Can Ordinary Beings Achieve the Transformation of the Basis as Tathāgatagarbha?

The initial success of the transformation of the basis as tathāgatagarbha occurs at the stage of a bodhisattva who has attained the bhūmis; all pre‑bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattva) are striving to accomplish the transformation of the basis, learning how to transform it. Ordinary beings, having not realized the tathāgatagarbha, cannot rely upon it—they do not know where the tathāgatagarbha is, or what its characteristics are—so how could they possibly rely on it? It is like relying on empty space: the tathāgatagarbha that one imagines is not something actually visible in reality, and thus cannot be relied upon.

Moreover, ordinary beings also cannot actively make use of the tathāgatagarbha. Not knowing where the tathāgatagarbha is, what its characteristics are, or what functions it performs, how could they utilize the tathāgatagarbha? Everyone is merely imagining the tathāgatagarbha—this is called conjecture and fantasy, or guessing. It is permissible for ordinary beings to guess, and even to guess seven or eight parts out of ten correctly, but it is of no use: the moment the mind consciousness ceases, everything before one's eyes turns pitch black, and one is left bewildered, not knowing what to do.

The mark of success in the transformation of the basis is that the mind's nature has been transformed, becoming similar to the mind-nature of the tathāgatagarbha; afflictions have been eliminated, and wisdom has grown. Even if the transformation of the basis has not yet succeeded, one is gradually changing oneself, subduing one's afflictions, and bit by bit increasing one's wisdom. When this accumulates to a certain degree and reaches a qualitative leap—afflictions eliminated, and the sixth and seventh consciousnesses transformed into wisdom—only then is the transformation of the basis accomplished. And even that is only preliminary; when the transformation of the basis is complete, one becomes a Buddha. Therefore, success in the transformation of the basis cannot be used as the criterion for judging whether one has seen one's true mind and attained enlightenment (mingxin). Seeing one's true mind and awakening has its own criteria and content; the transformation of the basis is not among those criteria.

The Buddha's teachings are in great disorder, and the reason for the disorder is that people have not walked that path themselves; everything relies on understanding, inference, and guesswork. Even if one guesses eight or nine parts out of ten correctly, it is still quite inaccurate, because after all one has not seen it with one's own eyes, and the mind certainly cannot rest at ease. A tiger drawn by copying a cat is not a tiger.