The Correspondence Between Manas and Karmic Seeds

The number of the seven types of seeds is fixed and unchanging, though they are beyond counting. The Tathāgatagarbha uses this fixed multitude of seeds to give rise to all phenomena. When phenomena cease, all seeds return to the Tathāgatagarbha, only to re-emerge within other phenomena and give rise to different phenomena. Seeds arise and cease instantaneously within phenomena; all phenomena undergo instantaneous arising, ceasing, and transformation—they are not permanent or unchanging, hence they are impermanent.

The manas (mental faculty) corresponds with karmic seeds, yet the wisdom of the manas does not need to manifest by retrieving seeds; wisdom is perpetually inherent in the manas. This means the manas always possesses wisdom. For instance, once we learn to cook, whenever the conditions for cooking arise in this lifetime, we can cook—this skill is always present within the manas. Phenomena with which the manas has been imbued remain perpetually present within the mind; it is always aware. Thus, its wisdom is perpetually inherent and does not require deliberately retrieving seeds from the Tathāgatagarbha, yet it remains constantly aligned with the seeds.