A Brief Explanation of the Mahayana Tathagatagarbha Sutra
Chapter 4 The Buddha Reveals the Tathāgatagarbha Within the Afflicted Bodies of Sentient Beings
Original text: 尔时世尊。告金刚慧。及诸菩萨言。善男子。有大方等经。名如来藏。将欲演说。故现斯瑞。汝等谛听。善思念之。咸言善哉。愿乐欲闻。
Explanation: At this time the World-Honored One said to the Bodhisattva Vajra Wisdom and the great bodhisattvas: Sons of goodness, there is a Mahāvaipulya sūtra named Tathāgatagarbha. In order to expound this Mahāyāna sūtra, I have manifested the above auspicious signs, transforming lotus flowers in the sky—budding and about to bloom, then blooming beautifully, and finally withering and shriveling. Even so, there have always been countless transformation buddhas within each and every lotus flower, adorned with major and minor marks (lakṣaṇa-vyañjana-sampad), radiating great light. Listen carefully; I am going to teach this Mahāvaipulya Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra. After listening attentively, contemplate it well—ponder well upon this tathāgatagarbha sūtra.
The World-Honored One manifested these auspicious signs as groundwork to cause sentient beings to give rise to faith, and also to cause sentient beings to give rise to doubt. In order to resolve the doubts of sentient beings, the World-Honored One would then teach this tathāgatagarbha sūtra, enabling sentient beings to sever their doubts and give rise to faith, and to accept and believe in the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha. When sentient beings give rise to faith in the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha and their faith becomes complete, they will enter the next stage of cultivation and personal realization. Hearing the Buddha speak thus, the assembly all said, "Excellent! We wish and delight to hear it; we are all very willing to listen."
Original text: 佛言。善男子。如佛所化。无数莲花。忽然萎变。无量化佛。在莲花内。相好庄严。结跏趺坐。放大光明。众睹希有，靡不恭敬。
Explanation: The Buddha then continued: Sons of goodness, look at the countless thousand-petaled lotus flowers I just manifested; in an instant they withered, transformed, and vanished, yet the countless transformation buddhas still remain within each and every lotus flower, adorned with major and minor marks, sitting in the full-lotus posture, radiating great light. When sentient beings behold this, they all find it rare and hard to encounter, and the assembly joins their palms in reverence and praise.
The countless transformation buddhas are a metaphor for the fact that each sentient being's body contains its own tathāgatagarbha. Although that thousand-petaled lotus flower can bud and bloom, then fade and wither—the lotus flower undergoes arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing—the tathāgatagarbha within sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies still radiates great light and does not arise and cease along with the sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies. No matter how the sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies arise, abide, change, and cease, no matter how they evolve, the tathāgatagarbha within sentient beings' bodies constantly radiates great light, neither arising nor ceasing, performing the meritorious functions it should perform. Seeing the rare auspicious signs just manifested, everyone found them marvelous and gave rise to boundless reverence. Taking advantage of the sentient beings' arising reverence, the World-Honored One began to teach the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha.
Original text: 如是善男子。我以佛眼。观一切众生。贪欲恚痴。诸烦恼中。有如来智。如来眼如来身。结跏趺坐。俨然不动。善男子。一切众生。虽在诸趣。烦恼身中。有如来藏。常无染污。德相备足。如我无异。
Explanation: Thus, sons of goodness, with the buddha eye I observe all sentient beings: amid the various afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, there is the tathāgata's wisdom, the tathāgata's eye, and the tathāgata's body, sitting in the full-lotus posture, solemn and unmoving. Sons of goodness, all sentient beings, though in the various destinies of the six paths, have the tathāgatagarbha constantly present within their five-aggregate afflicted bodies, without defilement, complete in virtues and marks, just like me, without difference.
