All Dharmas Have Never Departed from Tathāgatagarbha

For example, all things are born from the great earth, grow upon the great earth, absorb nutrients from it, and perish upon the great earth, with their nutrients returning to the earth. One cannot say that after all things perish they return to the great earth, because all things have never left the great earth. For example, a person is born in a family, grows up in the family, grows old in the family, and dies in the family; one cannot say that after this person dies he returns to the family, because he has never left the family.

By the same reasoning, everyone is born from the tathāgatagarbha, grows up within the tathāgatagarbha, grows old within the tathāgatagarbha, and dies within the tathāgatagarbha; one cannot say that after a person dies he returns to the tathāgatagarbha, because everyone has never left the tathāgatagarbha. Nor can one say that a person who attains the Path and dies enters nirvāṇa—there is nowhere to enter in nirvāṇa, and the tathāgatagarbha cannot be entered. It is only that the karmic seeds of the three realms disappear, the seeds of the seven great elements return to the tathāgatagarbha and are no longer output, and the nutrients of all dharmas, having no one to receive and enjoy them, return to the tathāgatagarbha and no longer flow out.