The Process of Ear Consciousness Discerning Sound Objects

Question: When the ear faculty contacts sound-dust, ear consciousness arises. Does the seed of consciousness arise at the source of the sound, at the sound-dust, or does it arise at the ear faculty? Is the arising of the other consciousnesses also like this? Does the tathāgatagarbha transform the sound-dust into inner sound-dust, and does ear consciousness arise at the supreme faculty, at the back of the head? Then ear consciousness further discerns the inner sound-dust. One always feels that sounds come from outside—who is it that feels this? The tathāgatagarbha cannot feel it. Only ear consciousness feels it, yet ear consciousness is inside the brain—how could it run outside?

Answer: The eighth consciousness manifests the inner five dusts at the supreme faculty in the back of the head. When the supreme faculty contacts the inner five dusts, and the manas gives rise to attention, the eighth consciousness gives birth to the five sense consciousnesses at the site of the supreme faculty. When the five consciousnesses, the five supreme faculties, and the inner five dusts—the three—converge in contact, the feeling of the five consciousnesses is produced. The five consciousnesses can then, together with the mind consciousness, discern the inner five dusts and the mental dust at the supreme faculty—that is, the six dusts inside the black box. The five consciousnesses are neither inside the black box nor outside it. The eighth consciousness gives birth to ear consciousness, and the function of ear consciousness is to discern the inner sound-dust; ear consciousness cannot discern sounds outside, so ear consciousness is not outside. Yet ear consciousness has no form or appearance, so it is not inside either—and yet it functions in this way. The eighth consciousness then, based on the inner five dusts, manifests the inner mental dust, which is form included in the realm of dharmas (dharmāyatana)—the visible form, expressive form, and non-expressive form of form-dust. The region and location of the mental dust differ from that of the inner five dusts. Then the eighth consciousness further manifests the mind consciousness to discern the inner mental dust.