The Attributive Nature of the Tathāgatagarbha Shows That the Tathāgatagarbha Cannot Be Shared

All dharmas have attribution. Material form can be divided by number, but the conscious mind cannot be divided by number. The tathāgatagarbha also has attribution—it belongs to the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates—but it cannot be divided by number. Just like the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, mind consciousness, and manas—these several conscious minds all have attribution, belonging to the five aggregates, yet none of them can be divided by number. The conscious minds cannot be counted, but they all have attribution; otherwise sentient beings could share them in common, and everything would fall into chaos. If there were no attribution, then wholesome and unwholesome karma would likewise have no attribution, which would be equivalent to there being no cause and effect at all—A creates the karmic cause, yet B reaps the karmic fruit—and then there would be no true principle either in the world or beyond the world.

Precisely because the tathāgatagarbha has attribution, the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha possesses the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, while the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings does not possess the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. Because the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses differ, the karmic causes differ, and the karmic fruits also differ, the tathāgatagarbha accordingly differs. Even the tathāgatagarbha of bodhisattvas at the stage of virtual enlightenment (equal enlightenment and wondrous enlightenment) does not possess the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, and the tathāgatagarbha of ordinary beings is even further from having anything to do with the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. Therefore, the tathāgatagarbha of the Buddha and that of sentient beings each differ greatly. Ordinary beings must cultivate for three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas before their tathāgatagarbha can transform into the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. How can the tathāgatagarbha transform into that nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity of the Buddha stage? This requires cultivating the seven consciousnesses, cultivating the mind of the seven consciousnesses to complete purity, so that there is no more ignorance, and all the defilements stored in the tathāgatagarbha have been completely removed; then it transforms into the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. Therefore, because sentient beings differ in the duration and degree of their cultivation, the functions of their tathāgatagarbha also differ.

In fact, the essence of the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings and of the Buddha is equal; it is only that the seven consciousnesses and five aggregates are not equal, which causes the functions of the tathāgatagarbha to be limited, resulting in differences. The seven consciousnesses refer to the first seven consciousnesses. The seven consciousnesses of sentient beings and the seven consciousnesses of the Buddha differ enormously, which causes the tathāgatagarbha to differ greatly as well. When the nature of the seven consciousnesses is transformed into the nature of wisdom, the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, becomes the great perfect mirror wisdom (ādarśajñāna), and the sentient being becomes a Buddha. The Buddha's tathāgatagarbha is called the great perfect mirror wisdom, while the ordinary being's tathāgatagarbha is called ālayavijñāna; because their functions differ, their names differ. Originally, the miraculous powers of ālayavijñāna and the great perfect mirror wisdom are not two and not different; it is only that the karma of the first seven consciousnesses differs, and defiled karma limits the vast functions of ālayavijñāna, so that it cannot manifest the boundless miraculous powers of the great perfect mirror wisdom.