Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume Two: The Falseness of the Five Skandhas

The Buddha said to Ananda, "You have yet to realize that all floating dust and illusory transformations arise in their very place and cease wherever they occur. These illusory and false appearances are designated as phenomena, yet their true nature is the wondrous, enlightened, luminous essence."

This "place" refers to the source from which all delusory phenomena arise—the Tathagatagarbha. It is nowhere else, nor is there any other place; there is no dharma outside the Tathagatagarbha. Thus, based on karmic seeds and dependent conditions, the Tathagatagarbha projects the seven fundamental seeds, giving rise to the world of the five aggregates. When conditions exhaust, the delusory phenomena cease, yet they still cease within the Tathagatagarbha—nowhere else, for there is no other place. This is equivalent to phenomena arising without truly arising and ceasing without truly ceasing. The projection of the seven fundamental seeds is not an actual projection, for nothing extends beyond the Tathagatagarbha. Where, then, could they be projected? Especially the projection of the seeds of the seventh consciousness—where could they be projected? Without the impetus of the seventh consciousness, the world of the five aggregates would not exist. The seventh consciousness is the foremost existence among delusory phenomena; apart from it, there are no other delusory dharmas whatsoever. Where does the seventh consciousness exist, and where does it cease when it perishes? All occurs within the Tathagatagarbha, within this very source. All other illusory and delusory phenomena are likewise.

Reflecting on this matter is profoundly intriguing and even more meaningful. Originally, there is no dharma in the world, nor is there a world—there is nothing at all. If one perceives phenomena, one perceives the Tathagatagarbha. If there is perception, it is the perception of the Tathagatagarbha. What else could there be? There is nothing apart from the Tathagatagarbha. Truly and utterly, all dharmas are unobtainable—utterly unobtainable, absolutely unobtainable.