The Characteristics of the Tathāgatagarbha's Activity Can Be Observed

Question: Regarding the object-aspect of tathāgatagarbha, the Diamond Sutra says: "All marks are false and illusory." Saying that tathāgatagarbha is without marks is spoken from the perspective of those who have not yet seen the true mind. For those who have awakened and seen the true mind, tathāgatagarbha is neither with marks nor without marks. The awakened bodhisattva's mind consciousness and cognitive awareness perceive the modes of activity of the tathāgatagarbha mind, yet this is still obtained through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) upon the aggregates, sense bases, and elements. The so-called "seeing" is what is seen by the wisdom eye after awakening. To give an analogy: it is like seeing footprints in the snow and knowing that someone has walked by, but in fact we have not seen the person—what we see is still the snow. Therefore, the modes of activity of tathāgatagarbha are still without marks, and this does not contradict what the Diamond Sutra teaches. Is this correct?

Answer: What the Diamond Sutra means by "all marks are false and illusory" refers to worldly dharmas that can be cognized by worldly people; it does not include the true suchness mind (tathatā). The true suchness mind itself is without marks. Although it is formless and markless, it operates in harmony with the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses upon the five aggregates. Since it can operate, there exists a mode of activity in its operation; yet this mode of activity is not a worldly dharma-mark, and therefore it is also without marks. For an awakened bodhisattva, the bodhisattva's wisdom eye and dharma eye can still observe this mode of operational activity, thereby attaining the great wisdom of the real characteristic of the dharmadhātu. The analogy of footprints in the snow is excellent, but another analogy can also be made: tathāgatagarbha is like the snow, and the five aggregates are like the snow-prints. The snow-prints are all snow; the five aggregates are precisely tathāgatagarbha.