Are the Six Internal Dusts Electrical Signals or Mental Images?

Question: When light enters the eye, and the photoreceptor cells inside the eye convert the light source into electrical signals, which are then transmitted via the optic nerve to the visual cortex of the brain, what then decodes these electrical signals into images?

Answer: What are electrical signals? "Electricity" signifies energy, and "signals" signify particles; both are composite entities formed from the four great elements. The inner six dusts (objects) perceived by our six consciousnesses are all minute particles formed by the four great elements, possessing a certain energy, and can conveniently be termed electrical signals. If the inner six dusts are electrical signals, what are the outer six dusts? In what form do both the inner and outer six dusts manifest? The outer six dusts are similarly minute particles formed by the four great elements, without any substantial form or characteristic of materiality, also possessing a certain energy, and can likewise be called electrical signals. Therefore, both the inner and outer six dusts manifest in the form of electrical signals. However, there is a distinction between the electrical signals of the inner and outer six dusts. The outer six dusts are illusorily formed by the Tathāgatagarbha using the four great elements; they are false, like images outside a mirror. The inner six dusts, however, are electrical signals that have undergone transmission and modification; they are false upon false, illusion upon illusion, like images within a mirror.

When light enters the subtle sense faculty (the eye faculty), if the mental faculty (manas) intends to grasp and perceive, the eye consciousness and mental consciousness arise. Together, they perceive the electrical signals of the light, and these electrical signals manifest in the form of visual appearances within the minds of these two consciousnesses. Whichever consciousness perceives, the corresponding appearance arises within that consciousness. Therefore, when the six consciousnesses perceive sense objects, there is no involvement of decoding. If one insists on calling it decoding, it is mistakenly recognizing the particles of the four great elements as having specific forms and appearances, mistakenly taking those forms and appearances as truly existent, and thereby grasping and clinging to them.

For example, a child uses a pile of small parts for a puzzle, assembling the parts into an object, and then clings to that object, clinging to it with attachment. Similarly, the four great elements are like the parts, the six sense objects are like the puzzle, and when the six consciousnesses recognize the sense objects, they assemble the minute particles of the four great elements into the six sense objects, and then grasp and cling to them with attachment. It is like children playing house, utterly childish. When one fully realizes this entire process through direct experience, then all dharmas are seen as non-existent, leaving only the empty Tathāgatagarbha. Yet, one does not grasp or cling to it either, and thus one arrives home and attains Buddhahood. Since all dharmas are non-existent, what is the point of engaging in so many activities every day?