The Five Mental Factors of Specific Objects

Meditative concentration (samādhi), wisdom, and the power of determination (adhimokṣa) are mental factors of the conscious mind, and they are also functions of the conscious mind; they belong to the five object-specific mental factors (kuśala-mahābhūmika... specifically the five object-determining mental factors). For the seven consciousnesses, they arise one by one on separate occasions, not operating at all times; what operates at all times are the five universal mental factors. However, the seven consciousnesses of all Buddhas and great bodhisattvas possess meditative concentration, wisdom, and the power of determination at all times and in all places; for them, the five object-specific mental factors, though not necessarily operating at all times, can operate at all times. Yet the meditative concentration, wisdom, and power of determination of the tathāgatagarbha operate at all times and in all places—even in nirvāṇa without remainder, it is just so.

How powerful is the meditative concentration of the tathāgatagarbha? Through observation one can know that it is extremely strong. In the operation of all dharmas, no matter what states He encounters, He remains suchness immovable (tathatā-acalita): let the winds blow from east, west, south, or north, He remains serene and unmoved; though Mount Tai presses down upon His head, His waist does not bend; regardless of any conflicts, disputes, or questions of right and wrong, He simply pays no heed, following the established laws and functioning spontaneously. The Buddha said that He abides in the great śūraṅgama samādhi, never emerging from samādhi and never needing to enter samādhi, unmoved and unshaken amid all dharmas, unmatched by anything—a true mountain of treasure. In nirvāṇa without remainder, if the tathāgatagarbha had no meditative concentration, then the tathāgatagarbha's mind would be distracted. But since the tathāgatagarbha abides in the great śūraṅgama samādhi, neither emerging nor entering, He never leaves samādhi—how could He be distracted and without meditative concentration?

How powerful is the wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha? Even in nirvāṇa without remainder, He must at all times discern the karmic seeds. If the tathāgatagarbha had no wisdom and could not exercise determination (adhimokṣa), He would not know what the karmic seeds are or whether they have matured; then an arhat could never emerge from nirvāṇa and take up the manas and a body of the five aggregates. The wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha neither increases nor decreases; He forever possesses the great prajñā wisdom, able to discern all dharmas, create all dharmas, and uphold all dharmas. In nirvāṇa without remainder there are still dharmas that the tathāgatagarbha faces, so the mental factors of the tathāgatagarbha still exist.

If, when the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the ear faculty, the body of the five aggregates, and all dharmas, His power of meditative concentration were suddenly insufficient, His power of wisdom also insufficient, and He did not know what the karmic seeds were like, what would the result be? The result would be that the tathāgatagarbha, through a moment's carelessness, might deliver too small a quantity of the seeds of the four great elements, get the proportional structure wrong, or transmit the seeds incorrectly; then the dharmas that arise would be mismatched—Zhang's hat placed on Li's head—and all dharmas would be unrecognizable, and the world would be thrown into chaos. If the tathāgatagarbha lacked an extremely strong power of determination (adhimokṣa) and could not understand the intentions of the manas, what would the result be? No dharma would appear in a reasonable way or appear as wished; the aspirations made by sentient beings would be useless, all their thoughts would be useless, and the world of the five aggregates would become abnormal.