Which Vijñāna Do Concepts and Experiences Originate From?

Concepts exist only in the conscious mind, which corresponds with concepts. The five sense consciousnesses, the mental faculty (manas), and the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) do not possess the concept of dharmas, because consciousness alone corresponds to the characteristics of dharmas and possesses the capacity for thought, analysis, induction, and generalization. The other consciousnesses lack this ability.

Experience is the accumulated cognitive wisdom gained through the process of encountering and interacting with corresponding dharmas. The five sense consciousnesses have experience regarding the five sense objects (forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects), while consciousness has experience regarding mental objects (dharmas). The experiences of the six consciousnesses are limited to a single lifetime and are subject to forgetting. However, the mental faculty accumulates experiences across countless lifetimes; these experiences are indestructible and can be rapidly activated at critical moments to protect one's safety and interests. Although the eighth consciousness persists indestructibly through countless lifetimes, it does not possess memory and thus has no concept of experience. This is because its wisdom is fixed, intrinsically and spontaneously as it is, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, it has no experience, requires no experience, and yet is still able to orderly and normally operate all dharmas.