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The Eight Consciousnesses (Skt. a盪」盪ュa vijテアト]akト【ト≪ク・ [1]) is a classification developed in the tradition of the Yogト…ト〉a school of Mahayana Buddhism. They enumerate the five sense consciousnesses, supplemented by the mental consciousness (manovijテアト]a), the defiled mental consciousness (kli盪」盪ュamanovijテアト]a [2]), and finally the fundamental store-house consciousness (ト〕ト【avijテアト]a), which is the basis of the other seven. [3] This eighth consciousness is said to store the impressions ( vト《anト≪ク・) of previous experiences, which form the seeds ( bトォja) of future karma in this life and in the next after rebirth.
All surviving schools of Buddhist thought accept 窶 "in common" 窶 the existence of the first six primary consciousnesses (Sanskrit: vijテアト]a, Tibetan: 狄「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆, Wylie: rnam-shes). [4] The internally coherent Yogト…ト〉a school associated with Maitreya, Asa盪ga, and Vasubandhu, however, uniquely 窶 or "uncommonly" 窶 also posits the existence of two additional primary consciousnesses, kli盪」盪ュamanovijテアト]a and ト〕ayavijテアト]a, in order to explain the workings of karma. [5] The first six of these primary consciousnesses comprise the five sensory faculties together with mental consciousness, which is counted as the sixth. [6] According to Gareth Sparham,
The ト〕aya-vijテアト]a doctrine arose on the Indian subcontinent about one thousand years before Tsong kha pa. It gained its place in a distinctly Yogト…ト〉a system over a period of some three hundred years stretching from 100 to 400 C.E., culminating in the Mahト【ト]asa盪トraha, a short text by Asa盪ga (circa 350), setting out a systematic presentation of the ト〕aya-vijテアト]a 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 Yogト…ト〉a founding saints (Tib. shing rta srol byed): Maitreya[-nト》ha], Asa盪ga, and Vasubandhu. [5]
While some noteworthy modern scholars of the Gelug tradition (which was founded by Tsongkhapa's reforms to Atisha's Kadam school) assert that the ト〕ト【avijテアト]a is posited only in the Yogト…ト〉a philosophical tenet system, all non-Gelug schools of Tibetan buddhism maintain that the ト〕ト【avijテアト]a is accepted by the various Madhyamaka schools, as well. [7] The Yogト…ト〉a eightfold network of primary consciousnesses 窶 a盪」盪ュavijテアト]ト]i in Sanskrit (from compounding a盪」盪ュa, "eight", with vijテアト]ト]i, the plural of vijテアト]a "consciousnesses"), or Tibetan: 狄「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆金ス壟スシ狄もスヲ狆金ス籾ス「狎亭セア狄隊シ, Wylie: rnam-shes tshogs-brgyad 窶 is roughly sketched out in the following table.
Subgroups | Name [ホア] of Consciousness [ホイ] | Associated Nonstatic Phテヲnomena [ホウ] in terms of Three Circles of Action [ホエ] | |||||
English | Sanskrit | Tibetan | Chinese | Cognitive Object [ホオ] | Type of Cognition [ホカ] | Cognitive Sensor [ホキ] | |
I. 窶 VI.
Each of these Six Common Consciousnesses 窶 referred to in Sanskrit as prav盪孚tivijテアト]ト]i [15] [ホク] 窶 are posited on the basis of valid straightforward cognition, [ホケ] 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 Nikト【as of the Sutta Pitaka 窶 the second division of the Tipitaka in the Pali Canon 窶 as first committed to writing during the Theravada school's fourth council at Sri Lanka in 83 (BCE). [17] Both individually and collectively: these first six, so-called "common" consciousnesses are posited 窶 in common 窶 by all surviving buddhist tenet systems. | |||||||
I.
Eye Consciousness |
cak盪」urvijテアト]a [5] | 狆。
Tibetan: 狄倨スイ狄もシ金スもスイ狆金ス「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆, Wylie: mig-gi rnam-shes |
逵シ隴 | Sight(s) | Seeing | Eyes | |
II.
Ear Consciousness |
ナ孑otravijテアト]a [5] | 狆「 | 閠ウ隴 | Sound(s) | Hearing | Ears | |
III.
