Beings with Different Karmic Forces Experience Different Inner Representations

Every sentient being's tathāgatagarbha will absorb the outer representation and transform it into its own inner representation; this absorption must also depend on the sentient being's own karmic conditions and on his own karmic seeds. When participating in manifesting the outer representation, because each being's karmic seeds differ, the four great elements output by each will certainly differ from those of other sentient beings. That is to say, the shares invested in the manifestation differ, so the retributions differ, and the outer representations each being attracts should also differ. Therefore, the representations absorbed by each being's tathāgatagarbha are not the same, and the inner representations manifested are also not the same. This is the first point. Secondly, because sentient beings differ in karmic power, even when there is the same outer representation, once the tathāgatagarbha absorbs it, the inner representation it manifests will also differ. This is due to sentient beings' karmic seeds: the six faculties have obstructions, so they cannot normally transmit and receive the particles of the four great elements. The tathāgatagarbha then cannot normally manifest the corresponding inner representation, and thus the inner representation becomes distorted. Consequently, what the six consciousnesses discriminate is the distorted inner representation, yet they take it to be the true outer representation outside, and so the six consciousnesses make abnormal, distorted discriminations of the six sense objects. In addition, because the six consciousnesses have the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, their wisdom is narrow and inferior, and they also cannot properly discriminate the inner representation; therefore they frequently make erroneous discriminations.