The Manifestation of Consciousness Has a Close Relationship with Material Form

The principle of the arising of the six consciousnesses: When the sense faculties and sensory objects come into contact, the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to consciousness. If the sense faculties undergo alteration, the discerning nature of consciousness becomes impaired; if the sensory objects change, the discernment of consciousness becomes impaired. However, the seed-nature of consciousness itself never changes. The structure of the four great elements constituting the body constantly changes according to karma and various conditions, causing material form (rūpa) to continuously undergo transformation. Neural conduction occurs entirely through the five physical sense faculties and cannot function apart from them. The tathāgatagarbha relies on the five sense faculties to transmit the subtle particles of the four great elements, manifesting the internal six sensory objects. The tathāgatagarbha also relies on the subtle sense faculties to manifest mental objects. When the sense faculties and sensory objects change, the conscious mind consequently changes, inevitably leading to problems in discernment.

Mental objects manifest based on the subtle sense faculties. If the subtle sense faculties are impaired, the discernment of mental consciousness is inevitably impaired. The five sense consciousnesses accompanied by mental consciousness cannot exist apart from the five sensory objects, cannot exist apart from the five sense faculties, and cannot exist apart from the subtle sense faculties. Disengaged mental consciousness still cannot exist apart from the subtle sense faculties. If the subtle sense faculties are impaired, disengaged mental consciousness cannot arise, and the person enters a coma state. If disengaged mental consciousness had no relation to the subtle sense faculties, then the disengaged mental consciousness of a vegetative patient should function normally without impairment. However, the disengaged mental consciousness of a vegetative patient rarely arises; they cannot think, analyze, judge, reason, and can scarcely recall memories. Therefore, we arrive at a conclusion: The arising of consciousness has a close relationship with material form (rūpa) and also has a close relationship with the subtle sense faculties of the brain.