Eight consciousnesses

A monkey swinging in a tree, the image for consciousness in the Wheel of Life

The eight consciousnesses, or more literally, eight collections of consciousness (Skt. aṣṭavijñānakāya; Tib. རྣམ་ཤེས་ཚོགས་བརྒྱད་, Wyl. rnam shes tshogs brgyad) are mentioned in the writings of the Mind Only school.

To the six consciousnesses mentioned in the Abhidharma texts of the basic vehicle are added

• the defiled mental consciousness or emotional consciousness (Skt. kliṣṭamanas; Tib. ཉོན་ཡིད་, Wyl. nyon yid) and
• the all-ground consciousness (Skt. ālaya vijñāna; Tib. ཀུན་གཞི་རྣམ་ཤེས་, kunshyi namshé; Wyl. kun gzhi rnam shes).

Transformation into Five Wisdoms

According to Mipham Rinpoche, the eight consciousnesses transform into the five wisdoms in the following way:

• Alaya transforms into the wisdom of dharmadhatu.
• Alaya consciousness transforms into mirror-like wisdom.
• Emotional consciousness transforms into wisdom of equality.
• Mental consciousness transforms into the wisdom of discernment.
• Five sense consciousnesses transform into the all-accomplishing wisdom.

Alternative Translations

• Eight avenues of consciousness (LCN)

Oral Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

Edited Teachings

• Sogyal Rinpoche, 'The Eight Consciousnesses', Rigpalink December 2003, 6 November 2003, Zurich (available in English, French and German, ordernumber 361)

Further Reading

• A Treasury of Dharma, aka The Mengak Study Pack (Lodève: The Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2005), pages 90-92 & CD2, tracks 4-6.