The Buddha has five eyes: the flesh eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, the dharma eye, and the buddha eye. The flesh eye is the eye manifested on the Buddha's physical body, the eye of the flesh composed of the four great elements. The divine eye is the supernatural-power state attained by additionally cultivating the four dhyānas and eight absorptions; it can see the vast and subtle material world that the flesh eye cannot see—from the heavenly palaces to the hells, all material forms in between are seen without exception, and some divine eyes can even see the various buddha-lands. The wisdom eye is the mind-eye of great wisdom attained through realizing the tathāgatagarbha, referring to the prajñā wisdom of the non-arising of all dharmas possessed by bodhisattvas before the bhūmis. The dharma eye is the pure and vast wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas attained by bodhisattvas on the bhūmis—the wisdom that clearly understands the seed-functions of the tathāgatagarbha. The buddha eye is the eye of wisdom possessed uniquely by the Buddha, the World-Honored One.
With the buddha eye the Buddha observes all sentient beings—especially ordinary sentient beings, who have not eradicated their afflictions—each having within their five-aggregate bodies greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance and self-conceit, various doubts, wrong view/false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), and many other afflictions. Although sentient beings' bodies contain all kinds of afflictions, within these afflictions there is the tathāgata's wisdom and virtuous marks. This statement is crucial and profoundly meaningful.
The tathāgata's wisdom is the wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha's own substance that we inherently possess, the transcendent innate wisdom that the tathāgatagarbha possesses. Innate wisdom refers to the wisdom by which the tathāgatagarbha, with its inherently complete wisdom and virtuous capabilities, gives birth to all the myriad dharmas of the three-realm world, gives birth to sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies, records, stores, and transmits sentient beings' countless karmic seeds, and transforms and manifests sentient beings' mundane dharmas of the three realms.
This wisdom of His does not belong to the wisdom within the three-realm world, but belongs to His inherent wisdom and virtuous functions. The tathāgatagarbha is neither inside nor outside the three realms, yet it can, without leaving the three realms, give birth to and transform all dharmas of the three realms, manifesting all worldly dharmas through its unique operating principles—this is His tathāgata wisdom, the tathāgatagarbha's inherent wisdom. This inherent wisdom is not external; rather, the tathāgatagarbha, thus by its very nature (dharmatā), possesses such virtuous capabilities, functions, and utilities. This great wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha does not belong to the wisdom within the mundane dharmas of the three realms; this wisdom need not be born and will not perish, but exists and operates truly and really forever, manifesting its unique virtues and functions. This is the tathāgata wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha.
The next is the tathāgata's eye. The tathāgata's eye is quite interesting—what is it for? The eye is for seeing dharmas. The tathāgata's eye shows that the tathāgatagarbha has the nature of seeing, because within the tathāgatagarbha there is the great element of seeing; when the seeds of the great element of seeing become manifest, the tathāgatagarbha's own substance has the nature of seeing. What does it see? It sees all dharmas of the three-realm world; whenever a dharma appears, the tathāgatagarbha can see it. This seeing is utterly different in content from what the mundane mind of the seven consciousnesses sees. This seeing of the tathāgatagarbha can see all dharmas and can radiate great light upon all dharmas—this is the buddha-nature, also called the tathāgatagarbha nature. Since the buddha-nature has seeing, the tathāgatagarbha has the nature of seeing; because the tathāgatagarbha has the nature of seeing, the seventh consciousness (manas) relies upon it and can have its own nature of seeing, and then operates upon all dharmas. In this way, the arising-ceasing and the non-arising-non-ceasing operate in harmonious conjunction, manifesting all dharmas of the three-realm world.
There is also the tathāgata's body. The meaning of the tathāgata's body is that although the tathāgatagarbha's own substance is formless and without marks, it truly exists and has real functions and effects. It is a truly existent substance, called the mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta); it is a body without material form, also called the dharmakāya, able to manifest the nirmāṇakāya (response bodies and transformation bodies) as well as the sambhogakāya. The tathāgata's wisdom, the tathāgata's eye, and the tathāgata's body spoken of here all refer to the tathāgatagarbha.
