The Lanka itself can be found on the Texts page.
IV.
"Mahamati, when all the false projections obscuring our true consciousness cease, all forms of sensory consciousness cease."
XV.
Buddha: "...the individual and shared characteristics of every dharma are due to the habit-energy of the perceptions of the mind and to the continued attachment to an imagined reality that is no more real than an illusion - and one that cannot be grasped.
…an imagined reality arises from attachment to a dependent reality…. it is based on a dependent reality that the myriad projections of an imagined reality arise - the myriad projections of appearances that are the habit-energy of attachment to projections."
XVIII.
"Furthermore, Mahamati, shravakas who are afraid of the suffering that comes from their projection of samsara seek nirvana, unaware that the difference between samsara and nirvana, as well as their projection of everything else, does not exist. They conceive of nirvana as the cessation of all future sensory realms, not the transformation of repository consciousness through the personal realization of buddha knowledge. Thus, ignorant people speak of three paths [shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas] and not of the projection-free realm that is nothing but mind. Mahamati, they therefore do not know the realm of the mind perceived by the tathagatas of the past, the present and the future. Instead, they are attached to the perception of a realm outside the mind and keep turning the wheel of samsara."
XXIV. "...bodhisattvas should become adept at examining the two kinds of phenomenon that have no self… Neither beings nor dharmas have a self…
"The assemblage of the skandhas, the dhatus and the ayatanas arises from ignorance, karma, and the desire and includes neither a self nor anything that belongs to a self. As the grasping and attachment of such senses as the eye to form gives rise to consciousness; [so too], bodies, houses and the world of objections that are perceptions of one's own mind are fabricated and manifested from one's own projections. They change and disappear every moment, like a river or a seed or a candle or the wind or a cloud… impelled by habit-energy without beginning, like figures produced by some sort of magic trick or spell…"
XXXV.
"....Foolish people cling to internal and external existence due to habit-energy of their attachments to projections of self-existence of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence, unaware they are nothing but their own mind…. Foolish people are infected by the habit-energy of beginningless projections and inflamed by the fires of greed, anger and delusion. Delighting in worlds of form and beholding their origination, duration, cessation and clinging to external and internal existence, they fall prey to grasping and imagining conceptions of their sameness or difference or both or neither, or of their existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or o their permanence or impermanence."
IV.
"The two ways in which the forms of consciousness arise are as a continuity or as a characteristic. The two ways in which the forms of consciousness persist are as a continuity or as a characteristic. And the two ways in which they cease are as a continuity or as a characteristic."
…
"Mahamati, as for the cessation of continuity, when the cause of continuity ceases, continuity itself ceases. It ceases when what it depends upon and what supports it cease. Mahamati, why is this so? Because it is dependent. What it depends on is the habit-energy of beginningless projections. And what supports it are the projections of the objects of consciousness perceived by one's own mind."
XLVIII.
"How is it that whatever exists is impermanent? Because once a characteristic appears, its impermanence exists. This is why I say whatever exists is impermanent. And how is it that whatever exists is permanent? Because once a characteristic appears, its non-arising exists. And because its impermanence is permanent, I say everything is permanent."
XII.
"There are followers of some paths attached to the projection of nothingness, who imagine the nonexistence of rabbit horns when what causes them ends [what causes rabbit horns is the misperception of rabbit ears as rabbit horns] and that, as with the existence of rabbit horns, the same is true of everything else. And there are followers of other paths… who distinguish each and every thing in terms of elements, tendencies, particles, substances or shapes, and having seen that there are no such things as rabbit horns, become attached the conception that ox horns exist.
[Red Pine: the reason rabbit horns don't exist isn't because they are a mistake of perception, but because their necessary cause, namely, the mistake of perception, doesn't exist - or shouldn't, once one has a better view. And since the causes on which anything is based eventually cease to exist, nothing exists. The logic of the second is based on the idea that as long as something is composed of some underlying entity, it must exist. Thus, ox horns are real, while the rabbit horns are not. For the Buddha, both positions are beside the point. The only reason anything can be said to exist or not is merely a matter of projections, which are themselves nothing but perceptions of mind.]
XIX.
