The Mental Factors of the Eighth Consciousness

The mental factors associated with the eighth consciousness of sentient beings include five universally present mental factors: attention, contact, feeling, discernment, and volition; five specific mental factors: resolution, mindfulness, meditative concentration, and wisdom (whether the mental factor of desire is present remains to be observed); and eleven wholesome mental factors: faith, non-greed, non-aversion, non-delusion, diligence, tranquility, equanimity, and non-harmfulness. There are no twenty-six afflictive mental factors and no four indeterminate mental factors. The mental factors of the Buddha's eighth consciousness include the five universally present, the five specific, and the eleven wholesome, but no afflictive or indeterminate mental factors (the specific operations are currently unobservable).

The five universally present mental factors of the eighth consciousness accompany its functioning in every moment, never separating from it. Because the eighth consciousness constantly operates on all phenomena, discerning karmic seeds, the five aggregates, the material world, and the mental activities of the mind organ, it can discern all phenomena it manifests. Thus, the five universally present mental factors perpetually accompany the eighth consciousness in its operation.

Regarding the mental factor of attention, the eighth consciousness focuses on all phenomena it discerns, directing its mind toward the phenomena to be discerned. Next, it contacts the phenomena to be discerned; then it receives the phenomena being contacted; subsequently, it discerns the received phenomena, giving rise to the appearance of those phenomena in the mind. This differs significantly from the arising of phenomena in the seven consciousnesses. The eighth consciousness does not have the appearances of worldly phenomena, nor does it produce specific forms of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or mental objects. However, it certainly discerns the distribution and operation of the six fundamental seeds of phenomena. After this, the mental factor of volition in the eighth consciousness arises, making decisions on how to generate and modify corresponding phenomena. By regulating and emitting the six fundamental seeds, it causes phenomena to appear, change, and cease.

In discerning the seventh consciousness, the mind organ, the eighth consciousness primarily discerns its mental factors, observing the dispersion and concentration of consciousness seeds. Thus, it knows what the seventh consciousness is focused on and what it intends to do. When karmic conditions permit, the eighth consciousness fulfills the desires and thoughts of the seventh consciousness.

Among the five specific mental factors, the eighth consciousness possesses the mental factor of resolution. After discerning karmic seeds, the five aggregates, the material world, and the mental activities of the mind organ, the eighth consciousness accurately understands and reasonably cognizes these phenomena. It can acquiesce and comply with them before proceeding to act. This process constitutes resolution. Without correctly interpreting these phenomena, it would be impossible to properly and truthfully generate and modify all phenomena.

For example, after discerning the decision of the volitional mental factor of the mind organ, the eighth consciousness correctly and accurately understands what that decision is. It then approves and trusts the mind organ's decision, thereby complying with its intent to create and modify phenomena. If the eighth consciousness could not resolve the mind organ's intent, it would erroneously generate and alter phenomena, failing to properly cooperate with the mind organ, leading to chaos in the world.

Similarly, when the eighth consciousness discerns karmic seeds, it can resolve what those seeds are, thereby knowing how to generate phenomena based on them. If it could not resolve the nature of karmic seeds, it would be unable to properly produce phenomena, causing great disorder. For instance, if karmic seeds indicate that a person should experience a car accident, but the eighth consciousness fails to correctly discern and resolve this information, not only would the accident not occur, but the person's physical ailments might be eliminated, or they might receive promotion and wealth. This would prevent the truthful realization of cause and effect, where good is not rewarded and evil is not punished, making the world abnormal. Therefore, the eighth consciousness must possess the mental factor of resolution.

Acquiescence means approval, compliance without opposition. The terms "patient acceptance of non-arising" and "patient acceptance of the non-arising of phenomena" also convey this meaning: non-resistance and acknowledgment. This is entirely different from the ordinary person's concept of patience, which involves enduring with a knife in the heart. The patience of non-arising and the patience of the non-arising of phenomena are not like that, and the eighth consciousness's acquiescence is even less so. Without realizing the eighth consciousness, one cannot truly understand the distinction between it and the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, nor can one comprehend its mental activities.

The eighth consciousness also possesses the mental factor of mindfulness. For example, while in the womb, the eighth consciousness discerns karmic seeds while emitting the four fundamental seeds to generate the fetus's physical body. After discerning the karmic seeds, it remembers them in its mind and, based on those seeds, emits the corresponding four fundamental seeds into the physical body. When the eighth consciousness generates organs such as the ears, it remembers in its mind how much it has created and what it has created. It also contemplates the next steps: what to create next, when to create what, how many of the four fundamental seeds to use, and what the proportional structure should be. This mental awareness constitutes the mental factor of mindfulness, though it cannot be articulated as skillfully as the consciousness mind. The eighth consciousness remembers when to continue creating and modifying phenomena that are not yet complete, what to create at what time, and where to create it. It holds these thoughts in mind, and all phenomena are brought forth by the eighth consciousness's mindfulness. As the Sixth Patriarch said, "Suchness is without thought yet without non-thought."

The eighth consciousness also possesses the mental factor of meditative concentration. The state of being perpetually in meditative concentration without any time out of it, the great Shurangama concentration, the vajra-like concentration, and so forth, all refer to the concentration of the eighth consciousness. This concentration is extremely firm, without entry or exit. No phenomenon can disrupt the eighth consciousness's concentration, nor can any phenomenon cause it to emerge from concentration or lead to mental scattering, dullness, or restlessness. No worldly concentration can compare to even a fraction of the eighth consciousness's concentration. When the eighth consciousness seeks to realize good and evil karmic seeds and the retributions of cause and effect, nothing can obstruct it. It is unmoved by threats, temptations, or inducements, remaining unshaken by the eight worldly winds, seated serenely on the golden lotus throne. The eighth consciousness does not cling to or pursue any phenomena within or beyond the world, does not seek any benefit, and does not even aspire to Buddhahood. It is without desire or craving, and its concentration is as firm as a vajra.

The eighth consciousness also possesses the mental factor of wisdom. The wisdom of the eighth consciousness is called Prajna Paramita, the great wisdom that reaches the other shore of birth and death, the great wisdom that does not sink into birth and death and is liberated from all phenomena, and the great wisdom that discerns all phenomena and creates all phenomena. The wisdom of the eighth consciousness in truthfully discerning karmic seeds, and its wisdom in emitting the six fundamental seeds based on those seeds to gradually or swiftly create all phenomena, is far beyond the reach of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, even when they become Buddhas.

The great wisdom of the eighth consciousness in truthfully knowing the states of all phenomena is unattainable by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, no matter what. Even the wisdom of a Buddha's sixth and seventh consciousnesses might be able to contemplate the ultimate, yet it cannot compare to the wisdom of the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness's incomparable Shurangama concentration and its supreme great wisdom can simultaneously pervade all phenomena and process all phenomena at the same time, regardless of distance, time, past or present, without any spatial or temporal barriers, bestowing blessings and managing everything. Thus, the eighth consciousness possesses concentration and wisdom that are incomparable to those of the seven consciousnesses and beyond the imagination of bodhisattvas before the grounds.