Can Ordinary Beings Transform the Basis as Tathāgatagarbha?

The initial success of the transformation of the basis as tathāgatagarbha (āśraya-parāvṛtti-tathāgatagarbha) occurs at the stage of a bodhisattva on the first bhūmi. Pre‑bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattva) are all striving to transform the basis, learning how to do so. Ordinary beings, because they have not realized the tathāgatagarbha, cannot rely upon it—they do not know where the tathāgatagarbha is or what its characteristics are, so how could they lean on it? It is like leaning on empty space; the tathāgatagarbha one imagines is not something actually visible, and there is no way to rely on it.

Moreover, ordinary beings also cannot actively make use of the tathāgatagarbha. Not knowing where the tathāgatagarbha is, what characteristics it has, or what functions it performs, how could they utilize it? Everyone is merely imagining the tathāgatagarbha—this is called conjecture and fantasy, also called speculation. It is permissible for ordinary beings to speculate, and even to guess seven or eight parts out of ten correctly, but it is of no use: the moment the mind consciousness ceases, everything before one's eyes turns pitch black, and one is left bewildered and at a loss.

The mark of successful transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) is that one's mental nature has changed, becoming similar to the mental nature of the tathāgatagarbha; afflictions have been eradicated, and wisdom has grown. When the transformation of the basis has not yet succeeded, but one is changing oneself bit by bit, subduing one's afflictions, and gradually increasing one's wisdom, then when this accumulates to a certain degree and reaches a qualitative leap—afflictions eradicated, and the sixth and seventh consciousnesses transformed into wisdom—that is successful transformation of the basis. But even that is only initial; with complete transformation of the basis, one becomes a Buddha. Therefore, one cannot use whether the transformation of the basis has succeeded as the criterion for judging whether someone has seen the mind and attained enlightenment. Seeing the mind and enlightenment have their own criteria and content, and transformation of the basis is not among those criteria.

The Buddha's teachings have been thrown into great confusion. The reason for the confusion is that many people have never walked that path; they rely on understanding, inference, and speculation. Even if their guesses are eight or nine parts out of ten close to the truth, they are still quite inaccurate, because after all they have not seen it with their own eyes, and their minds certainly cannot feel settled. A tiger painted by copying a cat is, after all, not a tiger.