Does the Seventh Consciousness Fall Asleep?

Question: When a person is asleep, does the seventh consciousness sleep? Can the seventh consciousness hear the sūtra being recited softly by a sūtra-playing device beside the bed? Will it store the information into the eighth consciousness?

Answer: The seventh consciousness never falls asleep and never sleeps. If the seventh consciousness were to sleep, only the eighth consciousness would remain, and that would mean entering nirvāṇa without remainder and becoming an arhat. The seventh consciousness will not sleep or cease to exist, unless an arhat or pratyekabuddha enters nirvāṇa without remainder. When one is asleep and the sūtra-playing device is on, the seventh consciousness can still discern it; the only question is whether He can understand it. However, if the playing goes on for a long time, one can still be influenced by it through perfuming. As long as the seventh consciousness discerns a sound, He will store it into the eighth consciousness; whether it is understood or not understood, the seeds stored are different.