Lectures on the Father and Son Collection Sutra (23)

Why is the Tathagatagarbha indestructible?

What remains eternally unchanging? It is the Tathagatagarbha. The three calamities can destroy the great chiliocosm, but what cannot be destroyed? It is the Tathagatagarbha. Why is it indestructible? Because its essence is empty and its manifestations are also empty; thus, there is nothing to destroy. We all have form, and what has form can be destroyed; moreover, since we all have birth, there is also death. The Tathagatagarbha is neither born nor destroyed.

If a house is empty, and someone comes to steal, rob, or destroy, they cannot succeed. An empty space has nothing to destroy—who can destroy the void? The essence of the Tathagatagarbha is empty; therefore, it cannot be destroyed. Yet all manifestations produced by the Tathagatagarbha possess form, and what has form can be destroyed. When there is no money in our pockets, who can steal it? As long as something exists, it can be destroyed; as long as there is birth, there can be cessation. This principle applies to both the mundane and the transcendental realms.