What Does “Afflictions Are Bodhi” Mean?

Affliction is bodhi. The entire process by which afflictions arise is the function of the tathāgatagarbha. Afflictions are formed by the tathāgatagarbha using seeds; the whole of an affliction is created by the tathāgatagarbha, fashioned in accordance with the afflicted mental activities of the manas. In essence, everything is the tathāgatagarbha. It is like molding a piece of clay into a venomous snake: the snake is entirely of the nature of clay, and the two are neither identical nor different. Therefore it is said that the characteristics of afflictions are all the tathāgatagarbha — they are the attributes of the tathāgatagarbha, the properties of the tathāgatagarbha.