How to Awaken Is the Most Fundamental Awakening.

The most fitting way to search for the tathāgatagarbha is like searching for the wind—discovering the traces of the wind through its functions. Discovering the tathāgatagarbha likewise comes from finding its traces. Although the tathāgatagarbha leaves no shadow or trace, He hides nowhere in the entire world; His shadows are everywhere, yet one never sees Him in person. It is not easy to discover the traces of the tathāgatagarbha from the functions of the seeds of the four great elements; realizing the tathāgatagarbha is always done by discovering the operational characteristics of the tathāgatagarbha through the functions of the seed of the consciousness element—this is why the doctrine of Consciousness-Only (Yogācāra) exists. Thus, enlightenment is attained upon the six consciousnesses, while a person of the sharpest faculties attains enlightenment upon the seventh consciousness, the manas. This is the deepest enlightenment, the most ultimate enlightenment, the most fundamental enlightenment, the most thorough enlightenment—the enlightenment of the Consciousness-Only school, not the relatively shallow enlightenment of the Chan school.