Why Are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Not Subject to Evil Perfuming?

If sentient beings, living in the world, still become tainted by influences and give rise to afflictions when encountering adverse conditions, this shows that the manas of sentient beings is conjoined with afflictions and has not eradicated them; therefore, upon encountering conditions, they become tainted, and upon encountering conditions, unwholesome karma manifests. The Buddhas, through their cultivation over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, have long since eradicated all afflictive defilements such as greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views, as well as all afflictive habitual tendencies, with no residual habits remaining. When they come to this evil world of the five turbidities and come into contact with sentient beings beset by afflictions, they are not tainted or defiled in the slightest by the afflictions of sentient beings; their minds remain forever pure and undefiled, because the Buddha eradicated afflictions at the first bhūmi, and His mind was already free of defilement—only the habitual tendencies of afflictions had not yet been fully eradicated. The afflictions eradicated from the very beginning of the first bhūmi are those eradicated by both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, because only when the seventh consciousness eradicates afflictions can the consciousnesses be transformed into wisdom, possessing the equality wisdom (samatā-jñāna), which views all dharmas as equal and non-dual, without distinction between self and others; hence there is no selfishness, and one treats people and affairs with equanimity.

Because the seventh consciousness, the manas, has eradicated afflictions, no matter where it is reborn in later lives, the manas has no afflictions and is not subject to tainting influences. However, when the habitual tendencies of afflictions have not been eradicated, those tendencies will occasionally manifest—this is unavoidable—and the mind consciousness will also occasionally be tainted by the environment. Although the mind consciousness may be tainted and display some afflictions, these will quickly subside, will not persist or become entrenched, and will not taint or influence the manas. Because the manas is not subject to tainting and itself no longer has afflictions, the afflictions of the mind consciousness are easily severed; otherwise, with the mind consciousness controlled by the manas, afflictions would not be easily eradicated. For bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above, the mind consciousness is no longer tainted and will not manifest afflictions; the mind consciousness of the Buddhas is even less tainted or defiled in the slightest—neither afflictions nor habitual tendencies will appear: seeing forms, they are not greedy; seeing wealth, they are not attached; they do not seek power or status; they are neither hateful nor angry, neither vexed nor agitated; their minds are soft and harmonious, tranquil and ever more tranquil.

The sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary sentient beings, however, possess all afflictions; upon encountering conditions, they are tainted by influences, always tending to comply with the environment, having little resistance to it: seeing forms, they crave; seeing wealth, they are greedy; they delight in power and pursue fame and gain; when adverse conditions arise, anger constantly follows their minds, and their selfishness and self-regard are extremely heavy. From this it can be seen that the manas of ordinary sentient beings possesses all afflictions—greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views—and since the mind consciousness follows the manas, afflictions also frequently manifest; when encountering defiling conditions, the mind consciousness is easily tainted. Because the manas connects the three periods of past, present, and future lives, and also possesses all afflictions, birth-and-death and saṃsāra continue without end; in the antarā-bhava and immediately upon birth in later lives, all afflictions are already present, no different from the previous life, with afflictions persisting life after life.

However, apart from the afflictions of the view of self, self-grasping, self-conceit, and self-delusion, which constantly accompany the manas in its continuous operation without pause, the other afflictions do not constantly accompany the manas in its operation; rather, they only manifest when conditions are encountered, creating unwholesome karma and leaving behind karmic seeds, thereby perpetuating birth-and-death and saṃsāra in future lives.