The State of Complete Eradication of Self-View

If the Tathāgatagarbha is regarded as the true self, the view of self is not fully eradicated, which still constitutes a view of self. Within the Dharma realm, there is fundamentally no self of the seven consciousnesses. Since there is no self, how can the Tathāgatagarbha be considered the true self? Without the fundamental self-nature of the seven consciousnesses, there is no self-nature whatsoever. If one establishes the view that the Tathāgatagarbha is the true self, one simultaneously establishes a self of the seven consciousnesses. It is because there is a self of the seven consciousnesses that one regards the Tathāgatagarbha as the true self. Without the seven consciousnesses, one would not regard any dharma as self.

Therefore, as long as there is perception of dharmas, it is deluded perception. When there is no deluded perception, one will certainly attain Buddhahood.

When cultivating to the third barrier in Chan Buddhism, if the mind still clings to the Tathāgatagarbha as self, one cannot pass the third barrier of Chan, cannot realize the Nirvana with Remainder, and cannot transcend birth and death.

In the Ear-Faculty Perfection Method of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, upon reaching the ultimate stage, everything that can be relinquished is relinquished, everything that can be emptied is emptied. Even relinquishment itself is relinquished; even emptiness itself is emptied. What can be relinquished and what is relinquished, what can be emptied and what is emptied, as well as the emptiness of emptiness—all are completely emptied. There is nothing left to be emptied, leaving only the solitary Tathāgatagarbha. It cannot be relinquished, is not to be relinquished; cannot be emptied, is not to be emptied. There is no one to relinquish it, no one to empty it. Then one arrives home, accomplishing the thirty-two response bodies, and is called the Greatly Compassionate and Greatly Merciful Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.