The Prajñā Wisdom of Tathāgatagarbha

As long as the Buddha has not defined or delineated the mental factors (caitasika) for the manas (mind root) and the Tathagatagarbha, the mental factors of these two consciousnesses, as well as those of all consciousnesses, remain to be observed, verified, and subsequently revealed.

Tathagatagarbha is also known as Prajna, which means great wisdom. What kind of Prajna wisdom does Tathagatagarbha possess? Can this wisdom be measured? Tathagatagarbha manifesting its own five-aggregate body (five skandhas) is great wisdom; manifesting the material universe (receptacle world) is great wisdom. What dharmas can the seventh consciousness manifest? Directly speaking, the seventh consciousness cannot manifest any dharma whatsoever; at most, it can impel Tathagatagarbha to manifest on its behalf. Tathagatagarbha cognizes the five-aggregate body and the receptacle world, adjusting them anytime and anywhere. This great wisdom is unfathomable. His wisdom in cognizing the manas and cooperating with it is unfathomable. His wisdom in cognizing karmic seeds and delivering them is unfathomable. Those adherence functions of Tathagatagarbha that are difficult for people to know, all functional roles currently beyond understanding, and His great wisdom in upholding all dharmas are all unfathomable.

Since Tathagatagarbha possesses cognizing nature, He must possess wisdom. Since He can create all dharmas, He must possess wisdom. If there were no wisdom, that cognizing nature would be useless; He would cognize yet not know what He cognized. If this were the case, how things would proceed after cognizing would be unknown, and the next dharma would not arise. Observing how vast Tathagatagarbha's wisdom truly is, first, it must be said that Tathagatagarbha is entirely free from ignorance (avidya); He is entirely illumination. He does not engage in any actions arising from ignorance such as greed, hatred, or delusion, and therefore He is not bound by any fetters, possesses not the slightest karma of birth and death, and is a great liberated one, a great sovereign. From this perspective, Tathagatagarbha is supremely worthy of offerings, refuge, and praise. He is the great treasure transcending the mundane and supramundane, the light and supreme guide of sentient beings.

Tathagatagarbha's cognizing wisdom is swift and powerful. After cognizing all dharmas, He can instantaneously give birth to and alter all dharmas in accordance with the Dharma, conditions, karma, and the wishes of the seventh consciousness. After cognizing the mental factors of the manas, if Tathagatagarbha lacked discerning wisdom, how could He cooperate with the manas to give birth to all dharmas? Tathagatagarbha cognizes karmic seeds; if He lacked the wisdom to discern what kind of karmic seeds they are, or did not know whether the seeds were ripe, how could He give birth to the five-aggregate body-mind and the material universe in accordance with those karmic seeds? The principle of the body's self-healing, whether known or unknown to sentient beings, is a manifestation of Tathagatagarbha's great wisdom. It is Tathagatagarbha who mends the bodies of sentient beings. This wisdom is beyond our comprehension.

Although Tathagatagarbha possesses the mental factor of wisdom (prajna), it differs from the wisdom of the seventh consciousness and is exceedingly powerful. The wisdom of the seventh consciousness is used to discriminate dharmas of the conventional realm. The wisdom of Tathagatagarbha discriminates dharmas of the non-conventional realm. Precisely because Tathagatagarbha can discriminate dharmas of the non-conventional realm, the seventh consciousness can continuously and unhindered discriminate dharmas of the conventional realm, thereby enabling it to survive life after life within the conventional realm.