1) THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT
The purpose and goal of human life is to reach enlightenment. Yogagcara considers enlightenment a state of True Suchness, or Thusness, meaning that it is the ultimate nature of all things. In reality enlightenment is the only truly existent state. In the perfect clarity of enlightenment there is total awareness and complete understanding. There is no discrimination between inside and outside, or internal and external. In enlightenment there is only the singular total truth of unity, which subsumes the "I" of the ego-differentiated self. After enlightenment the mind's process of seeking outside itself ceases, as does the process of sending energy out (in the form of attachments to the external conditional world). Rather, the mind is now contemplative absorbing energy for the benefit of itself and humanity, like a flower absorbing the rays of the sun.
2) ENLIGHTENED WISDOM
Although the enlightened mind is one, it is useful to classify its activities into four types of enlightened wisdom which are the functions of the Buddhic mind. These reflect the transformation of the eight consciousnesses into fundamental wisdom:
i. The five perceptual consciousnesses become the wisdom of Successful Performance. "This wisdom is characterized by pure and unimpeded functioning (no attachment or distortion) in its relation to the (sense) organs and their objects."
ii. The sixth consciousness becomes the wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation which "has two aspects corresponding to understanding of the emptiness of self and of the emptiness of dharmas." With this wisdom the Buddha knows all dharmas, without distortion or obstruction, and, in that way knowing the mental and physical condition of all beings,...[can] teach them most effectively."
iii) The seventh consciousness becomes the wisdom of Equality which "understands the nature of the equality of self and other and of all beings."
iv) The eighth consciousness becomes the Great Mirror wisdom. This wisdom reflects the entire universe without distortion. Although the four wisdoms do not manifest completely until enlightenment, aspects of Wonderful Contemplation and Great Mirror wisdom begin to function in a lesser degree before enlightenment.
3) THREE BUDDHIC BODIES
The Buddha is said to have three bodies. Only the third, the Dharma body, is real. The Transformation and Enjoyment bodies are emanations of the Dharma body, and are relative expedient bodies corresponding to unenlightened consciousness.
i. The Transformation body, also called the Body of Self Mastery, refers to a physical body in the phenomenal world. This body is necessary for the Buddha to teach humanity the path to enlightenment. The Wisdom of Successful Performance is employed in this body so the Buddha can "function perceptually within that body."
ii. The Enjoyment body is a luminescent, subtle, limitless form that the Buddha uses to teach Bodhisattvas, the beings at the final stage prior to enlightenment. There are many Enjoyment bodies, each having a heaven, or Pure Land, outside the normal world system, where "it is easy to hear and practice the dharma." The wisdom of Equality corresponds to this body.
iii. The Dharma body has two aspects:
a ) The knowledge body, which is the inner nature shared by all Buddhas, manifests as omniscient knowledge, perfect wisdom, and the highest spiritual qualities.
b ) The self-existent body representing the ultimate nature of reality, thusness and emptiness. It is the transformed storehouse-consciousness and is the body that is realized on attaining enlightenment. This body is equated with Great Mirror wisdom.
4) THREE WISDOMS
i) Before enlightenment there is only applied wisdom which is discursive and is used in the everyday world. Once this knowledge is focused towards enlightenment, it becomes a preparation for acquiring fundamental wisdom. In the state of enlightenment there is only pure wisdom which has two aspects; fundamental wisdom and subsequently-attained wisdom.
ii) Fundamental wisdom is the foundation. It is insight without distinction-making and is non-discriminative, so it is knowledge without subject/object duality. This is wisdom that is beyond words and concepts; it is pure contemplation that knows True Suchness is the basis of reality. Fundamental wisdom brings forth [subsequently-attained wisdom].
3) Subsequently-attained wisdom is a pure form of knowledge that flows out of non-distinction making, so it is "purified mundane knowledge." This is an expedient wisdom that can analyze dharmas without becoming attached, so it can "eliminate confusion about phenomena..." Although this discriminative knowledge is at a lower level than fundamental wisdom, it is used by the Buddha for the purpose of benefiting others; all the Buddha's teaching is attained wisdom. This kind of wisdom explains how, in enlightenment, a person can still deal with relative appearances in the everyday world.
5) CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness is awareness of a "self". The fundamental doctrine of the Yogacara school is "that all phenomenal existence is fabricated by consciousness." Consciousness is the basis of all activities from birth to attaining enlightenment; "...all is based upon the coming into being and the ceasing to be of consciousness, i.e., of distinctions in the mind." Consciousness is the distinction making activity of the mind, both in making and having distinctions, including the states we consider the conscious as well as the unconscious. Consciousness, in making distinctions between self and other, becomes the subject which treats everything else as object. Consciousness itself is real. It exists as a series, or stream, of successive momentary awareness of events, each immediately replaced by consciousness in the next moment. Consciousness "has no substantiality ...and is dependent on the consciousnessof the preceding instant."
Since everything, until the attainment of wisdom in enlightenment, is consciousness, all objects in the external world are just "representations" in our consciousness. Since everything is just an aspect of consciousness, all phenomenal existence is without intrinsic nature. Therefore, the "I" is illusory and there is no "self" to be found; everything is just a phenomenon of consciousness. Eventually, consciousness that is attached to these representations and makes distinctions has to be clarified into wisdom which is free of all attachments.
There is nothing separate or independent from consciousness. The world is our perceptual construct and an analysis of the unenlightened mind will show different levels of perception which are based in a storehouse consciousness containing the karmic seeds of former actions.
6) KARMA
The result of our intentional actions is karma. The consequences of these actions remain as traces or seeds planted in the storehouse consciousness. These seeds germinate over time and generate more seeds. Therefore, our lives, are driven by past actions which compel us to decisions about future actions. The theory of karma accounts for the "continuity of personality through death, or unconsciousness..." Once a seed produces its fruit, it is used up. However, new seeds come to fruition in each moment. Until the time of enlightenment, while we continue to believe in the reality of our perceptual framework, this process "...creates seeds that will ripen into further delusion."
Because of the similarity of karmic seeds, and the corresponding delusions they produce, our perception of the world matches that of other people. Consequently, in our samsara (the cycle of existence and rebirth that is the cause of suffering), we are usually in agreement with others about the external sensible world. We also experience interaction via our streams of mental phenomena, since one person's mental representations can effect those of another.
The karmic process has three stages:
i) Giving rise to delusion has one root in the sixth consciousness, whose actions lead to activity and therefore karma.
ii) Creating karma involves planting seeds in the eighth consciousness. The ongoing cycle of life, death, and rebirth draws the eighth consciousness back into the six levels of existence.
iii) Finally, undergoing retribution is the germination of karmic seeds; we reap what we have sown.
7) DHARMAS
"Dharmas are the ultimate factors that support 'existence'...." They are basic interdependent patterns within the overall nature of reality. Each dharma is a mental-construct with a specific process that consists of a stream of momentary events. Dharmas are attachments to an illusory reality. In terms of process and events dharmas interact with all eight consciousnesses.
Yogacara posits one hundred dharmas, which can be categorized according to the three natures, since dharmas lack any real self-existence. There are five categories of dharmas (in descending order):
First; the eight mind dharmas are supreme and manifest as the eight consciousnesses.
Second; the fifty-one dharmas interactive with the mind supplement the mind dharmas and are subdivided into six categories:
1) five universally interactive (attention, conceptualization, etc.),
2) five particular states (desire, concentration, etc.),
3) eleven wholesome (faith, shame, renunciation, etc.),
4) six fundamental afflictions (greed, anger, etc.),
5) twenty derivative afflictions (deceit, jealousy, torpor, lack of shame, etc.), and
6) four unfixed (sleep, regret, etc.). The afflictions and wholesome dharmas represent further categorizations of distinctions in the sixth consciousness.
Third; the eleven form dharmas (sounds, flavors, objects of touch, etc.) are shadows of the first and second categories.
