Discourse on the Pitṛputra Samāgama Sūtra (54)

What is the vijñāna-dhātu?

Original text: Great King, what is the vijñāna-dhātu? It means that if the eye faculty is primary, depending on that shape and form and that manifestation, it is called the eye-consciousness element. If the other five faculties depend on their own objects, each is established separately, they are called the five consciousness elements. Furthermore, this vijñāna-dhātu does not adhere to the faculty, does not dwell in the object, is neither internal nor external, nor in between the two.

Explanation: Great King, what is the vijñāna-dhātu? The meaning of the vijñāna-dhātu is that if the eye faculty is primary, grasping the shape and form and the manifestation of the form object, it is called the eye-consciousness element. If the other five faculties all grasp their respective object realms, each establishing the corresponding object realm, it is called the five consciousness elements. Additionally, this vijñāna-dhātu does not adhere to the faculty, does not dwell in the object realm, and is not inside, outside, or in between the faculty and the object.

What is the vijñāna-dhātu? It refers to the six consciousnesses: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. With the eye faculty as primary, "grasping" means relying and depending; the eye faculty and others serve as supporting conditions for the arising of the consciousness mind; with the eye faculty as primary, grasping and depending on the various shapes and forms of the form object (form with shape), such as long, short, square, round, tall, short, fat, thin—this is called shape and form, having shape; and manifestation, which is the displayed actions like walking, standing, sitting, lying down, bending, stretching, various movements, etc. Here it says that with the eye faculty as primary, simultaneously the mind faculty grasps the dharma object on the form object, at which time the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness arise, together discerning the shape and form, manifestation, and also the visible form of the form object. When the faculty and object contact, the eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness produced by the Tathāgatagarbha are called the vijñāna-dhātu.

The other five faculties are also like this: with the ear faculty as primary, grasping sound, the mind faculty also grasps the dharma object on sound, the Tathāgatagarbha produces ear-consciousness and mind-consciousness, together discerning the sound object; with the nose faculty as primary, grasping the external smell object, producing nose-consciousness and mind-consciousness, together discerning the smell object; with the tongue faculty as primary, grasping the taste object, producing tongue-consciousness and mind-consciousness, together discerning the taste object; with the body faculty as primary, grasping the touch object, the mind faculty simultaneously grasps the dharma object on the touch object, producing body-consciousness and mind-consciousness, together discerning the touch object. These consciousnesses are called the vijñāna-dhātu.

The vijñāna-dhātu does not dwell on the faculty, does not dwell on the object, and is not inside, outside, or in between the faculty and the object, because the vijñāna-dhātu is formless, does not mix with form dharmas, and does not fuse together.