What Are All Dharmas in the World?

Volume 3 of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra states: The Buddha explained that the seven great seeds are inherently perfect and interpenetrating, fundamentally the Tathāgatagarbha. They neither arise nor cease, pervade the entire Dharma realm, are serene and eternally abiding, and manifest according to karma. Since the seven great seeds are originally of the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha, like the Tathāgatagarbha itself, they neither arise nor cease, neither increase nor decrease, and have never been defiled. They interpenetrate without obstruction, forming the illusory world. Thus, the seven great seeds, like the Tathāgatagarbha, do not come or go, are neither empty nor existent, neither changing nor different, are pure and eternally abiding, yet without any form. What, then, is the appearance and nature of the world constituted by these seven great seeds?

The seven great seeds are not empty, for they possess functional efficacy and attributes, capable of forming all dharmas. Yet, they neither arise nor cease; they are the truly existent dharmas within the essence of the Tathāgatagarbha mind. Although not empty, they are without form, devoid of any mundane characteristics. Hence, the eyes of ordinary people cannot see, perceive, or know them. They are called empty, but in reality, this is emptiness (śūnyatā).

Since the seven great seeds are formless and empty, and neither arise nor cease, they do not emerge from within the Tathāgatagarbha, nor do they cease and return into it. The seven great seeds do not go outside the Tathāgatagarbha, yet they are able to form all mundane dharmas. Therefore, formless dharmas cannot form dharmas with form; the characteristics of mundane dharmas are also still empty, formless, and of the nature of emptiness. Furthermore, the Tathāgatagarbha is formless, and within it, dharmas with form cannot abide, because they are mutually incompatible. Therefore, all mundane dharmas manifested and formed by the seven great seeds must necessarily also be formless in order to exist within the empty nature of the Tathāgatagarbha.

Then, why do sentient beings perceive all mundane dharmas as having form? Why do sentient beings see mundane dharmas with characteristics? For example, sentient beings see a physical body composed of the four great elements, a five-aggregate body formed by the seven great elements, moving from place A to place B. The five aggregates vividly appear before them – there is self, others, objects, time, space, location; everything is present, nothing is lacking. What is all this? Why are there forms, mental phenomena, and dharma characteristics? The four great elements and the five great elements never arose; they do not go out from the Tathāgatagarbha. Why then do the mundane forms of the physical body and various material appearances manifest? The element of sight and the element of consciousness never arose; they do not go outside the Tathāgatagarbha. Why then do mundane mental phenomena arise and appear?

The physical body is a false, illusory appearance; it does not truly exist. The five-aggregate body is a false, illusory appearance; it does not truly exist. Place A and place B are false, illusory appearances; they do not truly exist. Time and space are false, illusory appearances; they do not truly exist. What is seen is illusory; the seeing itself is illusory. Even the illusion is illusory.

None of these dharmas ever arose, so there is no question of their cessation. The seven great seeds have never gone outside the Tathāgatagarbha; they have fundamentally never emerged from it, nor have they ever ceased or returned into it. This has fundamentally never happened. If it had, then there would be dharmas outside the Tathāgatagarbha, not belonging to it. Then what would be the boundary between such dharmas and the Tathāgatagarbha? What would be their relationship? This would be problematic. Since all mundane dharmas have neither arisen nor ceased, who, ultimately, perceives the arising and cessation of these dharmas? By what are they perceived? Has the perceiver ever arisen? Will it cease? Has the process and result of seeing ever arisen or ceased? What dharma characteristics are these?

Within the Tathāgatagarbha, there is no such thing as a five-aggregate body moving from place A to place B, no entering or leaving the womb, no leaving the body, no arising or cessation of any dharma. All events and dharma characteristics are merely the false seeing of the seven consciousnesses – illusory seeing. Therefore, illusory dharmas are seen, but in reality, there are no such events. Nothing whatsoever has happened. Go to sleep, all of you! If you cannot sleep peacefully, sleep soundly. If you still cannot rest, then get up and study the Buddha Dharma. Study and then realize. Strive to realize the substance and true nature of all dharmas, to clearly recognize the characteristics of all dharmas. Within the false play of the world, fundamentally, there are no people, no play, and no spectators. What is it then? A dream. It’s not even a dream. There is no dream. Who sees the dream? Who watches the play? No one.

Finally, when you truly realize these dharmas, weep bitterly! Since beginningless kalpas, it has been utterly, grievously wrong. All that karmic activity created in vain – all that grasping and rejecting, craving and clinging, false agitation, all those afflictions, all that effort, all that entanglement – resulted in absolutely nothing. Isn’t it pitiful?