Section 3: The True Mind Is Empty and Quiescent, Devoid of Ignorance

Scripture: "[(The Tathāgatagarbha) has no ignorance. Nor does it have the cessation of ignorance.]" This means the Tathāgatagarbha itself is without ignorance and has no need to eliminate ignorance.

What is ignorance? Ignorance means not understanding—not understanding the five aggregates, not understanding the eighteen realms, not understanding the cycle of birth and death, not understanding the truths of the Four Noble Truths, not understanding liberation, not understanding nirvāṇa, not understanding the Tathāgatagarbha, not understanding the principles of Buddhahood, and countless other forms of unknowing. Ignorance is the inner delusion, darkness, and lack of wisdom. Ignorance is broadly divided into three types: momentary ignorance, beginningless ignorance, and dust-and-sand ignorance (dust-and-sand ignorance is also called the afflictions atop beginningless ignorance). Ignorance can also be categorized into two classes: momentary ignorance and beginningless ignorance.

The ignorance eradicated by the Two Vehicles is called momentary ignorance, also known as the ignorance of the four abodes. This includes: the ignorance of abiding in the single locus of views, the ignorance of desire-realm attachment, the ignorance of form-realm attachment, and the ignorance of formless-realm attachment. Upon attaining the first fruition (Srotāpanna), one severs the view of self and eradicates the ignorance of abiding in the single locus of views. Then, upon cultivating the first dhyāna, one severs desire-realm attachment, thus eliminating the ignorance of the desire realm. After an Arhat of the fourth fruition severs self-attachment, the ignorance of form-realm and formless-realm attachments is completely eradicated, enabling liberation from the three realms and freedom from birth and death. Sentient beings who study the truths of the Four Noble Truths and practice the contemplation of the four foundations of mindfulness realize that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are empty and not-self, gradually eradicating the afflictions of the four abodes of ignorance to become Arhats of the fourth fruition or Pratyekabuddhas. Without severing the view of self, not a single type of ignorance can be eliminated; all attachments to the three realms remain fully present, all afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are fully present, the mind is entirely filled with ignorance, and one perpetually dwells in delusion and darkness. An Arhat of the fourth fruition has completely eradicated all afflictions of the four abodes, while a first-fruition practitioner can only sever the afflictions of abiding in the single locus of views.

Beginningless ignorance refers to the fact that since time without beginning, we have been unaware that the inherently pure mind, the Tathāgatagarbha, is the true self—unborn and undying—which gives rise to the false self of the five aggregates and eighteen realms across countless lifetimes. We have never realized the existence of this mind. Even if we hear the sacred teachings and know of its existence, we do not know how to cultivate and realize it or how to attain Buddhahood. This is beginningless ignorance. Beginningless ignorance is shattered upon attaining insight into the mind (明心开悟). However, knowledge regarding the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha and the Dharma to be cultivated and realized remains minimal. Thus, this beginningless ignorance still persists and is not fully eradicated until Buddhahood is attained.

After shattering beginningless ignorance, there remains dust-and-sand ignorance, also called the afflictions atop beginningless ignorance. This means that on the path to Buddhahood, there are as many Dharma principles to cultivate and realize as there are grains of dust and sand. Even after attaining insight into the mind, what we know and have learned is still very little. In Chan (Zen) terms, after enlightenment, one merely opens the gateless gate and enters the hall; the inner-door practice has only just begun. There are immeasurable afflictions and delusions to sever, immeasurable ignorance to eliminate, the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis as well as immeasurable supernatural powers to cultivate, the eight consciousnesses to transform into wisdom, and the subsequent wisdom (prṣṭhalabdha-jñāna), the wisdom of the path (mārga-jñāna), and the wisdom of all modes (sarvajña-jñāna) to gradually perfect. Additionally, the afflictions of dust-and-sand ignorance encountered along the path remain uncultivated and unsevered; there are still many obstacles hindering our attainment of Buddhahood. Only when all dust-and-sand ignorance and afflictions atop beginningless ignorance are completely eradicated can one become a perfectly accomplished Buddha. For the vast majority of sentient beings, these three major categories of ignorance—or the two major categories—are fully present. Without attaining any fruition or enlightenment, this ignorance persists, indicating that we remain ordinary beings bound by karmic obstacles of birth and death, our minds still shrouded in great darkness.

