The Discriminating and Non-Discriminating Nature of the Tathāgatagarbha

The tathāgatagarbha inherently contains the seeds of the seven consciousnesses. When these seeds are output and, after discerning the six sense objects, return, they bring back the content of the discernment and activities with them, and the tathāgatagarbha stores them on file, thereby simultaneously knowing what the seven consciousnesses have done. If the seven consciousnesses have performed karmic actions of greed, aversion, and delusion, the returning seeds are defiled; once stored, when output again they are defiled seeds, and the seven consciousnesses will naturally carry the nature of greed, aversion, and delusion. If what the seven consciousnesses have engaged in are pure karmic actions, the returning seeds are pure, and when output again, the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses will be pure. These seeds, following our bodily, verbal, and mental actions, must constantly alternate between purity and defilement: the more the pure, the less the defiled; the more the defiled, the less the pure. Purity and defilement cannot both increase at the same time or both decrease at the same time; the two always stand in a relationship where one increases as the other decreases.

From this it can be seen that the number of seeds of the seven consciousnesses is fixed and cannot undergo any increase or decrease in quantity; otherwise, sentient beings' wholesome nature would increase while their unwholesome nature also increased, or their wholesome karma would decrease while their unwholesome karma also decreased—and this is impossible.