Can the Non-Realization of Tathāgatagarbha Sever Ātmagrāha?

Have Arhats not severed self-attachment without realizing the Tathāgatagarbha? The same applies to Pratyekabuddhas and Solitary Realizers; they can sever attachments without realizing the Tathāgatagarbha. Through meditative concentration at or above the first dhyāna, by thoroughly contemplating and penetrating the five aggregates and eighteen elements, eradicating all afflictions, self-attachment is completely severed. With no attachment to the three realms remaining, upon death, they are assured liberation without return.

For Mahayana Bodhisattvas, severing self-attachment occurs only after realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, then passing through the mirage-like contemplation, the three barriers of Chan (Zen), and the dream-like contemplation, thereby attaining the first bhūmi (ground). Only then do they gain the capacity to sever self-attachment, yet not completely. If severed entirely, they would enter the state of Nirvāṇa without residue.

Without the first dhyāna, the mirage-like contemplation and the three barriers of Chan are entirely unattainable. Some individuals, lacking even genuine realization of the first barrier, engage daily in dream-like contemplation without meditative concentration. As they contemplate, they mistakenly believe they have attained dream-like realization—how profoundly mistaken this is. Generally, the initial awakening leading to dream-like contemplation requires passing through several great kalpas (aeons). It is impossible to attain dream-like contemplation in a single lifetime, especially without practicing meditative concentration. All forms of contemplation remain inaccessible without this foundation.

Upon entering the bhūmis (grounds), one begins to sever attachment to dharmas (phenomena). Attachment to dharmas is profound and subtle; the wisdom of the Śrāvaka vehicle is insufficient to sever it. Only the wisdom of Bodhisattvas on the bhūmis who have realized the Tathāgatagarbha possesses the capacity to sever attachment to dharmas. When one realizes that every subtle dharma is born from and sustained by the Tathāgatagarbha, that none are real, that all are devoid of self, then one severs an instance of attachment to dharmas.

Can everyone now understand what constitutes genuine cultivation? What is genuine, and what is cultivation? All claim to be genuine practitioners, yet if one lacks any one of śīla (precepts), samādhi (concentration), or prajñā (wisdom), it is neither genuine nor cultivation. This is the truth; no one's disagreement alters it.