The Difference between Tathāgatagarbha and the Seven Consciousnesses

The knowing of the tathāgatagarbha and the knowing of the manas are completely different in content. For example, when the manas realizes the tathāgatagarbha and knows the tathāgatagarbha, the tathāgatagarbha cannot realize itself and does not know itself. When the manas realizes that the physical body is neither self nor real, the tathāgatagarbha cannot know that the physical body is not real and is not the tathāgatagarbha itself. The content contemplated by the deliberation (manasikāra) mental factor of the tathāgatagarbha is completely different from the content contemplated by the deliberation mental factor of the manas; the difference is very great. Therefore, the dharmas realized by the manas cannot be realized by the tathāgatagarbha, and the choices and decisions made by the manas cannot be made likewise by the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha merely cooperates with and accords with the choices and decisions of the manas.

When the manas investigates a dharma, the tathāgatagarbha does not know when the investigation will bear fruit, but the tathāgatagarbha can discern the deliberation mental factor of the manas, discern conditions, and discern karmic seeds, mainly providing the consciousness seeds that the manas needs, cooperating with the manas in its deliberation and investigation. As for specific matters in concrete phenomena, the tathāgatagarbha does not discern them at all. This is the distinction between the tathāgatagarbha and the seven consciousnesses.