Discrimination Is Also Not Mind

"Discrimination yet not of the mind" was spoken by the Sixth Patriarch in the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. The discrimination in "discrimination yet not of the mind" as spoken by the Sixth Patriarch is often understood by ordinary people as the discriminating nature of the deluded mind, the seventh consciousness, but the true meaning of the Sixth Patriarch's words refers to the discriminating nature of the eighth consciousness, the fundamental mind. This dharma is very profound. The Sixth Patriarch's teachings all rest upon the tathāgatagarbha, the eighth consciousness; everything he taught revolved around the tathāgatagarbha, the eighth consciousness, and did not rest upon deluded dharmas.

The true meaning of "discrimination yet not of the mind" refers to the discriminating nature of the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha. Although the eighth consciousness can discriminate all dharmas, He has no mind to discriminate; there is no mental activity of deliberately wanting to discriminate, no active intention to discriminate any dharma, yet He automatically and effortlessly discriminates all dharmas. Discriminating all dharmas without mind, He gives rise to no obstruction whatsoever; without mind toward affairs, without affairs burdening the mind, He follows conditions freely and at ease, comprehending the characteristics of all dharmas yet nothing is comprehended, performing all endeavors yet nothing is performed. Such a mind is like empty space—free and at ease, again and again, leisurely and carefree.

If the mind of the seven consciousnesses were also like the eighth consciousness, what suffering in the world would there be to speak of, what burdens would there be to speak of, what world would there be to speak of? The mind would be utterly empty, moving through the world as if walking through empty space. Such great freedom is the freedom of the Buddha's mind, the realm of all Buddhas. So is the eighth consciousness not exceedingly worthy of our study and emulation? Most worthy indeed. Even at the cost of countless lives, one should take refuge in and submit to the eighth consciousness. Moreover, submitting to the eighth consciousness precisely liberates us from the suffering of birth and death accumulated over immeasurable kalpas, allowing us to constantly drink the nectar of non-attachment, free and unfettered, in ultimate great bliss.

As for the discriminating nature of the eighth consciousness, for example, discriminating seeds—which seed's conditions have ripened, which seed's conditions have not ripened, what karmic retribution should be realized and what should not—the eighth consciousness can discern all of this; He possesses this discriminating nature. But His discriminating nature is a discrimination that is so by the very nature of dharmas (dharmatā), having its own inherent operating principles. He does not intentionally discriminate or fabricate, so His discrimination is unintentional, without His own intent, without His own mental activity. It is in this way that He operates all dharmas. Does He have a discriminating nature toward all dharmas? He has a discriminating nature toward all of them, yet equally without mental activity—operating effortlessly, without mind and without intent. For those who have not yet seen the mind, this discriminating nature is very difficult to resonate with; they cannot experience this discriminating nature, and may confuse it with the discriminating nature of the first seven consciousnesses. But the eighth consciousness does not have the discriminating nature and mental activity of the first seven consciousnesses; He does not apply deliberate effort, so the discrimination of the eighth consciousness is unintentional.