The Enlightenment of the Consciousness-Only School

The most fitting way to search for the tathāgatagarbha is like searching for the wind: discovering the traces of the wind through its function. Discovering the tathāgatagarbha is likewise done through the traces of the tathāgatagarbha. Although the tathāgatagarbha leaves no shadow or trace, He is present everywhere without hiding Himself—His shadow is everywhere, yet He Himself is never seen. It is not easy to discover the traces of the tathāgatagarbha through the functioning of the seeds of the four great elements. Realizing the tathāgatagarbha is always done by observing the operational characteristics of the tathāgatagarbha through the functioning of the seed of the consciousness element (vijñāna-dhātu); this is why the doctrine of Consciousness-Only (Yogācāra) exists. Thus, enlightenment is attained upon the six consciousnesses, while a person of the sharpest faculties attains enlightenment upon the seventh consciousness, the manas. This is enlightenment at the deepest level, the most ultimate enlightenment, the most fundamental enlightenment, the most thorough enlightenment—the enlightenment of the Consciousness-Only school, not the relatively shallow enlightenment of the Chan school.