Nose Consciousness |
ghrト≪ケavijテアト]a [18] | 狆」 | 鮠サ隴 | Smell(s) | Smell | Nose | |
IV.
Tongue Consciousness |
jihvト」ijテアト]a [19] | 狆、 | 闊瑚ュ | Taste(s) | Taste | Tongue | |
V.
Body Consciousness |
kト【avijテアト]a [20] | 狆・
Tibetan: 狄」狄エ狄ヲ狆金ス狎ア狄イ狆金ス「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆, Wylie: lus-kyi rnam-shes |
霄ォ隴 | Feeling(s) | Touch | Body | |
VI.
Mental Consciousness [ホコ] |
manovijテアト]a [5] | 狆ヲ
Tibetan: 狄。狄イ狄隊シ金ス狎ア狄イ狆金ス「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆, Wylie: yid-kyi rnam-shes |
諢剰ュ | Thought(s) | Ideation | Mind | |
VII.
This Seventh Consciousness, posited on the basis of straightforward cognition in combination with inferential cognition, [ホサ] is asserted, uncommonly, in Yogト…ト〉a. [5] |
VII.
Deluded awareness [ホシ] |
manas, kli盪」盪ュa-manas, [5] kli盪」盪ュamanovijテアト]a, [24] | 狆ァ
Tibetan: 狄霞スシ狄内シ金ス。狄イ狄隊シ金ス「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆, Wylie: nyon-yid rnam-shes |
譛ォ驍」隴 | The eighth consciousness (which it grasps to as a self) [25] | Disturbing emotion or attitude (Skt.: kleナ嫗) [ホス] | Mind |
VIII.
This Eighth Consciousness, posited on the basis of inferential cognition, is asserted, uncommonly, in Yogト…ト〉a. [5] |
VIII. | ト〕ト【avijテアト]a, [5] Also known as the appropriating consciousness (ト‥ト]avijテアト]a), the basic consciousness (mナォla-vijテアト]a), and the "mind which has all the seeds" (sarvabトォjakam cittam). [27] | 狆ィ
Tibetan: 狄狄エ狄内シ金スもス樅スイ狆金ス「狎」狄倨シ金ス、狄コ狄ヲ狆, Wylie: kun-gzhi rnam-shes |
阯剰ュ,
遞ョ蟄占ュ, 髦ソ雉エ閠カ隴, or 譛ャ隴 |
The surrounding world, the "receptacle" or "container" (bhト)ana) world [28] | Reflexive awareness [ホソ] | Mind |
The first five sense-consciousnesses along with the sixth consciousness are identified in the Suttapi盪ュaka, especially in the Sabbasutta, [30] Sa盪ペuttanikト【a 35.23:
"Monks, I will teach you the All. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "What is the All? Simply the eye & forms, ear & sounds, nose & aromas, tongue & flavors, body & tactile sensations, intellect & ideas. This, monks, is called the All. [1] Anyone who would say, 'Repudiating this All, I will describe another,' if questioned on what exactly might be the grounds for his statement, would be unable to explain, and furthermore, would be put to grief. Why? Because it lies beyond range." [31]
The early Buddhist texts speak of anusayト (Sanskrit: anuナ嫗yト≪ク・), the 窶忖nderlying tendencies窶 or 窶徑atent dispositions窶 which keep beings caught in the circle of samsara. These potential tendencies are generally seen as unconscious processes which "lie beneath" our everyday consciousness, and according to Waldron "they represent the potential, the tendency, for cognitive and emotional afflictions (Pali: kilesト, Sanskrit: kleナ崙≪ク・) to arise". [2]
The Sautrト]tika school of Buddhism, which relied closely on the sutras, developed a theory of seeds (bトォja, 遞ョ蟄) in the mindstream (cittasa盪フト]a, 蠢逶ク郤, [32] lit. "mind-character-continuity") to explain how karma and the latent dispositions continued throughout life and rebirth. This theory later developed into the alayavijテアana view. [33]
The Theravト‥a theory of the bhava盪ga may also be a forerunner of the ト〕ト【avijテアana theory. Vasubandhu cites the bhava盪gavijテアト]a of the Sinhalese school (Tト[rapar盪トォyanikト【a) as a forerunner of the ト〕ト【avijテアト]a. The Theravadin theory is also mentioned by Xuテ。nzテng. [34]
The texts of the Yogト…ト〉a school gives a detailed explanation of the workings of the mind and the way it constructs the reality we experience. It is "meant to be an explanation of experience, rather than a system of ontology". [35] The theory of the ト〕ト【avijテアana and the other consciousnesses developed out of a need to work out various issues in Buddhist Abhidharma thought. According to Lambert Schmithausen, the first mention of the concept occurs in the Yogト…ト〉abhumiナ崙《tra, which posits a basal consciousness that contains seeds for future cognitive processes. [36] It is also described in the Sa盪ヅhinirmocanasナォtra and in the Mahト【ト]asa盪トraha of Asa盪ga.