"Furthermore, Mahamati, nothing arises… Because existence and nonexistence are the perceptions of one's own mind, the existence or nonexistence of which does not arise. Mahamati, nothing that exists arises. Everything is like horns on a rabbit or a horse, the mistaken projections of an imagines reality by ignorant beings. Therefore, Mahamati, nothing that exists arises. The non-arising that characterizes all that exists - this is the personal realization of the realm of buddha knowledge, not the dualistic realm of projections of the ignorant. The existence that characterizes such things as your body, your possessions, and the world around you, Mahamati, is the interplay of grasping and the grasped of repository consciousness. Trapped by their dualistic views of origination, duration and cessation and their wish for things to arise, the ignorant give rise to projections of existence and nonexistence, not the wise. Mahamati, you should reflect on this in your practice."
LXII.
"There are two things people in this world depend on. They depend on existence and on nonexistence. And as they fall prey to existence and to nonexistence, they try to imagine escape where there is no escape. Mahamati, how do the people of this world depend on existence? They think the world arises from causes and conditions that exist and it does not do so in their absence. It arises from existence. It does not arise from nonexistence. Anyone who would claim that [it arises from nonexistence], Mahamati, says the world has no cause.
"And how, Mahamati, does the world depend on what doesn't exist? Once people think of desire, anger and delusion, as existing, they imagine the nonexistence of desire, anger and delusion - that by not perceiving their existence, Mahamati, the characteristics of their existence become still. Therefore they think because they don't perceive the existence of desire, anger and delusion among tathagtas, shravakas, or pratyekabuddhas, they [afflictions previously existed then cease to exist]... [in actuality,] they are nihilists in regard to shravakas,pratyekabuddhas and tathagatas. And how so? Because afflictions cannot be seen internally or externally, and because their existence both different and not different… because desire, anger and delusion have no substance and because there is nothing to see.
[Red Pine's Comment: …because the afflictions… cannot be found inside or outside practitioners, they cannot be seen to change from existing to not existing. Hence, to make assertions about their existence turning into nonexistence is to falsify the reality of enlightenment as well as to falsify the reality of the afflictions.]
LXXIII.
"I do not teach materialism. Nor that anything comes or goes. I only teach what does not come and what does not go. Mahamati, what comes refers to what gathers and appears. What goes refers to what scatters and disappears. What neither comes nor goes does not arise and does not cease. The meaning of what I teach cannot be counted among the fabrications of materialism… it is not attached to an external existence that does not exist. Dualistic fabrications cannot affect those who dwell on the perceptions of their own mind. The external world and its forms do not exist. Once you see that they are perceptions of your own mind, fabrications that are perceptions of your own mind do not arise. And when fabrications do not arise, you enter the empty, formless, effortles threefold gate of liberation, which is why it is called liberation."
LXXIX.
"Mahamati, my teaching is that what arises is neither permanent nor impermanent. And how so? Because external existence cannot be determined, I teach that the three realms are nothing but mind and do not teach the arising or ceasing of their different characteristics. As for the four elements coming together and differentiating, the four elements and what they comprise are projections of the duality of subject and object. By understanding that dualistic views are projections, one gets free from dualistic views of external existence and nonexistence, and one sees them as nothing but perceptions of one's own mind.
"Projections arise when you think about doing something, not when you do nothing. Avoid projections of the existence or nonexistence of the mind. All mundane, metaphysical and transcendent dharmas are neither permanent nor impermanent. Those who fail to perceive them as merely perceptions of their own mind end up attached to erroneous, dualistic views. But because followers of other paths do not perceive them as their own projections, such fools have no means by which to know that all mundane, metaphysical and transcendent dharmas are the result of their own projections of words. This is not something fools are aware of."
VII.
"Mahamati, to account for how something that doesn't exist comes to exist due to the presence of causation, and how it persists in time, in connection with the skandhas, dhatus, and the ayatanas, some monks and priests say once it arises, it ceases. Mahamati, whether it is in regard to a continuity, a function, a birth, an existence, nirvana, a path, karma, attainment, or truth, they argue that it is destroyed and ceases to exist. And why is this so? Because it cannot be found in the present, nor can its beginning be discerned.
"Mahamati, just as a shattered jug no longer functions as a jug or a burnt seed no longer functions as a seed, likewise, Mahamati, if the skandhas, dhatus and ayatanas exist then cease to exist in the present or the future, this is due the projection or view of one's own mind, not to a cause. This is why they don't continue to arise.
"Mahamati, if someone says the existence of consciousness from its non-existence is due to the threefold combination of conditions [combination of a sense organ, a sense object, and the form of sensory consciousness that arises upon their conjunction; sometimes known as ayatanas], then hair could grow on a tortoise, or cooking oil could be produced from sand. [Te-ch'ing's commentary: "Tortoises do not have hair because there is no such cause, and sand is not the source of cooking oil because there is no such effect."] Such a thesis falls apart because it is contrary to established truth. And statements about the existence, then nonexistence of something contain this defect: they render whatever we might do as empty and meaningless."
