Does the Eighth Consciousness Have Seeing, Hearing, Feeling, and Knowing?

The eighth consciousness does not need to be established by us; He inherently exists. Even if we wish to overturn Him, He does not perish. No one, with any force whatsoever, can obliterate Him. He is the truest and most correct eye: although He can see all dharmas, He sees nothing; although He can know all dharmas, He knows nothing; although He can hear all dharmas, He hears nothing; although He can be aware of all dharmas, He is aware of nothing. He neither sees nor does not see, neither knows nor does not know, neither hears nor does not hear, neither is aware nor is not aware.

The eighth consciousness's lack of knowledge, cognition, and seeing-nature is because the eighth consciousness does not correspond to the realms of the six sense objects and cannot perform specific discernment. He also has no worldly designations or concepts; therefore He does not see the realms of the six sense objects, does not know the realms of the six sense objects, and does not give rise to the functions of awareness. Yet, the eighth consciousness also knows everything, sees everything, hears everything, and is aware of everything. Why is this? Because the eighth consciousness possesses the great seed of seeing, which can give rise to the seeing function of the eighth consciousness; the eighth consciousness thus has the function of seeing, and He can thereby see all dharmas. Only after seeing all dharmas can He give birth to all worldly dharmas and give rise to the seeing-nature of the seven consciousnesses. The eighth consciousness can discern karmic seeds, and after discerning karmic seeds, He must, in accordance with those karmic seeds, transform and create all dharmas. If He did not know all dharmas, He could not transform and create all dharmas. In fact, it is precisely because He can know all dharmas that He can transform and create everything; His way of knowing is mainly through knowing karmic seeds.