The Question of Successful Transformation of the Basis After Enlightenment

Regarding the matter of enlightenment and the successful revolution of basis, those who have truly and thoroughly succeeded in revolutionizing their basis to the pure and non-active nature of the Tathāgatagarbha are the Buddha Bhagavāns, whose minds have become utterly, ultimately, and completely pure without residue, with ignorance exhausted and defilements extinguished. After cultivating through three great asamkhyeya kalpas and attaining enlightenment by realizing the mind, the Buddha Bhagavāns continuously observed the purity and selflessness of the Tathāgatagarbha amidst the conditioned phenomena of the world within the activities of their own and others' five aggregates. Gradually, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses were influenced and transformed, step by step learning from it, progressively turning their defiled nature into purity, becoming increasingly selfless. First, self-attachment was severed, then dharma-attachment was abandoned. The mind grew increasingly empty, increasingly non-active, increasingly resembling the Tathāgatagarbha, and the degree of revolution of basis deepened until complete selflessness was achieved and ignorance was fully extinguished—only then was the revolution of basis ultimately successful.

All other bodhisattvas, after truly realizing enlightenment and understanding the mind, only then begin to gradually revolutionize their basis toward the pure essence of the Tathāgatagarbha. With each portion of revolution of basis, a portion of defilement is eliminated, a portion of purity increases, the bodhisattva's wisdom grows by a portion, and their fruition level advances by one stage, until Buddhahood is attained.

If one has not truly attained enlightenment but only achieved intellectual understanding or false enlightenment—merely knowing a secret meaning or learning a result without the actual cultivation process in between—then one cannot engage with the matter of revolutionizing the basis to the Tathāgatagarbha; it remains entirely unrelated. Since the Tathāgatagarbha has not been realized, one cannot observe its functioning directly, nor understand how the Tathāgatagarbha is pure. Without finding this exemplar, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses cannot learn from it, and the mind will not become pure.

The power of an exemplar is boundless. As the saying goes, "Near vermilion, one becomes red; near ink, one becomes black." Near the Tathāgatagarbha, one inevitably becomes selfless and pure like it, maintaining a non-active mind amidst conditioned activities. Without truly realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, one remains near the five aggregates, near afflictions; thus, the mind cannot become pure, cannot become non-active, and lacks the quality of non-action.

Why is the notion of regression prevalent in Buddhism today? Precisely because many lack genuine cultivation and realization, missing the intermediate process of investigation and, moreover, the process of contemplation and practice to sever self-view. Thus, they lack actual cultivation and realization. Additionally, most practitioners have insufficient meditative concentration, poor samādhi power, and cannot engage in contemplative thinking or investigation. Their enlightenment is not genuine—they merely know a result, either acquired through hearsay or guessed at—none of which constitutes true enlightenment. Hence, the notion of regression arises. In truth, they have not cultivated to the point of reaching the Tathāgatagarbha at all, so the issue of regression does not apply, nor does the matter of revolutionizing the basis to the Tathāgatagarbha. If one insists that successful revolution of basis to the Tathāgatagarbha constitutes enlightenment, then prior to that success, at most it is intellectual understanding, not realization.