II. Question: Are the "stars" one sees when dizzy (phosphenes) an instance of "pratyaya-lakṣaṇa" (exclusive mental image)? Seeing stars results from bodily illness or an imbalance of the four elements within the physical body, causing abnormal function in the visual organ. This differs from the "pratyaya-lakṣaṇa" perceived by the solitary sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna) without the involvement of the first five consciousnesses, because when seeing stars, the eye consciousness is still present.

Answer: Pratyaya-lakṣaṇa can only be perceived by oneself; others cannot perceive it. The objects of the five senses (five sense objects) can be perceived not only by oneself but also by others. The visual and auditory hallucinations experienced by a person with cerebellar atrophy are also pratyaya-lakṣaṇa; others cannot perceive them, following the same principle. If others could perceive one's pratyaya-lakṣaṇa, then it would not be pratyaya-lakṣaṇa, and the person with cerebellar atrophy would not be ill; it would not be an illusion.

The deranged consciousness of a mentally ill person is also a scattered solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna), and what it perceives is likewise pratyaya-lakṣaṇa. The mentally ill person feels that everything they see and hear is normal and no different from what others perceive. However, others cannot perceive what the mentally ill person sees, hears, or feels—that is pratyaya-lakṣaṇa. If what the mentally ill person sees could also be seen by others, it would not be pratyaya-lakṣaṇa, and they would not be a special case of mental illness but would be the same as a normal person. What sentient beings perceive differs from what the Buddha perceives; sentient beings are afflicted, whereas the Buddha is unafflicted.