The World-Honored One said that although sentient beings' afflictions of greed and hatred blaze fiercely, the tathāgatagarbha remains unmoving in thusness; it does not arise and cease with the arising and ceasing of the five-aggregate body, and is not afflicted by the afflictions of the five aggregates. When the dharmas of the three-realm world appear, He does not come from anywhere; when the dharmas of the three-realm world perish, He does not go anywhere. Although He manifests all dharmas, He Himself remains unmoving in thusness, not rising or falling with any dharma. Although sentient beings have various afflictions such as greed and hatred, various ignorances, and various defilements, the tathāgatagarbha within this afflicted body is true, real, and thuslike—neither greedy, nor hateful, nor deluded (representing the absence of ignorance). The tathāgatagarbha has no ignorance; He is clear about all dharmas, because He has the tathāgata's eye, able to see all dharmas and understand all dharmas. Although He can see all dharmas and understand everything, He remains unmoving in thusness, without mental thoughts, without ignorance, without greed or hatred.
The Buddha said that although all sentient beings are in the various destinies, within their afflicted bodies there is the tathāgatagarbha, constantly undefiled, complete in virtues and marks, no different from me—this statement is extremely crucial. All sentient beings, whether with five aggregates or four aggregates, as long as they have the functional operations of a conscious mind, all have the tathāgatagarbha and are all called sentient beings. Although sentient beings transmigrate through the various destinies of the six paths, within their afflicted bodies there is the tathāgatagarbha, constantly undefiled. The tathāgatagarbha constantly exists without defilement; it is not greedy with sentient beings' greed, not hateful with sentient beings' hatred, not deluded with sentient beings' delusion. Although sentient beings have created countless boundless unwholesome karmas and defiled karmas, the tathāgatagarbha has never had defiled karma or karmic ignorance. Within sentient beings' afflicted bodies, the tathāgatagarbha is complete in virtues and marks, truly and thuslike manifesting all dharmas, no different from the Buddha.
This passage is profound and extremely important, explaining that mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—the three—are without difference. Mind is the tathāgatagarbha; Buddha is the World-Honored One; sentient beings are ordinary sentient beings as well as noble sentient beings. The essential nature of each sentient being's tathāgatagarbha and the essential nature of the Buddha's true suchness have no difference; their virtuous capabilities and utilities are all fully complete. This shows that sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha is originally complete with all dharmas; it is only limited by sentient beings' karmic obstructions, karmic seeds, and karmic conditions, and has no choice but to accord with conditions and manifest sentient beings' defiled karmas, unable to manifest sublime states at any time and place as the Buddha does. The meaning of this passage is both profound and extremely important; one should savor it well with single-minded attention.
Original text: 又善男子。譬如天眼之人。观未敷花。见诸花内。有如来身。结跏趺坐。除去萎花。便得显现。如是。善男子。佛见众生。如来藏已。欲令开敷。为说经法。除灭烦恼。显现佛性。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Sons of goodness, it is like a person with the divine eye who sees flowers that have not yet bloomed and can see within the flowers a tathāgata's body sitting in the full-lotus posture; upon removing the withered petals, the tathāgata's body becomes manifest. Thus, sons of goodness, after the Buddha sees sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha, wishing to reveal the tathāgatagarbha to sentient beings so that they may awaken to their own tathāgatagarbha, He then teaches the sūtra-dharma for sentient beings, first removing sentient beings' withered leaves of affliction, in order to manifest their own buddha-nature.
A person with the divine eye can see very, very far, very deep, and very subtly, able to see form objects that sentient beings' flesh eyes cannot see. The person with the divine eye is a metaphor for the Buddha, the World-Honored One, who can see the tathāgatagarbha that sentient beings cannot see. The unopened flower is a metaphor for sentient beings in the mother's womb, not yet born; although not yet born, within this flower there is nevertheless a tathāgata's body sitting in the full-lotus posture, meaning that there is a tathāgatagarbha upholding sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies. Because there is the tathāgatagarbha, there are sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies, and only then are there the birth, manifestation, and operation of sentient beings' five aggregates; the tathāgatagarbha functions right within sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies.
