Suchness Not Abiding in Its Own Nature Does Not Mean Suchness Lacks Self-Nature

The meaning of "suchness not guarding its own nature" is that the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, does not abide in its original position in a state of possessing nothing, but instead flows forth the seeds within the mind to form the existence of the myriad dharmas of the three realms. This suchness refers to the substance of the eighth consciousness, and the substance of the eighth consciousness certainly has its own self-nature, which is different from the natures of all worldly dharmas. If suchness—the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha—had no self-nature, then it would lack self-mastery (avaśatā) and would be a dharma that has been produced. Any dharma that has been produced lacks self-mastery; without self-nature there is no self-mastery, and it has no independent self-substance. But suchness, the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, forever has its own unique substance, forever unchanging, and therefore possesses great self-mastery.

Nirvāṇa has no self-nature, because nirvāṇa is a pure state of the eighth consciousness, a state of solitary existence. A state has no self-substance; it is a manifested dharma, used to set off the eighth consciousness. If suchness does not refer to the substance of the eighth consciousness, but rather refers to the true and such-like nature of the eighth consciousness—a kind of quality—then such suchness has no self-substance and no self-nature.

Since it is said that suchness does not guard its own nature, this shows that suchness, the eighth consciousness, does have self-nature, which is emptiness/voidness (śūnyatā). The eighth consciousness contains and stores seeds and also has a non-emptiness aspect, able to manifest the myriad dharmas in accordance with conditions; yet when manifesting the myriad dharmas, it itself remains empty in nature, not existent in nature—He Himself is not the myriad dharmas. Because suchness, the eighth consciousness, has the self-nature of emptiness, it can accomplish the myriad dharmas. If suchness, the eighth consciousness, did not have the self-nature of emptiness, it could not accomplish the myriad dharmas, could not become the myriad dharmas, and could only be the suchness of the eighth consciousness itself.

No matter how many dharmas the eighth consciousness, suchness, manifests, it still retains its own original nature, just as gold, not guarding the state originally inherent to gold, changes into the shapes of gold ornaments—yet no matter how many gold ornaments are fashioned from gold, it always retains the properties of gold, the self-substance of gold. It is precisely because suchness has self-nature that it is said not to guard its own nature; "not guarding" also implies existence. Suchness is originally empty and vacant, possessing nothing, yet it gives birth to all dharmas in accordance with conditions, and when giving birth to all dharmas, it still retains its own original nature. The eighth consciousness does not lose the attributes of the substance of the eighth consciousness merely because it has given birth to the myriad dharmas. The attributes of the substance of the eighth consciousness never change; otherwise, the eighth consciousness would not be an unchanging dharma.

The eighth consciousness being unchanged while according with conditions, and according with conditions while unchanged, shows that the eighth consciousness is forever unchanging and has self-nature, and its self-nature never changes. The three self-natures—the imputed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) of the seventh consciousness, the dependent nature (paratantra-svabhāva) of the first six consciousnesses, and the perfectly accomplished nature (pariniṣpanna-svabhāva) of the eighth consciousness—are all without self-nature and can only exist by relying on the substance of the eighth consciousness.