Once the View of Self Is Eradicated, One Can Directly Realize Tathāgatagarbha

Before directly realizing the tathāgatagarbha, the stages of heat, summit, patience, and the foremost worldly dharma will first appear. Heat, summit, patience, and the foremost worldly dharma refer to the process whereby, through investigating the tathāgatagarbha, or through studying the principle of the non-self of the five aggregates in the Āgama sūtras, one gradually negates the five aggregates as self within the mind; wisdom gradually becomes clear and bright, until one finally fully accepts that the five aggregates are not self yet not different from self, eradicating the view of self, transcending ordinary worldly beings, and becoming the foremost person in the world.

Only after completely negating the five aggregates, negating the seven consciousnesses as self, and negating the six sense bases, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses, can one realize the true self and thereby attain enlightenment by seeing the mind. Past Chan patriarchs said: “打得五阴死许汝法身活” — this is exactly the meaning: only by first negating the reality of the five aggregates and eradicating the view of self that takes the five aggregates as self, can the pure and true Dharma body vividly manifest in the mind, and one immediately confirms that this is self-nature, this is the tathāgatagarbha, this is the Dharma body. After this one death and one life, the foundation for attaining buddhahood is established.

Although between the two there may be an extremely short interval — even finding the tathāgatagarbha at the very instant of negating the five aggregates — that too is a matter occurring after the eradication of the view of self. People generally say that the view of self is eradicated at the time of seeing the mind or afterwards, but in reality, without negating the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses, one cannot realize the tathāgatagarbha, because the fog of the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses obscures the manifestation of the tathāgatagarbha; fish eyes are mixed in with pearls, and for the time being one cannot yet distinguish the true from the false.

Once the view of self is eradicated and the false is negated, the true leaps forth, and one realizes the tathāgatagarbha. If the false five aggregates have not been negated, the eye of wisdom cannot arise, and one cannot recognize the tathāgatagarbha; one must continue investigating until the view of self is eradicated, and only then can one find the tathāgatagarbha which does not belong to the five aggregates and eighteen realms — perhaps this is a matter of a single instant.