The Relationship between Tathāgatagarbha and Memory (III)

All the dharmas we now obtain and enjoy are taken out of the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha, and what is in the storehouse is what we ourselves deposited there in the past. That is to say, only what we deposit can we use; if we do not deposit it, there is nothing. If we want to become a Buddha, we must deposit many more wholesome karmic seeds; only after the seeds are deposited can we enjoy their fruits in the future. If we want to obtain blessings, we must deposit seeds for cultivating blessings; if we have not deposited seeds for cultivating blessings, it is impossible to obtain blessings. Whatever we wish to obtain, we must deposit accordingly; whatever we deposit, that is what we will receive. Therefore, we must choose our bodily, verbal, and mental actions well, and understand how to act so that we can gain the greatest and most genuine benefit for ourselves, without harming or going against our own interests. We must act carefully and selectively, striving to perform only pure karmic conduct.

Our five aggregates also come from the seeds in the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha. Because of the ignorance of the manas, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses are constantly produced, and the seeds of these bodily, verbal, and mental actions are continuously deposited into the mind-substance of the tathāgatagarbha. At the end of life, when conditions are met, the tathāgatagarbha outputs the karmic seeds, conception takes place in one of the six realms of existence, and a body of the five aggregates is born to undergo the retribution of karma. Thus the body of the five aggregates comes entirely from the seeds in the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha; therefore, the whole of the five aggregates is the tathāgatagarbha.

It is like the white clouds in the sky, which can manifest the forms of cats and dogs. Those white clouds transform into cats and dogs that are white, plump, and very adorable. Some people become attached to the appearance of these cats and dogs, completely forgetting that they are all formed from masses of white clouds. The white clouds are a metaphor for the tathāgatagarbha, and the images of the cats and dogs are like our bodies of the five aggregates. Observe the cats and dogs and you will find that there is not a single spot in them that is not white cloud; every tiny point is composed of white clouds. The entire cat or dog is entirely white cloud, and every aspect of it comes from the white clouds. In the same way, every aspect of our five aggregates, at every time and in every place, comes from the tathāgatagarbha. Every appearance and every function comes entirely from the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha. All the materials of the body of the five aggregates come from the storehouse, and everything the five aggregates enjoy and everything they do comes entirely from the storehouse, the tathāgatagarbha.

If one wishes to find the entrance to the storehouse of the tathāgatagarbha and attain enlightenment and buddhahood, it is actually not difficult. Where does the difficulty lie? It lies in the fact that our merit is insufficient, our meditative concentration is insufficient, our power of wisdom is insufficient, the conditions of the bodhisattva's six perfections are insufficient, and our power of aspiration is also insufficient—this is what makes things difficult for ourselves. If all these conditions were fulfilled, there would be nothing difficult in the world. The difficulty lies in our not having deposited enough seeds of wholesome karma. When the seeds are insufficient, we have no way to draw enough resources from the storehouse, and seeing the mind and realizing one's nature becomes very difficult; likewise, eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) is also very difficult. If we wish to enjoy sufficient resources and blessings, and to realize the intrinsically pure mind, we must deposit many seeds of wholesome karma. The cultivation seeds of precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, the cultivation seeds of the bodhisattva's six perfections, the seeds of the bodhisattva's great merit, and so on—we should deposit more of them, until these seeds are sufficient; only then can we realize the fruits of the path of both the Greater and Lesser Vehicles.