Not discriminating is wisdom; discriminating is consciousness.

Not discriminating is wisdom; discriminating is consciousness. This sentence means that the ālayavijñāna is a mind of great wisdom, possessing the nature of wisdom. Because He does not engage with the six sense bases, He does not discern the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects; He is a consciousness of wisdom, distinct from the discriminating nature of the seventh consciousness-mind. The seven transforming consciousnesses—that is, the first seven consciousnesses—have the function of discrimination; they mainly discriminate the realms of the six sense objects, possess the nature of consciousness, and are consciousness-minds. In particular, the sixth consciousness has the strongest power of discrimination, while the seventh consciousness's wisdom for discriminating the six sense objects is comparatively inferior, with weaker discriminating capacity. As long as the seventh and sixth consciousnesses exist, discrimination must occur; if they cease to discriminate, then either one has entered deep meditative concentration, or they have ceased—when sentient beings are asleep or unconscious, or in death. If that were the case, sentient beings could not live and function normally.

Although the ālayavijñāna does not discriminate the realms of the six sense objects, He has His own content that He does discern, for after all He must exist and function, and He must give rise to all the myriad dharmas of the threefold world. He must surely discern first before He can produce the myriad dharmas—otherwise, on what basis would He generate them? He relies on karmic seeds to produce the myriad dharmas; therefore He must be able to discern karmic seeds, and in accordance with those karmic seeds give birth to the myriad dharmas.

He can give rise to and sustain the existence of the universe's material world (the inanimate environment) and the five aggregates of sentient beings; therefore He must surely discern the material world of the universe and the condition of the five aggregates of the body. Otherwise, how could He maintain the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the material world, or the birth, aging, sickness, and death of the five aggregates? He must also be able to discern the mental activities of the seventh and sixth consciousnesses; otherwise He could not cooperate with them, functioning in harmony with them to accomplish the manifestation and operation of all dharmas. And the wisdom of the ālayavijñāna and the consciousness of the seventh and sixth consciousnesses always operate together—only thus can the real and the deluded coalesce to give birth to all dharmas.