Commentary on the Piṭaka Sutra of Parent and Child (24)

The Earth Element and Its Nature Are Ultimately Unattainable

The nature of earth is one of the four primary elemental natures (earth, water, fire, wind). These four primary elemental natures exist within the Tathagatagarbha. Within It are stored seeds; when these seeds are projected outward, they can manifest our physical bodies and the mountains, rivers, and great earth. The seeds of the four primary elements can manifest all material forms.

Both the earth element and its nature are ultimately unattainable, illusory, and empty. Only the wisdom of a Buddha can fully discern and realize this truth in its entirety. We can only partially comprehend it, even just a small portion. Even Bodhisattvas at the stage of Equal Enlightenment cannot fully understand these principles. Only the wisdom of a Buddha can exhaustively comprehend the matter of these seeds, fully perceiving all the functional seeds within the Tathagatagarbha without the slightest omission. Therefore, the Buddha possesses All-Encompassing Wisdom. Bodhisattvas at the First Ground and above possess the Wisdom of the Path, comprehending a portion of the functional seeds within the Tathagatagarbha. Those who do not understand it at all are Bodhisattvas below the First Ground or unenlightened ordinary Bodhisattvas. The more one comprehends, the higher the wisdom, and the higher the Bodhisattva's stage of attainment.