The Self-Authenticating Part of Tathāgatagarbha (Part II)

Thirdly, when the Tathāgatagarbha discerns the sentient being's five aggregates body, it knows the current state of the five aggregates body, how it should change next—whether for the better or worse, which aspects should improve and which should deteriorate, what types of seeds of the four elements to deliver, and whether this is coordinated. Because sentient beings have causes, conditions, and karmic retribution, the Tathāgatagarbha knows what illnesses should manifest at what time, when an illness will disappear, how to deliver the seeds of the four elements to alter the condition of the physical body, how much has been altered, how further alteration should proceed, and whether further alteration is still needed. Throughout this series of operations, it knows its own actions and functions—this is the Tathāgatagarbha's self-witnessing faculty, known as the self-witnessing aspect (svasaṃvitti). Possessing this self-witnessing faculty and this self-witnessing aspect enables the Tathāgatagarbha to proceed to the next step of operation without repeating previous operations or actions. It will not, for instance, produce five fingers and then repeat producing five or more fingers again; nor produce one head and then repeat producing another head; nor produce half an eye faculty and then cease producing the other half. These self-witnessing aspects do not pertain to discrimination of the six dusts (objects of sense), but rather to discerning the sentient being's karmic seeds and the operation of the sentient being's sense faculties and body. Because it must sustain the sentient being's five aggregates body, it fully comprehends the condition of that body. When it delivers seeds of the four elements to sustain the five aggregates body, it knows what seeds to deliver, how much it has delivered, and how it should deliver further. It knows to what extent its own operation in any given function has progressed. Thus, it possesses both the self-cognizing aspect (svasaṃvedana) and the self-witnessing aspect (svasaṃvitti).

Fourthly, when discerning the material world (bhājanaloka), because the Tathāgatagarbha can discern karmic seeds, it knows how the universe and material world should change. It delivers seeds of the four elements to maintain and transform the material world. It clearly understands what state it should maintain, what changes the material world should undergo, to what extent it should change, what disasters will occur at what times, and when those disasters will cease. Throughout this process, it grasps and knows its own operational state, enabling it to know how to proceed next without repetition or omission. Since the Tathāgatagarbha possesses this knowledge in these aspects, it has both the self-cognizing aspect and the self-witnessing aspect.

Because the Tathāgatagarbha can discern karmic seeds and the five aggregates body, it should clearly know how the physical body (rūpaskandha) of the five aggregates will change in the next moment, the next fraction of a second, the next second. Since it can discern karmic seeds, it knows which karmic seeds should manifest at any given time. After the karmic seeds manifest, the seeds of the four elements of the five aggregates body must change, causing the body to transform accordingly, aligning with the karmic seeds. The reason the five aggregates body can continuously undergo subtle changes is precisely due to the Tathāgatagarbha's meritorious function of discerning karmic seeds. It delivers seeds of the four elements based on the karmic seeds, and these seeds of the four elements are constantly changing—whether they are harmonious or discordant, the proportion in which they are delivered—all of which the Tathāgatagarbha knows. It knows how much of these changes it has accomplished, to what extent, and how it still needs to operate. Thus, here lies not only the Tathāgatagarbha's self-cognizing aspect but also its self-witnessing aspect. The Tathāgatagarbha clearly comprehends its own operational state—this is the self-witnessing aspect. If it lacked this clarity, it could not perfectly manifest karmic retribution according to the karmic seeds, and cause and effect would become disordered.