The Connotation of Pratyakṣa

The true meaning of direct perception (pratyakṣa) encompasses two aspects: one refers to the wisdom state of the conscious mind, and the other refers to the objective aspect (ālambana) corresponding to the conscious mind containing true meaning, conforming to conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya), or conforming to ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya). The direct perceptual cognition and discernment of the conscious mind are of a wisdom nature; the degree of direct perception varies, and so does the wisdom. The more directly the objective aspect faced by the conscious mind is perceived, the more true and factual it is, the easier it is to have direct perceptual discernment, the more accurate and true-to-reality the cognition becomes, and the less prone it is to erroneous discernment. When the direct perceptual wisdom of the conscious mind is profound, upon contacting a dharmic state, it knows immediately, right then, without analysis, without research, without pondering, without inquiry, without conjecture, and the knowledge is completely accurate and error-free. If it cannot know instantly, it indicates insufficient or defective wisdom; if inferential cognition (anumāna) or incorrect cognition (mithyā-jñāna) persists for a long time without knowing, it signifies ignorance and lack of wisdom; if the knowledge is incorrect or erroneous, the wisdom is shallow.

The eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) can directly perceive all dharmas accurately and without error, including events far into future kalpas. As long as it discerns the karmic seeds, it knows immediately, without the need for comparison, research, analysis, conjecture, inquiry, or pondering. This is because the eighth consciousness is free from ignorance (avidyā) and possesses profound, boundless wisdom. All dharmas are directly manifested by the eighth consciousness itself and are its own objects; thus, discernment cannot be mistaken. If the discernment of the eighth consciousness were to contain errors, then causality would be unimaginable, the five-aggregate body (pañca-skandha) could not function normally, and life could not proceed in an orderly fashion. This phenomenon cannot occur; therefore, the eighth consciousness must discern all dharmas through direct perception.

The objective aspect corresponding to the seventh consciousness, the mental faculty (manas), is an "object with substance" (sad-artha), derived from the essential state (svalakṣaṇa) produced by the eighth consciousness. It is perceived based on the subjective aspect (dṛṣṭi) of the eighth consciousness and is close to reality. Therefore, what the mental faculty discerns is a direct perceptual state, yet the results of its discernment contain varying degrees of error; the results are actually incorrect cognition. At the Buddha stage, because the mental faculty has completely and thoroughly transformed consciousness into wisdom (jñāna), the results of its discernment are all direct perception, without incorrect cognition.

The objective aspect corresponding to the five consciousnesses (visual, auditory, etc.) is "objective reality" (vastu-bhūta), which is also relatively real and does not change according to the mind. Therefore, the five consciousnesses engage in direct perceptual discernment. However, if the eye faculty (or other sense faculties) encounters karmic obstructions, the discernment of the five consciousnesses can be affected to some extent, and the results of discernment may manifest as incorrect cognition.

The objective aspect corresponding to the sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna), is a "pseudo-object with substance" or "false object with substance," which differs significantly from the essential state. Therefore, the discernment of the mental consciousness involves inferential cognition and incorrect cognition, requiring very deep and meticulous wisdom. The results of the mental consciousness's discernment include both direct perception and incorrect cognition, which often influence the cognition and choices of the mental faculty and easily condition (vāsanā) it.

Compared to the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature), the discernment of the seven consciousnesses (the five senses, mental consciousness, and mental faculty) is all incorrect cognition; there is no correct or true dharma. The so-called direct perception of the seven consciousnesses exists only within a certain scope; it is relative direct perception, pseudo-direct perception, not absolute direct perception. Because conventional truth is not truly conventional truth; its essence is ultimate truth, the seven consciousnesses do not know this principle. Therefore, even their direct perceptual discernment results regarding conventional truth are also incorrect cognition.