Should Ordinary Beings Grasp the Tathāgatagarbha?

Answer: For now, there is no need to consider the questions of attachment to self and attachment to dharmas at all. Attachment to self can only be eliminated by an arhat (the fourth fruit), and ordinary beings are still very far from the fourth fruit; it is already very difficult to eliminate the self-view, let alone speak of eliminating attachment to self. Attachment to dharmas, in particular, can only be gradually eliminated by bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis. Without seeing one’s true mind and realizing the fruits, one simply cannot eliminate attachment to dharmas. The distance between an ordinary being and a bodhisattva on the bhūmis is almost an incalculable eon, so talking about eliminating attachment to dharmas this early is of no help at all.

Before breaking through the final barrier (the last of the three barriers), clinging to the tathāgatagarbha is normal and appropriate. After all, clinging to the tathāgatagarbha is far purer than clinging to the five aggregates, so one might as well cling to the tathāgatagarbha. Only after realizing the tathāgatagarbha can one gradually stop clinging to it. Right now, since the tathāgatagarbha has not yet been realized, there is no question of clinging to it; as long as one can recognize the tathāgatagarbha as true, that is already excellent. The tathāgatagarbha itself has no nature of self, but the sixth and seventh consciousnesses take the tathāgatagarbha to be the true self. Before breaking through the final barrier, this is a good phenomenon—normal and appropriate.