XXXI. (verse)
Nothing arises from causes and conditions, nor does anything cease. At the heart of 'ceasing and arising' arise conceptions of causes and conditions.
This [teaching] isn't to stop ceasing and arising, or the continuity of causes and conditions - only to stop foolish people from misconceiving causation.
Something existing or not due to causes: no such thing occurs. The confusion of habit-energy: from this, the three realms appear.
In truth, nothing arises from causes, nor does anything cease. Regard conditioned things like flowers in the sky. Let go deluded views: the grasping and the grasped.
Nothing has arisen or ever will. Nor do causes and conditions exist. Nothing exists at all - and these are nothing but words.
XLI.
Buddha: "I do not teach that there are no causes, nor do I confuse causes and conditions, rather 'because this exists, that exists', the nonexistence of what grasps and what is grasped, and the awareness that these are nothing but perceptions of one's own mind. …As long as people cling to what grasps or what is grasped and are unaware that these are nothing but perceptions of one's own mind, it is they who mistake the existence or nonexistence of external objects, not my teaching of dependent origination. I have always taught that things arise due to the conjunction of causes and conditions, not that they arise without a cause."
XLV.
Mahamati: "According to the Bhagavan, everything is non-arising and illusory. But when he says what is non-arising is illusory, is there not a contradiction in the Bhagavan's earlier and later statements?"
Buddha: "[denies there is a contradiction] And why not? Because what arises does not arise. When you realize that whether something exists or not is nothing but the perception of your own mind, its external existence is seen as nonexistent and non-arising. …it is to refute the arising from causes of other schools that I say everything is non-arising…. I teach existence to refute the nihilistic view that nothing exists and so that my disciples will accept samsara, so that they will accept that where they are reborn involves differences in karma. …I teach the illusoriness of self-existence so that they will get free of self-existence. …due to erroneous views and hopes, foolish people are unaware that these are nothing but the perceptions of their own minds.
IX.
Mahamati Bodhisattva said, "May the Bhagavan teach us about the characteristics of the mind, the will and conceptual consciousness [the eight, seventh, sixth consciousness, respectively], the five dharmas [appearance, name, discrimination, right-knowledge and Reality], and the mods of reality cultivated by buddhas and bodhisattvas that differ from the external realms perceived by our mind…. And may he explain… the ocean and waves of repository consciousness and the realm of the dharma body praised by all tathagtas."
Buddha: "There are four causes that result in the functioning of visual consciousness. And what are the four? They are:
1. a lack of awareness that what is grasped is a perception of one's own mind;
2. attachment to the habit-energy of erroneous fabrications of the beginningless past;
3. the existence of consciousness;
4. and the desire to see a multiplicity of forms…
[T]hese are the four causes that give rise to the waves of consciousness in the ever-rolling sea of repository consciousness.
"Mahamati, as with its visual form, consciousness arises together with the minutest sensory objects and sensory material of the various sense organs, and with it arise external realms as well like so many images in a clear mirror or like the ocean when a strong wind blows. And as the wind of externality stirs the sea of mind, its waves of consciousness never cease. Whether there is any difference or not among the characteristics of causes and effects if due to a deep attachment to what arises from karma. Because people cannot understand the nature of such things as form, the five kinds of sensory consciousness function. And due to the differentiation of appearances, Mahamati, you should know that these five kinds of sensory consciousness serve as the cause of conceptual consciousness. But as they function, they do not think that they are the cause of changes in appearances, which change as a result of attachment to projections that are perceptions of one's own mind. And as every appearance changes and disappears, the different realms that are distinguished themselves change."
LXXXII.
"The tathagatagarbha is the cause of whatever is good or bad and is responsible for every form of existence everywhere. It is like an actor who changes appearances in different settings but who lacks a self or what belongs to a self. Because this is not understood, followers of other paths unwittingly imagine an agent responsible for the effects that arise from the threefold combination [sensory power, sensory domain, and the form of sensory consciousness that arises when these two meet]. When it is impregnated by the habit-energy of beginningless fabrications, it is known as the repository consciousness and gives birth to fundamental ignorance, along with the seven kinds of consciousness. It is like the ocean whose waves rise without cease. But it transcends the misconception of impermanence or the conceit of a self and is essentially pure and clear."
LXXXVI.
