Can Ordinary Beings Transform the Basis as Tathāgatagarbha?

The initial success of the transformation of the basis as tathāgatagarbha (āśraya-parāvṛtti-tathāgatagarbha) occurs at the stage of a bodhisattva on the first bhūmi; pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattva) are all striving to transform the basis, learning how to transform it. Ordinary beings, because they have not realized the tathāgatagarbha, cannot rely upon it—they do not know where the tathāgatagarbha is, or what its characteristics are, so how could they rely on it? It is like leaning on empty space; the tathāgatagarbha one imagines is not something actually visible and cannot be relied upon.

Moreover, ordinary beings also cannot actively make use of the tathāgatagarbha. Not knowing where the tathāgatagarbha is, what its characteristics are, or what functions it performs, how could they utilize the tathāgatagarbha? Everyone is merely imagining the tathāgatagarbha—this is called conjecture and fantasy, also called speculation. Ordinary beings may be permitted to speculate, and may even speculate with seventy or eighty percent accuracy, but it is of no use; the moment the mind consciousness ceases, everything before one's eyes turns pitch black, and one is left bewildered and at a loss.

The mark of successful transformation of the basis is that one's mental disposition has changed, becoming similar to the mental disposition of the tathāgatagarbha; afflictions have been eradicated and wisdom has grown. Even if the transformation of the basis has not yet succeeded, one is gradually changing oneself, subduing one's afflictions, and little by little increasing one's wisdom; when this accumulates to a certain degree and reaches a qualitative leap—afflictions eradicated, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses transformed into wisdom—that is successful transformation of the basis, but it is still only initial. With complete transformation of the basis, one becomes a Buddha. Therefore, one cannot use successful transformation of the basis as the criterion for judging whether one has seen the mind and attained enlightenment. Seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment has its own criteria and content, and transformation of the basis is not among those criteria.

The Buddha-dharma is very chaotic, and the reason for the chaos is that people have not walked that path; everything relies on understanding, inference, and speculation. Even if one's speculation is close to the truth, it is still quite inaccurate, because after all one has not seen it with one's own eyes, and the mind certainly cannot feel settled. A tiger drawn by copying a cat is not a tiger.