Is Not Cutting Off Afflictions and Not Seeking Liberation the Practice of a Mahayana Bodhisattva?

Some people say that the practice of Mahāyāna bodhisattvas is completely different from that of Hīnayāna practitioners: Hīnayāna practitioners seek to sever afflictions and seek liberation, whereas Mahāyāna bodhisattvas, like the tathāgatagarbha, should neither sever afflictions nor seek liberation. But does the tathāgatagarbha have any afflictions to sever? Is the tathāgatagarbha bound by any dharma? The tathāgatagarbha originally has no afflictions and is intrinsically liberated; the tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, and therefore there is no ending of ignorance. The seventh consciousness has afflictions, so afflictions must be severed; the seventh consciousness is not liberated, so liberation must be sought; the seventh consciousness has ignorance, so ignorance must be broken through. Moreover, not to mention the fundamental afflictions a Mahāyāna bodhisattva may have, there are also the eight universally affiliated afflictions—lack of faith, laziness, non-diligence, torpor, restlessness, forgetfulness, non-introspectiveness, and distraction—together with the two intermediate affiliated afflictions of shamelessness and lack of remorse, all glaringly displayed before the world. What kind of bodhisattva is this? When the mind does not correspond with even the eleven wholesome mental factors, what kind of Mahāyāna bodhisattva is this? Can such a bodhisattva serve as a model and exemplar for sentient beings? What can the vast multitude of sentient beings learn by following such a bodhisattva? If this perverse trend of wanting only fruits, benefits, and fame while not wanting liberation and merit is not curbed, Buddhism will surely perish swiftly.