Enlightenment Is Only When Both the Sixth and Seventh Consciousnesses Realize Tathāgatagarbha

Upon enlightenment, one realizes the tathāgatagarbha, and the mind consciousness necessarily realizes it; however, realization by the mind consciousness alone does not count as true realization—the manas must also realize it at the same time. When only the mind consciousness realizes it, it is all merely intellectual understanding. If only the mind consciousness realized it, then hearing someone else tell you which one is the tathāgatagarbha, where it is, and what function it performs would already count as enlightenment. If that counted as enlightenment, we could simply tell all sentient beings which one the tathāgatagarbha is, and then sentient beings would not need to study and cultivate the Mahāyāna dharma, nor practice Chan investigation—all sentient beings would directly become enlightened and become bodhisattvas. Then the hidden meanings at each and every checkpoint and each and every level could also be told directly to sentient beings, and all sentient beings would directly realize them—how fast becoming a Buddha would be that way. Why did the World-Honored One not adopt this method?

For all dharmas, the mind consciousness first understands and first realizes them, and only then can the manas understand and realize them. Because the manas lacks sufficient wisdom, it must rely on the mind consciousness's capacity for thinking and deliberation. For many dharmas, the mind consciousness already knows them, yet the manas does not know them; the manas does not easily understand or realize them.

Modern people's mind consciousness is too clever and easily understands any principle; if one is satisfied with the status quo, problems will arise, and Buddhism may thereby perish rapidly. Before the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch came out, all Buddhist practitioners cultivated in earnest, all cultivated meditative concentration and investigated Chan, and never engaged in mere verbal Chan. After the Platform Sutra came out, the direction changed: whenever people gathered together, it was all verbal Chan, because having read the contents of the Platform Sutra, they all felt they understood it and that there was nothing left to cultivate, so they would gather together and talk eloquently without any actual cultivation. People today are even more so.