Are There Seeds in the Realm of Mere Images?

Individuals with cerebellar atrophy experience visual and auditory hallucinations that belong to the substance-lacking image-only realm. They perceive people who fundamentally do not exist, yet others cannot see them; they hear sounds that fundamentally do not exist, yet others cannot hear them. The sights and sounds they encounter are entirely fabricated, arising without basis. If such a person clearly sees object A but misidentifies it as object B, then B belongs to the substance-possessing image-only realm, which carries certain qualities of A. B does not exist apart from A; without A, there is no B.

Does such an image-only realm possess seeds? Cerebellar atrophy is karmic retribution; it has karmic seeds. When the karmic seeds mature, the karmic retribution of cerebellar atrophy manifests, bringing suffering—not only mental torment but physical affliction as well. Prolonged hallucinations cause extreme fatigue, often necessitating the use of sedatives or similar medications for control. Thus, the image-only realm consumes brain cells and neural energy. The mental objects of the image-only realm do not require the Tathāgatagarbha to output the four fundamental elements from the mental body for their formation, but they do depend on certain subtle particles of the four elements within the brain's neural cells. Sentient beings lacking the supreme sense faculties will not exhibit cerebellar atrophy and thus do not expend brain cells or neural energy.

The mental faculty (manas) corresponds with karmic seeds and karmic retribution. When karmic retribution manifests, the mental faculty becomes pathological, leading to delusional thoughts. The Tathāgatagarbha follows conditions and manifests the karma, conjuring the realms imagined by the disordered mental faculty. The solitary discerning consciousness perceives these as real, causing others to view the afflicted as delusional and insane.

The substance-possessing image-only realm arises when the Tathāgatagarbha takes a portion of the four elements from existing sensory objects and conjures a separate image-only realm, seemingly unrelated to the present reality. Once the discerning consciousness apprehends it as real, others perceive the individual as delusional and insane. The root of the affliction lies in the mental faculty and in the karmic actions of past lives, manifesting as illusory retribution in this present life.

Ordinary, "normal" individuals differ little from those with cerebellar atrophy or mental illness. All phenomena they perceive are likewise unreal, conjured by karmic forces out of nothingness, like wind from an empty cave. They fail to perceive true reality, instead superimposing false perceptions of the substance-imbued image-only realm, the image-only realm, and the directly perceived realm upon it. These realms all carry the substance, truth, and essence of the Tathāgatagarbha, yet they remain unrecognized. What is exclusively perceived is false and illusory, constituting fundamental delusion and insanity.

The root affliction lies in the mental faculty, summoned by ignorance and karmic forces. When the karma is exhausted and the affliction recedes, perception is restored to truth and reality. False appearances vanish; illusory phenomena withdraw. Without affliction, natural clarity and coolness prevail.

Who is not afflicted? Let one who is unafflicted step forward.

Slap! A single strike descends. Affliction recedes, obstructions dissolve, returning to the original state—the timeless essence!