The withered flower is used as a metaphor for afflictions, greed, hatred, and other various ignorances; when ignorance is removed, the tathāgatagarbha becomes manifest. What is called "manifestation" is enabling sentient beings to recognize Him and see Him; this seeing is not seeing with the flesh eye, but discovering and realizing with the wisdom eye. Why is it that when the withered flower is removed, the tathāgatagarbha can become manifest? Because these withered flowers—various afflictive ignorances such as greed and hatred—obscure sentient beings' conscious mind, causing sentient beings to sink into ignorance and be unable to see the true reality of all dharmas. Although sentient beings have ignorance, the tathāgatagarbha is also upholding and operating within the body; it is just that these afflictions obscure sentient beings' eyes, making them deluded, seeing only the mundane dharmas of the three realms and not seeing the mind of ultimate reality, the tathāgatagarbha, taking these arising-ceasing, changing dharmas as real, unable to see the true and thuslike tathāgata aspect behind them, unable to see the wisdom of the fundamental substance.
When sentient beings subdue their afflictions and their minds become purified, and when the conditions ripen, they can realize that there is a tathāgatagarbha within their own bodies, recognizing that their own five aggregates are actually not real—it is He who is transforming and manifesting everything. Removing the withered flower means subduing afflictions; when the mind is purified, wisdom arises; with wisdom, one can realize the tathāgatagarbha. This seeing is the seeing of wisdom—using the wisdom mind to recognize the mind of ultimate reality, recognizing the tathāgatagarbha within one's own five aggregates. Although when there are afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion one cannot see the manifestation of the tathāgatagarbha, the tathāgatagarbha still exists and operates, regardless of whether sentient beings can see it.
This passage has the same meaning as what the Buddha said when He had just attained the Way: "How marvelous! All sentient beings of the great earth possess the tathāgata's wisdom and virtuous marks; it is only because of their false thoughts and attachments that they cannot realize it." The Buddha said: I see that every sentient being's body contains its own tathāgatagarbha; it is just that sentient beings have not realized it and cannot see their own tathāgatagarbha. The purpose of the Buddha's teaching the dharma is precisely to enable sentient beings to see their own tathāgatagarbha. Every sentient being's tathāgatagarbha exists inherently; whether you point it out or not, it exists just the same. When it is not pointed out, sentient beings cannot see it because of their afflictions; but when it is pointed out, sentient beings, pulling aside their afflictions and removing the obscuration before their eyes, can see the wisdom of their own tathāgatagarbha's fundamental substance manifesting.
In order to enable sentient beings to realize the tathāgatagarbha, the Buddha teaches the dharma to eradicate afflictions and remove the obscurations in sentient beings' minds. When the obscurations are removed, the light manifests; when sentient beings have wisdom, they can realize their inherently endowed tathāgatagarbha and manifest the buddha-nature. "Manifestation" means enabling you to realize and discover it. The buddha-nature does not exist only when afflictions are absent and is not born only when afflictions are subdued; whether or not you have afflictions, the buddha-nature is always manifesting as it truly is, radiating great light, illuminating and touching all dharmas. Because sentient beings cannot see the tathāgatagarbha, the Buddha comes to teach the dharma, helping sentient beings eradicate afflictions and ignorance, enabling their minds to attain purity and see their own tathāgatagarbha. This meaning is called "manifesting the buddha-nature"—pulling out the obscurations and removing the obstacles before one's eyes, one can then see one's inherently possessed tathāgatagarbha.
