The Nature of Tathāgatagarbha

The Tathagatagarbha is not composite; it is not a compound entity. What is composite arises and is formed subsequently, subject to birth and destruction. In contrast, the Tathagatagarbha inherently exists, neither born nor destroyed. No dharmas can combine to form the Tathagatagarbha; rather, the Tathagatagarbha gives birth to all dharmas. The Tathagatagarbha does not reside within space, yet it is not separate from the five aggregates. In all activities of the five aggregates, there is the cooperation of the Tathagatagarbha. The Tathagatagarbha gives rise to the five aggregates by transmitting the seeds of the seven elements. The body of the five aggregates is formed by the six great seeds transmitted by the Tathagatagarbha.

The Tathagatagarbha gives birth to the five aggregates and the eighteen elements by directly transmitting seeds to transform and create them. After this transformation and creation, when the Tathagatagarbha again manifests the five aggregates, twelve sense bases, eighteen elements, and all dharmas, it does so based on the already transformed external six dusts. Then, through the five sense faculties, it once more transforms and creates the internal six dusts by apprehending the image portions of the six dusts. This enables us to perceive the realms of the six dusts. That is to say, the internal six dust image portions that we perceive are the result of the Tathagatagarbha, through the five sense faculties, re-transforming the external image portions based on the external appearances. This is the principle of how the six dusts manifest within the mind.

The Tathagatagarbha has no outer boundaries; it does not envelop the body. Internally, it does not coincide with the body; being formless and without characteristics, it cannot coincide with the form-based body, much less envelop it. This is because the Tathagatagarbha has no inside or outside, just as space has no inside or outside. The Tathagatagarbha is not a worldly dharma; we cannot perceive or understand it according to worldly concepts. By approaching it in this way, we avoid creating further obscurations in our search for it.