The Process of Ear Consciousness Discernment toward Sound Objects

Question: When the ear faculty contacts the sound dust, giving rise to ear consciousness, does the seed of consciousness arise at the source of the sound (the sound dust) or at the ear faculty? Does the arising of the other consciousnesses follow the same principle? Does the Tathāgatagarbha transform the sound dust into internal sound dust, and does ear consciousness then arise at the supreme sense base, the back of the head? Then the ear consciousness discerns the internal sound dust. It always feels as if the sound comes from outside—who perceives this? The Tathāgatagarbha does not perceive it. Only the ear consciousness perceives it, yet the ear consciousness is inside the brain. How could it extend outside?

Answer: The eighth consciousness manifests the internal five dusts at the supreme sense base in the back of the head. When the supreme sense base contacts the internal five dusts and the mental faculty (manas) directs attention, the eighth consciousness gives rise to the five consciousnesses at the supreme sense base. The five consciousnesses, the five supreme sense bases, and the internal five dusts—these three factors come into contact, generating the feeling (vedanā) of the five consciousnesses. The five consciousnesses can then, together with the mental consciousness (manovijñāna), discern the internal five dusts at the supreme sense base as well as the mental dusts (dharmas), which are the six dusts within the "black box." The five consciousnesses are neither inside the black box nor outside it. The eighth consciousness gives rise to ear consciousness; the function of ear consciousness is to discern the internal sound dust. Ear consciousness cannot discern external sounds, so it is not outside; yet ear consciousness, being formless, is also not inside, yet it functions in this way. The eighth consciousness then, based on the internal five dusts, manifests the internal mental dusts, which are the forms included in the dharmas (dharmāyatana)—the form dust's shape, gesture, and non-manifestative form. The region and location of the mental dusts differ from those of the internal five dusts. Then the eighth consciousness further manifests the mental consciousness to discern the internal mental dusts.