What Does It Mean That Manas Clings to the Perceiving Aspect of the Eighth Consciousness as the Self?

The eighth consciousness can perceive all dharmas, and the mental faculty, following the eighth consciousness, can also perceive all dharmas. However, the appearances of all dharmas perceived by the mental faculty and the eighth consciousness differ; their perceived contents are distinct. The eighth consciousness perceives non-worldly appearances, while the mental faculty perceives worldly dharma appearances. Relying on the seeing aspect of the eighth consciousness, after perceiving all dharmas, the mental faculty then considers all these dharmas to be the self, to belong to the self. This is self-view, including the view of a personal self and the view of a dharma-self.

Because of this self-view, the mental faculty clings to all these dharmas, refusing to relinquish them, universally conceptualizing and clinging. Therefore, the mental faculty is also the consciousness of universal discrimination and attachment. Sentient beings first develop self-view, and then develop self-attachment. Due to ignorance, the mental faculty does not understand that all dharmas are produced by the eighth consciousness, all belong to the eighth consciousness, and all possess the attributes of the eighth consciousness. After relying on the eighth consciousness to perceive all dharmas, it mistakenly perceives all dharmas as its own, as belonging to itself. This misunderstanding has persisted from beginningless kalpas until the present. Unless this misunderstanding is eliminated through contemplative practice, self-view cannot be eradicated, the suffering of birth and death cannot be terminated, and the cycle of rebirth will not cease.