Can the Activities of the Six Consciousnesses Involve the External Object-Aspect?

Because the six sense objects (ṣaḍ-viṣaya) we contact are all inner object-aspects (nimitta), the big tree we see is an inner object-aspect; it is inside the black box, and our six consciousnesses cannot contact the external object-aspect. Then, if the body of the six consciousnesses and five aggregates (pañca-skandha) cuts down the tree, does it destroy the tree's inner object-aspect or the external object-aspect? Does that big tree outside still exist? If one kills a person, is one killing the person's inner object-aspect or external object-aspect? If killing a person means killing the person's inner object-aspect, then it would not be called killing, because that person would still be alive. If it is killing the person's external object-aspect, the six consciousnesses cannot contact the external object-aspect. When we hit someone, are we hitting our own external object-aspect or inner object-aspect? If we are hitting our own inner object-aspect, the other person should not feel pain. If we are hitting our own external object-aspect, our six consciousnesses cannot contact the external object-aspect. What exactly is going on here?

When cutting down a big tree, if only the tree's inner object-aspect is cut down, then the tree's external object-aspect would still exist; the big tree would not have been cut down, and the dharma of "cutting down the big tree" would not be established. If it is the tree's external object-aspect that is cut down, the six consciousnesses cannot contact the tree's external object-aspect. When stealing someone else's belongings, is one stealing things of the inner object-aspect or things of the external object-aspect? If one is stealing things of the inner object-aspect, it should not be against the law; if one is stealing things of the external object-aspect, the six consciousnesses cannot contact the external object-aspect.

In fact, the true principle is that the inner object-aspect exists in dependence on the external object-aspect; first there is the external object-aspect, and afterward there is the inner object-aspect. If there were no external object-aspect, there would be no inner object-aspect. So when a person destroys an object, it is not only the inner object-aspect that is destroyed; the external object-aspect is certainly also destroyed, and moreover the external object-aspect is destroyed first, with the inner object-aspect immediately following and being destroyed as well. The external object-aspect of that object is certainly destroyed, or has disappeared; others can no longer enjoy it or see it again, which certainly means the external object-aspect no longer exists.

That is why it is said that destroying things is an offense, stealing things is an offense, and killing people is an offense. It is precisely because the external object-aspect is destroyed, causing others to suffer loss and no longer be able to enjoy or obtain it—not merely involving one's own inner object-aspect. If what is destroyed were only one's own inner object-aspect, then killing hundreds of millions of people would involve no offense, and no one could do anything about it. Therefore, killing people, cutting down trees, destroying property, and stealing all involve the external object-aspect, the essential substance itself, and thus there is offense and fault.

Since the six consciousnesses can only contact the inner object-aspect and cannot contact the external object-aspect, why can the actions and karmic formations of the six consciousnesses still bring about changes in the external object-aspect? Herein lies a great secret. The external object-aspect is the relatively real material world composed of the four great elements (mahābhūta) outside; this realness is also spoken of only in relative terms with respect to the inner object-aspect. In fact, it is also not real; it is also conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha, and its substance is still illusory and false. The only true dharma is the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha; all other dharmas are false and illusory.