The Undefiled Consciousness (amala-vijñāna) of the Buddha Stage and the Tathāgatagarbha of Sentient Beings

Permanence, bliss, self, and purity refer to the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), the tathāgatagarbha mind-essence at the Buddha-ground. The undefiled consciousness is itself the mind of nirvāṇa, but the mind of nirvāṇa is not necessarily the state of nirvāṇa; the state of nirvāṇa is merely the state in which the tathāgatagarbha of arhats and pratyekabuddhas abides after [they enter] nirvāṇa. The Buddha does not abide in the state of nirvāṇa, nor does He abide in nirvāṇa without remainder; yet the Buddha's undefiled consciousness abides purely in the tranquil state of nirvāṇa—not merely unborn and unceasing, but never arising and never ceasing—a state of constancy, and that is the true state of nirvāṇa. Therefore, permanence, bliss, self, and purity refer to the tranquil and cool state of the undefiled consciousness itself, not to an empty voidness after death in nirvāṇa.

The true state of permanence, bliss, self, and purity at the Buddha-ground completely overturns the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self spoken of in the worldly truth of the Small Vehicle. Suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self refer to the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen realms within the worldly truth; these dharmas are all produced by sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha, and therefore they are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, suffering, and empty—and precisely for this reason, they are without self.

However, the undefiled consciousness at the Buddha-ground is constant and unchanging, receives no perfuming or defilement, and does not alter its nature; it is truly permanent, not impermanent. This "permanence" means that the seeds within the mind-essence show no phenomenon of arising, ceasing, or change. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is not yet truly permanent, for within the mind-essence lie hidden the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses, constantly arising, ceasing, and changing; the seeds must undergo continual transformation, from defiled to pure, and for some sentient beings, the seeds in their tathāgatagarbha may even be perfumed from pure into defiled. The tathāgatagarbha is still subject to the perfuming of these wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds, so the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is not yet permanent, not undefiled—it is neither defiled nor pure (na saṃkleśo na vyavadānam).

As for bliss: the undefiled consciousness at the Buddha-ground is pure bliss without suffering. There are no seeds of unwholesome karma within the mind-essence, and it no longer transforms and produces the suffering retribution of sentient beings; therefore He has no suffering, nor the suffering feelings and suffering retribution of the seven consciousnesses, abiding in the state of the bliss of ultimate cessation.

The undefiled consciousness at the Buddha-ground possesses a complete nature of self. He has twenty-one mental factors: the five universal factors, the five object-specific factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors—just like the mind consciousness and the seventh consciousness, and also like the first five consciousnesses. He can discern all dharmas and manifest all dharmas, possessing the nature of self, with the virtues, capacities, and functions of self. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings lacks the nature of self; burdened by the seven consciousnesses, it has neither the five object-specific mental factors nor the eleven wholesome factors, possessing only the five universal factors. Since its mental factors are incomplete, it has no nature of self.

As for purity: the undefiled consciousness at the Buddha-ground is pure and undefiled, without the defilement of ignorance—truly purified, no longer containing the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses or ignorance. When the tathāgatagarbha contains no defiled karmic seeds, and all its seeds are pure, undefiled, and unchanging, it becomes the undefiled consciousness. Therefore the undefiled consciousness is pure and undefiled. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is not undefiled; it is neither defiled nor pure, for the mind-essence still contains the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses. Therefore it is not completely pure—this is called neither defiled nor pure (na saṃkleśo na vyavadānam).