The Eye Consciousness Cooperates with the Manas and Mind Consciousness to See Forms

When the eye consciousness sees form, what it sees are the manifest forms (rūpa): blue, yellow, red, and white; light and darkness; clouds, mist, smoke, and haze; and space. Light is itself a kind of material substance, composed of the four great elements, arising and ceasing, changing moment by moment—it is illusory.

The eye consciousness itself possesses the mental factor of volition (cetanā). After receiving the material sense-object, it discerns the material sense-object, and then the volitional mental factor arises, deciding to act—whether to avoid it or to look at it a while longer. The eye consciousness works in close coordination with the manas and the mind consciousness. Without the manas' mental engagement (manaskāra) and volition, there would be no arising of the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness, and thus no discernment; there would be no five universal mental factors of the eye consciousness, nor the five universal mental factors of the mind consciousness. When the eye consciousness sees form, the seventh consciousness cannot see form; when the mind consciousness analyzes, reasons, and judges, the seventh consciousness cannot do these things. All seven consciousnesses possess the nature of discrimination—consciousness is called consciousness precisely because it discriminates and discerns; otherwise it would not be called consciousness.