What Kind of Awakening Is the Most Fundamental Awakening

The most fitting way to search for the tathāgatagarbha is like searching for the wind: one discovers the traces of the wind through its function, and the tathāgatagarbha is likewise discovered through its traces. Although the tathāgatagarbha is traceless and formless, He hides nowhere in any realm—His shadow is everywhere, yet He Himself is never seen. It is not easy to discover the traces of the tathāgatagarbha through the functioning of the seeds of the four great elements. Realizing the tathāgatagarbha is always accomplished by observing the operational characteristics of the tathāgatagarbha through the functioning of the seed of the consciousness element (the vijñāna-dhātu); this is why the doctrine of Consciousness-Only (Yogācāra) exists. Thus, awakening occurs upon the six consciousnesses, while for those of the sharpest faculties, awakening occurs upon the seventh consciousness, the manas. This is the deepest awakening, the most ultimate awakening, the most fundamental awakening, the most thorough awakening—the awakening of the Consciousness-Only school, not the relatively shallow awakening of the Chan school.