Does the Mind Arise First or Does the Dharma Arise First; Does the Mind Cease First or Does the Dharma Cease First (III)

So how are the seven consciousnesses of the mind-dharma produced? First, the manas has existed since beginningless kalpas and has never ceased to exist. It is the tathāgatagarbha that delivers seeds of consciousness to Him, upholding the existence and functioning of the manas; without the tathāgatagarbha there would be no existence of the manas. The manas carries the afflictions habituated over lifetime after lifetime into the present life and into future lives, so the ignorance concealed within the manas is extremely deep and heavy, and its defilement by afflictions is extremely grave. Only upon cultivating to the fourth fruit can the manas's grasping be eliminated, and only then can the attachment to the three realms be extinguished; then one has the ability to extinguish all dharmas of the five-aggregate world and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. Therefore the manas can be extinguished; He is impermanent and illusory, not a real and unchanging self.

The manas is also a conscious mind. Its seeds of consciousness exist within the tathāgatagarbha; when the tathāgatagarbha outputs the seeds of consciousness of the manas, the manas becomes manifest and functions. The six consciousnesses, however, are born after the fact—born anew from the tathāgatagarbha in the physical body of each and every life. Only when the tathāgatagarbha outputs the seeds of the six consciousnesses can the six consciousnesses become manifest and perform the function of discrimination. Because the six consciousnesses are born later, the habituation they receive is slight, and they are easy to eliminate. The six consciousnesses are habituated by sense objects and habituated by the manas; upon encountering the wholesome they become wholesome, upon encountering the unwholesome they become unwholesome, and they are easily turned by conditions. Therefore it is the six consciousnesses that are easily transformed through cultivation; after they are transformed, they in turn influence and habituate the manas, causing the manas also to transform, and then our cultivation succeeds.

Returning to the original question: does the mind cease first, or does dharma cease first? Does the mind arise first, or does dharma arise first? From the analysis above, all dharmas are born from the tathāgatagarbha, and the tathāgatagarbha itself is unborn; the seven consciousnesses are born through the tathāgatagarbha delivering seeds of consciousness, and then the eight consciousness-kings, in conjunction with the mental factors (caittas) of the eight consciousnesses, produce material form (rūpa). So the matter is already clear: without the eight consciousness-minds there would be no material form and no dharma of sense objects—it is when the mind arises that the various dharmas arise.

Then as for cessation, which ceases first? The tathāgatagarbha does not cease, and sense objects cannot cease first. If sense objects ceased first while the seven consciousnesses still existed, then who would know that the sense objects no longer exist? If there were no sense objects, the six consciousnesses could not exist and could not perform the function of discrimination; even if they existed, it would be meaningless. Why could they not exist? Because the six consciousnesses arise only after the six faculties contact the six sense objects and the tathāgatagarbha can then give birth to the six consciousnesses. Without sense objects, there is no contact; without contact, there is no arising of the six consciousnesses.

Therefore it is not that dharma ceases first and mind ceases after; rather, mind ceases first and dharma ceases after. For example, yesterday you quarreled with someone, and now your mind is still dwelling on it and feeling distressed. The quarrel is already over—so why does the matter still remain in the mind? It is precisely because the mind has not ceased. If the mind had ceased and you did not care, you would not think about the matter. Or if one cultivates to the point where there is no mind to discriminate and give rise to afflictions, then at the very moment of the quarrel one would not care in the mind, and the quarrel could not even happen. Without mind, sense objects do not arise.

From the perspective of the manas: if one cultivates to the point where the manas's propensity for grasping ceases, and it no longer grasps at the mental sense-objects upon the five sense objects, then the six consciousnesses will not discern the dharmas of sense objects—that is a state of being without mind. The eye sees forms as if seeing nothing; the ear hears sounds as if hearing nothing; sense objects seem not to exist and can no longer exert any effect. If the manas were extinguished, the six faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses would all be extinguished and nothing would remain—then where would the sense objects be? So, to sum up: it is when the mind ceases that the various dharmas cease.

When the mind arises, the various dharmas arise; when the mind ceases, the various dharmas cease. Cultivation is precisely cultivating the mind; when the mind changes, everything changes.