The Eight Consciousnesses
佛弟子修學自性工程，需知何為八識？八識即：眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意、末那、阿賴耶。
其中眼耳鼻舌身意六識，隨所依根而立，名末那識即為意，皆依其自性而立名。
或稱眼耳鼻舌身五識為前五識，意識為第六識，末那識為第七識，阿賴耶識為第八識。
又：眼至末那乃阿賴耶所生，轉易故，總稱為轉識或七轉識。
對此，阿賴耶為七轉諸法之因，故稱為根本識、種子識。
八識分為二能變，阿賴耶識名為初能變，末那識為第二能變，前六識為第三能變。
若就其性而言：眼等之前六識，以了別為其性，緣色等六境、通善等三性。
末那識：以恆審思量為其性，阿賴耶識為無覆、無記性。唯緣阿賴耶識之見分為自之內我。
以微細之行：相緣自所變之器界、種子及有根身。
地論家以阿陀那（末那識）為妄識。阿賴耶為真識。
攝論家則以阿賴耶識為妄識。別立：第九無垢淨識。
唯識家：則謂識僅限八種，且此諸識皆為依他起性，即非真常淨識。
資料來源：心靈甘露(四)，隆門圓通法師著。英文翻譯：張惠平。
The Eight Consciousnesses
The Buddhists who are cultivating the self-nature have to know what eight consciousnesses are. They are the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, the intention, the manas, and the ālaya-vijñāna. The names of the first six are given according to the roots they adhere to. The name of the manas, which means intention, comes into being according to its own self-nature.
Some think of the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, and the body as the first five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness as the sixth, the manas the seventh, and the ālaya-vijñāna the eighth.
Moreover, some argue that the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, the intention and the manas come from the ālaya-vijñāna and may transform, so they are also called transformational consciousnesses or the seven transformational consciousness. The ālaya-vijñāna is the cause of the seven transformational dharmas, so it is also called the fundamental consciousness or seed consciousness.
The eight consciousnesses are divided into three transformations. The ālaya-vijñāna is called the initial transformation, the manas is called the second transformation, and the first six consciousnesses the third one.
Besides, in terms of their nature, the first six, with their nature of differentiation, interact with the six contaminations (form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma) and penetrate the three aspects of the nature of a thing (goodness, evilness, and non-covering and recording).
The manas has the nature of observation and consideration, while the ālaya-vijñāna has that of non-covering and recording. The views from the ālaya-vijñāna contain self-consciousness and inner-self-consciousness. Seen in detail, forms are derived from the transformational implements, seeds, and the rooted body.
The Daśabhūmika School regards the manas as false consciousness, and the ālaya-vijñāna as genuine one. The Mahāyāna-samgraha School regards the ālaya-vijñānaas as false consciousness and established the ninth one named non-dirt, pure consciousness. But beyond this, the Consciousness-Only School holds that there are only eight consciousnesses, which arise only when influenced by other factors, and that these consciousnesses are not the real, constant, and pure ones.
Source: Sweet Dew for the Soul (Vol. IV), Written by Master Shih Longmen Yuantong. Translated by Huei Ping Chang.