Vasubandhu is considered to be the systematizer of Yogト…ト〉a thought. [37] Vasubandhu used the concept of the six consciousnesses, on which he elaborated in the Tri盪η嬖kaikト〔ト〉ikト (Treatise in Thirty Stanzas). [38]
According to the traditional interpretation, Vasubandhu states that there are eight consciousnesses (vijテアト]ト]i, singular: vijテアト]a):
According to Kalupahana, this classification of eight consciousnesses is based on a misunderstanding of Vasubandhu's Tri盪η嬖kaikト〔ト〉ikト by later adherents. [41] [note 1]
The ト〕ayavijテアト]a (Japanese: 髦ソ鬆シ閠カ隴 arayashiki), or the "All-encompassing foundation consciousness", [7] forms the "base-consciousness" (mナォlavijテアト]a) or "causal consciousness". According to the traditional interpretation, the other seven consciousnesses are "evolving" or "transforming" consciousnesses originating in this base-consciousness. The store-house consciousness accumulates all potential energy as seeds (bトォja) for the mental (nト[a) and physical (rナォpa) manifestation of one's existence ( nト[arナォpa). It is the storehouse-consciousness which induces rebirth, causing the origination of a new existence.
The ト〕ayavijテアト]a is also described in the Sa盪ヅhinirmocanasナォtra as the "mind which has all the seeds" (sarvabトォjakam cittam) which enters the womb and develops based on two forms of appropriation or attachment ( upト‥ト]a); to the material sense faculties, and to predispositions ( vト《anト盧・) towards conceptual proliferations ( prapaテアca). [42] The Sa盪ヅhinirmocanasナォtra also defines it in varying ways:
This consciousness is also called the appropriating consciousness ("adana-vijテアana") because the body is grasped and appropriated by it.
It is also called the "alaya-vijテアana" because it dwells in and attaches to this body in a common destiny ("ekayogak盪」ema-arthena").
It is also called mind ("citta") because it is heaped up and accumulated by [the six cognitive objects, i.e.:] visual forms, sounds, smells, flavors, tangibles and dharmas. [42]
In a seemingly innovative move, the Sa盪ヅhinirmocanasナォtra states that the alayavijテアana is always active subliminally and occurs simultaneously with, "supported by and depending upon" the six sense consciousnesses. [3]
According to Asanga's Mahト【ト]asa盪トraha, the alayavijテアana is taught by other Buddhist schools by different names. He states that the alaya is what the Mahasamghikas call the 窶徨oot-consciousness窶 (mulavijテアana), what the Mahトォナ崙《akas call 窶徼he aggregate which lasts as long as samsara窶 (asa盪ピト〉ikaskandha) and what the Sthaviras call the bhava盪ga. [43]
The store-house consciousness receives impressions from all functions of the other consciousnesses, and retains them as potential energy, bトォja or "seeds", for their further manifestations and activities. Since it serves as the container for all experiential impressions it is also called the "seed consciousness" (遞ョ蟄占ュ) or container consciousness.
