Lectures on the Compilation Sutra of Father and Son (228)

Blessings Are Stored in the Tathagatagarbha

When Earth first formed, it was covered with sweet springs, and the land naturally produced rich, nourishing soil. At that time, humans descended from the Second Dhyana Heaven, possessing immense blessings. Later, as sentient beings developed greed, their blessings diminished. The sweet springs and fertile soil vanished, and natural rice began to grow instead. As blessings further declined, even the natural rice ceased to exist, forcing humans to cultivate the five grains. To this day, crops are still grown through human labor. Now, the highly nutritious grains and plants that once existed on Earth are unheard of to us—a consequence of depleting our blessings. We are beings of meager blessings, and future generations will have even fewer blessings than we do. Delicious grains will completely disappear; they will neither see nor taste them. Thus, everything in our lives stems from our blessings.

Where are these blessings stored? They are all stored in the Tathagatagarbha. The Tathagatagarbha is like our bank. If we exhaust all the deposits in the bank, we become impoverished and lowly. If we leave the blessings stored in the bank untouched or withdraw only a small portion for enjoyment, we become wealthy and noble elders. Practitioners should strive to accumulate more and use less. When we withdraw blessings, we should use them to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings, thereby redepositing the blessings. In this way, the deposits in the bank will grow increasingly abundant, with interest compounding upon interest. When blessings are perfected, we can attain Buddhahood.