八識

Readings

Pinyin: bāshì

Wade-Giles: pa-shih

Hangul: 팔식

Korean MC: palsik

Korean MR: p'alsik

Katakana: ハッシキ

Hepburn: hasshiki

bát thức

eight consciousnesses

• The articulation of the eight consciousnesses forms one of the most seminal and distinctive aspects of the doctrine of the Yogâcāra 瑜伽行派 school of Buddhism, known in East Asia as Dharma-character 法相 school and Consciousness-only 唯識 school. According to this doctrine, the minds of sentient beings area comprised of eight distinguishable regions of consciousness, which can be broken down into four general types:
  1. the first five consciousnesses 五識 which correspond to the sense perceptions. These five, which operate based on the five faculties 五根 and their five objects 五塵, were standard in the earliest stages of Indian Buddhism. Later, Yogâcāra scholars will point out that they only function in a conscious state, ceasing in during periods of unconsciousness, and they can only function in conjunction with their specific objects, such as color, smell, taste, etc.
  2. the sixth mano consciousness 意識 is the thinking region of consciousness thought. This consciousness plays many roles, including the gathering of sensory perceptions, conducting of value judgments, calculation, emotion, and intention. Unlike the prior five consciousnesses, it can take the past and future into consideration, as well as the present into consideration. It takes as its objects linguistics constructs and perceptual images, called 法 in the Yogâcāra texts. Like the prior five consciousnesses, it operates during waking consciousness, but also during shallow (dreaming) sleep.
  3. the seventh manas 末那識, which is also referred to connotatively is the "defiled mental consciousness" (kliṣṭa-mano-vijñāna), is hypothesized as the origin of the sense of a self, which it develops based on perceiving the apparent continuity of sameness exhibited by the base consciousness. Its role is thought, but a simple, fundamental mode of thought that consists of perception of the ālaya within, and assaying the relative benefit or harm to the self posed by external objects and situations. Thus it is characterized in the Cheng weishi lun as being "continually examining and assessing" 恆審思量. It is considered as the cause of all selfish tendencies, and therefore of all illusion arising from assuming the seeming as the real. The seventh is also defined in some texts as the ādāna 阿陀那識 or "laying hold of consciousness."
  4. the eighth ālayavijñāna  阿賴耶識 is understood as being the most fundamental region of consciousness, functioning as the repository of all the impressions from one's experiences. As the first seven of these arise based on the eighth, they are called the forthcoming consciousnesses 轉識. In contrast, the eighth is known as the base consciousness 本識, store consciousness 藏識, or seed consciousness 種子識. The eighth consciousness is understood to be the actual subject of transformation, which is, in non-Buddhist traditions, taken as an eternal soul, or self 我. The separate entry for this term includes an extensive essay detailing the development of the concept.
  (Skt. aṣṭa-vijñānāni, aṣṭānāṃcittānām; Tib. rnam shes tshogs brgyad) 〔成唯識論 T 1585.31.2a13〕 [resp. Charles Muller; source(s): Nakamura, Hirakawa, YBh-Ind]

Dictionary References:

Bukkyō jiten (Ui), 868

Bulgyo sajeon, 899a

Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.), 1026d

Iwanami bukkyō jiten, 663

Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha), 101a/112

Zen Dust (Sasaki), 311

Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga), 6-P79, 9-P69

Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura), 1108c

Fo Guang Dictionary, 316

Ding Fubao

Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa), 0165

Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki), (v.1-6)4208c

Bukkyō daijiten (Oda), 688-3*1404-3

Copyright © 2010 -- Charles Muller

generated: 2013-09-14