How Can the Sixth Consciousness Be Said to Have Realized Tathāgatagarbha? (1)

The sixth consciousness (manovijñāna) has a perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga), which is the knowing nature and awareness nature of the sixth consciousness. The perceiving-aspect can perceive all dharmas and cognize all dharmas, and these dharmas include both material form (rūpa) and mental dharmas. The object-aspect (nimitta) of the sixth consciousness is the object that the sixth consciousness can know and can be aware of; any dharma that can be perceived and observed by the sixth consciousness is an object-aspect of the sixth consciousness. The objects known and perceived by the sixth consciousness include the six sense objects—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas—as well as the mental dharmas and mental factors (caittas) of the seven consciousnesses. Beyond this, the sixth consciousness can also perceive the tathāgatagarbha and its mental factors, but this must occur after the sixth consciousness has found and realized the tathāgatagarbha; realizing the tathāgatagarbha is precisely seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment.

When the sixth consciousness possesses prajñā wisdom, it can realize the tathāgatagarbha, awaken to the tathāgatagarbha, find the tathāgatagarbha, attain realization of the tathāgatagarbha, and observe the tathāgatagarbha; then the tathāgatagarbha can serve as an object-aspect of the sixth consciousness. However, the tathāgatagarbha itself has no shape or form, and no color, for the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, or nose consciousness to perceive; only the sixth consciousness can become aware of and awaken to the operational characteristics of the tathāgatagarbha, attaining realization of the tathāgatagarbha through the dharma-marks of its operation.

Although the operational dharma-marks of the tathāgatagarbha are also formless and without mark, the sixth consciousness can perceive and comprehend them. There are many prerequisite conditions for the sixth consciousness to detect the tathāgatagarbha and its functioning; if these conditions are not fulfilled, the sixth consciousness cannot perceive the tathāgatagarbha and cannot be aware of the tathāgatagarbha's operation. After those bodhisattvas' conditions are fulfilled, how does the sixth consciousness become aware of the tathāgatagarbha's operation? What counts as attaining realization of and finding the tathāgatagarbha?

Attaining realization of and finding the tathāgatagarbha is not a matter of the eye consciousness seeing its colors or forms, nor of the ear consciousness hearing sounds of the tathāgatagarbha, because the tathāgatagarbha has no color, no shape or form, and no sound. Yet the tathāgatagarbha still has principles of operation; it has been operating ceaselessly since beginningless kalpas, and therefore it has marks that can be discerned by the conscious mind—even dharma-marks that are formless and without mark can be identified. That is to say, the tathāgatagarbha has operational characteristics and operational dharma-marks.