Opposed to ignorance and darkness is clarity (明). Clarity is wisdom and illumination. Our seven consciousnesses are initially entirely ignorant, lacking the wisdom and light to perceive truth clearly, leaving us deluded regarding all dharmas. The Tathāgatagarbha, however, is supremely clear; its mind is wholly luminous, utterly devoid of ignorance or delusion. It possesses great wisdom, immeasurable wisdom, unsurpassed wisdom, and unequalled wisdom—all beyond worldly wisdom and incomparable to the wisdom of the seven consciousnesses in the world. The entire Heart Sūtra expounds on Prajñāpāramitā, speaking precisely of this great wisdom of the deathless Tathāgatagarbha, this great wisdom on the other shore.

This true great wisdom belongs solely to the Tathāgatagarbha. Thus, its mind is entirely luminous, never dwelling in darkness, because it is without ignorance. Ignorance is the exclusive characteristic of the seven consciousnesses. Among them, the ignorance of the seventh consciousness has existed since beginningless time; it has never been clear. This ignorance is not produced later. If it were produced later, then prior to its production, there would be no ignorance, and the absence of ignorance would be Buddhahood. If ignorance were to reappear afterward, it would mean a Buddha has reverted to being an ordinary sentient being, contradicting the principle stated in the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment that Buddhas never revert to sentient beings after attaining Buddhahood. When sentient beings have ignorance, they not only commit evil but also cultivate good—all driven by self-seeking desires and cravings for pleasure. The Tathāgatagarbha is pure, clear, and wise, free from desires and cravings, and does not engage in such mundane, conditioned activities. Yet, all these worldly actions performed by the seven consciousnesses are, in reality, carried out by the Tathāgatagarbha.

The clear wisdom of the Tathāgatagarbha is vast and profound. It can produce the five aggregates, eighteen realms, and all phenomena of the threefold world. It comprehends the mental activities of sentient beings' seven consciousnesses and discerns all karmic seeds and the universe as a vessel-world. It knows what parental conditions sentient beings will encounter in the intermediate state (antarābhava), when they will take rebirth, what type of sentient being they will be reborn as, when the head and limbs will form, whether they will become human, animal, or another form of being—it knows all this. It knows where the eyes will manifest, where the ears will manifest, what shape the eyes, ears, and nose will take—it knows all this. It knows when hair will grow, what color and style it will be—it knows all this.

The wisdom of the Tathāgatagarbha is immeasurable and boundless. It knows and can manifest when sentient beings will be born, when they will die, what living environment they will have, what kind of physical body they will possess, whether their six sense faculties will be complete or incomplete, and what their skin color will be. It knows the karmic seeds of sentient beings, how many months animals gestate before birth, how many months humans gestate—it knows all this. Whatever karmic retribution a person deserves, it manifests the corresponding karmic environment and karmically destined five-aggregate body.

It knows whether to manifest a male or female body, a heavenly being’s body, a human body, an animal’s body, or a ghost’s body. The Tathāgatagarbha is supremely wise, purely great clarity, truly luminous. Can our seven consciousnesses comprehend all this? The seven consciousnesses dwell in delusion and ignorance; they do not know where they come from or go across lifetimes. They do not even understand the conceptual meaning of their own five aggregates and eighteen realms. Suffering life after life, they remain unaware of their suffering—deluded beyond description.

The above explains that the Tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, only clarity and wisdom. Since the Tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, there is no such thing as eliminating ignorance for it. Unlike the seven consciousnesses, which must eliminate ignorance through cultivation, the Dharma of eliminating ignorance does not exist for the Tathāgatagarbha. No matter how sentient beings cultivate, it does not involve eliminating the ignorance of the Tathāgatagarbha; it can only make the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses increasingly faint. Since the Tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, it has no segmented birth-and-death (分段生死) or transformational birth-and-death (变异生死); it undergoes no birth, death, or change. The five aggregates and seven consciousnesses have ignorance and thus constantly undergo birth, death, and change. They must eliminate ignorance, even exhaust it completely, to end all forms of birth and death and ultimately attain perfect Buddhahood. In short, the Tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, has no desire to become a Buddha, has no need to eliminate ignorance, and thus has no such thing as the cessation of ignorance.