成唯識論述記 3.296

3.296

The Commentary states: The internal body is mostly continuous and only partly intermittent, because there are those who die after living for a single thought-moment, or like mayflies and the like who die as soon as they are born. If it transforms the external vessel, it is mostly for a long time; fascicle three of the Yogācārabhūmi states: the external vessel is fixed for one kalpa. If it transforms the internal body, it follows the lifespan; hence it is mostly continuous. Sounds and lights are mostly temporary, and rarely continuous. 'Etc.' includes the colors of flowers, the scents of flowers, and the like. Why is this? Because sound and the like only arise when struck and activated; when the causal force is exhausted, they do not continue. A certain Dharma master said: the eighth [consciousness] does not take sound as an object because it is intermittent; just as it does not take minds and mental factors as objects because they are intermittent. If one makes this statement, it should also not take homogeneous-flow matter and the like as objects, because they are intermittent like lightning flashes and the like. Since the seventh manas is constantly continuous, why does [the eighth] not take it as an object? One asks: If so, since the eighth is constantly continuous, how can it take intermittent phenomena as objects? Answer: Just as a mirror is constantly bright, and a reflection arises only when an object arrives, so the eighth arises spontaneously: whenever an object exists, it immediately takes it as an object; what is the obstacle in this?