A Brief Discourse on the Essence of Consciousness

Chapter Six: The Defiled and Pure Nature of the Conscious Mind

1. The mind-basis of the first seven consciousnesses possesses both defiled and pure natures. Their defiled nature does not arise merely because the seven consciousnesses have the nature of discrimination; the seven consciousnesses themselves have contained ignorance since beginningless kalpas, containing the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and are inherently defiled. In the operation of all dharmas, in the discrimination of all dharmas, the various defiled natures of the seven consciousnesses must inevitably manifest. Because the seven consciousnesses themselves have ignorance and do not know the true aspect of the dharmadhātu, they continuously generate grasping mental activities toward the myriad dharmas of the three realms, and the nature of greed and defilement will manifest.

The seven consciousnesses have the nature of discrimination; the seven consciousnesses are inherently meant to discriminate. As long as the minds of the seven consciousnesses exist, there must be the nature of discrimination; if they did not discriminate, they could not appear in the three realms. The reason the first seven consciousnesses are called consciousnesses is that the self-nature of the conscious mind is inherently to discriminate or recognize, and it always has the nature of discrimination; otherwise it would not be called a consciousness and would be no different from a piece of wood. Since the eighth consciousness is also called a consciousness, the eighth consciousness itself naturally also has the nature of discrimination. All eight consciousnesses have the nature of discrimination, which is why they are called the eight consciousnesses. Even after attaining buddhahood, the eight consciousnesses still have the nature of discrimination and discernment, and must discern and discriminate all dharmas.

What is discrimination? When you know all dharmas, discrimination is complete; without discrimination, there is no capacity for knowing. Without discrimination, one knows nothing at all, and would be no different from a piece of wood. Therefore, even after becoming a Buddha, one still must know all dharmas, and know them more perfectly and more completely than we sentient beings do, with not a single dharma unknown. The Buddha's capacity for knowing and discriminating has reached thorough and ultimate perfection; when discriminating all dharmas, it is ultimately definitive, penetrating to the very source of all dharmas. The Buddha's capacity for knowing pervades all times and spaces, without any obstruction or separation, without the slightest ignorance or lack of knowledge. The knowing and discriminating capacity of sentient beings' seven consciousnesses all have limitations and restrictions; because ignorance is deep and heavy, what is known is not perfect or complete, and only a very small portion can be known. As long as ignorance, afflictions, and defilements remain contained in the seven consciousnesses, their discriminating nature has great obscuration and obstruction.

At the time of buddhahood, the eight consciousnesses still have the nature of discrimination; it is only that when discriminating, they possess immense wisdom, able to completely and thoroughly penetrate all dharmas such as form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, discriminating all dharmas of the three-realm world thoroughly and completely. If one says the eight consciousnesses do not discriminate, what state is non-discrimination? Non-discrimination is like a stone; sentient beings are not stones, and after becoming a Buddha, one is even less a stone. Since one is not a stone, the conscious mind of course must discriminate and know the various dharmas. It is precisely because of the nature of discrimination and knowing that we can survive in this world and be lively, active sentient beings.

Some people say that if consciousness does not discriminate, it becomes pure. This statement is clearly incorrect. Purity means that the conscious mind, when discriminating all dharmas and performing bodily, verbal, and mental actions, is pure and undefiled; when the conscious mind discriminates, it carries no afflictions of greed, hatred, or delusion, and carries no ignorance—only such a mind is pure. If the conscious mind did not discriminate at all, people could not survive and live normally. When there is ignorance, the conscious mind cannot be pure; it will discriminate in inverted ways, or discriminate unclearly, lacking the nature of wisdom, unable to correctly know dharmas, and many dharmas will be difficult to observe—seeing nothing clearly, thinking nothing through.

If the minds of the seven consciousnesses wish to have discrimination endowed with great wisdom, they must eliminate defilement and eliminate ignorance. When ignorance is completely eradicated, discrimination endowed with wisdom reaches perfection, and one can perfectly know all dharmas. If the minds of the seven consciousnesses have no ignorance, they are no longer inverted and can completely and perfectly know all dharmas. A mind that perfectly knows all dharmas is a mind with wisdom, and a mind with wisdom is untainted (anāsrava). Having neither the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion nor ignorance is called being untainted; having afflictions and ignorance is being tainted (sāsrava). The less ignorance the conscious mind has, the more it can recognize the true and real aspect when discriminating all dharmas, and the clearer and more thorough the discrimination. When there is ignorance and taint, the conscious mind's discrimination is not perfect or thorough, and there are obstructions. The more obstructions there are, the narrower the mind's capacity, the narrower the scope of cognition, the shallower the degree of cognition, and the more insufficient the nature of wisdom. When the conscious mind is cultivated to the point of being untainted, wisdom becomes very vast, even vast to the point of being immeasurable and boundless, able to observe true aspects that could not be observed before, able to observe all human affairs, things, and principles thoroughly and completely, penetrating into the most ultimate reality and truth.

