Cultivation Relies on the Tathāgatagarbha of the True Mind to Eliminate the Ignorance and Defilements of the Seven Consciousnesses

Apart from the Tathagatagarbha essence, all are unreal dharmas, including learning and practicing Buddhism, performing virtuous deeds to deliver sentient beings, and even the dharma of attaining Buddhahood itself. All Buddhist dharmas are also unreal dharmas, born from the Tathagatagarbha, subject to arising and ceasing. Only the Tathagatagarbha is neither born nor ceases. Nirvana is also an unreal dharma; the perfectly accomplished reality-nature of the eighth consciousness is also an unreal dharma; the suchness nature of the eighth consciousness is also an unreal dharma—they are manifested by relying on the Tathagatagarbha. The five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) are even more unreal. How should we approach these unreal dharmas?

We should rely on the true mind, the Tathagatagarbha, to cultivate the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses, eliminating the ignorance and defilements of the seven consciousnesses. When ignorance is exhausted, consciousness is ultimately transformed into wisdom. We do not cultivate the true [mind], because the Tathagatagarbha does not require our cultivation. It inherently possesses the wisdom and virtuous marks of a Tathagata, is perfectly complete in precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, is free from ignorance, possesses all wholesome dharmas and merits, has a non-active mind essence, and is inherently pure. Therefore, it is free from afflictions, birth and death, and the cycle of rebirth; it is fundamentally unbound and inherently liberated. The Tathagatagarbha itself does not practice cultivation, nor do we need to cultivate it. We only need the seven consciousnesses to become pure like the Tathagatagarbha, no longer subject to birth and death, and thus attain liberation and ease. Therefore, it is necessary for the seven consciousnesses to realize the Tathagatagarbha in order to have something to rely upon.