The Relationship between Karmic Seeds and Mental Factors

The tathāgatagarbha's cognition of sentient beings' mental activities is actually only the cognition of the mental activities of the manas. Only when the mental activities of the manas arise can the tathāgatagarbha know them, and for their sake give rise to the seeds of the first six consciousnesses and so forth. All dharmas are brought about under the manas's dominion; if the manas does not make choices and act, the six consciousnesses will not arise. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha must necessarily cooperate with the manas, must necessarily cognize the mental activities of the manas, and only afterward can it give rise to the six consciousnesses to complete the mental activities of the manas. In the operation of all dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha primarily interacts with the manas, while at the same time according with karmic seeds. When karmic seeds mature, regardless of whether the manas needs them, likes them, or rejects them, the tathāgatagarbha must manifest those karmic conditions.

Karmic seeds are the records of the operation of the mental factors (caittas); bodily, verbal, and mental actions are mental factors, and all actions are mental factors. When the mental factors are pure, actions are pure, and karmic seeds are pure. When the mental factors change, the karmic seeds change. Body and mind correspond: for example, when the mental factor of anger appears, the body undergoes changes; when the mental factors of tranquility and meditative concentration (samādhi) appear, the body undergoes changes. Who is it that changes the mental factors? It is the mental factors that change the mental factors themselves—self changing self—not a Buddha changing oneself, not the tathāgatagarbha changing oneself. Therefore, cultivation is in any case one's own cultivation; do not expect anyone to substitute for you, or think that with a bit of blessing you will ascend to heaven in a single leap—it is not like that.