The Undefiled Consciousness of the Buddha-ground and the Tathāgatagarbha of Sentient Beings

Permanence, bliss, self, and purity refer to the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), the tathāgatagarbha mind-substance at the buddha-stage. The undefiled consciousness itself is the mind of nirvāṇa, but the mind of nirvāṇa is not necessarily the state of nirvāṇa; the state of nirvāṇa is merely the state in which the tathāgatagarbha of arhats and pratyekabuddhas abides after they have entered nirvāṇa. The Buddha does not abide in the state of nirvāṇa, nor does He abide in nirvāṇa without remainder, yet the Buddha's undefiled consciousness abides purely in the tranquil state of nirvāṇa; it is not merely unborn and unceasing but never arises and never ceases—it is a state of constancy, and that is the true state of nirvāṇa. Therefore, permanence, bliss, self, and purity refer to the tranquil and cool state of the undefiled consciousness itself, not to the state of void nothingness after the death of nirvāṇa.

The true state of permanence, bliss, self, and purity at the buddha-stage completely overturns the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self spoken of in the conventional truth of the Small Vehicle. Suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self refer to the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen realms within the conventional truth; these dharmas are all born from sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha, and therefore they are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, suffering, and empty—and for this very reason they are without self.

However, the undefiled consciousness at the buddha-stage is permanent and unchanging, is not subject to perfuming and defilement, and does not alter its nature; it is truly permanent, not impermanent. What is called "permanent" means that the seeds within the mind-substance have no phenomenon of arising, ceasing, or change. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is not yet truly permanent, for within the mind-substance are hidden the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses, constantly arising, ceasing, and changing; the seeds must undergo continual transformation, from defiled to pure, and in some sentient beings the seeds within the tathāgatagarbha may even be perfumed from purity back into defilement. The tathāgatagarbha is still subject to the perfuming of these wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds, so sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha is not yet permanent, is not undefiled, and is neither defiled nor pure (na saṃkleśo na vyavadānam).

Bliss: the undefiled consciousness at the buddha-stage is purely blissful without suffering; there are no seeds of unwholesome karma within the mind-substance, and it no longer transforms and produces the suffering retribution of sentient beings. Therefore He has no suffering, nor the suffering feelings and suffering retribution of the seven consciousnesses, abiding in the state of the bliss of ultimate cessation.

The undefiled consciousness at the buddha-stage possesses complete self-nature: He has twenty-one mental factors—the five universal factors, the five object-specific factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors—the same as the mind consciousness and the seventh consciousness, and also the same as the first five consciousnesses; He can discern all dharmas and manifest all dharmas, possessing the nature of self, with the virtues, capacities, and functions of self. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings lacks self-nature; burdened by the seven consciousnesses, it has no five object-specific mental factors and no eleven wholesome factors; it has only the five universal factors, its mental factors being incomplete, and thus it has no self-nature.

Purity: the undefiled consciousness at the buddha-stage is pure and undefiled, without the defilement of ignorance, truly purified, no longer containing the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses and ignorance. When there are no defiled karmic seeds within the tathāgatagarbha, and it consists entirely of pure, unchanging karmic seeds, it becomes the undefiled consciousness; therefore the undefiled consciousness is pure and immaculate. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is not immaculate; it is neither defiled nor pure, for the mind-substance still contains the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses, so He is not completely pure—this is called neither defiled nor pure (na saṃkleśo na vyavadānam).