The Question of Successful Transformation of the Basis After Enlightenment

Regarding the question of enlightenment and the successful transformation of basis, the only one who has truly and thoroughly succeeded in transforming their basis to align with the pure, non-active nature of the Tathāgatagarbha is the Buddha Bhagavān. His mind is utterly and ultimately pure without remainder, with ignorance exhausted and defilements exhausted. After cultivating through three great asamkhyeya-kalpas, following the initial enlightenment of the mind, the Buddha Bhagavān continuously observed, within the activities of his own and others' five aggregates of body and mind, the purity and selflessness of the Tathāgatagarbha as it functions within the conditioned phenomena of the world. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses were gradually influenced and transformed, little by little learning from this, bit by bit changing their defiled nature to a pure nature, becoming increasingly selfless. First, the attachment to self was eradicated; later, the attachment to dharmas was also abandoned. The mind grew increasingly empty, increasingly non-active, increasingly resembling the Tathāgatagarbha. The degree of transformation of basis deepened progressively until complete selflessness was achieved, ignorance was fully extinguished, and the transformation of basis was ultimately successful.

All other Bodhisattvas, only after genuinely realizing the enlightened mind, begin the gradual process of transforming their sixth and seventh consciousnesses to align with the pure nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. As a portion of the basis is transformed, a portion of defilement is eliminated, and a portion of purity increases. Consequently, the Bodhisattva's wisdom grows incrementally, their fruition level advances by one stage, continuing until Buddhahood is attained.

If one has not genuinely attained enlightenment but only possesses intellectual understanding or false enlightenment—merely knowing a secret meaning or an outcome without undergoing the actual cultivation process in between—then the issue of transforming the basis to align with the Tathāgatagarbha is not involved; it remains entirely unrelated. Because they have not realized the Tathāgatagarbha, they cannot observe its functioning directly. Without knowing how the Tathāgatagarbha is pure, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses lack a model to follow; thus, they cannot learn from it, and the mind will not become pure.

The power of example is boundless. As the saying goes, "Near vermilion, one turns red; near ink, one turns black." Near the Tathāgatagarbha, one inevitably becomes selfless and pure like it, maintaining a non-active mind within conditioned activities. Without genuinely realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, one remains close to the five aggregates and close to afflictions. Consequently, the mind cannot become pure, cannot become non-active, and lacks the nature of non-action.

Why is the notion of regression prevalent in Buddhism today? It is precisely because many people lack genuine cultivation and realization. They lack the intermediate process of investigation and contemplation, and even more so, the process of observing and eradicating the view of self through practice. Therefore, they lack actual cultivation and realization. Moreover, the majority lack sufficient meditative concentration (dhyāna). Their concentration power is poor, they do not know how to observe and contemplate, nor how to investigate. Their "realization" is not genuine; they merely know an outcome, either obtained through inquiry or guessed at—none of it constitutes true enlightenment. Hence, the talk of regression arises. In reality, they have not cultivated to the point of reaching the Tathāgatagarbha at all. The issue of regression cannot be discussed, nor can the issue of transforming the basis to align with the Tathāgatagarbha. If one insists that only the successful transformation of basis to the Tathāgatagarbha constitutes enlightenment, then prior to the success of this transformation, at best, it is merely intellectual understanding (解悟), not realization (证悟).