Who Seeks Enlightenment and How to Attain It

Many people do not understand how to realize enlightenment or who needs to realize it. So why do we need to realize enlightenment in our Buddhist practice? Because since beginningless kalpas, we have been deluded and upside-down, mistaking the false for the true, falsely enduring the suffering of birth-and-death cycles without liberation or freedom. Therefore, we need to eradicate ignorance, eliminate the false dharmas within our minds, and realize the true principle. However, it is crucial to clearly discern and understand who "we" refers to—it refers to the two minds of consciousness and the mental faculty. Because these two minds harbor immense ignorance and do not know the true reality of the Dharma Realm, we need to cultivate practice until we realize the truth. Only after realizing the truth can we verify the falsity of all dharmas in the world of the five aggregates, exhaust all ignorance, extinguish all suffering of birth and death, and attain great liberation. Only after realizing the Tathagatagarbha, the true reality of the Dharma Realm, can we, through cultivation spanning three great asamkhyeya kalpas, exhaust ignorance, reach the quiescence of Nirvana, and liberate ourselves from all suffering of birth and death. Therefore, the minds that need to be enlightened are the sixth and seventh consciousnesses.

How does one realize the Tathagatagarbha? The essence of the Tathagatagarbha is fundamentally unseeable because it is empty, devoid of any form; thus, its essence cannot be perceived. It can only be realized through its functions and operations. By directly perceiving the operational characteristics of the Tathagatagarbha within the functioning of the five-aggregate body, one realizes the Tathagatagarbha. At that moment, one comprehends how the Tathagatagarbha operates within the five-aggregate body. Although the essence of the Tathagatagarbha is empty and quiescent, its functions are not quiescent; its functional operations have observable characteristics that can be perceived. When one perceives them, that is realization.

I once used wind as a metaphor: the empty, quiescent mind is like wind—invisible, yet we still know wind exists. Wind is also empty. Why is wind empty? We cannot see, smell, or touch wind, yet we know when wind arrives. When wind arrives, it inevitably produces various effects. These effects manifest upon objects and in space; when wind acts upon objects and interacts with the void, there is contact and collision, resulting in various phenomena. By observing these phenomena, we realize the wind. Whether it's a gentle breeze, a strong wind, a light wind, a gale, a storm, or a tornado—from the phenomena appearing on objects, we can determine what kind of wind it is.

The essence of the Tathagatagarbha, like wind, is formless and without characteristics, but it is discovered through its functions within the five-aggregate body. So, who finds the wind? It is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Knowing that wind has arisen, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses work together to find ways to avoid or guard against wind disasters. Realizing the Tathagatagarbha is also a joint realization by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, achieved through the functions performed by the Tathagatagarbha and its operational characteristics within the five-aggregate body. What functions does the Tathagatagarbha have? All dharmas are generated and sustained by it; all dharmas have their specific functions arising from it. How exactly the Tathagatagarbha operates requires continued investigation after realization. Once investigated and understood, one comprehends the five "how unexpected is the self-nature" spoken of by the Sixth Patriarch.