When Consciousness Contacts Objects: What Results from the Conjunction of the Three?

The eye consciousness discerns forms, the ear consciousness discerns sounds, and even the mental consciousness discerns dharmas. The contact arising from the conjunction of these three is extremely important. If the sense faculty does not contact the sense object, there is no consciousness; if consciousness does not contact the sense object, consciousness has no function whatsoever. What specific objects does each consciousness contact? Clarify the scope of objects each consciousness can contact, then contemplate: what can be done without the six consciousnesses? Sentient beings in the formless realm lack the five sense faculties of the physical body, so why do they still possess mental consciousness? Once these questions are clearly understood, realization upon awakening in the future will be experiential realization. Otherwise, with insufficient meditative concentration, one cannot engage in contemplative practice; at best, it will be intellectual understanding. Nowadays, those with mere intellectual understanding are increasingly numerous, yet they experience no tangible benefits, and their afflictions remain just as heavy as before.

When a sense faculty contacts a sense object, consciousness arises; if the sense faculty does not contact the sense object, consciousness cannot arise. At the time of death, the four great elements decompose first; at this stage, consciousness still exists, hence the experience of extreme suffering. Each person's physical body is upheld by their own eighth consciousness, and changes to one's own physical body are also the result of the functioning of one's own eighth consciousness. How, then, can one person kill another, thereby altering the physical condition of another person? Without mental consciousness, the five sense consciousnesses cannot arise. Discerning the six sense objects is the decision of the mental faculty, which acts as the sovereign. The mental faculty necessarily contacts mental objects (dharma objects). If the mental faculty does not decide or act as sovereign, the eighth consciousness will not produce the five sense consciousnesses. When the mental faculty acts as sovereign, it contacts mental objects, and mental consciousness necessarily arises. Mental consciousness is also the simultaneous support basis for the five sense consciousnesses.