Does the Eighth Consciousness Fail to Discern and Differentiate the Six Sense Objects?

Question: Does the eighth consciousness fail to discern and discriminate the six sense objects?

Answer: The eighth consciousness possesses the five universally present mental factors (pañca-sarvatraga-caitta), and it must discern and discriminate all the dharmas it upholds and maintains; otherwise, the eighth consciousness would be incapable of anything, for it cannot blindly change or create dharmas. Therefore, the eighth consciousness does discern the six sense objects and also discriminates them. If it did not discern and discriminate them, how could it change and give rise to the six sense objects? It is only that the content of the eighth consciousness's discernment differs from that of the seven consciousnesses. The eighth consciousness also discriminates; if it did not discriminate, then when it gives rise to the six sense objects, it could not avoid misplacing things—creating chaotically and recklessly, without any order. It is only that the dharmas the eighth consciousness discriminates are not like those discriminated by the seven consciousnesses: its discrimination does not fall into worldly dharmas, whereas the seven consciousnesses can only discriminate dharmas at the level of the worldly realm and can never, like the eighth consciousness, discriminate the supramundane dharmas that transcend the worldly realm.

Regarding all dharmas, the eighth consciousness and the seven consciousnesses each bear their own responsibilities, each having different functions and roles, and they cannot substitute for one another. For the part that the eighth consciousness is responsible for, the eighth consciousness must first discern and discriminate before the volition mental factor (cetanā) can become active and engage in any activity. For example, in evaluating a student's academic performance, each subject teacher can only assess the subject they teach; the content each teacher reviews and evaluates is certainly different. Only through harmonious cooperation and consolidation can the assessment of the student's academic performance be completed, so as to determine whether the graduation certificate should be issued.