Whether the Seventh Consciousness Can Give Rise to Other Dharmas

The seven consciousnesses are generated from the seeds of consciousness within the tathāgatagarbha; they are dharmas that are produced, and therefore they lack self-mastery and autonomy, so they cannot in turn give birth to other dharmas, because they themselves have no seeds capable of generating other dharmas, nor can they store seeds. Only the tathāgatagarbha possesses seeds and can use seeds to generate the five aggregates, the eighteen elements, and all myriad dharmas; the five aggregates, the eighteen elements, and all myriad dharmas cannot in turn generate other dharmas, because they are subject to arising and ceasing, because they lack self-mastery, and because they do not contain and store seeds. The seven consciousnesses serve as contributing conditions for the tathāgatagarbha to give birth to the dharmas of the six sense objects, and together with the tathāgatagarbha they form the three transforming consciousnesses, thereby being able to transform and create all dharmas.