Non-discrimination is wisdom; discrimination is consciousness.

"Not discriminating is wisdom; discriminating is consciousness." This sentence means that the Ālayavijñāna is the mind of great wisdom, possessing the nature of wisdom. Because He does not engage with the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana), He does not discern the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects. He is a consciousness of wisdom, different from the conscious nature of the seven consciousnesses. The seven transforming consciousnesses—that is, the first seven consciousnesses—have the function of discrimination; they mainly discriminate the realms of the six sense objects, possess the nature of consciousness, and are conscious minds. In particular, the sixth consciousness has the strongest discriminating nature, while the seventh consciousness's wisdom in discriminating the six sense objects is relatively inferior, with a weaker discriminating nature. As long as the seventh and sixth consciousnesses exist, discrimination must occur; if the seventh and sixth consciousnesses cease to discriminate, then either one enters deep meditative concentration, or they are extinguished—the sentient being is asleep or unconscious, or has died. If that were the case, sentient beings could not survive normally.

Although the Ālayavijñāna does not discriminate the realms of the six sense objects, He has His own content that He does discriminate, because after all He must exist and function, and He must give rise to all the myriad dharmas of the three-realm world. He must certainly discriminate first before He can produce the myriad dharmas—otherwise, on what basis would He produce them? He relies on karmic seeds to produce the myriad dharmas, so He must certainly be able to discern karmic seeds and give rise to the myriad dharmas in accordance with those karmic seeds.

He can give rise to and sustain the existence of the universe's material world (the container world) and the five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings, so He must certainly discern the material world of the universe and discern the condition of the five-aggregate bodies; otherwise, how could He maintain the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the material world, and how could He maintain the birth, aging, sickness, and death of the five-aggregate bodies? He must also certainly be able to discern the mental activities of the seventh and sixth consciousnesses; otherwise, He would be unable to cooperate with them, functioning in harmony with the seventh and sixth consciousnesses to accomplish the manifestation and operation of all dharmas. And the wisdom of the Ālayavijñāna and the consciousness of the seven transforming consciousnesses always operate together, so that the true and the false combine to give birth to all dharmas.