Fourth; the twenty-four dharmas not interactive with the mind (time, birth, distinction, etc.) are positions not found in the first, second, or third categories.
Fifth; the six unconditioned dharmas (empty space, extinction of feeling, thinking, etc.) are dharmas revealed by the first four categories.
The realization that all dharmas are nothing but mental-constructs is an essential step on the path to enlightenment. In that final state the wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation "understands without distortion the individual and universal dharmas...."
EIGHTH CONSCIOUSNESS
In Yogacara theory everything is "mind only" and this consciousness is divided into eight sections. The principal part of consciousness is the alaya or "storehouse consciousness" which is the basis of the seven other consciousnesses. All eight comprise the mind dharmas and the fifty dharmas that interact with the mind.
The alaya consciousness is also known as the "repository of impressions." From the alaya arise all of our ideas of self, ego, and their respective functions in the external world. If the alaya is imagined as a vast ocean, then the seven other consciousness are waves on its surface. The seven are not separate from the eighth, nor do they disturb the stillness of its depths; all eight are essentially one.
The eighth consciousness is "beyond the dualisms of subject and object, or existence and non-existence," so it does not have any purposive activity and is unaware of objects. Since it does not make distinctions, and is neither good or bad, the eighth consciousness is said to have the state of equanimity.
The alaya consciousness is the "karmic" storehouse which contains seeds generated by our unenlightened actions. Although it does not create karma, the alaya functions as the subject of retribution for past intentional activities. The process of ripening of seeds, thinking, and perception of objects is all subjective and "neither the process nor its results have any real existence." Because of the "...karmic activity of the seven consciousnesses" the alaya continues developing karmic seeds which, in their fruition, influence future attachments and activities via the three realms and the nine grounds.
Final freedom from the samsaric process occurs when all "the defiled seeds are replaced by pure seeds created by pure deeds." The alaya also contains "intrinsically pure seeds" which are the source of our motivation towards enlightenment. Upon enlightenment the eighth consciousness becomes empty of ripening seeds and is transformed into the Great Mirror wisdom.
The alaya has two divisions; the perceiving (the subject) and the perceived (the object). The former is linked to the seventh consciousness, while the latter is linked to the sixth consciousness and the five perceptual consciousnesses. When the perceived division is transformed during enlightenment it becomes subsequently-attained wisdom.
9) SEVENTH CONSCIOUSNESS
The seventh consciousness obscures a person's true nature with the ego concept of "I". It is also known as the "defiling/transmitter consciousness" because it is the home of the illusory "...ego individuality with which it defiles the first six consciousnesses..." by obscuring them with its concepts of self. The seventh consciousness also defiles the eighth consciousness by attributing to it characteristics of a real "self" that exists in space and time.
The seventh's mode of knowledge is fallacy caused by its innate attachments. Since the seventh consciousness bases its decisions on relative, defiled knowledge from the dharma of judgment, it is built on false assumptions which give it four types of delusion; pride of self, self-love, self-delusion, and self-conceit. It also supports the eight major-grade derivative afflictions (laziness, distraction, lack of faith, etc.).
10) SIXTH CONSCIOUSNESS
Cognition and perception take place in the sixth consciousness. The sixth, along with the five perceptual consciousnesses, perceives worldly phenomena. The sixth takes "manifestations of the five aggregates (the five "heaps" of dharmas) as object...[and] generates various non-continuous concepts of self." This process also includes its interaction with the fifty-one dharmas interactive with the mind.
The sixth consciousness distinguishes between good and evil and makes moral determinations about the input of the five perceptual consciousnesses. It also uses the dharmas of the basic and subsidiary afflictions along with the three natures and the three modes of knowledge which pervade the three states. In these processes the sixth consciousness creates karma by its examination and decisions which then lead to physical activity.
In the eighth ground "the sixth's...attachment to the perceiver division of the eighth...consciousness...is abandoned, so there is no longer attachment to self, only dharmas."