Original text: 善男子。诸佛法尔。若佛出世。若不出世。一切众生。如来之藏。常住不变。但彼众生。烦恼覆故。如来出世。广为说法。除灭尘劳。净一切智。善男子。若有菩萨。信乐此法。专心修学。便得解脱。成等正觉。普为世间。施作佛事。
Explanation: Sons of goodness, the dharma of all buddhas is originally thus; the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha has always been like this. Whether or not a buddha appears in the world, all sentient beings' fundamental-substance tathāgatagarbha constantly abides without alteration. However, because all sentient beings' own minds are obscured by afflictions, the Tathāgata appears in the world and extensively teaches the dharma for sentient beings, eradicating their afflictive toils and purifying all their wisdom. Sons of goodness, if there are bodhisattvas who take delight in and have faith in this dharma and cultivate and study it single-mindedly, they can attain liberation, and in the future realize anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, universally bestowing the buddha-dharma upon all worlds and greatly performing buddha-work.
This passage is extremely crucial. This sūtra can enable sentient beings to sever doubts and give rise to faith, believing that within their own bodies there is innate wisdom, an innate tathāgatagarbha, constantly abiding without change. The Buddha emphasizes here that the tathāgata-garbha of all sentient beings constantly abides without change. "Constantly abiding" means not arising with sentient beings' arising and not ceasing with sentient beings' ceasing, but constantly abiding within sentient beings, together with sentient beings; yet the tathāgatagarbha's own substance does not change, without any phenomenon of arising, ceasing, or alteration. Sentient beings' five aggregates, seven consciousnesses, and karmic seeds have phenomena of arising, ceasing, and alteration, which cause the tathāgatagarbha's overall contents to change—not that the tathāgatagarbha's own substance undergoes alteration. Because those sentient beings are covered by afflictions, the Tathāgata appears in the world and extensively teaches the dharma. Whether or not the Tathāgata appears in the world, whether or not He teaches the dharma, sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha constantly abides without change, always together with sentient beings; as long as there are sentient beings, there is the tathāgatagarbha upholding them.
Because sentient beings have various afflictions and ignorances obscuring them, veiling their own minds, they do not see the tathāgata-garbha constantly abiding without alteration within their own bodies. The Tathāgata's appearance in the world is precisely to enable sentient beings to see their own fundamental substance—the tathāgata-garbha. Therefore the Buddha, in the Sahā world, spent forty-nine years teaching the assembly the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the canon, enabling sentient beings to understand the tathāgata-garbha within their own bodies. Extensively teaching the dharma for sentient beings and eradicating the various afflictive toils within their own bodies—greed, hatred, self-conceit, ignorance, wrong view/false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi), and so forth—only then can one purify all wisdom, enabling one's own mind to become purified and manifest great wisdom. After wisdom manifests, one can see the tathāgata-garbha within one's own body constantly abiding without change, see one's own buddha-nature, constantly radiating light and shaking the earth, illuminating and touching all worldly dharmas.
Sons of goodness, if there are bodhisattvas who can take delight in faith that there is a tathāgata-garbha constantly abiding without alteration within sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies, and who can cultivate and study the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha single-mindedly, what result will they ultimately obtain? They will attain the fruit of liberation. This liberation is no longer the liberation of the Hīnayāna arhat's escape from the three realms, but the great liberation that is thorough and ultimate within the three-realm world. This thorough and ultimate great liberation means eradicating all ignorance, completely severing afflictive ignorance and habitual tendencies, and completely severing the karmic obstructions of birth and death; after severing them all, one becomes the ultimate, unsurpassed right and equal enlightenment. After attaining right and equal enlightenment, one can greatly perform buddha-work for all sentient beings in the world, expounding all buddha-dharmas and extensively delivering countless, boundless sentient beings.
Original text: 尔时世尊以偈颂曰。
譬如萎变花 其花未开敷 天眼者观见 如来身无染
除去萎花已 见无碍导师 为断烦恼故 最胜出世间
佛观众生类 悉有如来藏 无量烦恼覆 犹如秽花缠
我为诸众生 除灭烦恼故 普为说正法 令速成佛道
我以佛眼见 一切众生身 佛藏安隐住 说法令开现
Explanation: The Buddha then spoke a verse to summarize the dharma just taught:
譬如萎变花。其花未开敷。天眼者观见。如来身无染。 It is like fresh flowers that have withered and changed: before the flowers have bloomed, a person with the divine eye can observe that there is a tathāgata's body sitting within them, pure and undefiled.
