What Kind of "Knowledge" Is "Right Knowledge"

Question: Is the unchanging "knower" within our mind the manas? Is it the same as the "knowing" in dreams? Why does it disappear when we fall asleep? Is maintaining this clear and aware "knowing" right knowledge?

Answer: This knowing within the mind is impermanent and subject to change. In many circumstances, it ceases to know; therefore, it is the knowing nature of the consciousness that arises and ceases, characterized by impermanence. This knowing also exists in dreams, which is likewise the knowing of consciousness. However, all dharmas simultaneously possess the knowing of the manas; it is just that the manas is extremely deeply concealed, making it very difficult to detect its knowing nature.

Maintaining this knowing nature and being clear about the nature of the six dusts (objects of sense) belongs to the method of cultivating concentration (śamatha), not to the realization of the Path (darśana-mārga). If it is not the knowing of consciousness in the state of realizing the mind (understanding the true nature of mind), then the knowing that remains within the five aggregates (skandhas) is not right knowledge. This is because it does not know the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), does not understand the functioning of the eighth consciousness, only knows the dharmas that arise and cease, and does not know the unborn, unceasing dharma. This is the wrong knowledge of consciousness. True right knowledge is the knowing nature of the eighth consciousness, the knowing nature of the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature). It does not fall within the five aggregates, the twelve sense fields (āyatanas), or the eighteen elements (dhātus). It is without outflows (anāsrava), without ignorance (avidyā), without the variability of arising, ceasing, or impermanence. This is the true rightness, the ultimate and complete rightness. It does not need to be born and will never cease.