The Eight Wondrous Minds -Bilingual Chinese and Japanese edition. How many minds do we have? We usually think of ourselves as having one single mind. Psychologists, neurologists and philosophers have classified the human mind into different domains or levels such as the conscious and subconscious. Buddhism suggests another understanding of mind. According to the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, every one of us has eight distinct minds. In Buddhist scriptures, these eight minds are usually called the "eight consciousnesses," with the word "consciousness" defined as the function of awareness and discernment.