Can Isolated Mental Consciousness Alter the External Objective Aspect?

The birth and transformation of all dharmas are functions of the Tathāgatagarbha, for the Tathāgatagarbha contains the seeds of all dharmas. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses lack the seeds of all dharmas and thus cannot give birth to or transform all dharmas, yet they can influence the Tathāgatagarbha and operate in conjunction with it, prompting the Tathāgatagarbha to give birth to and transform all dharmas. Neither the five-sense-accompanying consciousness nor the solitary consciousness can alter the external manifestation or the internal manifestation, nor can they prompt the Tathāgatagarbha to transform the internal and external manifestations. They must first permeate the manas, and it is through the manas that the Tathāgatagarbha is prompted to give birth to and transform the internal and external manifestations.

Changes in the external manifestation, or even the internal manifestation, are not determined by any single consciousness alone but result from the combined operation of the three transforming consciousnesses. Only when causes, conditions, and karmic seeds mature can the three transforming consciousnesses unite to give birth to all dharmas, and when causal conditions mature, they can also transform all dharmas. However, to alter the external manifestation, karmic seeds must be transformed, and the conditions for transforming these karmic seeds must themselves be ripe.

To change the external manifestation, whether through rapid short-term alteration or slow long-term transformation, the sixth and seventh transforming consciousnesses must be exceptionally potent, causing the karmic seeds within the Tathāgatagarbha to undergo change. Once the karmic seeds change, the external manifestation can be transformed. If the sixth and seventh consciousnesses lack strength, the five-sense-accompanying consciousness and the manas cannot prompt the Tathāgatagarbha to alter the external manifestation, and the solitary consciousness and manas in dreams are even less capable of changing it. What can swiftly prompt the Tathāgatagarbha to transform the external manifestation must be the sixth and seventh consciousnesses in meditative concentration, ideally the solitary consciousness and manas in such a state. Scattered solitary consciousness, five-sense-accompanying consciousness, and manas are ineffective due to their lack of power.

The solitary consciousness in dreams can scarcely prompt the Tathāgatagarbha to change the external manifestation through the manas, for the consciousness is exceedingly weak, utterly powerless, and lacks concrete karmic actions, rendering it incapable of inducing a shift in karmic seeds. Consequently, the external manifestation cannot be altered. Even the delusional thoughts of the solitary consciousness during waking states cannot, in the short term, prompt the Tathāgatagarbha to transform the external manifestation through the manas, owing to their scattered and feeble nature. However, if the solitary consciousness can concentrate intensely, its delusional thoughts may gain the power to permeate the manas, endowing the manas with decisive force and prompting the Tathāgatagarbha to rapidly alter the external manifestation. Through the conception of the manas and the conception of the solitary consciousness, without physical or verbal actions, karmic seeds can still be transformed, thereby changing the external manifestation. Thus, the mind's conception and mental volition also convey karmic force and bear karmic retribution.