How Can One Attain Thorough Awakening

The tathāgatagarbha pervades the eighteen dhātus, and the eighteen dhātus are the six faculties, six sense-objects, and six consciousnesses. That is to say, one finds the tathāgatagarbha in the functioning of the six faculties, finds the tathāgatagarbha in the manifestation of the six sense-objects, and finds the tathāgatagarbha in the activities of the six consciousnesses. This is what is called "the conditions for arising are everywhere." The activities of the six consciousnesses include the activities of the four aggregates of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; that is, the tathāgatagarbha is manifested upon the material form of the five physical faculties, upon form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, and upon form subsumed under the Dharmāyatana, and the tathāgatagarbha is manifested upon the mental dharmas of the six consciousnesses. Before this, one must engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the falsity of material form and on the falsity of mental dharmas; then one can realize that the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) are not the self and accomplish the elimination of self-view (ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-parityāga). Afterward, when one proceeds to investigate Chan, enlightenment will come easily.

If one wishes to attain a thorough awakening, one must find the operation of the tathāgatagarbha in every single dharma of the eighteen dhātus, without omitting any dharma; in this way one's wisdom will become extremely deep and sharp. In the desire realm, all dharmas are the functioning of the six consciousnesses; where there is consciousness, there are all dharmas. Therefore one must thoroughly comprehend the nature and function of the six consciousnesses; then, when one comes to awaken, the awakening can be thorough. This is called "great awakening in an unbroken expanse," rather than awakening to only a small fragment. Awakening to only a fragment, the wisdom is extremely shallow, and one cannot observe the operation of the tathāgatagarbha.

Therefore, in learning Buddhism, one must first lay a solid foundation in the Small Vehicle; with a thick foundation, when one later investigates the Mahāyāna dharma, things will go smoothly, enlightenment will come easily, one will awaken thoroughly, and the wisdom attained will be relatively deep.