The Eight Consciousnesses
The first five consciousnesses are quite easy to understand. Each is a consciousness of one of the five senses of Defensive Qi. We know that this defensive Qi is really energy that has the function of defending against external irritation to the otherwise closed system. This defensive Qi is in and of itself neutral and its function is simply to report the occurrence of an irritation to one of the sense bases. These signals are sent to the left and the right hemisphere.
In the left hemisphere the operations of sensation, discrimination, perception, cognition and consciousness are applied. In the right hemisphere the signals are more simple but none the less important. The signals affirm that defensive Qi is actually in operation at the sense bases.
There is then a hearing consciousness, a seeing consciousness, a smelling consciousness, a tasting consciousness and a touch consciousness, each operating as a consequence of evolved receptors.
The sixth consciousness is called the mind consciousness (mano-vijñana). It too is effectively a defensive Qi, but its operation is not directed at external stimuli. Although it is termed "mind," it is rather a thinking consciousness and its source is the detection of the internal operation of sending signals from cognition to the center of consciousness.
The right hemisphere is also given the information that this consciousness is correctly in operation and nothing more, for the conscious awareness of the right hemisphere, as far as we are concerned, is limited to informing correct functioning, not the information content.
We must note here that this collection of six consciousnesses is termed, upon reception in the right hemisphere, as ESSENCE.
The seventh Consciousness is the "afflicted thinking mind" (klista-manas) and the eighth consciousness is what we may term here the consciousness of the Masculine Principle, which we know to be the expression of the passive programs of the Feminine Principle of the right hemisphre.
These eight consciousnesses are generally speaking left-brain operations, while the ninth consciousness is akin to the Feminine Principle programs and the operations of the right hemisphere.
Remember that this nine-consciousness model explains why we are enmeshed in a false belief in the reality of the illusions of Samsara and the manner in which we can be liberated from this false assumption of our own existence and the existence as a separate reality of all phenomena.
You can see that the inward movement of information from the sense consciousnesses (PRAVRTTI-VIJÑANAS) is transformed through the THINKING MIND CONSCIOUSNESS which, in and of itself, is an immediate non-qualified inner awareness of what each stimulus is.
Then the AFFLICTED MIND CONSCIOUNESS, which works alongside the thinking mind consciousness with its ever-present Identity awareness, colors the impressions of the natural unafflicted thinking mind, giving rise to the afflictions of like, dislike and intellectual indifference in place of the natural programs of affect, disaffect and neutrality.
These experiences are deposited as residual impressions on the eighth consciousness, the subconscious Alaya-vijñana.
A natural eighth consciousness in a state of awareness and not dormant is capable of accepting or rejecting these residual impressions in the natural or awakened state when the afflicted mind consciousness has been set aside or silenced.
If this is not the case, then these residual impressions are laid down in the eighth consciousness and the natural operation of providing correct expression of the natural Feminine Principle programs is covered over and superseded.
We need then, as investigative Chan practitioners, to understand the Alaya-vijñana, the possible permanent staining of Alaya-vijñana, the operations of "afflicted thinking mind" (klista-manas), and the operation of the ninth consciousness in the possible rectification of the afflicted mind virus.