The Gap Between Realizing the Tathāgatagarbha and Successfully Transforming the Basis as Tathāgatagarbha

Realizing the tathāgatagarbha is the prerequisite, and the accomplishment of the transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) is the result; between the prerequisite and the result lies a long stretch of time approaching an incalculable kalpa. After awakening, one can directly observe the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha within the body of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha); once the wisdom of specific characteristics arises, one's wisdom becomes ever deeper and more subtle, and one's observation of the tathāgatagarbha becomes ever more minute and penetrating. In this observation, one will discover that the five aggregates are increasingly unreal, and one's grasping at the body of the five aggregates grows ever lighter and fainter; at the same time, one can also observe the pure and unconditioned nature of the tathāgatagarbha in its functioning, as well as its conditioned nature that is without self and without afflictions.

Whether it is the pure and unconditioned nature of the tathāgatagarbha or its conditioned nature free of afflictions, these are all extremely pure and selfless excellent qualities. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses will imperceptibly be influenced and edified by them, and the mental disposition will undergo change without one's awareness, increasingly inclining toward the mental disposition of the tathāgatagarbha—this is what is called the transformation of the basis as tathāgatagarbha. Although one is relying on the tathāgatagarbha to transform one's own mental disposition, one has not yet gone from quantitative change to qualitative change; the accumulation of quantity is still insufficient to change one's mental disposition essentially and in actuality, so the reliance on the tathāgatagarbha is not yet successful.

What are the signs of a successful transformation of the basis? The signs of success lie mainly in the transformation of mental disposition: afflictions eliminated, the mind-ground pure, precepts, meditation (samādhi), and wisdom fully possessed, a mind of vast capacity, profound and far-reaching vows, selflessness and fearlessness, no-self and nonaction. The precepts are manifested in the perfect observance of the bodhisattva precepts: the precepts with marks can all be naturally upheld without violation, without the need for the mind consciousness to suppress and control—acting naturally, everything accords with the precept Dharma. With the transformation of the mind-ground, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions are naturally pure, and afterward one naturally transitions to the observance of the markless precepts. The mind is the master of all things; when the mind is pure, everything is pure. Only when the mind-ground is pure and without afflictions does one have the ability and qualification to observe the markless precepts. One who has not yet eliminated afflictions cannot uphold the markless precepts, because the mind cannot discipline itself.

In terms of meditative concentration, one must possess dhyāna from the first dhyāna up to the fourth dhyāna, for only by possessing first-dhyāna concentration can the purity of the mind-ground be guaranteed, free of afflictions, and can profound wisdom arise. Without first-dhyāna concentration, afflictions will inevitably manifest; even the precepts with marks cannot be guaranteed unviolated, let alone is there the qualification or ability to uphold the markless precepts, because the mind-ground is impure and afflictions are heavy. In terms of wisdom, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses have both been transformed into wisdom, possessing profound seeds-of-wisdom of Consciousness-Only, knowing that all dharmas are consciousness alone and nothing else.

A bodhisattva whose mind-ground has successfully accomplished the transformation of the basis can, like the tathāgatagarbha, be both conditioned and unconditioned: when conditioned, selfless; when unconditioned, without self. The conditioned and the unconditioned, selflessness and no-self, can be perfectly united without contradiction. Because meditative concentration and wisdom are profound, the mind is empty and without marks; being without marks is nonaction, not craving worldly dharmas—the mind turns its back on the worldly, doing nothing, without marks, without wishes, without making. Yet the mind can also compassionately pity sentient beings, propagating the Dharma and benefiting beings not for private gain, but to repay the Buddha's kindness, vowing to continue the lineage of the Buddhas, making the Ten Great Endless Vows, inheriting the family enterprise of the Tathāgata, broadly delivering boundless sentient beings, throughout the future, never ceasing.