"...the five grasping skandhas are based on the mind, the will and the conceptual consciouness along with their habit-energy. It is the mind, the will and the conceptual consciouness and their habit-energy that nourishes the differentiation of good and bad by fools… Mahamati, the five forms of sensory consciousness together with the mind, the will and the conceptual consciousness give rise to the development and destruction of good and bad characteristics and a body that continues without being destroyed. But these arise and cease, people are unaware that they are perceptions of their own minds. And as one form of consciousness ceases, others arise, differentiate, grasp shapes and forms. And as conceptual consciousness and the five forms of sensory consciousness arise in correspondence with one another, they last but a moment. Hence, they are called momentary.
"Mahamati, what is momentary is the repository consciousness of the tathagatagarbha. But while the habit-energy of consciousness that arises together with the will is momentary, its undefiled habit-energy is not momentary. This is not something of which foolish people are aware because they are attached to the doctrine of momentariness. Unaware that the momentariness of everything is not momentary, they apply their views of annihilation to the destruction of uncreated dharmas as well [space, cessation, and nirvana]. Mahamati, the seven forms of consciousness do not transmigrate. Nor do they experience pleasure or pain. Nor are they the cause of nirvana. Mahamati, it is the tathagatagarbha that experiences pleasure and pain and that arises and ceases in conjunction with causes. Intoxicated with the four states of affliction [views, attachments to desire, attachments to form, attachments to formlessness] and that of fundamental ignorance, foolish people remain unaware that their view of momentariness is the mind under the influence of differentiation."
VIII.
"Who sees that the habit-energy of projections of the beginningless past is the cause of the three realms and who understands that the tathagata stage is free from projections or anything that arises, attains the person realization of buddha knowledge and effortless mastery over their own minds. And like gems capable of reflecting every color, they enter the subtlest thoughts of other beings and in their apparition bodies teach them, 'nothing but mind' while establishing them in the sequence of stages. Therefore, Mahamati, you should devote yourself to the cultivation of personal attainment."
XXXVIII.
Buddha: "Witnessing the transformation of the habit-energy of self-existence of the repository consciousness, the will, and the conceptual consciousness: this is what is meant by nirvana. The nirvana of other buddhas and myself is the realm that is empty of self-existence. …Nirvana is the realm of personal realization of buddha knowledge. It is free from the existence or nonexistence of projections of permanence or impermanence. And why is it not permanent? Because projections of individual or shared characteristics are impermanent. Therefore it is not permanent. And why is not impermanent? Because it is the personal realization attained by all sages of the past, the present, and the future. Therefore is not impermanent. …Nirvana is not annihilation or death. If nirvana, were death, there would be the continuity of something reborn. And if nirvana were annihilation, it would be characterized as something created… Nirvana isn't lost and nirvana isn't found. It isn't impermanent and it isn't permanent. It doesn't have one meaning, and it doesn't have multiple meanings."
LXXIII.
"Mahamati, nirvana, space and cessation are not three things. They are only counted as three things."
LXXIV.
"According to what I teach, Mahamati, nirvana means fully understanding that it is nothing but the perception of one's own mind, and is not something that exists externally, and that it transcends the four possibilities. It is seeing what is real without falling prey to dualistic projections that are perceptions of one's own mind and that are devoid of perceiver and perceived. It is not accepting the validity of any rule or measure or following anyone ignorant of reality. Rather, it is letting everything go in favor of attaining the personal realization of buddha knowledge whereby one knows the two kinds of no-self, avoids the two afflictions, removes the two obstructions, gets free of the two kinds of death[see below], advances to the higher stages and the profound Samadhi of the Illusory of the tathagata stage, and transcends the mind, the will, and conceptual consciousness. What I call nirvana, Mahamati, is what you and the other bodhisattvas should cultivate. And you should distance yourselves at once from the views of nirvana held by followers of other paths."
XXV.
"What does non-dual mean? This refers to everything being cloudy or sunny, long or short, bright or dark. Mahamati, everything is non-dual. Samsara isn't present in nirvana, and nirvana isn't present in samsara. This is because their existence is due to different characteristics. This is what is meant by non-dual. And as with samsara and nirvana, this is true of everything else. Therefore, you should cultivate what is empty, non-arising, non-dual and without self-existence." [Red Pine: samsara and nirvana… are neither outside one another, neither are they identical to one another. They are mutually exclusive and merely erroneous projections.]
XXV.
