Severing Self-View Leads to Realization of Tathagatagarbha

Before directly realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, the preliminary stages of usmāgata (warmth), mūrdhan (summit), kṣānti (forbearance), and laukikāgradharma (supreme worldly phenomenon) will first manifest. These four stages—warmth, summit, forbearance, and supreme worldly phenomenon—refer to the process through which, either by investigating the Tathāgatagarbha or by studying the principle of the non-self nature of the five aggregates (skandhas) in the Āgama scriptures, one gradually negates the notion of the five aggregates as the self within the mind. As wisdom gradually clarifies and brightens, one ultimately fully affirms that the five aggregates are neither the self nor different from the self, thereby eradicating the view of self, transcending ordinary worldlings, and becoming the foremost person in the world.

Only after completely negating the five aggregates, rejecting the seven consciousnesses as the self, and dismissing the six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six sense consciousnesses, can one realize the true self and thus attain enlightenment by awakening to the mind. As the ancient Chan patriarchs said: "Only when the five aggregates are struck dead are you permitted to have the dharmakāya come alive." This precisely means that only after first negating the reality of the five aggregates and severing the view of self that takes the five aggregates as "I," can the pure and true dharmakāya vividly manifest within the mind. Instantly, one confirms this as the intrinsic nature, this as the Tathāgatagarbha, this as the dharmakāya. After this exchange of death and life, the foundation for attaining Buddhahood is established.

Although between these two stages—perhaps within an extremely short period, even in the very moment of negating the five aggregates—one may find the Tathāgatagarbha, this still occurs after the eradication of the view of self. Generally, people say that the view of self is severed at the moment of awakening to the mind or afterward. However, in reality, without negating the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses, one cannot realize the Tathāgatagarbha, because the obscuring mist of the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses veils the manifestation of the Tathāgatagarbha. Pearls and fish eyes are mingled together, making it temporarily impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Once the view of self is eradicated and the false is negated, the true leaps forth, and one attains realization of the Tathāgatagarbha. If the false five aggregates are not negated, the eye of wisdom cannot arise, making it impossible to recognize the Tathāgatagarbha. One must continue investigating until the view of self is severed; only then can one find the Tathāgatagarbha, which lies beyond the five aggregates and eighteen elements. This may occur in an instant.