The Self-Validating Cognition of Tathāgatagarbha (2)

Third, when the tathāgatagarbha discerns the five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings, it knows whatever the present condition of the five-aggregate body is, how the five-aggregate body should change next—whether it should change for the better or for the worse, which parts should change for the better and which for the worse, what kinds of seeds of the four great elements should be transmitted, and whether they are harmonious—all of this the tathāgatagarbha knows in accordance with karmic seeds. Because sentient beings have causes, conditions, and karmic retribution, when a certain illness should appear, when that illness will disappear, how to transmit the seeds of the four great elements to change the condition of the physical body, how much has been changed, how it should be changed further, and whether further change is still needed—the tathāgatagarbha knows all of this. Throughout this series of operations, He knows His own actions and activities; this is the tathāgatagarbha's power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala), which is the self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). Because He possesses this power of introspection, this self-validating cognition, the tathāgatagarbha can proceed to carry out the next step of operation, without repeating His previous operations, without repeating His previous actions and activities; He will not, after manifesting five fingers, repeat and manifest five or more fingers again, nor will He, after manifesting one head, repeatedly manifest another head; nor will He manifest half of an eye faculty and then cease to manifest the other half. This self-validating cognition does not lie in the discriminating of the six sense objects; it lies in the discernment of sentient beings' karmic seeds and in the discernment of the operations of sentient beings' faculties and physical bodies. Because He must sustain the five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings, He can fully grasp the condition of the five-aggregate body. When He transmits the seeds of the four great elements to sustain the five-aggregate body, He knows what kinds of seeds of the four great elements are transmitted, how much He has transmitted Himself, and how He should transmit further; He is also clear about the degree to which His own operation in a given dharma has progressed. Therefore He possesses both self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) and self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). Fourth, as for the discernment of the material world (the inanimate environment), because the tathāgatagarbha can discern karmic seeds, He knows how the universe and the material world should change. He must transmit the seeds of the four great elements to sustain and transform the material world; He is clear about the state to which He has sustained it, what changes the material world should undergo, and to what degree those changes should proceed. He knows when a certain disaster should appear, and when that disaster will disappear. Throughout this period, He can grasp and know His own operational condition, so He knows how the next step should proceed, without repeating operations and without omissions. Since the tathāgatagarbha has knowledge in these respects, He has self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) as well as self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana). Because the tathāgatagarbha can discern karmic seeds and can also discern the five-aggregate body, He is clear about how the physical body should change in the next moment, the next minute, the next second. Because He can discern karmic seeds, He knows which karmic seeds should become manifest at this time; after the karmic seeds become manifest, the seeds of the four great elements of the five-aggregate body must change, and the body changes accordingly, in accord with the karmic seeds. The reason the five-aggregate body can continuously and quietly change is that this is brought about by the tathāgatagarbha's merit of discerning karmic seeds. He transmits the seeds of the four great elements according to the karmic seeds; the seeds of the four great elements are constantly changing at every moment and place—whether they are harmonious or disharmonious, and in what proportions they are transmitted—the tathāgatagarbha knows all of this. He knows how much of these changes He has completed, to what degree they have progressed, and how He still needs to operate. Therefore, here there is not only the tathāgatagarbha's self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) but also His self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana); the tathāgatagarbha is clear about His own operational condition, and this is the self-validating cognition. If He were not clear about it, He could not fully manifest karmic retribution according to the karmic seeds, and cause and effect would fall into confusion.