Lectures on the Sutra of the Compendium of Father and Son (63)

All Dharmas Apart from the Tathāgatagarbha Are Empty

Material form itself is empty, formed from the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. Since earth, water, fire, and wind themselves are empty, the material world formed from them is also empty and cannot be grasped. The eye faculty is likewise empty, cannot be grasped, and should not be clung to. Originally, there is no eye base, no eye faculty. The four great elements project forth, giving rise to the eye faculty from a state of nothingness, ultimately returning again to nothingness. Both the process of formation and its result are empty. All phenomena characterized by arising and ceasing, all phenomena that are essentially nothingness, are empty. What dharma is not empty? Our Tathāgatagarbha mind is not empty. Though it is formless and without characteristics, it ceaselessly produces mental activities at every moment, functions at every moment, and manifests all dharmas for us at every moment. Apart from this, all dharmas are empty.