Eliminating the Self-View That Takes the Mind Consciousness as Self (4)

Furthermore, the mind consciousness that arises together with the ear consciousness—analyze and contemplate how utterly illusory it is, and how it arises and ceases. When we hear sounds, the mind consciousness must certainly participate. The mind consciousness can analyze what kind of sound this is, where it comes from, how far or near it is from me, what the content of the sound is, how coarse or fine the sound is, whether it is a man's voice or a woman's voice, whether it is a sound produced by an object or a sound arising in the universe, what effect it has on me, and how to deal with and respond to this sound, and so on—all of these are the contents that the mind consciousness discerns and processes.

What conditions are needed for the mind consciousness that arises together with the ear consciousness to manifest? Its manifestation requires the ear faculty, the ear consciousness, the eighth consciousness, the manas, the mind consciousness's own seeds of consciousness, as well as sounds from the external world. Only when these conditions are complete can we hear sounds, and only then can we discriminate, discern, judge, and analyze the sound, deliberate and make plans about it, give rise to various minds of joy, greed, or aversion, and produce various mental states—all of these are the functions and roles of the mind consciousness.

Analyze and contemplate the arising-and-ceasing nature of this mind consciousness: if the external sound disappears, the mind consciousness can no longer discern the sound-object in that place, and it shifts elsewhere to discriminate, no longer continuing to discriminate the sound-object there. If one condition is missing—for example, if the ear faculty is destroyed—then the ear consciousness no longer exists, and the mind consciousness can no longer attend to that sound. One can see how utterly illusory this mind consciousness is. External sounds all arise from various causes and conditions; without external sounds, the mind consciousness cannot manifest. If there are no seeds of consciousness, the mind consciousness also cannot manifest. If the manas has no interest in the mental objects and does not give rise to mental engagement (manaskāra) toward that sound-object, the mind consciousness also cannot manifest. If a person is tired or unconscious, the mind consciousness also cannot manifest, and I would not be able to hear sounds. Therefore, this mind consciousness of mine that can hear sounds, analyze sounds, and contemplate the content of sounds is also subject to arising and ceasing; it is impermanent, produced by causes and conditions. Thus the mind consciousness is not me—it arises and ceases moment after moment, and fundamentally cannot be me.