Only by transforming the mind-nature of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses can there be the transformation of the basis as tathāgatagarbha

Seeing the Path is divided into two kinds, Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna; it is not the case that only the Mahāyāna is called seeing the Path. Moreover, Mahāyāna seeing the Path does not refer to the transformation of the basis after realizing the tathāgatagarbha; rather, at the very moment of realizing the tathāgatagarbha, one already belongs to seeing the Path. Some people say: realizing the tathāgatagarbha does not yet count as Mahāyāna seeing the Path; only after successfully accomplishing the transformation of the basis with respect to the nature of the tathāgatagarbha can it be called Mahāyāna seeing the Path, can it be called enlightenment. But who knows what realization one has after the transformation of the basis of the tathāgatagarbha, or how pure the mind-ground has become? If enlightenment—seeing the true mind—only counts after the transformation of the basis of the tathāgatagarbha, then perhaps not even one or two people in the Sahā world could ever see the true mind and attain enlightenment. Who can accomplish the transformation of the basis, and what wisdom does one possess upon its accomplishment? Whose sixth and seventh consciousnesses, whose five aggregates, resemble and draw near to the mind-nature of the tathāgatagarbha? The mind-nature of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary beings and pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas (pūrvabhūmika bodhisattva) differs vastly from the mind-nature of the tathāgatagarbha—how could they possibly accomplish the transformation of the basis? At the very least, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses must eliminate afflictions and become third-fruit or fourth-fruit persons (Anāgāmin or arhat) before the transformation of the basis can barely be called accomplished.

Cultivation is the cultivation of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Yet whenever cultivation is discussed, it is referred to the tathāgatagarbha; whenever non-abiding is mentioned, it is referred to the tathāgatagarbha; whenever meditative concentration (samādhi) is mentioned, it is referred to the tathāgatagarbha; whenever nirvāṇa is mentioned, it is referred to the tathāgatagarbha. There is a huge pile of theoretical knowledge about the tathāgatagarbha, but what exactly are the sixth and seventh consciousnesses supposed to do? In fact, it is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that need to be non-abiding; it is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that need meditative concentration; it is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that need the tranquility of nirvāṇa. Whether or not the tathāgatagarbha is in nirvāṇa is, at present, not so important; what is most important is that after cultivation, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses attain the tranquility of nirvāṇa. The focus of cultivation is precisely cultivating the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. If the focus is mistaken, and one only emphasizes theoretical knowledge of the tathāgatagarbha without changing the mind-nature, then it cannot be called cultivation. As of now, theories unrelated to the cultivation of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are of little use and may even become conditions that obstruct the Path.