"The teaching of emptiness, non-arising, non-duality, and the absence of self-existence pervades all the sutras spoken by the buddhas. Every sutra teaches these truths. But because every sutra responds to the longings of beings, they differ as to how they express these truths, which are not really in the words. Just as the sight of a mirage confuses a herd of deer, whereby the deer imagine the appearance of water where there is no water, likewise the teachings of the sutrs are meant to gladden people's hearts. But buddha knowledge is not to be found in words. Therefore, trust the meaning and don't cling to words."
XXXIII.*
"Words and projections are neither separate nor not separate. And how so? Because the one is the cause of the other. Mahamati, if words and projections were separate, projections could not be their cause. And if they were not separate, words could not express their meaning. But they do. Hence, they are not separate and not not separate.
…
"...Words are not ultimate truth, nor is what they express ultimate truth. And how so? Ultimate truth is what buddhas delight in. And what words lead to is ultimate truth. But words are not ultimate truth. Ultimate truth is what is attained by the personal realization of buddha knowledge. It is not a realm known by means of projections of words… Words arise and cease and shift, with their occurrence depending on changing causes and conditions…. Whatever depends on changing causes and conditions does not express ultimate truth… Because of the nonexistence of their own characteristics or of those of something else, words do not express ultimate truth…. Because any characteristic of an external existence does not exist except as a perception of one's own mind, the projection of words does not express ultimate truth. Hence, Mahamati, you should avoid the projection of words."
XIV.
Mahamati: "Bhagavan, how is the stream of perceptions of beings' minds purified? By degrees or all at once?"
Buddha: "By degrees and not all at once. Like the gooseberry, which ripens by degrees and not all at once, thus do tathagats purify the stream of perceptions of beings' minds by degrees and not all at once. Or like a potter, who makes vessels by degrees and not all at once… Or like the earth, which gives birth to living things by degrees and not all at once… Or like when people become proficient in such arts as music or writing or painting by degrees and not all at once…
Or just as a clear mirror reflects formless images all at once, tathagatas purify the stream of beings' minds by displaying pure, formless, undifferentiated realms all at once. Or just as the sun and moon illuminate images all at once, tathagatas likewise reveal the supreme realm of inconceivable wisdom all at once to those who have freed themselves of the habit-energy and misconceptions that are perceptions of their own minds. Or just as repository consciousness distinguishes such different perceptions of one's mind as the realms of the body, its possessions, and the world around it all at once, nishyanda buddhas likewise bring beings to maturity in whatever realm they dwell all at once and lead practitioners to reside in Akanishtha Heaven. Or just as the nishyanda buddhas… radiate light, the personal realization of buddha knowledge likewise illuminates and dispels erroneous views and projections regarding the existence or nonexistence of dharmas and their characteristics."
Suzuki:
The six Vijnanas function, as it were, mechanically when the conditions are satisfied and are not conscious of their own doings. They have no intelligence outside their respective fields of activity. They are not organised in themselves and have no theory for their existence and Doings. What they experience is reported to the headquarters with no comment or interpretation. Manas sits at the headquarters and like a great general gathers up all the information coming from the six Vijnanas. - For it is he who shifts and arranges the reports and gives orders again to the reporters according to his own will and intelligence. The orders are then faithfully executed.
The Manas is a double-headed monster, the one face looks towards the Alaya and the other towards the Vijnanas. He does not understand what the Alaya really is. Discrimination being one of his fundamental functions, he sees multitudinousness there and clings to it as final. The clinging now binds him to a world of particulars. Thus, desire is mother, and ignorance is father, and this existence takes its rise. But the Manas is also a double-edged sword. When there takes place a "turning-back" (paravritti) in it, the entire arrangement of things in the Vijnanakaya or Citta-kalapa changes. With one swing of the sword the pluralities are cut asunder and the Alaya is seen in its native form (svalakshana), that is, as solitary reality (viviktadharma), which is from the first beyond discrimination. The Manas is not of course an independent worker, it is always depending on the Alaya, without which it has no reason of being itself; but at the same time the Alaya is also depending on the Manas. The Alaya is absolutely one, but this oneness gains significance only when it is realised by the Manas and recognised as its own supporter (alamba). This relationship is altogether too subtle to be perceived by ordinary minds that are found choked with defilements and false ideas since beginningless time.
