The Amalavijñāna of Buddhahood and the Tathāgatagarbha of Sentient Beings

Eternal Bliss, True Self, and Purity refer to the Tathagatagarbha mind-essence at the Buddha-ground, the immaculate consciousness. The immaculate consciousness itself is the Nirvana mind, yet the Nirvana mind is not necessarily the state of Nirvana. The state of Nirvana is solely the realm where the Tathagatagarbha of Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas resides after attaining Nirvana. The Buddha does not abide in the state of Nirvana nor in the state of Nirvana without residue. However, the Buddha's immaculate consciousness exists purely in the tranquil state of Nirvana—not merely unborn and unceasing, but eternally unborn and unceasing, a state of perpetual constancy. That is the true state of Nirvana. Therefore, Eternal Bliss, True Self, and Purity denote the serene and cool state of the immaculate consciousness itself, not the state of emptiness after the death of Nirvana.

The true state of Eternal Bliss, True Self, and Purity at the Buddha-ground completely overturns the concepts of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self spoken of in the conventional truth of the Hinayana. Suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self refer to the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen elements within conventional truth. These dharmas are all produced by the Tathagatagarbha of sentient beings; hence they are subject to birth and cessation, impermanent, suffering, and empty, and therefore non-self.

However, the immaculate consciousness at the Buddha-ground is eternally unchanging, untainted, and immutable in its nature. It is truly eternal, not impermanent. The so-called 'eternal' means that within the mind-essence, the seeds exhibit no phenomena of birth, cessation, or variation. Yet, the Tathagatagarbha of sentient beings is not truly eternal. Within its mind-essence lie the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses, constantly undergoing birth, cessation, and variation. These seeds must undergo continuous transformation, from defiled to pure. For some sentient beings, the seeds within their Tathagatagarbha may even be tainted from purity back to defilement. The Tathagatagarbha is also tainted by these wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds. Therefore, the Tathagatagarbha of sentient beings is not yet eternal, nor is it immaculate; it is neither defiled nor pure.

Bliss: The immaculate consciousness at the Buddha-ground is pure bliss without suffering. Within its mind-essence, there are no unwholesome karmic seeds; it no longer produces the suffering results of sentient beings. Thus, it has no suffering, nor the suffering experiences and results of the seven consciousnesses. It abides in the state of ultimate extinction-bliss.

The immaculate consciousness at the Buddha-ground possesses the complete nature of True Self. It has twenty-one mental factors: the five universal mental factors, the five object-specific mental factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors. It is the same as the consciousness, the seventh consciousness, and the first five consciousnesses. It can discern all dharmas, manifest all dharmas, and possesses the nature of Self, with the virtues, functions, and capacities of Self. The Tathagatagarbha of sentient beings lacks the nature of Self. Burdened by the seven consciousnesses, it lacks the five object-specific mental factors and the eleven wholesome mental factors. It possesses only the five universal mental factors; its mental factors are incomplete, hence it lacks the nature of Self.

Purity: The immaculate consciousness at the Buddha-ground is pure and undefiled, free from ignorance and defilement, truly pure, containing none of the defiled seeds or ignorance of the seven consciousnesses. When the Tathagatagarbha contains no defiled karmic seeds, only pure, undefiled, and unchanging karmic seeds remain, and it becomes the immaculate consciousness. Therefore, the immaculate consciousness is pure and immaculate. The Tathagatagarbha of sentient beings is not purely immaculate; it is neither defiled nor pure. Its mind-essence still contains the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses, so it is not completely pure and is called neither defiled nor pure.