The Six Consciousnesses Have No Self-Nature (svabhāva)

The six consciousnesses lack self-nature; they cannot determine anything by themselves and cannot be their own master, because the six consciousnesses are dharmas that are generated, and therefore are without substance and lack self-mastery (avaśatā); their surface-level functions and operations are all bestowed by the tathāgatagarbha and all come from the tathāgatagarbha. If any dharma has self-nature, it too comes from the tathāgatagarbha, and objectively speaking it is also the self-nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The source of the six consciousnesses' defilement lies in the manas and comes from the manas: when the manas is defiled, the six consciousnesses are inevitably defiled; when the manas is pure, the six consciousnesses are inevitably pure. The manas is the basis of defilement and purity for the six consciousnesses. The arising and manifesting of all dharmas necessarily occurs with the seventh and eighth consciousnesses accompanying them, and is the result of the operation of these two consciousnesses.