Distinction Between Tathāgatagarbha and the Seven Consciousnesses

The knowing of the Tathāgatagarbha and the knowing of the manas (mental faculty) are entirely different in content. For instance, when the manas realizes the Tathāgatagarbha and knows the Tathāgatagarbha, the Tathāgatagarbha itself cannot realize itself nor know itself. When the manas realizes that the physical body is neither self nor real, the Tathāgatagarbha does not know that the physical body is unreal or that it is not the Tathāgatagarbha itself. The content contemplated by the mental factor of deliberation (cetanā) in the Tathāgatagarbha is completely different from that contemplated by the mental factor of deliberation in the manas, with a great distinction between them. Therefore, the dharmas realized by the manas cannot be realized by the Tathāgatagarbha; the choices and determinations made by the manas cannot be identically made by the Tathāgatagarbha, which merely cooperates and accords with the manas's decisions.

When the manas investigates a dharma, the Tathāgatagarbha does not know when the investigation will yield realization. However, the Tathāgatagarbha can discern the mental factor of deliberation in the manas, discern causes and conditions, and discern karmic seeds. Primarily, it provides the consciousness seeds required by the manas, cooperating with the manas's process of deliberation and investigation. As for specific matters pertaining to phenomena, the Tathāgatagarbha has no awareness of them. This is the distinction between the Tathāgatagarbha and the seven consciousnesses.