The Tathāgatagarbha Also Possesses Jñāna

The Tathāgatagarbha also possesses four aspects: the discriminating aspect, the appearing aspect, the self-witnessing aspect, and the self-verifying aspect. Therefore, the Tathāgatagarbha also possesses awareness, and the scope of its awareness is extremely vast. Because the Tathāgatagarbha has the nature of discrimination, it can discriminate the Manas (the seventh consciousness), the physical body, the material realm, and karmic seeds. This discriminative nature is the discriminating aspect of the Tathāgatagarbha, while the physical body and the material realm constitute its appearing aspect. Because the Tathāgatagarbha possesses this discriminative nature, it possesses awareness. This awareness is the self-witnessing aspect, which directly witnesses the mental attention (manasikāra) and volition (cetanā) of the Manas, witnesses the physical body and the material realm, and witnesses the karmic seeds.

The Tathāgatagarbha also possesses the self-verifying aspect, which can reflect upon itself, knowing that it has discriminated the mental activities of the Manas, knowing that it has discriminated the physical body, the material realm, and the karmic seeds. However, the Tathāgatagarbha does not know itself, nor does it cling to a self; therefore, the Tathāgatagarbha is selfless. The discriminating aspect of the Tathāgatagarbha is extremely vast, meaning its scope of knowing and discrimination is very broad. It discriminates the seven consciousnesses, discriminates the physical body and the material world, and discriminates karmic seeds. This discriminative nature is the discriminating aspect of the Tathāgatagarbha.