Therefore, in the operation of our six consciousnesses' bodily, verbal, and mental actions, we must subdue the afflictions of greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views. When these afflictions are gradually subdued, we can gradually reach the untainted state, and wisdom gradually grows. When reaching the untainted state, the mind's capacity becomes vast, the scope of what the mind attends to becomes boundlessly broad, and one can know the immeasurable and countless true aspects of the dharmadhātu. The more untainted the mind, the more wisdom it has. When all ignorance is completely eradicated, there is not a single dharma in the mundane or supramundane world that we cannot know—all can be known. To eliminate these afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, one must eliminate wrong views and possess right view, relying on meditative concentration and wisdom to break through ignorance, afflictions, and habitual tendencies.

The first step in eliminating wrong views is to study the Four Noble Truths and eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). The view of self is one of the wrong views—taking the five aggregates and eighteen realms as the real self. This is the greatest and most fundamental wrong view, and also the root of all afflictions. Because of this wrong view, many other wrong views arise, and transmigration through birth and death comes from this. Because our views are not correct and the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are not severed, the mind is tainted, wisdom is not perfect and complete, we see all dharmas wrongly, do things wrongly, and our bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all impure.

For example, when the affliction of anger arises in our minds, the mind-water has already become turbid, meditative concentration dissipates, wisdom becomes utterly chaotic, and we cannot thoroughly illuminate the true principle of all things. Then we will see all human affairs, things, and principles wrongly, and understand them wrongly; with wrong understanding, thoughts follow wrongly; with wrong thoughts, we then speak wrongly or act wrongly, and the entire bodily, verbal, and mental actions are wrong. After performing wrong and defiled bodily, verbal, and mental actions, the karmic activities are stored as seeds in the eighth consciousness. When these karmic seeds mature, we must receive evil retribution. All the bodily, verbal, and mental actions we perform at every moment of the present are stored as seeds in the eighth consciousness, becoming our historical archives of every life, every world-period, every moment. When the archives are opened upon encountering conditions, evil retribution must immediately be received.

When we attain the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), all the bodily, verbal, and mental actions performed throughout kalpas, everything experienced, can be seen vividly as if right before our eyes, and at that time the mind feels deeply ashamed. These historical archives do not disappear even at the time of buddhahood; every Buddha can recall all of His own actions and all the retributions received throughout kalpa after kalpa. He can also know all the archives of all sentient beings throughout the kalpas, without the slightest omission. Therefore, in all our bodily, verbal, and mental actions, we must act carefully; in speech we must always be reasonable and truthful, in actions we must always accord with the Dharma. Do not pretend to know what you do not know; when matters are unclear, know how to remain silent; learn to be patient; do not force yourself to claim knowledge of principles you do not understand—you must restrain yourself and not speak out. You must guard your bodily, verbal, and mental actions well, and no longer create evil and unwholesome karma. This is something every student of Buddhism must strive to accomplish.

As long as one creates even a little evil karma, the retribution is merciless. Even if we joke with others without any malicious intent, if that joke carries the nature of foolishness or ignorance, this behavior will also be stored as an archive, and what is output in the future will be karmic seeds of foolishness, and we will receive the retribution of foolishness. For example, if you give someone a nickname that is associated with animals, or carries a sarcastic or mocking tone, or is unpleasant to hear—although it seems there is no particular malice when spoken—the retribution is nevertheless very bad; in the future one may be reborn in the animal realm as an animal. We often think that what we say and do is nothing serious and will bring no retribution, but when we actually receive the retribution, the mind still feels very sad and painful. Many people's speech and actions, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions they perform, make people shudder with fear, and there is no way to stop them—no one can prevent it. Sentient beings all think that what they say is right and what they do is right, yet the facts and results are all wrong, and they have no idea.

Some people speak and act with good intentions, thinking they will have good retribution and no evil retribution. But the result is: the mind is good, yet the words spoken are all wrong, and the things done are all wrong, and he has no idea that what he says and does is all wrong. After karmic actions are performed, these karmic seeds are stored, and in the future, evil karma created with a good mind will bring evil retribution. We have done far too many things of receiving evil retribution for good intentions throughout beginningless kalpas—almost every sentient being has done this. Some people's starting point may be good and wholesome, but the results and the actions themselves are unwholesome, and they themselves have no idea. When bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all unwholesome, the final retribution will certainly be unwholesome. Sentient beings do not know this principle, because of foolishness.

We must pay attention to our bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Words spoken are like water poured out—spilled water cannot be recovered. Once a seed is stored in the eighth consciousness, it takes firm root there and will sprout and bear fruit in the future. Therefore, we should frequently examine ourselves: today, yesterday, the day before; this month, last month; this year, last year, the year before, and this entire lifetime—what bodily, verbal, and mental karma have we created? We must examine carefully, and upon discovering improper conduct after examination, we must sincerely repent. Repentance can eliminate a portion of the seeds already stored; if there is no repentance, these seeds become fixed in form, becoming fixed karma (niyata-karma), and evil retribution will certainly be received in the future.

