Is Not Severing Kleshas and Not Seeking Liberation the Practice of a Mahayana Bodhisattva?

Some say that the practice of Mahayana bodhisattvas is fundamentally different from that of Hinayana practitioners. Hinayana practitioners seek to eradicate afflictions and pursue liberation, while Mahayana bodhisattvas should be like the Tathagatagarbha, neither eradicating afflictions nor seeking liberation. But does the Tathagatagarbha have any afflictions to eradicate? Is the Tathagatagarbha bound by any dharmas? The Tathagatagarbha is inherently free from afflictions and is naturally liberated; since the Tathagatagarbha has no ignorance, there is naturally no exhaustion of ignorance. The seventh consciousness must eradicate afflictions when it has them; it must seek liberation when it is not liberated; it must eliminate ignorance when it has ignorance. Moreover, not to mention a Mahayana bodhisattva having root afflictions, but also the eight major derivative afflictions—lack of faith, laziness, heedlessness, lethargy, restlessness, forgetfulness, incorrect knowledge, and distraction—as well as the two intermediate derivative afflictions—shamelessness and lack of scruples—are glaringly displayed before the world. How can this be called a bodhisattva? When the mind does not correspond to the eleven wholesome mental factors, how can this be called a Mahayana bodhisattva? Can such a bodhisattva serve as a model and example for sentient beings? What can the masses learn from following such a bodhisattva? If the perverse trend of seeking only results, benefits, and fame while rejecting the merit of liberation is not halted, Buddhism will rapidly perish.