The True Meaning of Perfuming and Seed Retention

Some say the sixth consciousness cannot perfume the seventh consciousness, but can only perfume the Tathagatagarbha. Is this statement correct? The key lies in understanding the relationship among the sixth consciousness, the seventh consciousness, and the Tathagatagarbha, the purpose of the sixth consciousness's perfuming, and whether the Tathagatagarbha can be perfumed. For example, when the sixth consciousness encounters the Buddha Dharma, it feels the Dharma is excellent, capable of eliminating ignorance and attaining liberation. Thus, it diligently studies and practices, single-mindedly seeking liberation. During this process of study and practice, is it perfuming the Tathagatagarbha or the seventh consciousness? It is certainly perfuming the seventh consciousness; it is the seventh consciousness that undergoes change. The Tathagatagarbha is neither perfumed nor altered. However, after the seventh consciousness is perfumed, the karmic seeds are stored within the Tathagatagarbha. Thus, the Tathagatagarbha contains the wholesome karmic seeds of studying and practicing the Buddha Dharma. It is conventionally said that the Tathagatagarbha is perfumed, but in essence, the Tathagatagarbha is not perfumed because it remains unmoving and unperturbed in the face of all phenomena, neither wholesome nor unwholesome, and thus cannot be perfumed.

The sixth consciousness studying and practicing the Buddha Dharma cannot perfume the Tathagatagarbha; the Tathagatagarbha will never study or practice the Buddha Dharma. Therefore, the sixth consciousness cannot perfume the Tathagatagarbha. The sixth consciousness has ignorance and wishes to eliminate it. Can perfuming the Tathagatagarbha eliminate ignorance? Clearly not. Because the Tathagatagarbha has no ignorance, and since there is no ignorance, there is no need to eliminate it. Thus, the sixth consciousness cannot perfume the Tathagatagarbha; it can only perfume the seventh consciousness. The Tathagatagarbha is unarmed, deaf, mute, and blind. It cannot study or practice the Buddha Dharma, cannot eliminate afflictions, or abandon unwholesomeness for wholesomeness. Moreover, it has no afflictions to eliminate and no ignorance to remove.

The sixth consciousness wishes to become a Buddha, attain liberation, or enter Nirvana. No matter how much it perfumes, the Tathagatagarbha has no such mental activities or thoughts; otherwise, it would fall into worldly mental activities. Therefore, the sixth consciousness can only perfume the seventh consciousness to generate these thoughts and aspirations. The Tathagatagarbha itself is the Tathagata, liberated and free, inherently abiding in the Nirvanic state of non-arising and non-ceasing, unmoving and unstill, neither coming nor going, eternally unmoving. Thus, it has no thought of becoming a Buddha or entering Nirvana. To ask the Tathagatagarbha to practice the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment is pointless: first, it cannot comprehend, and second, it is unnecessary. To ask it to cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom is redundant, as it inherently possesses them without needing instruction. To ask it to eliminate afflictions is impossible, as it has no afflictions whatsoever. Those who wish to perfume the Tathagatagarbha fundamentally fail to understand what the Tathagatagarbha is, what perfuming means, or the significance and outcome of perfuming. They merely indulge in various sentimentalities and delusions, adding legs to a snake or heads upon heads, toiling for decades without ever understanding the purpose of studying Buddhism.

The mind root (manas) has been united with ignorance since beginningless time, entangled by it. After giving birth to the six consciousnesses, the mind root transmits ignorance to them, perfuming the sixth consciousness. After studying Buddhism, when the sixth consciousness awakens, it leads the mind root to awaken together, perfuming the mind root to gradually eliminate ignorance and gradually attain clarity. In this process, the mind root, being perfumed, generates seeds that are stored within the Tathagatagarbha for future use.

How are they used in future lives? When the seeds mature under appropriate conditions, they perfume the sixth consciousness again. The sixth consciousness, upon awakening, studies and practices Buddhism to perfume the mind root, forming new seeds stored within the Tathagatagarbha. This process is like a snowball effect: the seeds perfuming the mind root accumulate increasingly, growing larger and larger, while ignorance becomes thinner and thinner, until finally all ignorance is eradicated, and sentient beings become Buddhas. Throughout this, the Tathagatagarbha continuously stores and outputs the perfumed seeds, and its contribution cannot be overlooked. Without the Tathagatagarbha storing and outputting seeds, spiritual practice would be merely a game, accomplished in vain without leaving a trace, rendering future lives devoid of merit. The process of the Tathagatagarbha storing seeds is called "being perfumed and holding seeds" (受熏持种).

Classical texts are not something everyone can decipher and deeply comprehend. Profound Buddha Dharma is not something everyone can accurately conjecture with their brains. No one should be self-righteous, thinking they know how things are. To truly achieve anything is extremely difficult and requires immense roots of goodness, merit, and wisdom. Some even say one can become a Buddha through practice without relying on the Tathagatagarbha, not knowing what else they could use to attain Buddhahood. To not recognize one's own master, the benefactor of countless eons, indeed shows one's mind needs awakening.