The Manas backed by the Alaya has been the seat of desire or thirst (trishna), karma, and ignorance. The seeds grow out of them, and are deposited in the Alaya. When the waves are stirred up in the Alaya-ocean by the wind of objectivity—so interpreted by the Manas—these seeds give a constant supply to the uninterrupted flow of the Vijnana-waters. In this general turmoil in which we sentient beings are all living, the Alaya is as responsible as the Manas; for if the Alaya refused to take the seeds in that are sent up from the region of the Vijnana, Manas may not have opportunities to exercise its two fundamental functions, willing and discriminating. But at the same time it is due to the Alaya's self-purifying nature that there takes place a great catastrophe in it known as "turning-back". With this "turning-back" in the Alaya, Manas so intimately in relation with it also experiences a transformation in its fundamental attitude towards the Vijnanas. The latter are no more regarded as reporters of an external world which is characterised with individuality and manifoldness.
This position is now abandoned, the external world is no more adhered to as such, that is, as reality; for it is no more than a mere reflection of the Alaya. The Alaya has been looking at itself in the Manas' mirror. There has been from the very first nothing other than itself. Hence the doctrine of Mind-only (cittamatra), or the Alaya-only.
The two ways in which the forms of consciousness arise are as a continuity or as a characteristic. The two ways in which the forms of consciousness persist are as a continuity or as a characteristic. And the two ways in which they cease are as a continuity or as a characteristic. And the different forms of consciousness, Mahamati, have three aspects: an unfolding aspect, a karmic aspect, and an intrinsic aspect.
Continuity – prabandha - underlying form or connectedness, a term which also appeared in early Indian music, likened to the ocean, 'essence'
Characteristic – lakshana - surface details and variations, again used in Indian music in contrast with prabandha, meaning the surface melody; likened to the waves, 'function'
See also: Three Modes of Consciousness (add link later to Yogacara article)
Mahamati, our perceiving consciousness functions like a clear mirror in which shapes and images appear.
The Perceiving Consciousness - the five senses - is originally pure. Like a clear mirror that reflects shapes and images, the mind in this fashion has an 'image' of the phenomena, but does not ascribe any reality or continuity to the image. The consciousness begins reflecting an image, and then it disappears. The mirror has no inherent image of its own - the mirror is empty. See - Indra's Net.
This is described as a 'function', that which unfolds out of consciousness. The sensory experience is the necessary function of mind, it unfolds naturally from it.
Mahamati, although perceiving consciousness and object-producing consciousness are the cause of whether they are separate from each other or not
Object-producing consciousness is the karmic aspect, that assigns reality (reifies) objects. This is due to past karma (past action, that shaped future circumstances and thus the current tools and obstacles available to the subject), and by acting based on these objects (to grasp them or reject them, obtain or avoid, etc.), more objects are produced. Since karmic and unfolding consciousness are the cause of their mutual separateness - we must assume that they are mutually arising phenomena, but which are able to separate?
>perceiving consciousness, Mahamati, is the result of imperceptible habit-energy and imperceptible transformations,
So, the sensory realm of consciousness is the result of:
while object-producing consciousness is the result of grasping different phrnomena and the habit-energy of beginningless projections.
So, the "will", or karmic aspect relies on an infinite store of habit-energy - the inertia of past action. Here, the imperceptible is not stressed - in other words, "the will" or karmic consciousness is not caused by *ignorance* of karmic inertia, but by the force of karmic inertia alone. Specifically, grasping phenomena - reifying them, specifically to attain them (tanha).
In other words, the sensory consciousness is the recipient of the past karma of the "object-producing" consciousness. So why is Buddha splitting off a "karmic aspect" of consciousness from mere perception? This is the part of consciousness that includes the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in the 8C model - in other words, thought-objects and the will. It would seem that the karmic aspect and the unfolding aspect becoming separate would be a method of cultivation - separate perception of phenomena from the desire or rejection of them.
Mahamati, when all the false projections obscuring our true consciousness cease, all forms of sensory consciousness cease.
True consciousness is the absence of sensory consciousness. We might recall Huineng's verse - Fundamentally there is not a single thing / where could dust collect?
This, Mahamati, is what is meant by cessation of characteristics.
The true consciousness involves no more characteristics, or overlaid surface melody of difference and sameness, interposed on the 'drone' of reality.
Mahamati, as for the cessation of continuity, when the cause of continuity ceases, continuity itself ceases. It ceases when what it depends upon and what supports it cease. Mahamati, why is this so? Because it is dependent. What it depends on is the habit-energy of beginningless projections. And what supports it are the projections of the objects of consciousness perceived by one's own mind.
