Eight Consciousnesses

The Eight Consciousnesses (Skt. aṣṭa vijñānakāyāḥ) are a classification developed in the tradition of the Yogācāra school of Mahayana Buddhism. They enumerate the five sense consciousnesses, supplemented by the mental consciousness (manovijñāna), the defiled mental consciousness (kliṣṭamanovijñāna This eighth consciousness is said to store the impressions (vāsanāḥ) of previous experiences, which form the seeds (bīja) of future karma in this life and in the next after rebirth.

Eightfold network of primary consciousnesses

All surviving schools of Buddhist thought accept – "in common" – the existence of the first six primary consciousnesses (Sanskrit: ', ). The internally coherent school associated with Maitreya, Asaṅga, and Vasubandhu, however, uniquely – or "uncommonly" – also posits the existence of two additional primary consciousnesses, kliṣṭamanovijñāna and ', in order to explain the workings of karma. The kliṣṭamanovijñāna is described as an afflicted consciousness, which exhibits an ongoing subtle clinging to self that provides the basis for the ego and disturbing emotions. Based on the Kangyur, the Kagyu scholar 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje additionally points out that it must also have an immediate aspect, with the power to give rise to the six primary consciousnesses.

According to Gareth Sparham, <blockquote>The ' doctrine arose on the Indian subcontinent about one thousand years before Tsong kha pa. It gained its place in a distinctly system over a period of some three hundred years stretching from 100 to 400 , culminating in the ', a short text by Asaṅga (circa 350), setting out a systematic presentation of the ' doctrine developed over the previous centuries. It is the doctrine found in this text in particular that Tsong kha pa, in his Ocean of Eloquence, treats as having been revealed in toto by the Buddha and transmitted to suffering humanity through the founding saints (Tib. shing rta srol byed): Maitreya<nowiki>[-nātha]</nowiki>, Asaṅga, and Vasubandhu. The eightfold network of primary consciousnesses – ' in Sanskrit (from compounding ', "eight", with ', the plural of vijñāna "consciousnesses"), or  – is roughly sketched out in the following table.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="1"

|+ The Eightfold Network of Primary Consciousnesses|name=name|group=lower-greek of Consciousness

| colspan="3" | Associated Nonstatic Phænomena in terms of Three Circles of Action

| English

| Sanskrit

| Tibetan

| Chinese

| Cognitive Object

| Type of Cognition

| Cognitive Sensor

| rowspan="7" | I. – VI.

Each of these Six Common Consciousnesses – referred to in Sanskrit as pravṛttivijñānāni – are posited on the basis of valid straightforward cognition, on any individual practitioner's part, of sensory data input experienced solely by means of their bodily sense faculties.

The derivation of this particular dual classification schema for these first six, so-called "common" consciousnesses has its origins in the first four Nikāyas of the Sutta Pitaka – the second division of the Tipitaka in the Pali Canon – as first committed to writing during the Theravada school's fourth council at Sri Lanka in 83 (BCE).

Both individually and collectively: these first six, so-called "common" consciousnesses are posited – in common –by all surviving buddhist tenet systems.

| I.

Eye Consciousness

| cakṣurvijñāna

| ༣

| Smell(s)

| Smell

| Nose

| IV.

Tongue Consciousness

| jihvāvijñāna

| ༤

| Taste(s)

| Taste

| Tongue

| V.

Body Consciousness

| kāyavijñāna

| ༥

| Feeling(s)

| Touch

| Body

| VI.

Mental Consciousness

| manas, ',

| ༧

| The eighth consciousness (which it grasps to as a self)

| Disturbing emotion or attitude (Skt.: kleśa)

| Mind

| VIII.

This Eighth Consciousness, posited on the basis of inferential cognition, is asserted, uncommonly, in .

Transformations of consciousness

The traditional interpretation of the eight consciousnesses may be discarded on the ground of a reinterpretation of Vasubandhu's works. According to Kalupahana, instead of positing such an consciousnesses, the Triṃśikaikākārikā describes the transformations of this consciousness:

These transformations are threefold:

The first transformation results in the ālāya:

The ālāyavijñāna therefore is not an eighth consciousness, but the resultant of the transformation of consciousness:

The second transformation is manana, self-consciousness or "Self-view, self-confusion, self-esteem and self-love". According to the Lankavatara and later interpreters it is the seventh consciousness. It is "thinking" about the various perceptions occurring in the stream of consciousness". The alaya is defiled by this self-interest;

The third transformation is viṣayavijñapti, the "concept of the object". In this transformation the concept of objects is created. By creating these concepts human beings become "susceptible to grasping after the object":

A similar perspective is give by Walpola Rahula. According to Walpola Rahula, all the elements of the Yogācāra storehouse-consciousness are already found in the Pāli Canon. He writes that the three layers of the mind (citta, manas, and vijñāna) as presented by Asaṅga are also mentioned in the Pāli Canon:

Understanding in Buddhism

China

thumb|Eight Consciousnesses Return to the Origin 八識歸元圖, 1615 [[Xingming guizhi]]

Fǎxiàng and Huayan

According to Thomas McEvilley, although Vasubandhu had postulated numerous ālāya-vijñāna-s, a separate one for each individual person in the parakalpita, this multiplicity was later eliminated in the Faxiang and Huayan metaphysics. These schools inculcated instead the doctrine of a single universal and eternal ālaya-vijñāna. This exalted enstatement of the ālāyavijñāna is described in the Fǎxiàng as "primordial unity".

Thomas McEvilley further argues that the presentation of the three natures by Vasubandhu is consistent with the Neo-platonist views of Plotinus and his universal 'One', 'Mind', and 'Soul'.

Chán

A core teaching of Chan/Zen Buddhism describes the transformation of the Eight Consciousnesses into the Four Wisdoms. In this teaching, Buddhist practice is to turn the light of awareness around, from misconceptions regarding the nature of reality as being external, to kenshō, "directly see one's own nature".. Thus the Eighth Consciousness is transformed into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, the Seventh Consciousness into the Equality (Universal Nature) Wisdom, the Sixth Consciousness into the Profound Observing Wisdom, and First to Fifth Consciousnesses into the All Performing (Perfection of Action) Wisdom.

Korea

The Interpenetration (通達) and Essence-Function (體用) of Wonhyo (元曉) is described in the Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith (大乘起信論, Mahāyānaśraddhotpādaśāstra, AMF in the excerpt below):

Notes

Definitions

References

Sources

Norbu, Namkhai (2001). The Precious Vase: Instructions on the Base of Santi Maha Sangha. Shang Shung Edizioni. Second revised edition. (Translated from the Tibetan, edited and annotated by Adriano Clemente with the help of the author. Translated from Italian into English by Andy Lukianowicz.)
Epstein, Ronald (undated). Verses Delineating the Eight Consciousnesses . A translation and explanation of the "Verses Delineating the Eight Consciousnesses by Tripitaka Master Hsuan-Tsang of the Tang Dynasty.

External links

Alayavijnana – Storehouse Consciousness, Walpola Rahula, not dated; quotes the Pali Canon's use of alaya and compares the Mahayana asrayaparavrtti and bijaparavrtti with Nikaya Buddhism's alayasamugghata, the "uprooting of alaya, and khinabija, one whose "seeds of defilement are destroyed".
Eightfold Path of Buddha
Verses Delineating the Eight Consciousnesses
Waldron, William S. (1995). How Innovative is the Ālayavijñāna? The ālayavijñāna in the context of canonical and Abhidharma vijñāna theory.