The Principle of Tathāgatagarbha Archiving

The consciousness seeds within the Tathagatagarbha are projected out to form the seven consciousnesses. Once the seven consciousnesses manifest and begin to operate, they function in the form of mental factors (caitasika). First are the five universal mental factors, followed by the five particular mental factors which operate irregularly, along with wholesome and unwholesome mental factors that also operate irregularly. The seven consciousnesses are sometimes wholesome, sometimes unwholesome, and sometimes neither manifests, but the five universal mental factors invariably accompany the seven consciousnesses, manifesting and operating continuously at every moment. However, these mental factors themselves have no seeds; the seven great seeds do not contain seeds for the five universal mental factors, nor do the karmic seeds contain seeds for mental factors. Yet, as soon as the seven consciousnesses manifest, the five universal, the five particular, and the wholesome/unwholesome mental factors follow and begin operating, thereby giving rise to karmic actions of body, speech, and mind.

Consciousness seeds are like water droplets; droplets connect to form a water flow, which is analogous to the stream of consciousness of the seven consciousnesses. However, the seven consciousnesses themselves depend on mental factors to function; they require the auxiliary operation of mental factors to perform their functions. Once born, the seven consciousnesses direct attention (manasikāra), make contact (sparśa), experience feeling (vedanā), perceive (saṃjñā), and engage in volition (cetanā) towards their corresponding objects – this is the operational process of the seven consciousnesses, which is intermingled with other mental factors. The consciousness seeds themselves are pure, and the resulting stream of consciousness is also pure. However, when mental factors participate in the operation, the seven consciousnesses are not necessarily pure, because mental factors can be impure or defiled. Consequently, the karmic seeds formed by the seven consciousnesses carrying the mental factors are not necessarily pure. The type of karmic seeds stored within the Tathagatagarbha determines the manifestation of the manas (the seventh consciousness); therefore, the manas invariably corresponds to the karmic seeds.

The Tathagatagarbha manifests the seven consciousnesses based on the karmic seeds. If the karmic seeds are defiled, the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses are defiled; if the karmic seeds are pure, the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses are pure. When defiled seeds mature, the manas manifests defiled karma; this defiled karma is then stored back into the Tathagatagarbha as new seeds, while the consciousness seeds returning to the Tathagatagarbha remain pure. When the unwholesome karmic seeds created by the seven consciousnesses ripen and manifest their retribution, unwholesome mental activities arise again during this retribution. Based on these unwholesome mental activities, unwholesome karma is again created, and from this cause, unwholesome results are produced. In this way, karmic cause and effect revolve in cycles, perpetuating the endless rebirth of sentient beings. When the wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds created by the seven consciousnesses encounter conditions, manifest, and exhaust themselves, the karmic seeds disappear. However, all phenomena and all mental activities are like archives, never vanishing. The more experiences sentient beings accumulate throughout beginningless eons, the more the Tathagatagarbha stores. Every single detail from the long river of lives across countless eons is archived within the Tathagatagarbha. The Tathagatagarbha is formless and without characteristics; if it were not formless and without characteristics, it could not store such vast archives. Therefore, the archives themselves are also formless and without characteristics.