The Beginningless Ignorance and Defilement of the Seventh Consciousness

The mind-substance of the first seven consciousnesses possesses both defiled and pure natures. Their defiled nature does not arise merely because the seven consciousnesses have the capacity for discrimination; the seven consciousnesses themselves have contained ignorance since beginningless kalpas, harboring the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion—they are inherently defiled. As the seven consciousnesses operate within all dharmas, discriminating among them, their various defiled natures are bound to manifest. Because the seven consciousnesses themselves contain ignorance and do not know the true appearance of the dharmadhātu, they continually generate grasping mental activities toward the myriad dharmas of the three realms, and their greedy and defiled nature will thus become active and manifest.