Eradicating the View of Self That Takes Consciousness as "I" (Part Four)

Furthermore, the mind consciousness that accompanies the ear consciousness—one should analyze and contemplate how false and illusory it is, and how it arises and ceases. When we hear sounds, the mind consciousness must certainly participate. The mind consciousness can analyze what kind of sound it is, where it comes from, how far or near it is from me, what the content of the sound is, how coarse or fine the sound is, whether it is a man's voice or a woman's voice, whether it is a sound produced by an object or a sound arising in the universe, what effect it has on me, and how to handle and deal with this sound, and so on—all of this is the content that the mind consciousness discerns and processes.

What conditions are needed for the mind consciousness that is together with the ear consciousness to manifest? Its manifestation requires the ear faculty, the ear consciousness, the eighth consciousness, the manas, the mind consciousness's own consciousness-seeds, as well as sounds from the external world. Only when these conditions are complete can we hear sounds, and only then can we discriminate, discern, judge, and analyze this sound, deliberate and make plans, give rise to various minds of joy, greed, or aversion, and produce various mental states—all of these are the functions and roles of the mind consciousness.

Analyze and contemplate the arising-and-ceasing nature of this mind consciousness: if the external sound disappears, the mind consciousness cannot discern the sound-object in that place, and it shifts elsewhere to discriminate, no longer continuing to discriminate the sound-object there. If one condition is missing—for example, if the ear faculty is destroyed—then the ear consciousness no longer exists, and the mind consciousness also cannot attend to that sound. One can see how false and illusory this mind consciousness is. External sounds all arise from various causes and conditions; without external sounds, the mind consciousness cannot manifest. If there are no consciousness-seeds, the mind consciousness cannot manifest either. If the manas is not interested in the mental objects and does not give rise to attention toward that sound-object, the mind consciousness also cannot manifest. If a person is tired or unconscious, the mind consciousness also cannot manifest, and I would not be able to hear sounds. Therefore, this mind consciousness of mine that can hear sounds, analyze sounds, and contemplate the content of sounds is also subject to arising and ceasing, is impermanent, and is produced by causes and conditions. Thus the mind consciousness is not me—it arises and ceases moment after moment, and fundamentally cannot be me.