The Self-Witnessing Aspect of Tathāgatagarbha (Part III)

Fifth, the changes in the four great elements and the five aggregates are actually occurring moment by moment, beyond the perception of our conscious mind. Only when this physical body has changed to a certain degree does the conscious mind become aware of it. But by then, the body has already manifested illness or obstruction, or the change has become very obvious—some part of the body shows discomfort. At this point, the sentient being's five aggregates perceive it, including changes for the better. In truth, the physical body is constantly changing moment by moment, yet the five aggregates find it difficult to perceive these changes. Only when the changes accumulate to a certain degree and become very apparent do our six consciousnesses sense them. The conscious minds of sentient beings are always belatedly aware, whereas the Tathagatagarbha is the one that foreknows. When the Tathagatagarbha discerns karmic seeds, it already knows these circumstances. When certain particularly significant karmic seeds are about to manifest, the Tathagatagarbha will alert the five aggregates, drawing their attention. Sometimes, it will make the sentient being's five aggregates aware a year or even longer in advance, yet the conscious mind often cannot guess what is about to happen. The Tathagatagarbha's discernment of karmic seeds is utterly certain and beyond doubt to itself, which is why it alerts the five aggregates and makes them aware. Since beginningless time, the Tathagatagarbha has never made an erroneous or confused discernment. The Tathagatagarbha's own certainty and absence of doubt constitute its self-witnessing portion.

Because the Tathagatagarbha can discern karmic seeds, it can know the changes about to occur in the five-aggregate body and the material world based on these seeds. Therefore, the Tathagatagarbha is called the foreknower. Before any change occurs in the universe and material world, it already knows beforehand based on the karmic seeds. When the conditions for the karmic seeds ripen, it delivers the four great seeds to operate and transform the universe and material world, causing the changes in the universe and material world to accord with the karmic seeds. Of course, this is not something the Tathagatagarbha of a single sentient being can accomplish alone. When the universe and material world are due to be destroyed, the Tathagatagarbha will deliver altered four great seeds. The proportions of the four great seeds subtly change, causing the universe and material world to gradually transform. Only when the universe and material world have changed to a certain degree do we humans or other sentient beings become aware that the universe and material world have changed—how they have changed, whether for better or for worse. Only when the changes in the material world accumulate to a certain degree can sentient beings discern that their living environment has become like this. What it will transform into next, we may not be very clear, but the Tathagatagarbha always knows.

Moreover, before any change occurs in the universe and material world, the Tathagatagarbha has already discerned the karmic seeds, knowing the changes that are about to occur, knowing how to bring about the universe and material world, how to deliver the four great seeds to form or destroy the universe and material world. Therefore, the Tathagatagarbha is called the foreknower. While transforming the universe and material world, the Tathagatagarbha knows to what degree it has already changed, how it still needs to change, knows how it is operating, and how it should continue to operate. This is the reflective power of the Tathagatagarbha, which is the self-witnessing portion. Without this reflective power, its operation would be chaotic, unable to accurately transform the material world, and it would not correspond to the karmic seeds.

The five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings all gradually mature and then gradually decline. Only after changing for a certain period and to a certain degree do they realize they have grown up, that they have changed, or that they have aged. But the timing of maturity and decline differs for each sentient being because the karmic actions created in past lives differ, and the karmic seeds differ. The Tathagatagarbha discerns based on the karmic seeds stored within each sentient being when they should begin to decline, to what degree they decline, how they decline, and how the physical body changes. It then knows how to transform the physical body. When the conditions ripen, it delivers the four great seeds to form and alter the physical body, causing the body to change bit by bit. Once the changes reach a certain degree, sentient beings perceive that they have aged—white hair grows, the waist bends, legs become unsteady when walking, wrinkles and spots appear on the face.

In truth, long before this, the Tathagatagarbha has been continuously delivering the four great seeds, causing the physical body to change gradually. During the process of altering the operation of the physical body, the Tathagatagarbha is fully aware of its own operation and actions. It continually discerns the karmic seeds, proceeding according to them, continuing to transform and alter the physical body—neither repeating nor omitting anything, proceeding step by step in an orderly manner. Because it possesses reflective power, it knows to what degree its operation has progressed and thus knows how to proceed next. This is the function of the Tathagatagarbha's self-witnessing portion.