The Knowing Within Consciousness: The Knowing of Manas and Ālaya-Vijñāna

Question: When I calm my mind and carefully observe, I can clearly perceive the existence of a pure, clear "I." What is that "I"? And what is the knowing that perceives that "I"?

Answer: The pure, clear "I" you perceive is the most readily observable manifestation of the various functions of consciousness—such as this "I" experiencing, observing, analyzing, thinking, judging, feeling, perceiving, deciding, conceptualizing, reasoning, seeking, and so forth—which are the functional activities of the skandhas of feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), mental formations (saṃskāra), and consciousness (vijñāna). The knowing that perceives these various functions of the "I" is the knowing arising from the introspective function of consciousness; it is the self-witnessing division (svasaṃvedana) of the conscious mind.

Within the operation of all these dharmas, within the various knowings of consciousness, there is always the knowing of the mental faculty (manas) and the knowing of the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna). The functional activities of both the mental faculty and the eighth consciousness are always present. When consciousness knows, the knowing of the mental faculty must accompany it, and the knowing of the eighth consciousness must also accompany it. Without the knowing of the mental faculty, consciousness must cease to exist and cannot arise. Without the knowing of the eighth consciousness, the knowing of consciousness must logically cease to exist, must logically fail to arise, and must logically perish and vanish.