Sense consciousness (Buddhism)

Six sense consciousnesses are enumerated in Buddhism: eye consciousness supported by the eye sense powers with visible forms as objects; ear consciousness supported by ear sense powers with sounds as objects; nose consciousness supported by nose powers with odours as objects; tongue consciousness supported by tongue sense powers with tastes as objects; body consciousness supported by the body sense powers with tangible objects as objects; and mental consciousness supported by mental sense powers with phenomena as objects. These give rise to six feelings (for example, from contact on the "aggregation of an ear sense", a sound and an ear consciousness).

That part of consciousness referred to as "mind" - [citta]

- is aware of an object as an entity; this knowledge is interpreted by the other part of consciousness, the "mental factor" - [caitta]

, [sems-byung]

- which engages in it with respect to other features such as function. There are six types of mind corresponding to the six sense consciousnesses, and 51 mental factors classed in six groups: omnipresent factors (5); determining factors (5); virtuous factors (11); root afflictions (6); secondary afflictions (20); and changeable factors (4).

In Yogacara, [manas]

- the seventh consciousness, that which interprets and where the feeling of "I" as a separate reality manifests, distils the experience of the six senses and transmits the essence of this experience to [alaya-vijnana]

or [citta]

as the storehouse which, although close to pure consciousness, is thus coloured with individuality and carries over the impressions of [manas]

, conditioned depending upon the previous impressions stored there, into subsequent lives.