The Fish and Water Metaphor: Illuminating the True and the Illusory

If we liken fish to delusive dharmas and water to the wondrous luminous true mind, just as fish cannot exist apart from water, delusive dharmas cannot exist apart from true dharmas. When the fish move, the water stirs and waves surge; when the fish remain still, the water does not move, the waves subside and the water becomes still. When the mental faculty moves, the Tathagatagarbha moves and phenomena arise; when the mental faculty does not move, the Tathagatagarbha does not move, and Nirvana is serene.