The Sixth Patriarch's Enlightenment as the Direct Perception of the Eighth Consciousness

The experiential realization attained by Mahayana Bodhisattvas through Chan practice involves personally realizing the eighth consciousness and directly observing its functions, rather than inferring the existence and functions of the eighth consciousness through reasoning or deduction, as inference is not experiential realization. When the Sixth Patriarch attained enlightenment upon hearing the Fifth Patriarch expound the Diamond Sutra, he directly realized the True Thusness—the eighth consciousness—and was immediately able to observe it directly. He then uttered the five verses about the self-nature. Other Chan patriarchs, upon their enlightenment, likewise directly realized the True Thusness—the eighth consciousness—without relying on inference or deduction. Only through direct realization can one observe the functions of the eighth consciousness through direct perception, thereby attaining great prajñā wisdom. When prajñā wisdom becomes complete, one can directly observe the manifold functions of the eighth consciousness, just as one sees an amala fruit in the palm of one’s hand—not imagining that there is an amala fruit in the hand, but actually seeing the real existence of the amala fruit. Similarly, realizing the eighth consciousness is not about imagining or inferring the existence of an eighth consciousness and speculating about its functions; rather, it is directly observing the various roles the eighth consciousness plays within the five aggregates and the eighteen realms.

Inference and imagination are functions of the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna), while experiential realization involves the direct realization by the seventh consciousness (manas). The realization by the seventh consciousness is directly perceived; it is seen immediately, without needing to strive to contemplate the eighth consciousness within phenomena when encountering them. Contemplated thoughts are unreliable, for when the sixth consciousness ceases, contemplation becomes impossible, and the eighth consciousness seems to disappear. Especially after death, when the sixth consciousness is absent, one can no longer contemplate the eighth consciousness. Failing to perceive the existence of the eighth consciousness is the state of an ordinary being, who will then take rebirth with an ordinary body, rendering all their efforts in vain—a profound pity. Therefore, anyone who cannot immediately and directly perceive the functioning of the eighth consciousness but relies on inference to prove its existence has not attained genuine enlightenment.