How to Truly Realize the Eighth Consciousness

The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: 法不可见闻觉知，若行见闻觉知，是则见闻觉知，非求法也。What does this sentence mean? The original meaning is that the dharma of the eighth consciousness is not something that can be seen and realized by means of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing. If you use the method of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing to understand Him, then what is seen can only be your own seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, and you will not see the eighth consciousness. Using the method of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing to know the eighth consciousness is not the method for realizing the eighth consciousness, and it is impossible to realize the Way this way.

The dharma in the original text refers to the eighth consciousness, the fundamental essence and source of sentient beings. This dharma is essentially different from all other dharmas; this dharma determines all dharmas. For beginningless kalpas, sentient beings have all been lost, and so they constantly chase after false dharmas and branches and leaves, not knowing to seek the source. Only after knowing that there is a source will one know to seek the source, return to the source, and revert to simplicity and truth. How can one trace back to the source? Those who do not know how to seek will use the functions of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing to search; the vast majority of people are like this, and in the end they may not even see a shadow of the eighth consciousness. Even if they see the shadow, it is of no use—they still cannot return to the source.

What are seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing? They are the functions of the six consciousnesses: the eye sees, the ear hears, the nose smells, the tongue tastes, the body touches, and the mind knows. These are the ways the six consciousnesses discern the objects of the six sense-objects. Using the mode of discerning the six sense-objects to seek and discern the eighth consciousness is mismatched, because the eighth consciousness differs from the six sense-objects in extremely obvious and enormous ways. Seeing the eighth consciousness should not use the same method as seeing the six sense-objects. Therefore the Vimalakīrti Sūtra says 若行见闻觉知，是则见闻觉知，非求法。Savor this sentence well; it is especially important. When the method and means are wrong, the goal cannot be reached and the aim cannot be achieved.

The meaning of the sutra text clearly says: seeing the eighth consciousness is not the function of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing of the six consciousnesses. Then what function is it? Who sees the eighth consciousness? Here the functions of the conscious mind are clearly negated—it is not seeing in the way the mind consciousness does. What functions does the mind consciousness have? Reasoning, thinking, analyzing, imagining, organizing, summarizing, concluding, comparing, and so on. That is to say, using these functions to see the eighth consciousness, one simply cannot see the substance of the eighth consciousness; if one truly believes one has seen it, what is seen can only be a shadow and a substitute. If someone uses the conscious mind to search out the eighth consciousness and believes they have seen their true mind, become enlightened, and realized the Way, that is an enormous misunderstanding, and the Great Master Vimalakīrti does not permit it. If it is something the Great Master does not permit, yet you insist on it regardless, then you bear the consequences yourself—as long as you can bear them.

Therefore, in the final analysis, it is still the patriarchs' method of realization that is true and not false—neither deceiving themselves nor deceiving others, at the very least not disgracing Buddhism, with a conscience that can rest easy. As the saying goes: if the master, the manas, does not realize awakening, what use can the actions of the mind consciousness, a subsidiary tool, possibly be? If the master has not deigned to speak, everything said counts for nothing. Therefore, to realize any dharma, including worldly dharmas, the master—the manas—must personally realize it; only what is seen with one's own eyes is called personal realization. Only then can there be functional enjoyment, only then can all false dharmas be transformed, only then can it be thorough and ultimate, and only then is it true and not false.