Tathāgatagarbha: No Ignorance, No Cessation of Ignorance

What the Heart Sutra says—"no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance"—means that the tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance, and therefore the tathāgatagarbha also has no ending of ignorance. He need not eradicate ignorance, need not sever afflictions, need not cultivate practice, need not attain liberation, nor even attain buddhahood. But the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates cannot be like this. The seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates possess immeasurable ignorance, and thus they need to cultivate practice in order to eradicate ignorance. Only when ignorance has been completely eradicated can ultimate purity be attained, along with great freedom and great liberation. In the process of eradicating ignorance, one needs to cultivate practice, needs to uphold the precepts, needs meditative concentration (samādhi), needs to study the wisdom of prajñā, needs to investigate Chan and awaken to the Way, needs to sever afflictions, needs to attain realization, and needs to attain buddhahood. After attaining buddhahood, the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates will have no more ignorance, and there will be no further need to cultivate practice in order to extinguish ignorance.