Non-self in All Phenomena (III)

The selflessness of the eighth consciousness refers to two aspects. First, the eighth consciousness contains seeds that are constantly arising and ceasing; these seeds remain mutable and unstable. Therefore, the eighth consciousness is neither truly immutable nor permanent, meaning it is not the complete, true, and genuine self. Only that which is unarising, unceasing, and immutable is the true self. Second, the eighth consciousness does not know itself to be a true dharma, nor does it possess any controlling agency. The seventh consciousness, in contrast, is characterized by selfhood and possesses controlling agency; it regards all dharmas as the self, which is precisely the opposite of the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness is the true self, yet this true self is selfless. The five aggregates constitute a false self, yet they superficially exhibit selfhood. Tathagatagarbha is the true self—this is a designation we confer upon it, but it itself neither considers this to be so nor is it aware of this fact.

All dharmas produced by the interdependent combination of the five aggregates and the eighteen elements also manifest solely through the sustaining function of the eighth consciousness. Without the eighth consciousness, none of these dharmas would exist. Therefore, all dharmas are selfless and illusory; the five aggregates themselves have no inherent reality. Realizing a small portion of this selflessness of dharmas gives rise to the wisdom of the path-seed. After entering the First Ground, one must realize the selflessness within a hundred dharmas, achieving the accomplishment of mirror-like observation. After entering the Second Ground, one must realize the selflessness within a thousand dharmas, achieving the accomplishment of light-and-shadow observation. After entering the Third Ground, one will realize selflessness within ten thousand dharmas and innumerable dharmas, and wisdom will deepen progressively. The selflessness of all dharmas encompasses immeasurable and boundless implications; only the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, can fully and completely realize it, becoming the ultimate, perfect, and unsurpassed knowers.

In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha states that the immaculate consciousness of the Buddha stage is called permanent, blissful, self, and pure. "Permanent" means it is ultimate, no longer subject to change; the seeds it contains no longer exhibit the phenomena of arising, ceasing, or alteration. "Self" means the immaculate consciousness possesses twenty-one mental factors; it is the true and genuine self, the complete self, endowed with selfhood. The statement that Buddhas are utterly selfless refers to the fact that the seven consciousnesses of a Buddha have reached ultimate and complete selflessness. Prior to this, selflessness was not yet ultimate and complete; there remained some, or a small portion, of self that had not been fully severed, thus preventing the attainment of Buddhahood. Only when it is completely severed can one become a Buddha. Consciousness possesses the self-witnessing part, the capacity to reflect upon itself—that is what constitutes selfhood. The immaculate consciousness at the Buddha stage can prove its own existence and reflect upon itself; therefore, it possesses selfhood.

The absence of self, the selflessness in all dharmas, is the path practiced by the Hinayana. The nihilistic emptiness of heretics also claims that all dharmas are empty, unreal, and devoid of self—ending everything at once. They deny the existence of the real, indestructible eighth consciousness, the true self; hence they are called heretics. All Hinayana Śrāvakas acknowledge the existence of the true self, the eighth consciousness, though they cannot realize it. Heretics deny it entirely; therefore, they are called heretics.