Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra), Part Thirteen

Original text:大王。云何外地界。坚硬性者。如彼世间。初建梵王所居宫殿。大宝所成。复生他化自在诸天。所居宫殿。皆七宝成。大王。若无地界。彼坚硬性。从何所生。

Explanation: After explaining the internal earth element, the Buddha went on to explain the external earth element. Any earth element is of a hard nature; outside the physical body there are also substances of a hard nature. These are not the six sense-objects within the eighteen dhātus that we speak of, but the external six sense-objects—especially the external material sense-objects—which are the object-aspect of the underlying substance conjointly transformed and created by the tathāgatagarbha, and can only be contacted by the tathāgatagarbha.

The Buddha said: Great King, what is the hardness of the external earth element? For example, when this vessel world of the three realms was first formed, the palace in which Mahābrahmā, the lord of the first dhyāna heaven, dwelt was built of various precious substances; including the heavenly palace of Śakra Devānām Indra, all were composed of the seven treasures; and the palace in which the lord of the sixth heaven of the desire realm, the Paranirmitavaśavartin devas, dwelt was also built of the seven treasures. Great King, if there were no earth element, from where would the hardness of those palaces arise?

The hardness of all material form is formed by the seeds of the earth element. The palace of Mahābrahmā, lord of the first dhyāna heaven, was also built of the seven treasures; the palace of the lord of the second dhyāna heaven was also composed of the seven treasures; Mount Sumeru is also composed of the seven treasures. Whatever the seven treasures or a hundred treasures, all have their hardness, all formed by the earth element. The Earth is composed of soil, sand, and various minerals, which also contain various treasures within them; all have hardness, formed by the earth element.

When the world was first forming, the palaces also took shape bit by bit. The tathāgatagarbhas of all sentient beings with shared karma jointly output the four great seeds and the five great seeds, forming the great elements to conjointly manifest the universe's vessel world, manifesting the palaces of the heavens at each level, manifesting the four great continents, the four great seas, and the seven golden mountains. All these materials contain the earth element and all have hardness.

If there were no hardness of earth within our tathāgatagarbha, from where would the hardness of the external vessel world be produced? This statement shows that the formation of the entire external vessel world is manifested from the seeds stored within the tathāgatagarbha; it is the tathāgatagarbhas of all sentient beings with karmic connections outputting their common karmic seeds, together with the five great seeds, that manifest the universe's vessel world. This statement tells us where the universe's vessel world comes from—it comes from the tathāgatagarbha. So it is still the case that the mind creates all dharmas; all dharmas are transformed by the mind and arise from the mind. This earth element is a seed within the tathāgatagarbha, a function. At this point, one should begin to gain a preliminary understanding of the principle that all dharmas are mind-only.