THE EIGHT BASIC CONSCIOUSNESSES

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In addition to the Sense Doors, however there are two other consciousnesses:

An ever-present AFFLICTED MIND and the an ever-present UNSTAINED UNCONSCIOUSNESS

 THE RELATION BETWEEN THE EIGHT BASIC CONSCIOUSNESSES

    1. SENSE CONSCIOUSNESSES (five in number)

    2. THINKING MIND CONSCIOUSNESS (named as the Sixth): UNSTAINED ALAYA VIJNANA (THE SCREEN OF CONSCIOUSNESS)

    3. AFFLICTED THINKING MIND (named as the Seventh): IDENTITY-AFFLICTED KLISTA MANAS, WHICH GIVES RISE TO:

ATTITUDES OF LIKING, DISLIKING, and INDIFFERENCE

 THE AFFLICTED SEED OF IDENTITY          

 CRAVING: DEMAND FOR SATISFACTION

 CLINGING: THE FEAR OF LOSING WHAT ONE BELIEVES IS POSSESSED

4. THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND (named as the Eighth): THE UNCONSCIOUS DORMANT STATE ALAYA WHICH RESULTS IN RESIDUAL IMPRESSIONS WHICH CAN MATURE AND RIPEN.

Within the SUBCONSCIOUS MIND there is an inherently pure and dormant state, but this is obscured when the AFFLICTED THINKING MIND creates the ILLUSION of SELFHOOD and obscures its own nature through the creation of the DELUSION of real existence of itself as a separate entity. The primary task then is to replace the ripened residual impressions of IGNORANCE, revealing the true soil of awareness which is naturally ready for the SEEDS OF TRANSCENDENTAL WISDOM.

Where does the TRUE CONSCIOUSNESS fit into this model? It is the unknowable undefinable process which makes all the various CONSCIOUSNESSES possible.

You can then see that it is the mistaken idea of IDENTITY which is responsible for the arising of SUFFERING. Naturally, with the presence of multiple IDENTITIES which were developed through evolution, man further complicated his natural psychological state.

Note that we previously said that without IDENTITY the human creature would be EQUANIMOUS, UPEKSA, but clearly without SUFFERING or HAPPINESS. While everyone will agree that the loss of the SUFFERING is a benefit, most would declare strongly that they would not like to lose the HAPPINESS. There exists here in the human mind a misconception about this, for actually there is no SUFFERING. There is only FALSE SUFFERING and the antithesis of FALSE SUFFERING is FALSE HAPPINESS. It is clearly in the interest of the human creature to eliminate the FALSE SUFFERING and FALSE HAPPINESS, is it not?

What about this TRUE HAPPINESS then which is available; does it have an antithesis TRUE SUFFERING? No, it does not, for TRUE HAPPINESS is really TRUE AWARENESS OF APARENT POSITIVE BEING and the antithesis is TRUE AWARENESS OF INAPPROPRIATE BEING, or UNAWARENESS OF APPARENT POSITIVE BEING. We do not then have to lose the availability of the magnificent experiences which transcend what we call HAPPINESS, namely: basic WELL BEING, GLADNESS, COMPASSION, and BENEVOLENT LOVE, augmented by the DELIGHT which comes from everpresent EQUANIMITY. All these signal BALANCE and HARMONY. Furthermore we have available all these experiences which, without the presence of IDENTITY, are not CRAVED and CLUNG to.

What then are the conceptual partners of these factors? They are an UNDEFINABLE UNEASINESS in which one senses the absence of GLADNESS, COMPASSION, BENEVOLENT LOVE and DELIGHT accompanied by experiences of UNFEELINGNESS, EMPTINESS, SOLITUDE, and DESOLATION which are completely undefinable. It is undifferentiated SUFFERING, the absence of the greatest human qualities which signal the incorrectness of unnatural human behaviour.

Man's SUFFERING then has many dimensions and it is very useful to be able to detect this SUFFERING in its many forms in order to perceive the terrible tragic situation which each person creates through this mistaken concept of his own real existence. Now why do we need to examine SUFFERING? Isn't it enough to simply practice Meditation and "clear out the mind"? Perhaps. For Buddha was clearly correct when he declared that a man wounded by an arrow is best served by the rapid removal of the arrow, and does not need to know at the onset who fired the arrow, why he was selected as a target, where the shot came from, or what type of bow it was. On the other hand, there are many people who don't even recognize the fact that they have been wounded by the poisoned arrows of MARA.

A study of SUFFERING will not only show that SUFFERING is more common than is thought, but individual readers will be able to see that they have indeed been severely wounded. The arrows of Mara are not so easy to detect, for the poisoned tips contain a drug which creates apparent HAPPINESS. In fact, most people have persuaded themselves that this apparent HAPPINESS is marvelous. When they weigh the SUFFERING which they perceive against the false HAPPINESS and see how difficult the cure appears to be they declare, "Ah, it's marvelous, but it's difficult. I would have to give up so much and it takes so much time and energy. What they are really saying is, "It isn't worth giving up my HAPPINESS."

In this commentary we provide a penetrating overview of SUFFERING and the FALSE HAPPINESS which people cling to, and the potentially marvelous life that is there waiting for each person who has the courage to reach out and grasp it.

There are three forms of Suffering which arise:

COMMON SUFFERING of CRAVING (mental)

SUFFERING with PAIN (physical)

SUFFERING through CLINGING

Let us then examine the first form of SUFFERING created, in order to show the complications of this tangle and the way to untie this complex knot created by DUALITY.