The Fundamental Purpose of Buddhist Practice Is to Realize the Ultimate Reality of the Dharmadhātu.

The goal of studying Buddhism is to give rise to the great wisdom of prajñā; only with the great wisdom of prajñā can one attain buddhahood. The essence of prajñā is the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha. All Buddhist sūtras revolve around the tathāgatagarbha; therefore, the tathāgatagarbha is the key to attaining buddhahood and the principal consciousness. The conscious mind (mind consciousness) can be found and realized quite easily, but finding the mind consciousness does not enable one to know the true reality of the dharmadhātu, nor will the great wisdom of prajñā arise—this is not the fundamental goal of studying Buddhism.

The fundamental purpose of Buddhist practice is to realize the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, thereby seeing the mind and one's nature, becoming a Mahāyāna bodhisattva, and then giving rise to various wisdoms of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), so that one can ultimately attain buddhahood. The principles of all eight consciousnesses are important and must all be understood; in this way we will have great wisdom. To be ignorant of even one dharma is ignorance (avidyā). When ignorance is completely eradicated, one is endowed with omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā); the mind is entirely illuminated, with no dharma that is not thoroughly understood—then one attains buddhahood.

In studying Buddhism, once one understands the nature of the mind consciousness, one can eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) that takes the mind consciousness as self, and will no longer mistake the mind consciousness for the true mind, the eighth consciousness, when seeking enlightenment. Once one understands the nature of the seven deluded consciousnesses, one can locate those seven deluded minds, and the remaining one, the eighth consciousness, becomes easy to find. Finding the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, is seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment; then one can understand the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)" statements spoken by the Sixth Patriarch, our wisdom will open up, and we will know the full origins and workings of all worldly and world-transcending dharmas, knowing the source of all dharmas.