English

Again, Mahamati asked the Buddha, saying: “The Bhagavan speaks of citta, manas, and vijnana, five dharmas*, and self-nature characteristics, all practices of buddhas and bAgain, Mahamati asked the Buddha, saying: “The Bhagavan speaks of 

• citta, manas, and vijnana, five dharmas*, 
• and self-nature characteristics, 
• all practices of buddhas and bodhisattvas, 
• seeing one’s own mind as equal, 
• and that objective realms are not manifested through the sequential compositing of dharmas [i.e, samsarga]. 

All these are said to be characteristics of reality. All Buddhas call this “mind.” For the great Bodhisattvas dwelling in the oceans and mountains of Malaya in the Land of Laṅkā, share the Tathagata’s praises of the Dharmakaya of the realm of ocean-wave storehouse consciousness.

At that time, the Bhagavan told Mahamati Bodhisattva, “Due to the four causes and conditions, the eye-consciousness evolves. Which four? They are: 

• One’s own mind’s manifestations are gathered and received in ignorance. 
• Beginningless errors pass through the perfuming of forms.
• Consciousness’s individuating marks are conceptually objectified, 
• The desire to perceive manifold form characteristics. 

Mahamati! These four types of causes and conditions are situated in a flowing stream and the alaya-vijnana’s turning produces waves. 

Mahamati! Just like the eye consciousness, all sense-capacities co-arise along with subtle dusts and gross form, indeed they are all like this. Just like a mirror manifesting all the different forms and appearances. 

Mahamati! Like a fierce wind blowing on the water of the great ocean, the winds of the external realm buffet the citta-ocean, and the waves of consciousness arise without end. 

Because constructed nimitta are different and not different, and because nimitta arise according to karma, one enters deeply into conceptual fixation, and it is not possible to comprehend the self-nature of form, etc**; therefore, the five-sense-consciousness body transforms. 

Mahamati! This five-sense-consciousness body, arising in conjunction with differentiating and partitioning cognition of perceptual appearances (nimitta), should be known as vijnana, causing your body to evolve. 

*相 (nimitta – perceptual appearance)，名 (nama – language-name)，分別 (vikalpa – reifying discrimination)，正智 (samjna – non-dual recognition; Lankavatara special use)，如如 (jneya – gnosis of suchness)

**Likely the 5 skandhas: 色 (form), 受 (feeling tone), 想 (cognition), (volition), 識 (consciousness)