Eight Aggregates of Consciousness

Eight Aggregates of Consciousness (rnam shes tshogs brgyad)

• The so-called "eight classes of consciousness" comprise: 1) the consciousness of the ground-of-all (kun gzhi rnam par shes pa), which is a non-referential substratum consciousness underlying all the other aspects of consciousness; 2) the consciousness of deluded intelligence (nyon mong yid kyi rnam par shes pa) which evaluates its objects in terms of refutation and proof based upon the subject's past propensities; 3) the mental consciousness (yid kyi rnam par shes pa), which objectively refers to general concepts or thoughts; 4) the visual consciousness (mig gi rnam par shes pa) which perceives visual forms; 5) the audial consciousness (rna'i rnam par shes pa) which perceives sounds; 6) the olfactory consciousness (sna'i rnam par shes pa), which perceives smells; and 8) the tactile consciousneess (lus kyi rnam par shes pa), which perceives physical objects. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)