The withered and changed flowers are the thousand-petaled lotus flowers the Buddha just manifested with supernatural power. After the lotus flowers bloomed—from budding and about to bloom, to blooming—they instantly withered and changed; arising and ceasing, changing so rapidly, so impermanent. When the thousand-petaled lotus flowers were budding and had not yet bloomed, a person with the divine eye—one who has realized the tathāgatagarbha and possesses the wisdom eye—can contemplate that sentient beings' bodies all contain the tathāgatagarbha, without defilement, without ignorance, without greed, without hatred, without delusion, without arrogance and self-conceit, and without various afflictions such as doubt and evil views; only a person with wisdom can realize this point, while a person without wisdom sees only the budding lotus flower.
除去萎花已。见无碍导师。为断烦恼故。最胜出世间。 After removing these withered lotus flowers, one can see the guide who is unobstructed with respect to all dharmas—the tathāgatagarbha. The withered flowers represent sentient beings' afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and ignorance and evil views. After subduing these afflictions and removing these afflictive obscurations, the film in the eyes disappears, pure light is emitted, wisdom manifests, and one can see the unobstructed guide—the tathāgatagarbha within sentient beings' bodies. The tathāgatagarbha is unobstructed: regardless of whether sentient beings have the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, the tathāgatagarbha can manifest all worldly dharmas as they truly are; it itself has no greed, hatred, or various ignorances. Within the world and beyond the world, there is nothing it does not see, nothing it does not know, nothing it does not understand, nothing it does not create; nothing can obscure the tathāgatagarbha's fundamental-substance wisdom, and nothing can obscure His function and utility of manifesting the myriad dharmas of the three-realm world as they truly are—therefore He is unobstructed.
But sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies and the mind of the seven consciousnesses are beset with layer upon layer of obstructions, having all kinds of obscurations; because of ignorance, their own minds are obscured and their own eyes are obscured, and they do not see the tathāgata's wisdom, the tathāgata's eye, and the tathāgata's body inherently present within their own bodies. The "guide" refers to the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha can lead sentient beings to be born, manifest, and undergo arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing in the three-realm world; it can govern all dharmas of the three-realm world and govern sentient beings' five aggregates, all the way to leading sentient beings onto the path to buddhahood and ultimately becoming buddhas. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha is the unobstructed guide, while sentient beings' minds all have obstructions. Because ignorance obscures their own minds, they cannot see the true reality of all dharmas, taking the false as true, wandering through birth and death in the six paths, suffering without end.
In order to sever sentient beings' afflictions, the Buddha, the World-Honored One, most honored and supreme in the three realms, comes to this world to guide sentient beings. "Most supreme" refers to the most sublime and most honored in the three-realm world—that is, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. Because sentient beings have afflictions and cannot see their own tathāgata aspect, complete in virtues and functions, the Buddha comes to the world precisely to sever sentient beings' various afflictions and purify their various wisdoms, enabling sentient beings to know and realize their own unobstructed guide, the innate wisdom within their own bodies, and realize the mind of ultimate reality, the tathāgatagarbha. The Buddha, most supreme, appears in this world precisely for this purpose. Therefore Shākyamuni Buddha came to our Sahā world eight thousand times to manifest [buddhahood], precisely to sever sentient beings' afflictive ignorance, remove ignorance, remove the defilements of the mind-ground, and finally see the true reality of all dharmas and attain the unsurpassed right and equal enlightenment.
佛观众生类。悉有如来藏。无量烦恼覆。犹如秽花缠。 The Buddha observes that all classes of sentient beings have the tathāgatagarbha, each having its own tathāgatagarbha. At the beginning of the sūtra's exposition, the thousand-petaled lotus flowers manifested by the World-Honored One contained countless transformation buddhas—one transformation buddha in each thousand-petaled lotus flower, sitting upright in the full-lotus posture within the thousand-petaled lotus flower, radiating light and shaking the earth, illuminating and touching everything. This shows that one sentient being is one thousand-petaled lotus flower, and one thousand-petaled lotus flower has one transformation buddha, symbolizing that one sentient being has one tathāgatagarbha, manifesting its own functions, virtues, and utilities within sentient beings' five aggregates.