According to Yogト…ト〉a teachings, the seeds stored in the store consciousness of sentient beings are not pure. [note 2]
The store consciousness, while being originally immaculate in itself, contains a "mysterious mixture of purity and defilement, good and evil". Because of this mixture the transformation of consciousness from defilement to purity can take place and awakening is possible. [44]
Through the process of purification the dharma practitioner can become an Arhat, when the four defilements of the mental functions [note 3] of the manas-consciousness are purified. [note 4] [note 5]
According to the La盪kト」atト〉asナォtra and the schools of Chan and Zen Buddhism, the ト〕ト【avijテアト]a is identical with the tathト“atagarbha [note 6], and is fundamentally pure. [45]
The equation of ト〕ト【avijテアト]a and tathト“atagarbha was contested. It was seen as "something akin to the Hindu notions of ト》man (permanent, invariant self) and prak盪孚i (primordial substrative nature from which all mental, emotional and physical things evolve)." According to Lusthaus, the critique led by the end of the eighth century to the rise of the logico-epistemic tradition of Yogト…ト〉a and a hybrid school combining Tathト“atagarbha thought with basic Yogト…ト〉a doctrines: [46]
The logico-epistemological wing in part sidestepped the critique by using the term citta-santト]a, "mind-stream", instead of ト〕aya-vijテアト]a, for what amounted to roughly the same idea. It was easier to deny that a "stream" represented a reified self. On the other hand, the Tathト“atagarbha hybrid school was no stranger to the charge of smuggling notions of selfhood into its doctrines, since, for example, it explicitly defined the tathト“atagarbha as "permanent, pleasurable, self, and pure (nitya, sukha, ト》man, ナ孛ddha)". Many Tathト“atagarbha texts, in fact, argue for the acceptance of selfhood (ト》man) as a sign of higher accomplishment. The hybrid school attempted to conflate tathト“atagarbha with the ト〕aya-vijテアト]a. [46]
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 Tri盪η嬖kaikト〔ト〉ikト describes the transformations of this consciousness:
Taking vipaka, manana and vijnapti as three different kinds of functions, rather than characteristics, and understanding vijnana itself as a function (vijnanatiti vijnanam), Vasubandhu seems to be avoiding any form of substantialist thinking in relation to consciousness. [47]
These transformations are threefold: [47]
Whatever, indeed, is the variety of ideas of self and elements that prevails, it occurs in the transformation of consciousness. Such transformation is threefold, [namely,] [48]
The first transformation results in the ト〕ト【a:
the resultant, what is called mentation, as well as the concept of the object. Herein, the consciousness called alaya, with all its seeds, is the resultant. [49]
The ト〕ト【avijテアト]a therefore is not an eighth consciousness, but the resultant of the transformation of consciousness:
Instead of being a completely distinct category, alaya-vijnana merely represents the normal flow of the stream of consciousness uninterrupted by the appearance of reflective self-awareness. It is no more than the unbroken stream of consciousness called the life-process by the Buddha. It is the cognitive process, containing both emotive and co-native aspects of human experience, but without the enlarged egoistic emotions and dogmatic graspings characteristic of the next two transformations. [41]
The second transformation is manana, self-consciousness or "Self-view, self-confusion, self-esteem and self-love". [50] According to the Lankavatara and later interpreters it is the seventh consciousness. [51] It is "thinking" about the various perceptions occurring in the stream of consciousness". [51] The alaya is defiled by this self-interest;
[I]t can be purified by adopting a non-substantialist (anatman) perspective and thereby allowing the alaya-part (i.e. attachment) to dissipate, leaving consciousness or the function of being intact. [50]
The third transformation is vi盪」ayavijテアapti, the "concept of the object". [52] In this transformation the concept of objects is created. By creating these concepts human beings become "susceptible to grasping after the object": [52]
Vasubandhu is critical of the third transformation, not because it relates to the conception of an object, but because it generates grasping after a "real object" (sad artha), even when it is no more than a conception (vijnapti) that combines experience and reflection. [53]
A similar perspective is give by Walpola Rahula. According to Walpola Rahula, all the elements of the Yogト…ト〉a storehouse-consciousness are already found in the Pト〕i Canon. [54] He writes that the three layers of the mind (citta, manas, and vijテアト]a) as presented by Asa盪ga are also mentioned in the Pト〕i Canon:
