The Meaning of Not Having the Six Ayatanas

Question: In the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, the Buddha states that the Tathāgata does not comprehend the entrances (āyatana). That which does not comprehend is bodhi. Does "not comprehending the six entrances" mean not discriminating the six entrances? Who obtained the robe and bowl of the Fifth Patriarch? It was obtained by one who does not comprehend the Dharma. What is the meaning of this "does not comprehend"? The six consciousnesses born from the external and internal six entrances both know and understand the six sense faculties, and also know and understand the six sense objects. However, the eighth consciousness, the bodhi mind, neither knows the six sense faculties nor understands what they are; it neither knows the six sense objects nor understands what they are. Does this not knowing and not understanding the six sense faculties and six sense objects mean not discerning and not discriminating them?

Answer: The six entrances refer to the entrances of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, including the external six entrances: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas (mental objects); and the internal six entrances: the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, body faculty within the supreme sense bases, and the mind faculty. These internal and external six entrances are all conventional dharmas. The first seven consciousnesses correspond to conventional dharmas; they can discern and discriminate conventional dharmas, comprehending their conventional meanings. This comprehension is the meaning of "comprehending" (hui).

However, the eighth consciousness cannot comprehend the conventional meanings of these conventional dharmas; it does not comprehend these conventional dharmas. If it did, the eighth consciousness would, like the seven consciousnesses, give rise to minds of attachment and grasping towards conventional dharmas, leading to afflictions, and it would correspond to birth and death. Therefore, it is said that the Tathāgata does not comprehend the entrances.

Yet the eighth consciousness is without ignorance; there is not a single dharma it does not know, not a single dharma it does not understand. It can condition all dharmas, attend to, contact, feel, perceive, and think about all dharmas, thereby discerning all dharmas as they truly are, knowing all dharmas, discriminating all dharmas, and understanding all dharmas. If the eighth consciousness did not know or understand all dharmas, did not know or understand the six sense faculties and six sense objects, how could it, at every moment, every instant, every kṣaṇa, uphold the six sense faculties and six sense objects, and transform the six sense faculties and six sense objects? The eighth consciousness also feels, perceives, and thinks about the six sense faculties and six sense objects; it makes choices and has subsequent actions. It necessarily knows and understands the six sense faculties and six sense objects, and therefore necessarily knows how to act.

It is just that the eighth consciousness does not know the conventional characteristics of the six sense faculties and six sense objects; it does not know their conventional connotations—these are the connotations known by the seven consciousnesses. What does the eighth consciousness know and comprehend? Without the profound Wisdom of Consciousness-Only (vijñapti-mātra bija-jñāna), one cannot observe the knowing and comprehending of the eighth consciousness; then one must ask the eighth consciousness itself. The eighth consciousness is without ignorance; it discriminates all dharmas clearly and distinctly, without the slightest confusion. Unlike the seven consciousnesses, which often discriminate unclearly, leading to confused choices, confused actions, and confused karmic retribution, the eighth consciousness is never confused.