Because sentient beings have countless boundless afflictions covering and obscuring their own minds, they are unable to realize their inherently possessed tathāgatagarbha. The countless afflictions are like the filth of a defiled flower; the defiled flower is entangled by filth, and sentient beings are entangled by these afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and thus cannot realize their own wisdom and virtuous marks. The Buddha comes to this world precisely to strip away sentient beings' afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, remove the obscurations, and remove ignorance; because sentient beings have peeled away the entanglements of those afflictions, they can see their own inherent virtuous wisdom—the tathāgatagarbha.
我为诸众生。除灭烦恼故。普为说正法。令速成佛道。 For the sake of all sentient beings, to remove the obscurations of afflictions and sever ignorance and defilement, I universally expound the true dharma for all sentient beings. This "true" refers to the Mahāvaipulya, upright, and true dharma of the tathāgatagarbha; only this is the most correct. All other dharmas are dharmas given birth to and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, and are therefore peripheral and not correct. The true dharma, the tathāgatagarbha, neither arises nor ceases, constantly present in the world; the incorrect dharmas given birth to by the true dharma of the tathāgatagarbha arise and cease in every instant, impermanent and changing. The Buddha universally expounds the true dharma of the tathāgatagarbha for the entire assembly, enabling all sentient beings to swiftly accomplish the unsurpassed buddha-way and return to their home of awakened nature.
我以佛眼见。一切众生身。佛藏安隐住。说法令开现。 With the buddha eye I see that within all sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies, the buddha's treasury—the tathāgatagarbha—abides in peace and security, yet sentient beings themselves do not know or see it. The Buddha comes to teach the dharma, causing the tathāgatagarbha to manifest in sentient beings' minds, opening, demonstrating, awakening, and leading sentient beings to enter the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha. The Buddha knows that all sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies contain the tathāgatagarbha abiding in peace and security. The "buddha's treasury" is the tathāgatagarbha, one's own inherently possessed mind; although it abides within sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies, it abides yet does not abide. "Peace and security" means being unmoving in thusness: it does not have evil views with sentient beings' evil views, does not have ignorance with sentient beings' ignorance, does not have afflictions with sentient beings' afflictions, and does not have defilement with sentient beings' defilement. When sentient beings' five aggregates come and a sentient being appears, the Tathāgata does not arise with it; when sentient beings' five aggregates perish, the tathāgatagarbha does not perish with the five aggregates. Neither coming nor going, unmoving in thusness—this is called abiding in peace and security.
The Buddha sees sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha abiding in peace and security, and teaches the dharma to cause it to open and manifest; sentient beings then see it and open their wisdom. The Buddha's coming to the Sahā world to expound the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the canon has the purpose of enabling sentient beings to remove the obscurations of afflictions, open their own minds and wisdom, realize the innate wisdom within their own five-aggregate bodies—seeing the mind and seeing the nature—and finally accomplish the buddha-way. The World-Honored One and the countless buddhas expound the wondrous dharma for all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions, and their purpose is also this. Shākyamuni Buddha came to our Sahā world eight thousand times, manifesting the accomplishment of the buddha-way and expounding the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the canon, precisely for the purpose of revealing sentient beings' tathāgata wisdom, demonstrating and enabling them to awaken to and enter the tathāgata wisdom, enabling sentient beings to see their nature and become buddhas, becoming the ultimate unsurpassed right and equal enlightenment. Therefore it is said that the Buddha has boundless compassion and boundless great wisdom, coming to manifest for sentient beings the true dharma of the tathāgatagarbha, enabling sentient beings to awaken and enter it, and severing all sentient beings' afflictive ignorance.
