Why Can the Eighth Consciousness Comprehend All Dharmas?

Because all dharmas emanate from the mind of the eighth consciousness, every aspect of their generation, transformation, and cessation is governed, sustained, and intimately connected to the eighth consciousness, inseparable from it for even an instant. The eighth consciousness itself possesses a discriminative nature, cognitive awareness, and mental factors (caittas). Therefore, it is capable of discerning all dharmas, cognizing all dharmas, governing and determining all dharmas. In essence, all dharmas are part of the eighth consciousness; they are phenomena within the mind of the eighth consciousness, transformations of the eighth consciousness. Thus, all phenomena are the phenomena of the eighth consciousness; there is no duality, no separate dharma. The entire reality is the one true Dharma Realm of the eighth consciousness.

Including the five sense consciousnesses, the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna), and the defiled mental consciousness (manas), all are phenomena of the eighth consciousness, its agents, governed by the eighth consciousness. Therefore, the eighth consciousness, from beginning to end, is likewise able to discern these seven consciousnesses accurately, know their mental activities and modes of operation, and determine their birth, abiding, change, and cessation. All dharmas are like objects made of genuine gold; their nature is the nature of genuine gold. The quality of the genuine gold determines the value of the gold objects. Mastering genuine gold means mastering all objects. A single mani gem radiates light, illuminating the entire great chiliocosm.