The Discerning Nature of the Five Sense Consciousnesses

The discerning capacity of the five sense consciousnesses: the five sense consciousnesses depend on the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna) in order to have their discerning capacity, and thereby possess a simple capacity for discrimination and differentiation. For example, when the eye consciousness at first cannot see a certain object clearly, there must be further mental engagement (manaskāra), contact with the material sense-object, then reception of the material sense-object, then discrimination of the material sense-object, and finally grasping of the mark of the material sense-object—only without verbal designation (abhilāpa); then the mental factor of volition (cetanā) arises and performs the function of decision, determining whether to accept and continue looking, or to avoid and not look. The eye consciousness can also feel simple feelings of suffering and happiness, but without emotional coloring, and not in a refined way. The same is true of the ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, and body consciousness. Because the eye consciousness has the capacity for discrimination, when looking at an object one looks at it over and over, examining it carefully and meticulously, in order to make the final decision and judgment. Of course, this simultaneously involves the joint cooperative function of the mind consciousness; the five sense consciousnesses cannot discern the realms of the five sense-objects on their own, because the five sense consciousnesses can only discern the coarse portion of the five sense-objects; more of the content requires the cooperative discernment of the mental consciousness accompanying the five sense consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna-sahagata-manovijñāna) before the complete five sense-objects can be discerned.