The Mind-Nature of Transforming the Sixth and Seventh Consciousnesses Is Precisely the Transformation of the Basis as Tathāgatagarbha

Seeing the path is divided into two kinds: that of the Mahāyāna and that of the Hīnayāna; it is not the case that only the Mahāyāna is called seeing the path. Moreover, Mahāyāna seeing of the path does not refer to the transformation of the basis after realizing the tathāgatagarbha; rather, at the very moment of realizing the tathāgatagarbha, one already belongs to seeing the path. Some people say: realizing the tathāgatagarbha does not yet count as Mahāyāna seeing of the path; only after successfully transforming the basis with respect to the nature of the tathāgatagarbha does it count as Mahāyāna seeing of the path, does it count as enlightenment. But who knows what realization one has after transforming the basis with respect to the tathāgatagarbha, or how pure one's mind has become? If only after transforming the basis with respect to the tathāgatagarbha does one count as seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment, then perhaps not even one or two people in the Sahā world could see the mind and attain enlightenment. Who can successfully transform the basis, and what kind of wisdom does one possess after a successful transformation of the basis? Whose sixth and seventh consciousnesses, and whose five aggregates, resemble and draw near to the mind-nature of the tathāgatagarbha? The mind-nature of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary beings and pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattva) differs vastly from the mind-nature of the tathāgatagarbha—how could they possibly succeed in transforming the basis? At the very least, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses must sever afflictions and become persons of the third fruit (anāgāmin) or fourth fruit (arhat) before one can barely be said to have successfully transformed the basis.

Cultivation is the cultivation of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Yet whenever cultivation is discussed, people point to the tathāgatagarbha; whenever non-abiding is mentioned, they point to the tathāgatagarbha; whenever meditative concentration (samādhi) is mentioned, they point to the tathāgatagarbha; whenever nirvāṇa is mentioned, they point to the tathāgatagarbha. They pile up a great heap of theoretical knowledge about the tathāgatagarbha—but what, in the end, are the sixth and seventh consciousnesses supposed to do? In truth, it is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that need to abide nowhere; it is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that need meditative concentration (samādhi); it is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that need the tranquility of nirvāṇa. Whether or not the tathāgatagarbha is in nirvāṇa is, for now, not so important; what is most important is that after cultivation, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses attain the tranquility of nirvāṇa. The key point of cultivation is to cultivate the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. If one gets this key point wrong and only emphasizes theoretical knowledge of the tathāgatagarbha without changing one's mind-nature, then it cannot be called cultivation. As things stand now, theories unrelated to the cultivation of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are of little use and may even become conditions that obstruct the Path.