The Original Enlightenment and Acquired Enlightenment of Sentient Beings

All sentient beings possess inherent enlightenment (original awakening), which is the wisdom and virtuous marks of the Tathāgata. Because sentient beings have ignorance, they have never discovered this inherent enlightenment. If one discovers this inherent enlightenment, one breaks through beginningless ignorance and begins to awaken—this is initial awakening, meaning the mind that knows and perceives begins to awaken; this is called initial awakening. Initial awakening exists in dependence upon inherent enlightenment; the object of initial awakening is inherent enlightenment itself. Moreover, without inherent enlightenment as a supporting condition, the mind that knows and perceives could not begin to awaken, and there would be no initial awakening. Before initial awakening, there is the non-awakening of the mind that knows and perceives—because of ignorance, the mind that knows and perceives cannot awaken to inherent enlightenment. This non-awakening of the mind that knows and perceives also exists in dependence upon inherent enlightenment: the ignorance seeds of non-awakening are stored within inherent enlightenment, and the non-awakened mind that knows and perceives is born in dependence upon inherent enlightenment.

Inherent enlightenment means being enlightened from the very beginning—never once deluded or confused throughout beginningless kalpas. This is the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha. We often say: True suchness neither knows nor does not know, neither awakens nor does not awaken, neither is mindful nor is not mindful. True suchness is inherent enlightenment; there is not a single dharma it does not know, not a single dharma it does not awaken to, not a single dharma it is not mindful of. If there were a dharma that it did not know, awaken to, or was not mindful of, then it would have no way to manifest that dharma, nor to transmit the corresponding seeds; then that dharma could not take form and would not appear.

Not knowing even one thing is ignorance. Inherent enlightenment has no ignorance—He knows everything. But His kind of knowing is not like the knowing of the seven consciousnesses; its nature is utterly different from that of the seven consciousnesses. The knowing of the seven consciousnesses is limited to the realms of the six sense objects; at most, the seven consciousnesses can know the principle of the tathāgatagarbha and the principles of the mundane and supramundane—but even this is still a mental object (dharma-viṣaya). Beyond this, the seven consciousnesses know nothing at all. The knowing of inherent enlightenment encompasses all dharmas of the three realms; among mundane and supramundane dharmas, there is not a single one it does not know, awaken to, or is not mindful of—it is truly marvelous. The more one investigates His knowing, the clearer one's understanding of the origins and workings of all existence in the three realms and the universe becomes, and the higher our wisdom rises, the more we correspond with inherent enlightenment.