Tathāgatagarbha Has No Ignorance and Also No Ending of Ignorance

What the Heart Sutra says—"no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance"—means that the tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, and therefore the tathāgatagarbha also has no ending of ignorance. He need not eliminate ignorance, need not sever afflictions, need not cultivate practice, need not attain liberation, nor even need to become a Buddha. But the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates cannot be like this. The seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates have immeasurable ignorance, and therefore they need to cultivate practice in order to eliminate ignorance. Only when ignorance is completely eliminated can one attain ultimate purity, great freedom, and great liberation. In the process of eliminating ignorance, one needs to cultivate practice, needs to keep the precepts, needs meditative concentration (samādhi), needs to study the wisdom of prajñā, needs to investigate Chan and awaken to the Way, needs to sever afflictions, needs to attain realization, and needs to become a Buddha. After becoming a Buddha, the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates will have no more ignorance, and there will be no need to cultivate practice in order to extinguish ignorance.