Thus we can see that 'Vijテアト]a' represents the simple reaction or response of the sense organs when they come in contact with external objects. This is the uppermost or superficial aspect or layer of the 'Vijテアト]a-skandha'. 'Manas' represents the aspect of its mental functioning, thinking, reasoning, conceiving ideas, etc. 'Citta' which is here called 'トlayavijテアト]a', represents the deepest, finest and subtlest aspect or layer of the Aggregate of consciousness. It contains all the traces or impressions of the past actions and all good and bad future possibilities. [55]
According to Thomas McEvilley, although Vasubandhu had postulated numerous ト〕ト【a-vijテアト]a-s, a separate one for each individual person in the parakalpita, [note 2] this multiplicity was later eliminated in the Fヌ支iテng and Huayan metaphysics. [note 7] These schools inculcated instead the doctrine of a single universal and eternal ト〕aya-vijテアト]a. This exalted enstatement of the ト〕ト【avijテアト]a is described in the Fヌ支iテng as "primordial unity". [56]
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'. [57]
A core teaching of Chan/Zen Buddhism describes the transformation of the Eight Consciousnesses into the Four Wisdoms. [note 8] In this teaching, Buddhist practice is to turn the light of awareness around, from misconceptions regarding the nature of reality as being external, to kenshナ, "directly see one's own nature".[ citation needed]. 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.
The Interpenetration (騾夐#) and Essence-Function (鬮皮畑) of Wonhyo (蜈譖) is described in the Treatise on Awakening Mahト【ト]a Faith (螟ァ荵倩オキ菫。隲, Mahト【ト]aナ孑addhotpト‥aナ崙《tra, AMF in the excerpt below):
The author of the AMF was deeply concerned with the question of the respective origins of ignorance and enlightenment. If enlightenment is originally existent, how do we become submerged in ignorance? If ignorance is originally existent, how is it possible to overcome it? And finally, at the most basic level of mind, the alaya consciousness (阯剰ュ), is there originally purity or taint? The AMF dealt with these questions in a systematic and thorough fashion, working through the Yogacト〉a concept of the alaya consciousness. The technical term used in the AMF which functions as a metaphorical synonym for interpenetration is "permeation" or "perfumation (阮ォ)," referring to the fact that defilement (辣ゥ諠ア) "perfumates" suchness (逵槫ヲ), and suchness perfumates defilement, depending on the current condition of the mind. [60]
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Unlike the Western view of consciousness as a general faculty that can be aware of all sensory and mental objects, Buddhism differentiates six types of consciousness, each of which is specific to one sensory field or to the mental field. A primary consciousness cognizes merely the essential nature (ngo-bo) of an object, which means the category of phenomenon to which something belongs. For example, eye consciousness cognizes a sight as merely a sight. The Chittamatra schools add two more types of primary consciousness to make their list of an eightfold network of primary consciousnesses (rnam-shes tshogs-brgyad): deluded awareness (nyon-yid), alayavijnana (kun-gzhi rnam-shes, all-encompassing foundation consciousness, storehouse consciousness). Alayavijnana is an individual consciousness, not a universal one, underlying all moments of cognition. It cognizes the same objects as the cognitions it underlies, but is a nondetermining cognition of what appears to it (snang-la ma-nges-pa, inattentive cognition) and lacks clarity of its objects. It carries karmic legacies (sa-bon) and the mental impressions of memories, in the sense that both are nonstatic abstractions imputed on the alayavijnana. The continuity of an individual alayavijnana ceases with the attainment of enlightenment.
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Within a cognition of an object, the awareness of merely the essential nature of the object that the cognition focuses on. Primary consciousness has the identity-nature of being an individualizing awareness.
An unspecified, nonobstructive, individual consciousness that underlies all cognition, cognizes the same objects as the cognitions it underlies, but is a nondetermining cognition of what appears to it and lacks clarity of its objects. It carries the karmic legacies of karma and the mental impressions of memories, in the sense that they are imputed on it. It is also translated as 'foundation consciousness' and, by some translators, as 'storehouse consciousness.' According to Gelug, asserted only by the Chittamatra system; according to non-Gelug, asserted by both the Chittamatra and Madhyamaka systems.
