Mind (chitta, sems)

This division of consciousness comprises knowers of an object’s mere entity. There are six types:

eye consciousness (chakshurvijnana, mig gi rnam par shes pa)
ear consciousness (shrotravijnana, rna ba’i rnam par shes pa)
nose consciousness (ghranavijnana, sna’i rnam par shes pa)
tongue consciousness (jihvavijnana, lce’i rnam par shes pa)
body consciousness (kayavijnana, lus kyi rnam par shes pa)
mental consciousness (manovijnana, yid kyi rnam par shes pa)

A mind cognizing emptiness is necessarily a mental consciousness, except in the case of a Buddha whose consciousnesses are cross-functional.

In dependence on reasoning, the mental consciousness first realizes an emptiness of a particular object conceptually - by way of an image of a vacuity which is a negative of inherent existence; then after much practice the imagistic element is removed, whereupon the mental consciousness becomes a Superior’s wisdom directly cognizing emptiness.

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