The Black Box World (IX)

All sentient beings, upon perceiving the six dusts, believe that what they perceive is the true realm of the six dusts and that these six dusts are real. Consequently, they develop feelings such as attachment and aversion toward the six dusts. After these feelings arise, they begin to deliberate; after deliberation, they make choices, giving rise to a decisive mind that determines how to act. This series of mental factors thus emerges and continues to operate repeatedly, precisely because the realm is mistaken as real. After the five universal mental factors arise sequentially, their order may change and repeat. The transitions among these mental factors are complex, depending on factors such as whether one is interested in the encountered six dusts, whether the six dusts are easily perceived clearly, and whether the six dusts are important, among others.

Not only are the seen form dust and heard sounds merely internal appearance division images, all contained within the black box, but everything our body feels is also an internal appearance division shadow. What the body consciousness perceives, and even what the mental consciousness can perceive, are all internal appearance division shadows, all six dust realms within the black box, all images manifested by the eighth consciousness, all illusory and without substantiality. For example, what the body consciousness perceives—when sitting on a bed, knowing whether it is soft or hard; when sitting on a sofa, knowing whether it is soft or hard; whether the body feels comfortable—these tactile dusts seem real to us, but in truth, they are not real. They are merely discriminations made against shadows, all activities occurring within the black box. As for the external appearance division, only the eighth consciousness can contact it; it is not within the black box.