So when the cessation of characteristics - putting an end to waves, perhaps by separating one's karmic will from one's perceptions (ceasing in tanha, for instance) - true consciousness can emerge in the absence. It seems that when all 'karmic waves' have truly ceased - a herculean task, as one is pushing against beginningless karmic inertia, and the ocean is completely still, even the continuity ceases to be. Thus, the essence (continuity) cannot exist separate from the function (waves).
In theory, the idea of pushing back or stopping something with infinite inertia would be impossible. We might recall "Crossing Over the Flood".
Mahamati, take for example a lump of clay and particles of dust. They are neither separate nor are they not separate. The same is true of gold and ornaments. Mahamati, if the lump of clay and particles of dust were separate, the latter could not comprise the former. But they do. Hence, they are not separate. And yet if they were not separate, the lump of clay could not be distinguished from the particles of dust.
Self-explanatory. Continuity and the characteristics are neither separate nor not separate. We can distinguish them, but to end one is to end the other.
Thus, Mahamati, if the intrinsic aspect of our repository consciousness and the unfolding aspect of consciousness were separate, the repository consciousness could not be its cause.
The intrinsic aspect of consciousness is a continuity. However, as seen below, it never arose, and does not cease. The karmic and unfolding aspects are characteristics.
But if they were no separate, the cessation of the unfolding aspect of consciousness would also mean cessation of repository consciousness. And yet, its intrinsic aspect doesn't cease. Thus, Mahamati, what ceases is not the intrinsic aspect of consciousness, merely its karmic aspect.
So - the intrinsic aspect of consciousness is neither separate nor not separate from the unfolding aspect or from the karmic aspect. So, the unfolding and karmic aspects are not like functions of the true consciousness' essence. Since the three self natures are three modes of viewing reality, they are not related to alaya-vijnana as functions/to its essence.
Mahamati, I recall once a materialist Brahman came to where I was staying and without waiting asked, "Gautama, is everything created?"
I answered, "Brahman, that everything is created is the most rudimentary form of materialism."
He asked again, "Is everything not created?"
I answered, "That everything is not created is the second kind of materialism."
He asked again, "Is everything permanent? Or is everything impermanent? Does everything arise? Or does everything not arise?"
I answered, "That makes six kinds of materialism."
He asked again, "Is everything the same? Or is everything different? Is everything both of these? Or is everything neither of these? Or does everything appear due to multiple causes?"
I answered, "That makes eleven kinds of materialism."
He asked again, "Is everything neutral? Or is everything karmic? Is there a self? Or is there no self? Does this world exist? Or does this world not exist? Or is there another world? Or is there no other world? Is there liberation? Or is there no liberation? Is everything momentary? Or is everything not momentary? And are space, cessation and nirvana created, Gautama [these three were considered asamskrita (uncreated) dharmas in the abbhidharma of some sects]? Or are they not created? And is there an intermediate existence? Or is there no intermediate existence?
I answered, "Brahman, all these things of which you speak are materialism. This materialism of yours is not what I teach. I only teach that the cause of the three realms and their various ills is the habit-energy of fabrications and projections without beginning. But because you are unable to see that they are merely projections of your own mind, you give rise to projections and objectify an external existence. According to followers of other paths, awareness arise from the threefold combination of a self, sense organs, and sense objects, but not according to me. Brahman, I do not teach that there are causes, nor do I teach that there are no causes. I only teach causation as a fabrication of projecting the existence of a subject and an object. This is not something you or others who accept the continuity of a self can understand."
….
This materialist Brahman asked me again, "Are ignorance, desire and karma the cause of the three realms? Or are they not the cause?"
I answered, "Both of these are also materialism."
He asked again, "Does everything have individual and shared characteristics?"
I answered, "This is also materialism. Brahman, any movement of the mind involving projection of an external object is materialism."
The Brahman asked, "Is there any teaching that is not materialism? I am versed in all the doctrines of other schools and in the different expressions, arguments, metaphors and embellishments of their teachings."
I answered, "There is, Brahman, but not one of yours. It is not a fabrication, and it is not a doctrine, and it is not a teaching. But it is not not a teaching, and its various expressions are not not embellished with arguments and metaphors."
The Brahman asked, "What is it that is not materialism, not not a doctrine, and not not a teaching?"
I answered, "Brahman, there is something that is not materialism, but it is something you followers of other paths cannot understand due to your mistaken attachment to the fabrication and projection of external existence. Projections do not arise when you understand that existence and nonexistence are nothing but perceptions of your own mind. And projections do not arise when you do not grasp external objects. The permnanent cessation of projection, this is what I mean by 'what is not materialism'. This is my teaching and not yours. Briefly, Brahman, if consciousness involves coming or going, birth or death, joy or suffering, disappearance or appearance, contact or grasping, or if it involves attachment to a combination or a continuity or to a desire or to a cause, Brahman, if it involves anything like this, it is your materialism and not mine."
