The Three Objects and the Three Forms of Valid Cognition

The inner material sense-objects discerned by the six consciousnesses are material form composed of the real seeds of the four great elements; this is called the real object (svabhāva-vastu). The illusory realm that arises depending on the real object is the reflected-nature object (upādāya-vastu).

What the five sense consciousnesses take as object is the real object, discerned through direct perception. The objects of the mind consciousness include the real object, the reflected-nature object, and the Image-Only Object, with discernment through direct perception, inference, and erroneous cognition. The manas takes the perceiving-aspect of the eighth consciousness as what it itself sees, and takes all the dharmas manifested by the eighth consciousness as its own, as belonging to itself—this is mistaken knowing and mistaken grasping, and therefore it is discernment through erroneous cognition.

The reflected-nature objects taken as object by the mind consciousness are as follows: the second moon that appears when one presses one's eye—in reality there is no second moon, only one moon; the second moon is an illusory reflected-nature object. In the dark night, the mind consciousness takes a distant lamp light to be will-o'-the-wisp; in reality there is no will-o'-the-wisp, only lamp light—the will-o'-the-wisp is an illusory reflected-nature object. The mind consciousness takes a rope it sees to be a snake; in reality there is no snake, only a rope—the snake is an illusory reflected-nature object. The mind consciousness takes a certain person A that it sees to be person B; in reality there is no person B, only person A—person B is an illusory reflected-nature object.