The True Meaning of the Eighth Consciousness Generating All Dharmas

The eighth consciousness produces all dharmas. This "all dharmas" refers to all dharmas that the sentient being's own seven consciousnesses can cognize, contact, and perceive. Dharmas that the sentient being's own seven consciousnesses cannot cognize or contact are not necessarily dharmas produced by their own eighth consciousness. However, all dharmas that the sentient being's own seven consciousnesses can cognize, contact, and perceive are invariably dharmas directly produced and manifested by the sentient being's own eighth consciousness. If their own eighth consciousness did not produce and manifest dharmas, their own seven consciousnesses would be unable to cognize, contact, or perceive dharmas, and thus could not know the existence of dharmas.

Among all dharmas that the sentient being's own seven consciousnesses can cognize, contact, and perceive, one part is produced by their own eighth consciousness using the seven great seeds within its own mind. Another part cannot be produced by their own eighth consciousness using the seven great seeds; these are dharmas produced by the eighth consciousnesses of other sentient beings using seeds within their own eighth consciousnesses. After these dharmas are produced, the sentient being's own eighth consciousness cognizes them and then manifests them, enabling their own seven consciousnesses to cognize, contact, and perceive them. For example, when the seven consciousnesses perceive the five-aggregate body of another being, that five-aggregate body is produced by the seeds of the other being's eighth consciousness. The sentient being's own eighth consciousness cannot produce it, but it can cognize and contact it, and then present that five-aggregate body, enabling their own seven consciousnesses to perceive the other being's five-aggregate body.

All dharmas that the sentient being's own seven consciousnesses can cognize, contact, and perceive include the five-aggregate bodies of other sentient beings distinct from themselves, as well as the threefold realm's vessel-world. They also include the true suchness dharmata realized upon attaining the wisdom of the path, the functional aspects of the eighth consciousness, the functional aspects of the seven consciousnesses, and the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses. This, of course, also includes the mental factors and various mental activities of the eight consciousnesses of other sentient beings. In summary, all these dharmas include the immediate objective-supporting conditions (ālambana-pratyaya) and the mediate objective-supporting conditions for the seven consciousnesses. They include dharmas directly produced by the eighth consciousness using the seven great seeds, and dharmas that are merely reflected and manifested by the eighth consciousness—dharmas that were directly produced by the eighth consciousnesses of other sentient beings. This latter category of dharmas, personally produced by the eighth consciousnesses of other sentient beings, are not dharmas produced by one's own eighth consciousness using the seven great seeds within its own substance; rather, they are dharmas indirectly manifested and reflected.

In conclusion, the statement "the eighth consciousness produces all dharmas" has a premise: it refers to dharmas that are connected to one's own eight consciousnesses. Dharmas that are unconnected are not within the scope of "all dharmas produced by one's own eighth consciousness." The eighth consciousness itself is not a produced dharma. Therefore, one's own eighth consciousness cannot produce itself, nor can it produce the eighth consciousness of another being, nor the mental factors and functional aspects of another being's eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness and its mental factors of another being can only be manifested dharmas of one's own eighth consciousness; they can only be reflected and manifested, not produced. The same applies to the five aggregates of another being: they can only be reflected and manifested, not produced. Only after one's own eighth consciousness reflects and manifests them can one's own seven consciousnesses cognize, contact, and perceive them. What is perceived are never dharmas with substantial reality. Dharmas with substantial reality are dharmas produced by one's own eighth consciousness using either the seven great seeds or the five great seeds.

Dedication Verse: We dedicate all the merit from Dharma propagation and group practice on our online platform to all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm and to the people of the world. We pray for world peace, that wars may cease; may flames of war never ignite, and weapons be forever laid down; may all disasters completely subside! We pray that the people of all nations unite in mutual aid, treating each other with compassion; may the weather be favorable and the harvests abundant, bringing peace and prosperity to the nation and its people! May all sentient beings deeply believe in cause and effect, harbor compassionate hearts and refrain from killing; may they widely form wholesome connections and extensively cultivate wholesome karma; may they believe in the Buddha, learn the Buddha-Dharma, and increase their wholesome roots; may they understand suffering, abandon its origins, aspire to cessation, and cultivate the path; may they close the door to the miserable destinies and open the path to Nirvana! We pray that Buddhism may flourish forever and the true Dharma abide eternally; may the burning house of the three realms be transformed into the lotus land of Ultimate Bliss!