A combination of sounds that are assigned a meaning.
A class of ways of being aware of something that cognizes merely the essential nature of its object, such as its being a sight, a sound, a mental object, etc. Consciousness may be either sensory or mental, and there are either six or eight types. The term has nothing to do with the Western concept of conscious versus unconscious.
Phenomena that are affected and supported by causes and circumstances and, consequently, change from moment to moment, and which produce effects. Their streams of continuity may have a beginning and an end, a beginning and no end, no beginning but an end, or no beginning and no end. Some translators render the term as 'impermanent phenomena.' They include forms of physical phenomena, ways of being aware of something, and noncongruent affecting variables, which are neither of the two.
Three aspects of an action that are all equally void of true existence: (1) the individual performing the action, (2) the object upon or toward which the action is committed, and (3) the action itself. Occasionally, as in the case of the action of giving, the object may refer to the object given. The existence of each of these is established dependently on the others. Sometimes translated as 'the three spheres' of an action.
Nonstatic phenomena that can either (1) transform into another form of physical phenomenon when two or more of them come into contact with each other, such as water and earth which can transform into mud, or (2) be known as what they are by analyzing their directional parts, such as the sight of a vase seen in a dream. Forms of physical phenomena include the nonstatic phenomena of forms and eye sensors, sounds and ear sensors, smells and nose sensors, tastes and tongue sensors, physical sensations and body sensors, and forms of physical phenomena included only among cognitive stimulators that are all phenomena. Equivalent to the aggregate of forms of physical phenomena.
(1) The act of cognizing or knowing something, but without necessarily knowing what it is or what it means. It may be either valid or invalid, conceptual or nonconceptual . This is the most general term for knowing something. (2) The 'package' of a primary consciousness, its accompanying mental factors (subsidiary awarenesses), and the cognitive object shared by all of them. According to some systems, a cognition also includes reflexive awareness.
The dominating condition that determines the type of cognition a way of being aware of something is. In the case of the five types of sensory cognition, it is the photosensitive cells of the eyes, the sound-sensitive cells of the ears, the smell-sensitive cells of the nose, the taste-sensitive cells of the tongue, and the physical-sensation-sensitive cells of the body. In the case of mental cognition, it is the immediately preceding moment of cognition. Some translators render the term as 'sense power.'
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Straightforward cognition that is nonfallacious. See: straightforward cognition.
The Theravada and Sarvastivada Schools each held their own fourth councils. The Theravada School held its fourth council in 83 BCE in Sri Lanka. In the face of various groups having splintered off from Theravada over differences in interpretation of Buddha words (sic.), Maharakkhita and five hundred Theravada elders met to recite and write down Buddha's words in order to preserve their authenticity. This was the first time Buddha's teachings were put into written form and, in this case, they were rendered into the Pali language. This version of The Three Basket-like Collections, The Tipitaka, is commonly known as The Pali Canon. The other Hinayana Schools, however, continued to transmit the teachings in oral form.
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A primary consciousness that can take any existent phenomenon as its object and which relies on merely the previous moment of cognition as its dominating condition and not on any physical sensors.
A valid conceptual way of cognizing an obscure object through reliance on a correct line of reasoning as its basis.
A primary consciousness that is aimed at the alayavijnana in the Chittamatra system, or at the alaya for habits in the dzogchen system, and grasps at it to be the 'me' to be refuted.
A subsidiary awareness (mental factor) that, when it arises, causes oneself to lose peace of mind and incapacitates oneself so that one loses self-control. An indication that one is experiencing a disturbing emotion or attitude is that it makes oneself and/or others feel uncomfortable. Some translators render this term as 'afflictive emotions' or 'emotional afflictions.'
(1) The cognitive faculty within a cognition, asserted in the Sautrantika and Chittamatra tenet systems, that takes as its cognitive object the consciousness within the cognition that it is part of. It also cognizes the validity or invalidity of the cognition that it is part of, and accounts for the ability to recall the cognition. (2) In the non-Gelug schools, this cognitive faculty becomes reflexive deep awareness -- that part of an arya's nonconceptual cognition of voidness that cognizes the two truths of that nonconceptual cognition.