The Tathāgatagarbha Has Ownership, Indicating That It Cannot Be Shared

All dharmas have their attribution. Material form (rūpa) can be divided by quantity, but the conscious mind cannot be divided by quantity. The tathāgatagarbha also has its attribution—it belongs to the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates (pañca-skandha)—but it is not divided by quantity. 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 quantity. 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, wholesome and unwholesome karma would likewise have no attribution, which would be equivalent to there being no cause and effect at all—one person creates karmic causes while another reaps the karmic fruits, and then there would be no correct 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 sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha does not possess the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. Because the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses differ, the karmic causes differ, the karmic fruits differ, and thus the tathāgatagarbha differs. Even the tathāgatagarbha of bodhisattvas at the stage of equality (saṃbhoga) and wondrous awakening does not possess the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, and the tathāgatagarbha of ordinary beings is even further from 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 until it is completely pure, with no more ignorance, and all the defilements stored within 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 tathāgatagarbha substance of sentient beings and that of the Buddha are both equal; unfortunately, 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. When the conscious nature of the seven consciousnesses is transformed into the nature of wisdom, the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, becomes the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna), and sentient beings become Buddhas. The Buddha's tathāgatagarbha is called the great mirror-like wisdom, while the ordinary being's tathāgatagarbha is called the Ālayavijñāna; because their functions differ, their names differ. Originally, the miraculous powers and wondrous functions of the Ālayavijñāna and the great mirror-like wisdom are not two and not different; unfortunately, the karma of the first seven consciousnesses differs, and defiled karma limits the vast functions of the Ālayavijñāna, preventing it from manifesting the vast, boundless miraculous powers and wondrous functions of the great mirror-like wisdom.