Why Do All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Not Receive Negative Perfuming?

If sentient beings, while living in the world, still get defiled by conditioning when they encounter adverse conditions, thereby giving rise to afflictions, this shows that the manas of sentient beings is still conjoined with afflictions and has not yet eliminated them; hence, upon encountering conditions, they become defiled, and upon encountering conditions, unwholesome karma manifests. The Buddhas, after cultivating throughout three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, have long since completely eliminated all afflictive defilements—greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, wrong views, and so on—as well as all afflictive habits, with no residual habits remaining. When they come to this evil world of the five turbidities and come into contact with sentient beings full of afflictions, they are not tainted in the slightest by the afflictions of sentient beings; their minds remain forever pure and undefiled. This is because the Buddha eliminated afflictions already at the first bhūmi, and His mind was already free of defilement; it was only that at that time the afflictive habits had not yet been fully eliminated.

The afflictions that the Buddhas began eliminating even before the first bhūmi are those eliminated by both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Because the seventh consciousness eliminated afflictions, the consciousnesses could be transformed into wisdom, and the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna) was attained, viewing all dharmas as equal and without duality, with no distinction between self and others; therefore there is no selfishness, and one treats people and affairs with equality. Because the seventh consciousness, the manas, has eliminated afflictions, no matter where it is reborn in later lives, the manas has no afflictions and is not subject to defiling conditioning. However, when the afflictive habits have not yet been eliminated, those habits may occasionally manifest—this is unavoidable—and the mind consciousness may occasionally be conditioned by the environment. Although the mind consciousness may be conditioned and display some afflictions, these are quickly eliminated; they do not persist or become entrenched, nor do they condition and influence the manas.

Because the manas is not subject to conditioning and itself no longer has afflictions, the afflictions of the mind consciousness are easy to eliminate. Otherwise, with the mind consciousness controlled by the manas, afflictions are not easy to eliminate, and even if eliminated they will arise again. For bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above, the mind consciousness is no longer subject to conditioning and will not manifest afflictive habits. The mind consciousness of the Buddhas is even more free from any trace of conditioning and defilement; neither afflictions nor habits ever appear: seeing forms, they are not greedy; seeing wealth, they are not attached; they do not seek power or status; they are neither angry nor wrathful, neither vexed nor agitated; their minds are supple and harmonious, tranquil and supremely tranquil. By contrast, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary sentient beings are endowed with all afflictions: upon encountering conditions they are defiled by conditioning, and they almost always comply with their environment, having little resistance to it. Seeing forms, they crave; seeing wealth, they covet; they relish power and pursue fame and gain; when adverse conditions appear, anger and wrath constantly follow their minds, and their selfishness and self-centered mind are extremely heavy.

From this it can be seen that the manas of ordinary sentient beings is endowed with all afflictions—greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views—and since the mind consciousness follows the manas, afflictions also frequently manifest; upon encountering defiling conditions, the mind consciousness is easily conditioned. Because the manas connects the past, present, and future three lives, and is endowed with all afflictions, birth-and-death and saṃsāra continue without end: in the antarā-bhava and immediately upon birth in later lives, all afflictions are already present, no different from the previous life, with afflictions life after life without cease. However, apart from the afflictions of self-view, self-grasping, self-conceit, and self-delusion, which constantly accompany the manas in its continuous operation without pause, the other afflictions do not constantly accompany the manas in its operation; rather, they only manifest when conditions are encountered, creating unwholesome karma and depositing karmic seeds, thereby continuing the birth-and-death and saṃsāra of later lives.