The Seeing, Hearing, Perceiving, and Knowing Nature of the Eighth Consciousness Is Extremely Sublime

Some people say that the eighth consciousness is established by sentient beings: if we establish Him, He exists; if we do not establish Him, He does not exist. But in reality, the eighth consciousness does not need to be established by us at all—He exists inherently, and no one, no matter how hard they try, can overturn Him. He never perishes; no one, using any force whatsoever, can erase Him. Whether or not sentient beings acknowledge Him, He has always been working quietly and unassumingly, offering all dharmas to sentient beings, bowing His head like an ox serving the young—He only plows the fields, asking nothing in return.

The eighth consciousness is the most correct eye in the world: He can see all dharmas, yet sees nothing; He can know all dharmas, yet knows nothing; He can hear all dharmas, yet hears nothing; He can be aware of all dharmas, yet is aware of nothing. He neither sees nor fails to see, neither knows nor fails to know, neither hears nor fails to hear, neither is aware nor fails to be aware. The eighth consciousness's "not knowing" is because the eighth consciousness does not engage with the sense objects of the six dusts, does not discriminate the sense objects of the six dusts, does not make specific discernments of any dharmas, and moreover has no initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra), no verbal designations and concepts, no knowledge and views, no opinions, stances, or perspectives.

Yet, the eighth consciousness knows everything, sees everything, hears everything, and is aware of everything. Why is this? Because the eighth consciousness can discern karmic seeds. When the eighth consciousness discerns karmic seeds, He thereby discerns all dharmas; at the same time, the Buddha-nature that operates in dependence on the eighth consciousness can operate upon all dharmas, having the seeing-nature with respect to all dharmas; therefore He can be aware of all dharmas and can contemplate all dharmas. This kind of initial application and sustained examination is utterly different from that of the seven consciousnesses, and His seeing-nature is also utterly different from the seeing-nature of the seven consciousnesses—sentient beings often find it very difficult to distinguish between them.

After the eighth consciousness discerns the karmic seeds, He must, in accordance with those karmic seeds, transform and create all dharmas. If He did not know all dharmas, He would be unable to transform and create them, or He would create them in a chaotic and erroneous manner; then there would arise phenomena such as cause and effect not matching, effects without causes, or causes without effects. Yet the cause and effect of sentient beings has never been the least bit disordered, which shows that the eighth consciousness can truly and accurately discern karmic seeds, and truly, in accordance with karmic seeds, give birth to all dharmas, thereby actualizing the law of cause and effect. In fact, it is precisely because the eighth consciousness can know all dharmas that He can transform and create all dharmas. His way of knowing is, first, knowing the karmic seeds, and second, knowing the causes and conditions; on the other hand, He possesses the functional operation of the seeing-nature, and being able to see all dharmas, He can accord with the arising and transformation of all dharmas. Overall, the seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing nature of the eighth consciousness is extremely sublime and also very special, distinct from the seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing nature of the seven consciousnesses, and it is difficult for us to comprehend.