After earnest repentance, some karma can be partially eliminated, and some cannot; some fixed karma can be transformed into unfixed karma, and unfixed karma can be partially dissipated, so that in the future only slight evil retribution is received, or none at all. If there is no repentance, all the bodily, verbal, and mental actions we perform will receive evil retribution. Especially when we speak, we say wrong things with the slightest carelessness, yet still think what we say is all correct, thinking we can understand the truth of all matters. In fact, we lack wisdom—how can we see human affairs, things, and principles clearly? We fail to understand every matter; many things we cannot comprehend or see clearly, because we have ignorance. Every sentient being is self-righteous, thinking they have seen things clearly, and then, without realizing it, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are performed; once performed, they become evil karma, leaving behind seeds of evil karma.

When can we understand and see clearly all human affairs, things, and principles? The Buddha said: Until you realize the fourth fruit of arhatship, do not trust your mind; your mind is not to be believed. Sentient beings' bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all impure; the mind is defiled and has ignorance, so when looking at problems, they cannot see clearly and cannot correctly know human affairs, things, and principles. Consequently, what manifests is incorrect bodily, verbal, and mental actions, or evil ones. Even after seeing the mind and seeing the nature (enlightenment), there are still afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion in the mind, and ignorance. If a bodhisattva has not cultivated to the fruits of the third or fourth stage, he likewise has the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; these afflictions will also manifest, and he will also create evil bodily, verbal, and mental karma—but the bodhisattva's karmic afflictions are just slightly lighter than those of ordinary beings.

Only after realizing the third fruit and entering the first bhūmi can afflictions be effectively subdued. Upon entering the first bhūmi, the bodhisattva is certainly a person of the third or fourth fruit; the afflictions and ignorance of greed, hatred, and delusion are severed, the mind is pure, wisdom is deep and broad, and initial untaintedness is achieved. When the mind can reach initial untaintedness, there is both meditative concentration and wisdom, and only then can one see some human affairs clearly and distinctly. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions such a person performs are certainly purer than those of others; only then can one have self-confidence and trust one's own mind. Of course, in many cases this varies from person to person and cannot be generalized. Before this, we should not be too self-confident; in viewing people, matters, and problems, we will all make errors, because we lack the wisdom to discern.

In summary, if consciousness is impure, views are impure; if views are impure, discernment is impure; if discernment is impure, perception is impure; if perception is impure, speech is impure; if speech is impure, action is impure. Because the seven consciousnesses have defilement and ignorance, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all impure; when bodily, verbal, and mental actions are impure, karmic seeds are impure; when karmic seeds are impure, retribution is impure. The impurity of the karmic seeds causes the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the next life to remain impure, so that life after life one is impure, and thus birth and death and transmigration continue without end. From this we can see how important it is to study Buddhism, cultivate practice, eliminate ignorance, and eliminate defilement!

2. How to Purify the Mind

After the manas gives rise to attention (manaskāra) toward the six sense objects, if it does not contact the six sense objects, subsequent mental activities will not appear, the six consciousnesses cannot arise, and the six faculties have no mind toward the six sense objects. After the manas attends to and contacts the six sense objects, if it does not receive or accept them, subsequent mental activities also do not arise, the six consciousnesses do not arise, the six faculties have no mind toward the six sense objects, and the mind is pure. After the manas attends to, contacts, and feels the six sense objects, if it does not perceive or grasp, subsequent mental activities do not arise, the six consciousnesses do not arise, the six faculties have no mind toward the six sense objects, and the mind is pure. If the manas grasps the six sense objects, the mental factor of deliberation (manasikāra) must manifest, decision must appear, giving rise to the six consciousnesses or turning toward the six sense objects, or avoiding the six sense objects; mental activities of liking and disliking must appear, and the mind is impure.

If the six consciousnesses subdue the afflictions and neither like nor dislike the six sense objects, there is also no mind, and the mind is pure. When the six consciousnesses face the six sense objects, they may attend and contact, but not receive, not perceive, not deliberate, and not decide to act, and the mind attains purity. When the six consciousnesses attend, contact, and feel the six sense objects, but do not perceive or grasp, the mind attains purity. This is cultivating the mind amid sense objects; only thus can afflictions be subdued and severed.

When the six consciousnesses face the six sense objects, after attending, contacting, feeling, and perceiving, if one can subdue one's own thoughts and control oneself from deliberating and from acting, one can avoid creating karmic activities, but the mind is already impure.

The subduing at this time is subduing the manas, so that the manas does not make the decision to have the six consciousnesses create karmic activities; if the manas is not subdued, even if the six consciousnesses do not wish to create karmic activities, they must obey the manas's command and will inevitably create karma. But sometimes, when the six consciousnesses do not decide to act, the manas complies, the mind rests, and no bodily, verbal, or mental actions are performed.