Discourse on the Sutra of the Compendium of Father and Son (48)

The characteristic of the wind element arises without origin and ceases without destination.

Original Text: Great King, this characteristic of the wind element arises without origin and ceases without destination. When it arises, it is fundamentally empty; when it ceases, it is also empty. Because its intrinsic nature is emptiness, it has no male characteristic nor female characteristic. It is merely designated by words. Thus, the wind element and the nature of the wind element are both ungraspable. Only the perfect wisdom of the Buddha can thoroughly comprehend this.

Explanation: Great King, this characteristic of the wind element, when it arises, has no place it comes from, and when it ceases, has no place it goes to. This explains that when the wind arises, it is empty, and when it ceases, it is also empty; the intrinsic nature of the wind is emptiness. The wind element has no male characteristic nor female characteristic; it lacks male or female characteristics. However, when the wind element forms a physical body, distinctions between male and female characteristics arise. Therefore, male and female characteristics are also empty and illusory. The intrinsic nature of the wind element is emptiness; it is merely designated by words to indicate the wind element, with no substantial wind element existing. Hence, it is said that the wind element and the nature of the wind element are both ungraspable. This principle can only be thoroughly known by the Buddha's wisdom, the Buddha's perfect wisdom.

Although the wind element itself has no male or female characteristics, if a being creates the karma of a man, it will give rise to a male physical body. If it creates the karma of a woman, it will give rise to a female physical body. If a woman can create the karma of a great man, she will transform into a male physical body in the next life. If a man acts like a woman and possesses the mind and nature of a woman, the karmic seeds stored in the Tathagatagarbha will cause him to transform into a female physical body in the next life. The karmic retribution body changes according to the karmic actions and karmic seeds. That which is capable of changing is illusory, not real; it is without self. The true Dharma never changes; only the Tathagatagarbha is eternally unchanging; it is the true reality, the essential mind.