All Views of Sentient Beings Are Deluded Views

Deluded view, as the name implies, refers to the seeing of the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses, primarily the seeing of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses; the most obvious and easiest to introspect upon and perceive is the seeing of the mind consciousness. Sentient beings refers to the five aggregates, and also refers to the manas; the seeing of sentient beings is the seeing of the mental five aggregates, the seeing of the manas, or the seeing of the six consciousnesses. Corresponding to the seeing of the seven consciousnesses, there is also the seeing of the tathāgatagarbha, yet the seeing of the tathāgatagarbha never falls into the world of the five aggregates; that is to say, the tathāgatagarbha has no worldly view, no mundane view, and His seeing cannot be expressed. Once it is expressed, it falls into worldly language and words, and then it is no longer the seeing of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, whenever one speaks of attaining the fruits, attaining enlightenment, seeing the Dharma, or seeing the Path, it is certainly the seeing and realization of the seven consciousnesses; the tathāgatagarbha does not see these things. 

Thus, seeing the tathāgatagarbha is also the seeing of the seven consciousnesses. After the seven consciousnesses have seen it, although one can negate the self of the five aggregates, if one regards the tathāgatagarbha as another real self, the view of self has not been fully eradicated; this is still a kind of view of self or view of what belongs to self. Because in the dharmadhātu there is fundamentally no such self as the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses; since there is no self, how could there be the notion that the tathāgatagarbha is the true self? In the ultimate sense, there is no fundamental self-nature of the seven consciousnesses, and thus there is no selfhood whatsoever. If one establishes the view that the tathāgatagarbha is the true self, one simultaneously establishes a self of the seven consciousnesses; only when there is a self of the seven consciousnesses will one regard the tathāgatagarbha as a real self. Without the seven consciousnesses, one would not regard any dharma as self. Of course, for a period of time one may speak this way, may express it as a skillful means, but when one's practice reaches a certain point, this notion in the mind must be extinguished and abandoned. When one's practice reaches the third gate of the Chan school, if one still clings in the mind to a self of the tathāgatagarbha, one cannot pass the third gate of the Chan school, cannot attain nirvāṇa with remainder, and cannot escape birth-and-death to attain liberation. Therefore, as long as there is seeing of the Dharma, it is deluded view; when there is no deluded view, one will certainly become a Buddha.