Brief Discussion on Material Elements (Draft)

XVI. Dharma Objects and the Five Sense Objects Coexist Simultaneously

Form objects and dharma objects together constitute material dharmas. Both are simultaneously produced and manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha and are inseparable. If the two were not together but separated, the entire trichiliocosm would be nothing but undifferentiated color—without form, substance, or content. All material dharmas would then be indistinguishable, the trichiliocosm would cease to exist, material dharmas would not arise, and the eye consciousness would not arise.

If the external world consisted only of manifest colors, while dharma objects were separately created within the superior sense faculties based on form objects and the four great elements of the superior sense faculties, then the external world could not truly be called "external." Material dharmas would lack all boundaries. Therefore, dharma objects and form objects are born simultaneously, undergo change and cessation together, and are created at once by the Tathāgatagarbha using the seeds of the four great elements.

Similarly, dharma objects and sound objects, dharma objects and smell objects, dharma objects and taste objects, as well as dharma objects and touch objects—all arise simultaneously, undergo change and cessation together, and cannot be separated.