Direct Perception and Discernment of the Six Consciousnesses (III)

When the ear is hearing sounds, the ear consciousness directly and presently discerns the volume and vibration frequency of the sound, and the mind consciousness also has direct-perception discernment of sounds; the content of its discernment is far richer than what the ear consciousness discerns. The direct-perception object discerned by the mind consciousness is the subtle mental sense-object of the sound currently being transmitted; it is not recalling sounds heard in the past, nor is it fantasizing about some sound that has not appeared. The mind consciousness can know the content of a sound without needing to compare and analyze it—this is the mind consciousness's direct-perception discernment. For example, upon hearing the sound of speech, the mind consciousness immediately knows information such as the source, quality, and content of the sound, judging it without error—this is direct-perception discernment. The mind consciousness may also engage in inferential discernment, discerning the content of the sound—and the speaker's hidden purposes and intentions—through means such as thinking, reasoning, judging, and comparing. Sometimes the mind consciousness discerns correctly, and sometimes it discerns erroneously; when the discernment is erroneous, it is entirely erroneous cognition (non-valid cognition).

Another example is hearing the sound of wind and rain: the ear consciousness directly and presently discerns the vibrations of the sounds of wind and rain and the impact and influence of the sound waves on the eardrum. The mind consciousness discerns aspects such as the loudness or softness, coarseness or fineness, source, direction, and urgency of the sounds of wind and rain; the mind consciousness can directly discern these contents without comparison or analysis—this is direct-perception discernment. But sometimes there are also instances of comparison, analysis, thinking, and reasoning, where the mind consciousness must rely on the thinking of comparison and imagination in order to discern clearly—this is inferential discernment; if the discernment is erroneous, it is entirely erroneous cognition. The mind consciousness can, without the participation of the ear consciousness, independently engage in inferential and erroneous discernment on its own. When the mind consciousness is discerning, if the ear consciousness is not currently active, the mind consciousness cannot discern sounds; the two consciousnesses must exist simultaneously in order to directly and presently discern sounds. Therefore, the mind consciousness's direct-perception discernment of the five sense-objects always requires the participation of the first five consciousnesses.