The Existence of Nirvāṇa Is Inseparable from Tathāgatagarbha

Quote:

The Buddha said, “Also, Mahāmati! Based on tathāgatagarbha, the mundane world, “nirvāṇa,” and the cause of suffering and joy come into existence. Ordinary people cannot perceive or comprehend [these facts] and will arrive at the notion of emptiness. They will also become delusive and develop inverted thoughts.” Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, Transformation Chapter, Vol. 15

佛云：【「復次大慧！依如來藏，故有世閒、『涅 槃』、苦樂之因；而諸凡夫不覺不知，而墜於空，虛妄顛倒。」】《入楞伽經》化品 第十五

Remarks:

Without tathāgatagarbha—the ālayavijñāna mind entity—the mundane world will not come into being. All phenomena originate from the ālayavijñāna mind entity. Similarly, without tathāgatagarbha—the ālayavijñāna mind entity—there will be no suffering or happiness. All dharmas (sensations of suffering and happiness) in the phenomenal world arise from the internal perceived portion (C. Nèi xiāng fēn;內相分) of the ālayavijñāna mind entity. Likewise, without the existence of tathāgatagarbha—the ālayavijñāna mind entity—there will be no nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is thus named as such based on the ālayavijñāna mind entity.

The notion of nirvāṇa—remainder or remainderless nirvāṇa—is “statelessness” or “the state at which nothing can be attained” manifested by the ālayavijñāna mind entity. Hence, the Buddha teaches that the ālayavijñāna mind entity is the cause of the mundane world, of suffering and happiness, and of nirvāṇa.

However, ordinary people cannot perceive or comprehend these facts. They are thus inevitably trapped in delusive and inverted thoughts of nihilistic emptiness and mistake it as tantamount to nirvāṇa, as taught by Master Yishun.

In fact, the notion of nirvāṇa exists based on the truly existent mind entity, ālayavijñāna. When the manifestation of afflictions has been eradicated, this mind entity will be renamed the retribution consciousness (S. vipāka-vijñāna; C. 異熟識). Furthermore, when the dharmas constituent of the eighteen elements have been totally extinguished, the aggregate self in the mundane world and the sentient being self will also vanish, and only the eighth vijñāna, which denotes the remainderless nirvāṇa, will exist. In other words, the realization of nirvāṇa is inseparable from the truly existent mind entity, ālayavijñāna.

#alayavijnana #mindentity #nirvana #nihilisticemptiness #tathagatagarbha #aggregateself #eighthvijnana