Why Are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Not Affected by Evil Perfuming?

If sentient beings, while living in the world, still become tainted through conditioning when they encounter adverse conditions, thereby giving rise to afflictions, this shows that sentient beings' manas is still conjoined with afflictions and has not yet eradicated them; hence, upon encountering conditions they become tainted, and upon encountering conditions they manifest unwholesome karma. The Buddhas, through their cultivation over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, have long since completely 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 full of afflictions, they are not tainted or defiled in the slightest by the afflictions of sentient beings; their minds remain forever pure and undefiled. This is because the Buddha eradicated afflictions at the stage of the first bhūmi, and His mind was already free of defilement; it was only that at that time the afflictive habitual tendencies had not yet been completely eradicated.

The afflictions that the Buddhas began eradicating even before the first bhūmi are the afflictions eradicated by both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Because the seventh consciousness eradicated afflictions, the transformation of consciousness into wisdom could occur, and the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna) was attained, viewing all dharmas as equal and without duality, with no distinction between self and others; therefore there is no selfishness, and one treats people and affairs with equality. 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 conditioning. However, when the afflictive habitual tendencies have not yet been eradicated, the habits will occasionally manifest—this is unavoidable—and the mind consciousness will occasionally be conditioned by the environment. Although the mind consciousness may be conditioned and display some afflictions, these will quickly subside; they will not persist or become entrenched, nor will they condition and influence the manas.

Because the manas is not subject to conditioning and itself no longer has afflictions, the afflictions of the mind consciousness are easy to eradicate; otherwise, with the mind consciousness controlled by the manas, afflictions would not be easy to eradicate, and even if eradicated they would arise again. For bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above, the mind consciousness is no longer subject to conditioning and will not manifest afflictive habitual tendencies. The mind consciousness of the Buddhas is even less subject to the slightest conditioning or defilement; neither afflictions nor habits will appear: seeing forms, they do not crave; seeing wealth, they do not cling; 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 supremely tranquil. In contrast, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary sentient beings possess all afflictions; upon encountering conditions they become conditioned, always tending to comply with their environment, having little resistance to it: seeing forms, they love them; seeing wealth, they crave it; they relish power and pursue fame and gain; when adverse conditions arise, anger and resentment constantly follow 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 will also frequently manifest; upon encountering defiling conditions, the mind consciousness is easily conditioned. 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 interruption; in the antarābhava and at 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 depositing karmic seeds, thereby continuing the birth-and-death and saṃsāra of future lives.