The Self-Validating Cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga) of the Tathāgatagarbha (III)

Fifth, the changes of the four great elements and the five aggregates are in fact changing moment by moment, and our perceiving mind simply cannot know this. Only when the physical body has changed to a certain degree does the perceiving mind become aware of it, but by then the body has already developed illness and obstructions, or the changes have already become very obvious—discomfort has appeared in some part of the body. Only then do sentient beings' five aggregates become aware of it, and this also includes changes transforming in a good direction. In fact, the physical body is constantly changing moment by moment, but the five aggregates are not easily aware of it; only when the changes accumulate to a certain degree and become very obvious do our six consciousnesses perceive them. The perceiving minds of sentient beings always know only after the fact, whereas the tathāgatagarbha knows before the fact. When the tathāgatagarbha discerns karmic seeds, it already knows these circumstances. When some especially momentous karmic seeds are about to manifest, the tathāgatagarbha will alert the five aggregates and draw their attention, sometimes letting the sentient being's five aggregates know a year or even longer in advance, yet the conscious mind is often unable to guess what event is going to occur. The tathāgatagarbha's discernment of karmic seeds is certain and without doubt on its own part, and that is why it alerts the five aggregates and lets them know. Since beginningless kalpas, the tathāgatagarbha has never made a single erroneous discernment. The tathāgatagarbha's certainty and lack of doubt about itself is precisely its self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga).

Because the tathāgatagarbha can discern karmic seeds, it can know, on the basis of those karmic seeds, the changes that are going to occur in the five-aggregate body and in the material world (bhājana-loka). That is why the tathāgatagarbha is said to know before the fact. Before the material universe undergoes change, it already knows in advance on the basis of the karmic seeds. When the karmic seeds ripen through their conditions, it transmits the seeds of the four great elements to operate and transform the material universe, making the changes of the material universe accord with the karmic seeds—though of course this is not something that the tathāgatagarbha of a single sentient being can accomplish alone. When the material universe is due to be destroyed, the tathāgatagarbha will transmit the seeds of the four great elements of transformation; the proportions of the seeds of the four great elements quietly change, causing the material universe to gradually undergo alteration. Only when the material universe has changed to a certain degree do we humans or other sentient beings become aware that the material universe has changed, and how it has changed—whether it has changed for the better or for the worse. Only when the changes of the material world have accumulated to a certain degree can sentient beings discern that their living environment has become like this. As for what it will become further down the road, we may not be very clear, but the tathāgatagarbha always knows.

Moreover, before the material universe undergoes change, the tathāgatagarbha has already discerned the karmic seeds, knows the changes that are going to occur, knows how the material universe should be transformed, and knows how to transmit the seeds of the four great elements so as to form or destroy the material universe. That is why the tathāgatagarbha is said to know before the fact. When the tathāgatagarbha transforms the material universe, it knows to what degree the transformation has already proceeded and what further transformation is needed; it knows how it itself is operating and how it still needs to operate. This is the tathāgatagarbha's power of introspection, which is its self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga). Without this power of introspection, its operation would be chaotic, and it could not transform the material world in accordance with reality, and it would then be inconsistent with the karmic seeds.

The five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings all gradually mature and then gradually age. Only when the changes have reached a certain time and degree do we discover that we have grown up, that we have changed, or that we have grown old. But the timing of each sentient being's maturation and aging differs, because the karmic actions created in past lives differ and the karmic seeds differ. When a sentient being should begin to age, to what degree they should age, how they should age, and how the physical body should change—all of this the tathāgatagarbha discerns on the basis of the karmic seeds stored by the sentient being. It knows how the physical body should change, and when the conditions ripen, it transmits the seeds of the four great elements to form and alter the physical body, letting the body change bit by bit. When the changes reach a certain degree, the sentient being becomes aware of having grown old: white hair has grown, the back has become bent, the legs are no longer nimble in walking, and wrinkles and age spots have appeared on the face.

In fact, before all this, the tathāgatagarbha has been continuously transmitting the seeds of the four great elements, causing the physical body to change bit by bit. Throughout the operation of transforming the physical body, the tathāgatagarbha is clear about its own operation and activity. It constantly discerns the karmic seeds and operates onward in accordance with them, continuing to transform and alter the physical body, neither repeating nor omitting anything, proceeding step by step in an orderly manner. Because it has the power of introspection, it can know to what degree its operation has proceeded, and thus knows how to operate in the next step. This is precisely the self-validating cognition (sva-saṃvitti-saṃvitti-bhāga) function of the tathāgatagarbha.