The World-Honored One's Teaching on the Distinction between Mind Consciousness and Tathāgatagarbha in the First Volume of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra:尔时世尊。开示阿难。及诸大众。欲令心入无生法忍。于师子座。摩阿难顶。而告之言。如来常说。诸法所生。唯心所现。一切因果。世界微尘。因心成体。 

Explanation: The World-Honored One wanted Ānanda and the assembly to realize the patience of non-arising dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) and to clearly understand the unborn-and-undying fundamental mind, the tathāgatagarbha. So, on the lion seat, He stroked the crown of Ānanda's head and told him: "As I, the Tathāgata, have always said, all dharmas that arise in the world are manifested by the fundamental mind, the tathāgatagarbha. All causes and effects in the world, the entire world, down to dharmas as minute as dust motes, have their own intrinsic nature because of the fundamental mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Without the tathāgatagarbha, these dharmas would have no intrinsic nature of their own. 

The word "only" (唯) means solely, exclusively, singly, one and only. The World-Honored One means that all dharmas arising in the world are entirely born from the tathāgatagarbha, and are not born from any other dharma. Other dharmas are merely contributing conditions for the arising of dharmas, not the direct generative cause. Without these contributing conditions, dharmas cannot arise; but even with the contributing conditions, without the tathāgatagarbha, dharmas still cannot arise. The World-Honored One further said that the world, down to dust motes, and all causes and effects can only achieve their own intrinsic nature because of the fundamental mind, the tathāgatagarbha. It is the tathāgatagarbha that endows dharmas with their intrinsic nature. Without the tathāgatagarbha, no dharmas could arise, and there would be no appearances or intrinsic nature of dharmas. 

For example, the aggregate of form of sentient beings is born by the tathāgatagarbha using the seeds of the four great elements. The nature and appearance of the aggregate of form are endowed by the tathāgatagarbha; its essence is the properties of the four great elements. The four aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are born by the tathāgatagarbha using consciousness seeds. Only after they are born do the functional natures of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness exist. If the tathāgatagarbha did not give rise to feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, there would be no such aggregates nor their functional natures. The functional natures of these four aggregates are in essence the intrinsic nature and appearance of the consciousness seeds. 

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra:阿难。若诸世界。一切所有。其中乃至。草叶缕结。诘其根元。咸有体性。纵令虚空。亦有名貌。何况清净。妙净明心。性一切心。而自无体。若汝执吝。分别觉观。所了知性。必为心者。此心即应。离诸一切。色香味触。诸尘事业。别有全性。如汝今者。承听我法。此则因声。而有分别。 

Explanation: "Ānanda, if all the dharmas possessed in every world, including the most minute blades of grass and even the finely twisted knotgrass, are investigated at their root origin, all of them have their own properties. Even empty space has its appearance and intrinsic nature. How much less could the pure, wondrously pure, luminous fundamental mind—the mind that is the nature of all minds—lack its own intrinsic nature? If you insist on clinging to the notion that the mind which has the nature of discrimination, initial application and sustained examination, and knowing must be the fundamental mind, then this mind should, apart from all forms, smells, tastes, and touches—apart from all activities upon sense objects—possess its own complete intrinsic nature. Just as you now listen attentively to my teaching of the Dharma, this is discrimination that arises dependent on sound. If there were no sound, your mind could not discriminate sound. This mind that discriminates sound is not the fundamental mind. 

Here the World-Honored One taught the assembly to clearly distinguish between the mind consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha. It is the mind consciousness that discerns sense objects; only when sense objects such as sounds appear can the mind consciousness discern them. Without sense objects, there is no discernment by the mind consciousness. The tathāgatagarbha does not discern sense objects, yet even apart from sense objects it still possesses its own complete intrinsic nature. The five universally associated mental factors operate normally even when there are no sense objects at all; the mental activities of attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā) run ceaselessly without stop. 

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra:纵灭一切。见闻觉知，内守幽闲，犹为法尘。分别影事。我非敕汝，执为非心。但汝于心。微细揣摩。若离前尘。有分别性。即真汝心。若分别性。离尘无体。斯则前尘。分别影事。尘非常住。若变灭时。此心则同。龟毛兔角。则汝法身。同于断灭。其谁修证。无生法忍。 

Explanation: "Even if you extinguish all seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing of the six sense objects, and inwardly abide in tranquil seclusion, guarding a silent stillness without thinking, without conceptualizing, without discriminating, and without any thoughts, this is still the discriminating cognition of mental sense objects (dharma-viṣaya), an illusory affair fabricated by the mind consciousness. I am not commanding you to treat this discriminating nature as not being the mind. But you should carefully and subtly ponder and deliberate within your mind: if there is a discriminating nature apart from the sense objects before you, then it is truly your fundamental mind. If this discriminating nature has no intrinsic nature to be found once it departs from sense objects, then it is merely an illusory affair fabricated by the mind consciousness that discriminates the sense objects before it. Sense objects do not abide forever; if they change and perish, this mind that discriminates them becomes like a turtle's hair or a rabbit's horns. Then your Dharmakāya would be tantamount to annihilation—who then could cultivate and realize the patience of non-arising dharmas? 

The World-Honored One's meaning is that the Dharmakāya is not annihilated, and it is the very object that sentient beings cultivate and realize as the patience of non-arising dharmas. If the Dharmakāya were annihilated, there would be no such object, and one could not cultivate and realize the patience of non-arising dharmas and attain the wisdom of non-arising. The mind consciousness, which exists dependent on sense objects, is subject to cessation: when sense objects perish, the mind consciousness perishes. Therefore, the mind that discerns sense objects is not the Dharmakāya. 

The meaning of these several passages all shows that the World-Honored One was teaching the assembly how to distinguish between the mind consciousness and the Dharmakāya, the fundamental mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Only by clearly distinguishing the arising-and-ceasing mind consciousness from the unborn-and-undying tathāgatagarbha can one avoid erroneous enlightenment and avoid mistaking a thief for one's own son. This includes the line: "But you should carefully and subtly ponder within your mind: if there is a discriminating nature apart from the sense objects before you, then it is truly your fundamental mind." This line also shows that the World-Honored One was teaching the assembly how to distinguish between the mind consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha, to avoid confusing the true and the false; it does not show that the World-Honored One was teaching the assembly the method of seeing the mind and realizing the fruit. Some people deliberately extract this line and make an issue of it, in order to prove that their erroneous method of using the mind consciousness to see the mind and realize the fruit is correct. Here there is absolutely no indication that the World-Honored One was teaching the use of the mind consciousness to see the mind and realize the fruit; rather, He was teaching how to distinguish the true mind from the false mind. Even if one can distinguish the true mind from the false mind, it does not mean one can thereby see the mind and realize the fruit, nor is it certain when one might do so. However, those who study the Mahāyāna Dharma of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra should, at the very minimum, be able to understand the distinction between the true and false minds. This is called correct knowledge and view—it is merely a matter of knowledge and view, still very, very far from seeing the mind. Do not again misunderstand such an enormous matter as the mind consciousness alone being able to see the mind and realize the fruit. The claim that the mind consciousness alone can see the mind and realize the fruit cannot be found in any sūtras or teachings, nor in the treatises of truly enlightened great bodhisattvas. No true good teacher (kalyāṇamitra) would engage in such unreliable things as emotional speculation and intellectual interpretation.