The Non-Interchangeability of Spiritual Cultivation

To attain true liberation wisdom, one should not inquire into the specific division of responsibilities between the tathāgatagarbha and manas in all dharmas. If one attempts to speculate through reasoning, trying to clarify the division of labor between the true mind and the deluded mind, distinguishing their respective functions, it would be equivalent to directly pointing out which is the tathāgatagarbha and which is manas. What would be the consequence of doing so? It would lead one into conceptual thinking and intellectual understanding, obstructing actual practice, rendering one unable to attain realization, and leaving the critical matter of life and death unresolved. Does one think that by doing so, realization would come directly, conveniently and effortlessly, without the need to diligently study, practice, or investigate anything? Yet, often where one seems to gain advantage is precisely where one loses it. There are no shortcuts in spiritual practice; only through honest, steadfast cultivation can one achieve any accomplishment.

Whoever practices will attain; do not expect to effortlessly receive others' specific and detailed assistance. What must be done by whom must be done by that very person; it cannot be substituted by another. The more help one receives, the less effort one exerts, the shallower the wisdom gained, and the fewer the merits and benefits one enjoys. If the Buddha could substitute for sentient beings in realizing enlightenment and attaining Buddhahood, he would only need to reveal to sentient beings all the essential secrets from the state of sentient beings to the Buddha ground, describing the scenery of the Buddha land. Once sentient beings fully comprehended and understood, they would become Buddhas. How wonderful that would be—convenient for the Buddha, effortless for sentient beings, and everyone rejoicing. But could this approach work?

What the seven consciousnesses must accomplish cannot be substituted by the tathāgatagarbha, nor by Buddhas and bodhisattvas. What the tathāgatagarbha must accomplish cannot be substituted by the seven consciousnesses. Otherwise, only the tathāgatagarbha would suffice to resolve all problems, and the seven consciousnesses could do whatever they wished—sleeping all day or perishing would be acceptable. In reality, this is not the case. Between the seven consciousnesses and the tathāgatagarbha, as well as between sentient beings and the Buddha, each has its own responsibilities, each bears its own duties, and each resolves its own problems.