Both the Perceiving-Aspect and the Object-Aspect Are Essentially Tathāgatagarbha

The perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga) is the essential nature of consciousness and also its function; the self-cognition (svasaṃvitti) is the essential nature of consciousness and also its function; and even the self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) is likewise the essential nature of consciousness and its function. The seeds of consciousness are tranquil, and the consciousness that is formed is tranquil, yet the function of consciousness is not tranquil, because the mental factors (caitasika) participate in and assist its operation; when the mental factors are not tranquil, the functions of consciousness are not tranquil. However, these functions also have no mark of non-tranquility, because their essence is all tathāgatagarbha, and in their entirety they are all the nature of tathāgatagarbha. It is like a toilet made of gold: its mark is the mark of gold, its essence is gold, and its nature is the nature of gold. The essence of the seven consciousnesses is tathāgatagarbha, and their nature and function (svabhāva-vyāpāra) are the nature of tathāgatagarbha; there is no such thing as non-tranquility. This is the most definitive meaning (nītārtha) among all dharmas, the definitive meaning within the definitive meaning—there can be nothing more definitive than this. People of ordinary faculties certainly cannot digest it, so then, speaking from the standpoint of false marks, the marks do have marks of non-tranquility. The object-aspect (nimitta) includes the marks of material form, the marks of mental dharmas, and the marks of dharmas that are neither material nor mental. The essence of the marks of mental dharmas is the nature of tathāgatagarbha and is tranquil; then the marks of material form and the marks of dharmas that are neither material nor mental are born from and manifested by tathāgatagarbha, so their essence is likewise the nature of tathāgatagarbha and is likewise tranquil. But this does not preclude non-tranquility on the level of false marks.