Spiritual Practice Is to Eliminate the Defilements of the Seven Consciousnesses

The name "ālaya-vijñāna" is used by sentient beings prior to the eighth bodhisattva ground. After reaching the eighth bodhisattva ground, it is renamed "vipāka-vijñāna." The term "ālaya-vijñāna" indicates that within the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings, there remain the seeds of the afflictions and karmic habits of the seven consciousnesses, along with the seeds of habitual tendencies of afflictions. These seeds are all subject to birth, cessation, and change. When combined with the unchanging tathāgatagarbha, they form the ālaya-vijñāna, which is neither born nor extinguished. If the defiled karmic seeds of the seven consciousnesses stored within the tathāgatagarbha are eradicated, and the seven consciousnesses sever afflictions as well as the habitual tendencies of afflictions, the ālaya-vijñāna is then renamed vipāka-vijñāna.

Cultivation involves eliminating the ignorance and defilements of the seven consciousnesses, eradicating the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, along with their habitual tendencies, thereby gradually transforming them into consciousnesses of pure nature. In the process of cultivation, realizing the tathāgatagarbha is crucial. Only by realizing the tathāgatagarbha can one know the true reality of the dharma-realm, recognize the emptiness of all phenomena within the five-aggregate world, abandon self-attachment and dharma-attachment, and ultimately attain Buddhahood. By observing the pure nature of the tathāgatagarbha and its non-outflow conditioned aspect, the seven consciousnesses become influenced and gradually attain mental emptiness. They cease clinging to the illusory phenomena of the worldly realm, and as the mind approaches the pure nature of the tathāgatagarbha, the seven consciousnesses attain liberation and accomplish the Buddha Way.