What Does 'Six Transformations Are Called the Basis of Defilement and Purity' Mean?

The Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination: ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ), volitional formations condition consciousness, and so on. Here, "volitional formations" refers to bodily formations, verbal formations, and mental formations, and "consciousness" refers to the six consciousnesses. Therefore, ignorance must refer to the ignorance of the manas, because the ignorance of the manas drives the continuous arising and operation of bodily, verbal, and mental actions, so that the six consciousnesses have no choice but to engage in bodily, verbal, and mental actions, to the point that they cannot cease.

What does the ignorance here include? It must include all ignorance: the six fundamental afflictions such as greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong view/false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), as well as the twenty derivative afflictions. Because of these afflictions of ignorance, the manas continuously drives the arising and manifestation of bodily, verbal, and mental actions, causing the six consciousnesses to engage in ceaseless activity. The six consciousnesses then cannot become pure, cannot attain non-action, and cannot cease; the seeds of their activity are necessarily left behind, giving rise to future existence.

"The six transforming consciousnesses call it the basis of defilement and purity" expresses the same meaning. The manas is the supporting consciousness upon which the purity and defilement of the six consciousnesses depend; only by relying on the purity or defilement of the manas can the six consciousnesses have their own purity or defilement. When the manas is pure, the six consciousnesses are pure; when the manas is defiled, the six consciousnesses are defiled. Therefore, the afflictions of the six consciousnesses originate from the manas, and the purity of the six consciousnesses also originates from the manas. Thus, resolving the problem of the manas resolves the problem of the six consciousnesses, and thereby resolves all problems. When the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion of the manas, along with all its other afflictions, are eradicated, the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion of the six consciousnesses, along with all their other afflictions, are also eradicated. When the manas has no afflictions, the six consciousnesses likewise have no afflictions; when the ignorance of the manas is eradicated, the ignorance of the six consciousnesses is also eradicated. Therefore, the afflicted mental factors of the manas are absolutely no fewer than the afflicted mental factors of the mind consciousness, and the afflicted mental factors of the mind consciousness can never be more than those of the manas; the wholesome mental factors of the manas are no fewer than the wholesome mental factors of the mind consciousness, and the wholesome mental factors of the mind consciousness can never be more than those of the manas. Otherwise, the manas would not be the basis of defilement and purity for the six consciousnesses.

All dharmas arise and operate entirely because of the manas, without exception and without special cases. The manas is the driving force and fundamental cause for the arising of all dharmas in the threefold world. Once the ignorance of the manas is completely extinguished and there is no power of vows, the world of the five aggregates immediately ceases. When the manas has no afflictions of ignorance, the six consciousnesses have no reason to engage in karma of ignorance and affliction, because they lack autonomy and cannot act as master.

All dharmas are interconnected; no dharma exists independently or in contradiction to other dharmas. It is only a matter of whether one has thoroughly penetrated these dharmas in one's own practice. When one has not penetrated them, this dharma is simply this dharma, and that dharma is simply that dharma, with no interference between them. When one has penetrated them, all dharmas are perfectly harmonious, complementing and assisting one another, all closely linked together. When the Buddha-dharma is thoroughly penetrated, from any single aspect one can verify this dharma and also verify that dharma, discovering more facts and truths, with wisdom perfectly harmonious and unobstructed.