The Sixth and Seventh Consciousnesses Transform on the Causal Ground; the Fifth and Eighth Become Complete on the Fruition Ground

This is saying that the result of cultivation is the perfect clarity of the four wisdoms. The four perfectly clear wisdoms include the wisdom of the five sense consciousnesses, the wisdom of the mind consciousness, the wisdom of the manas, and the wisdom of the eighth consciousness. "Perfect clarity" means complete, bright, and wondrous; when wisdom has reached its ultimate peak and will never increase further, that means there is no longer any need to cultivate, having reached the stage beyond training (aśaikṣa) with respect to all dharmas—the highest stage, which is the stage of Buddhahood.

Since at the stage of Buddhahood the four wisdoms are perfectly clear, this shows that all four kinds of consciousness-mind can possess ultimate, complete, bright, and wondrous wisdom; it is only at the stage of sentient beings that they are not perfectly clear and bright, being tainted and having ignorance. But the eighth consciousness has no taints and no ignorance—why then, at the stage of sentient beings, is it not perfectly clear, and why does it still need the transformation of consciousness into wisdom? Because the karmic seeds of the first seven consciousnesses are stored in the eighth consciousness, dragging it down so that it cannot radiate the ultimate, perfectly harmonious, unobstructed light; or, although it can radiate perfect and unobstructed light, the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses obscures a portion of the eighth consciousness's unobstructed light, causing the functions and activities of the eighth consciousness to be obstructed and subject to certain limitations. Once the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses is completely eradicated, this obstruction is removed, and the great light of the eighth consciousness manifests in full.

Since the first seven consciousnesses at the stage of sentient beings are tainted and have ignorance, then the cultivation spanning three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas must completely eradicate the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses. The ignorance first subdued is the ignorance of the mind consciousness, and the ignorance subdued immediately afterward is the ignorance of the manas; when ignorance is eradicated, the ignorance of the mind consciousness and the manas is eradicated simultaneously. Because the manas is the mutual dependence (sahāya) of the mind consciousness—its master and director—if the manas does not eradicate its ignorance, then even if the mind consciousness can eradicate it, under the directing influence of the manas, ignorance will arise again, creating ignorant karma.

After eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and seeing the mind, the mind consciousness and the manas break through the initial ignorance and attain the initial wisdom of patience with non-arising; however, at this time the ignorance of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses is still rather heavy, the wisdom is not deep enough, there is still rather heavy discriminative nature, and there remains a considerable degree of self-nature, still insufficient for the transformation of consciousness into wisdom. Only after passing through the final barrier and entering the first bhūmi, eradicating a portion of attachment to dharmas, does the ignorance become thinner; at this point the first transformation of consciousness into wisdom begins: the discriminative nature toward worldly dharmas weakens, the unconditioned nature strengthens, emptiness (śūnyatā) becomes deeper, and the wisdom becomes profoundly deep. But because the five sense consciousnesses are relatively dull, great wisdom has not manifested, so they cannot undergo the transformation of consciousness into wisdom. And the eighth consciousness is still obscured by the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses, so its wisdom and functions are limited to a certain degree.

When a first-bhūmi bodhisattva continues cultivating up to the eighth bhūmi, the ignorance broken through by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses becomes ever greater, the ignorance becomes ever lighter, and the wisdom becomes ever deeper and sharper; then the second transformation of consciousness into wisdom occurs. When the sixth and seventh consciousnesses undergo the third transformation of consciousness into wisdom, the five sense consciousnesses subsequently undergo the transformation of consciousness into wisdom as well. With none of the seven consciousnesses any longer obscured by ignorance, and all karmic seeds completely purified, the eighth consciousness becomes the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna), illuminating all dharmas without the slightest obstruction—wisdom perfectly clear and bright.