Why Do All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Not Receive Negative Perfuming?

If sentient beings, while living in the world, encounter adverse conditions and are still influenced and defiled by them, giving rise to afflictions, this shows that the manas of sentient beings is still conjoined with afflictions and has not yet eliminated them; therefore, upon encountering conditions, they become defiled, and upon encountering conditions, unwholesome karma manifests. The Buddhas, through their cultivation over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, have long since completely eliminated all afflictive defilements—greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, wrong views, and so on—as well as all afflictive habits, 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 influenced or defiled by even a trace of the afflictions of sentient beings; their minds remain forever pure and undefiled. This is because the Buddha eliminated afflictions at the first bhūmi, and His mind was already free of defilement; it is only that at that time the afflictive habits had not yet been completely eliminated.

The afflictions that the Buddhas began eliminating before the first bhūmi were those eliminated by both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Because the seventh consciousness eliminated afflictions, the consciousnesses could be transformed into wisdom, and the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna) was attained, perceiving all dharmas as equal and nondual, without distinction between self and others. Thus there is no selfishness, and one treats people and affairs with equal impartiality. Because the seventh consciousness, the manas, has eliminated afflictions, no matter where it is reborn in later lives, the manas has no afflictions and is not influenced or defiled. However, when the afflictive habits have not yet been eliminated, those habits may occasionally manifest—this is unavoidable—and the mind consciousness may occasionally be influenced by the environment. Although the mind consciousness may be influenced and display some afflictions, these are quickly eliminated; they do not persist or become entrenched, nor do they influence and defile the manas.

Because the manas is not influenced and defiled, and itself no longer has afflictions, the afflictions of the mind consciousness are easy to eliminate. Otherwise, with the mind consciousness controlled by the manas, afflictions would not be easy to eliminate, and even if eliminated, they would arise again. For bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above, the mind consciousness is no longer influenced and defiled, and afflictive habits no longer manifest. As for the Buddhas, their mind consciousnesses are not influenced or defiled by even a trace; neither afflictions nor habits ever 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 supremely tranquil. By contrast, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary sentient beings are complete with all afflictions: upon encountering conditions, they are influenced and defiled, and they almost always comply with their environment, having little resistance to it. Seeing forms, they crave; seeing wealth, they covet; they relish power and pursue fame and profit. When adverse conditions appear, anger and rage constantly follow their minds, and their selfishness and self-centeredness are extremely heavy.

From this it can be seen that the manas of ordinary sentient beings is complete with 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 influenced and defiled. Because the manas connects the past, present, and future three lives, and is complete with all afflictions, birth-and-death and saṃsāra continue without end. In the antarā-bhava and at birth in later lives, all afflictions are already complete, no different from the previous life, with afflictions life after life without cease. However, apart from the afflictions of self-view, 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 continuing the birth-and-death and saṃsāra of later lives.