Thrangu rinpoche explains in his book “pointing out the dharmakaya”:

“The Seventh and Eighth Consciousnesses

Previously, we looked at the first six consciousnesses: the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, tactile con- sciousness, and mental consciousness. Five of these, the consciousnesses of the five gates or five senses, are obviously intimately connected with the physi- cal body, as they rely upon particular organic supports in order to function. These experiences of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling are gen- erated in dependence upon the physical body. Even the sixth consciousness, which is, in a sense, less physically oriented, is still intimately connected with

the body in the way we experience it.

It is the seventh and eighth consciousnesses that we might take to be fun-

damentally different from the body. The seventh consciousness is called the consciousness that is mental affliction; the eighth consciousness is called the alaya consciousness. The eighth consciousness, the alaya, is called that because it is itself the ground of consciousness. It is that mere cognitive lucid- ity which is the fundamental level of consciousness.

Earlier, the terms “unstable consciousnesses” and “stable consciousnesses” were mentioned. Unstable means a consciousness that is generated when var- ious causes and conditions come together and subsequently vanishes when those causes and conditions are no longer present together. The first six con- sciousnesses are like that. The seventh and eighth are stable, which does not mean permanent, but means they are continuous. They never stop func- tioning.

The eighth consciousness in particular, the alaya consciousness is subtle, not obvious; it never becomes more obvious, and it never simply disappears or ceases to function altogether. Nor is it permanent, because it is not the same consciousness that passes through time. For example, the alaya con- sciousness of last year, of last month, of yesterday, like the five conscious- nesses or six consciousnesses that were generated at those times, has ceased to exist. Nevertheless, the habits of those consciousnesses and the habits of the actions performed at those times have been retained in the continuity of the alaya; therefore, in each moment, the alaya consciousness retains those habits. Eventually the results of these karmas, these actions and habits, arise or emerge as form, much like the way that, at night, when we’re dreaming, the images and habits stored in the daytime emerge as dream images. What emerges from the alaya consciousness arises as both body and mind, the expe- rience of a body and the experience of a mind.

The alaya consciousness retains the particular habits that are implanted through one’s actions and habituation throughout time, as well as the begin- ningless habit of ignorance. All of these habits that are stored in the alaya con- sciousness re-emerge from it in the form of various appearances. That is how the eighth consciousness functions, how it projects appearances.

The seventh consciousness is called the consciousness which is mental affliction, or the afflicted consciousness; essentially, it is fixation on a self. The seventh consciousness is that faculty which fixates on the cognitive aspect of the alaya consciousness and mistakes it to be “I,” or a self. On the basis of mistakenly fixating upon that awareness aspect of the alaya consciousness as a “self,” it designates “others” as well. That’s why it’s called the consciousness which is mental affliction because this duality between self and other is the

root of all mental affliction, or klesha. This is not the same as when we con- sciously think “I.” That happens on the level of the sixth consciousness. The seventh consciousness is stable, which is to say, it is constant; it is always there. Whether you recollect yourself or not, whether you think of yourself or not, there is a fixation on this imputed self that is always there, whether you’re eating, talking, in the midst of activity, no matter what you’re doing; and it never stops.

The alaya consciousness arises as apprehended objects and an apprehend- ing subject. The seventh consciousness fixates on the appearance of the appre- hending subject as a self and, then, on the appearances of apprehended objects as other. In that way, through the action of these consciousnesses, the appearances of body and mind arise as distinct from one another, in the sense that the body appears as an apprehended object, while the mind appears as an apprehending subject. They’re distinct in appearing that way, but they’re not, in fact, different from one another, since they are merely two aspects of a single appearance that arises through the projection of the alaya conscious- ness. In that sense, as well, they are beyond being the same or different.”