Is Human Nature Inherently Good or Evil?

The fundamental nature of humanity refers to the innate disposition of the mind, comprising the disposition of the manas and the disposition of the tathagatagarbha; the nature acquired through conditioning is the disposition of the consciousness. To understand the fundamental nature of humanity, one must observe the manas from the perspective of the five aggregates and the tathagatagarbha as a whole. To discern a person's manifested disposition, one must observe the manas, for the manas is the root, while consciousness is the branches and leaves. Although the flourishing of the branches and leaves of consciousness may obscure the root of the manas, when those branches and leaves inevitably wither and fall, the root of the manas will be fully revealed.

From the perspective of the five aggregates, one observes the disposition of the manas; from the essential perspective, one observes the disposition of the tathagatagarbha. However, generally speaking, it is the disposition of the five aggregates that is observed. Whatever nature the manas has possessed since beginningless kalpas, that is the nature of humanity; whatever disposition the manas holds, that is the disposition of humanity. Just as the manas is, so too is the nature of animals, the nature of ghosts and spirits, the nature of asuras, and the nature of devas; just as the manas is, so too is the nature of arhats, the nature of pratyekabuddhas, the nature of bodhisattvas, and the nature of Buddhas. More fundamental than the manas is the disposition of the true mind, the tathagatagarbha. Therefore, the original nature of humanity is the nature of the tathagatagarbha.