness, like viewing an āmalaka fruit in one's palm—not imagining that there is an āmalaka fruit in one's hand, but seeing with one's own eyes that the āmalaka fruit truly exists. It is the same with realizing the eighth consciousness: it is not imagining or reasoning that there is an eighth consciousness and imagining what functions He performs, but rather being able to observe directly in the present the various operations of the eighth consciousness within the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) and the eighteen realms.

Reasoning and imagination are functions of the mind consciousness, whereas genuine realization involves the personal verification by the manas. Realization by the manas is presented in direct perception—seen in the very moment, without needing, upon encountering some dharma, to laboriously deliberate on the eighth consciousness within that dharma. What is deliberated upon in the present moment is unreliable: when the mind consciousness ceases, deliberation becomes impossible, and the eighth consciousness "disappears." Especially after death at the end of life, when there is no mind consciousness, one can no longer deliberate on the eighth consciousness; not seeing the existence of the eighth consciousness makes one an ordinary person (pṛthagjana), and one will take rebirth in an ordinary person's body, rendering a lifetime of cultivation futile—a great pity indeed. Therefore, whoever cannot see the functions of the eighth consciousness immediately and directly in the present moment, but instead relies on reasoning to prove the existence of the eighth consciousness, has not attained realization and enlightenment.