After this materialist Brahman had asked in this manner, and I had answered in this manner, he was silent. Then he left without saying another word. But he thought about his own understanding and said to himself, "This Buddhist monk is incomprehensible. He teaches no arising, no form, no cause, and that once someone becomes aware that what they perceive are their own projections, projections do not arise."
Mahamati asked the Buddha, "Bhagavan, when you speak of nirvana, what do you mean by nirvana, as followers of other paths also imagine something?"
The Buddha told Mahamati, "Listen carefully and ponder it well, and I will explain this to you.
"Followers of other paths do, indeed, imagine something as nirvana. But what they imagine does not accord with nirvana."
Mahamati said, "May we be so instructed, Bhagavan."
The Buddha told Mahamati, "For followers of some paths it is the cessation of the skandhas, the dhatus, and the ayatanas, or the absence of worldly desires, or the impermanence of everything they see, or the non-arising of any and all mental activity, or not thinking about past, future or present states, or putting an end to all sensation, like the extinguishing of a lamp or a fire or the destruction of a seed, or not giving rise to projections. These are among their conceptions of nirvana. But nirvana, Mahamati, is not the destruction of anything.
"Mahamati, some think liberation is going from one place to another place, a place where thoughts of an external world cease, like when the wind stops. Some think eliminating the view of the knower and the known is liberation. Some see permanence and impermanence as liberation. Some see the different forms they perceive as the cause that gives rise to suffering, and they envision them ending. Unaware that these are nothing but the perceptions of their own mind, they become afraid of forms and develop a deep desire to see no form, which they think of as nirvana.
"Some think nirvana is knowing what is indestructible among the individual or shared characteristics of internal or external dharmas of the past, the present, or the future. Some think of nirvana as the destruction of everything, including one's self, person, being, and life. Relying on the immature wisdom of the followers of other paths, some see a primordial nature and a cosmic being, and between the two the cosmic being producing an underlying nature, which is likened to a kind of primordial force, which then transforms into tendencies, and the tendencies then acting as creator, which they view as nirvana. Some say it is the end of good and bad karma, some say it is the end of affliction, and some say it is wisdom. Some see a supreme power actually responsible for birth and death as nirvana. And some say there is no other cause of birth and death than giving birth to one another, and, due to their ignorance, they think this is nirvana. That this very attachment is the cause is lost on these ignorant beings.
"Followers of still other paths say finding what leads to truth is nirvana. Some see tendencies and the sameness of the combinations that tendencies give rise to or their difference or both of these or neither and think this is nirvana. And some see what nature gives rise to as nirvana, things such as the patterns in a peacock feather or a gemstone or the sharpness of a thorn.
"Mahamati, some think nirvana is understanding the twenty-five realities or upholding the six virtues that protect king and kingdom. Some see time as the creator and the seasons as the world and knowing this as nirvana. Some say it is something that exists, some say it is something that does not exist, and some say it is knowing what exists and what does not exist. And some imagine nirvana as seeing the difference between nirvana and whatever one is aware of.
"All these different fantasies advanced by followers of other paths fail to establish what they aim to establish and are rejected by the wise. Mahamati, all these conceptions of nirvana suffer from duality, and none of these conceptions of nirvana of other paths includes anything that arises or ceases. Mahamati, each of these nirvanas of other paths has its own doctrine, but none of them are based on the examination of wisdom. Such conceptions unsettle and disturb the mind, and none of them results in nirvana.
"According to what I teach, Mahamati, nirvana means fully understanding that it is nothing but the perception of one's own mind, and is not something that exists externally, and that it transcends the four possibilities. It is seeing what is real without falling prey to dualistic projections that are perceptions of one's own mind and that are devoid of perceiver and perceived. It is not accepting the validity of any rule or measure or following anyone ignorant of reality. Rather, it is letting everything go in favor of attaining the personal realization of buddha knowledge whereby one knows the two kinds of no-self, avoids the two afflictions, removes the two obstructions, gets free of the two kinds of death[see below], advances to the higher stages and the profound Samadhi of the Illusory of the tathagata stage, and transcends the mind, the will, and conceptual consciousness. What I call nirvana, Mahamati, is what you and the other bodhisattvas should cultivate. And you should distance yourselves at once from the views of nirvana held by followers of other paths."