The Relationship Between Internal Six Dusts and External Six Dusts

Does the dharma-dust on the external five dusts exist? If external dharma-dust does not exist, what is the object of the mental faculty (manas)?

The dharma-dust on the five dusts, also known as form included in the dharmāyatana, is the content discerned by the mental faculty (manas) and mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna). Regarding the form dust (rūpa), it is divided into manifest form (varna-rūpa), which is discerned by the eye consciousness — this is internal form dust; shape form (saṃsthāna-rūpa), expressive form (vijñapti-rūpa), and non-expressive form (avijñapti-rūpa) are parts discerned by mental consciousness — this is internal dharma-dust. Shape form refers to length, shortness, squareness, roundness, largeness, smallness, thinness, and thickness. If internal dharma-dust possesses such shape form, how does this arise? Where does it come from? Without external shape form, can there be internal shape form? The same applies to expressive form and non-expressive form.

For example, the shape of a table is shape form; what mental consciousness perceives is internal shape form. Without external shape form, there cannot be internal shape form. When humans manufacture a table, they must certainly create the table's shape form; the table in the essential state must possess a shape with length, shortness, squareness, and roundness. If the table in the essential state had no shape, what kind of table are workers producing? Tables made by different manufacturers would then be indistinguishable; not only that, but they would also be indistinguishable from other material forms (rūpa-dharma). Because all these things would have only manifest form — this kind of color — without hardness or softness, nor any concept of mass, and no other information. How then could the Tathāgatagarbha, following the table in the essential state, manifest an identical table within the supramundane faculty (indriya) like an image reflected in a mirror?

All material forms (rūpa-dharma) possess shape and substance when formed, in order to distinguish themselves from one another and manifest their inherent characteristics; otherwise, there would be no difference between material things. For instance, when sentient beings are in the womb, the Tathāgatagarbha must certainly produce the form of the body's four limbs, the size and plumpness/thinness of the body, the expressive form of flesh texture, and the non-expressive form of robustness, health, cuteness, etc. After leaving the womb, each sentient being still possesses shape form like limbs, head, feet, height, plumpness/thinness, etc., as well as expressive and non-expressive form. The shape form of limbs, etc., is external shape form for others; what others perceive is internal shape form. If sentient beings themselves had no shape of limbs, others could not perceive the shape form of the limbs, etc., of sentient beings, nor could they know the expressive and non-expressive form of whether the sentient being is healthy, lively, active, or their temperament, character, disposition, etc.

The Tathāgatagarbha manifests like a mirror, revealing images truthfully. The internal form dust is identical to the external form dust; the internal sound dust is identical to the external sound dust. If they were not identical, it would not be like an image reflected in a mirror (except for reasons of karma). It is like a person standing before a mirror: the mirror reflects an image identical to the actual person. The mirror does not perform any processing because it is without mind. Therefore, all material forms (rūpa-dharma) possess external dharma-dust, including sound, taste dust, smell dust, and touch dust — all possess shape form and expressive form as external dharma-dust. Furthermore, for example, external form creates an inverted image on the retina; trees also form inverted reflections in river water. Form dust can be upright, inverted, distorted, above, below, left, right, inside, or outside — this demonstrates that form dust possesses shape form. Where there is shape form, there is external dharma-dust, which is transmitted through the mental faculty into the supramundane faculty, enabling mental consciousness to discern it.