Without Tathāgatagarbha, There Are No Dharmas

Why can the willow tree sway—can it sway by itself? Some say the willow's swaying is a natural phenomenon, born from causes and conditions; others say it moves due to the force of the wind. Yet the World-Honored One states in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: "All dharmas are neither of a self-nature nor born from causes and conditions." This means they are all of the Tathāgatagarbha nature. Apart from the Tathāgatagarbha, no dharmas whatsoever exist. The willow cannot sway by itself apart from the Tathāgatagarbha. If the wind were separate from the Tathāgatagarbha, it would not exist and could not function to blow. The Chan patriarchs said: "There are no dharmas outside the mind; mountains fill one's view." All dharmas are the dharmas within the Tathāgatagarbha mind; all the mountains filling one's view are of the Tathāgatagarbha nature.

All conditioned dharmas cannot exist if separated from the Tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, claims that all dharmas exist naturally or are born from causes and conditions are merely discursive elaborations. In essence, all are born from the Tathāgatagarbha. There is no sun, willow, wind, or myriad things independent of the Tathāgatagarbha. There is no sun or wind that can function by itself apart from the Tathāgatagarbha, nor phenomena like the willow's swaying. These phenomena are all results generated by the great-element nature of the Tathāgatagarbha, while simultaneously not separate from the karmic causes and conditions of sentient beings.

Wind is generated by the combination of the four great elements, with the wind element predominating. When a strong wind arises, why does it carry a howling sound? Why does it sometimes even roar? Why does the ocean produce the sound of crashing waves? These sounds are also material forms (rūpa-dharma), generated by the Tathāgatagarbha using the four great elements. The continuous arising and ceasing of material forms can produce what is called energy. When the great wind formed by the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind undergoes excessively rapid arising and ceasing of its own elemental seeds, it forms wind speed. Wind speed is not a substantial entity; it is a product of the phenomena of matter arising and ceasing, also called energy. Energy is not a substantial entity either; it too is a product of the phenomena of matter arising and ceasing.

When the continuous arising and ceasing of a great wind creates the false appearance of continuous motion, the resulting so-called energy acts upon other objects it encounters. Due to its extreme speed and great energy, the encounter is essentially an impact. After impact, it alters the state of the object—whether still or moving—and simultaneously produces the sound of impact. The larger the wind mass, the greater its energy. When it encounters other objects, the impact sound becomes louder, and it more significantly alters the trajectory of those objects. The sounds in the ocean are produced in the same manner.

Not even the smallest corner of the ten directions can exist apart from the Tathāgatagarbha or have its own function; all are functions of the Tathāgatagarbha. The Tathāgatagarbha of all sentient beings operates every instant, every fraction of a second, continuously emitting the four great elements and the seven great elements, perpetually causing all phenomena to arise, abide, change, and cease. Not a single Tathāgatagarbha is idle or useless. Each Tathāgatagarbha has its own separate plot of land to maintain; there are also shared cooperative fields requiring collective maintenance and mutual coordination—yet all cooperate seamlessly.

Before sentient beings are born, the Tathāgatagarbha of all karmically connected sentient beings, utilizing the great-element nature, has already prepared the external living environment. Only then can sentient beings be born into this world and survive within it. Before a sentient being is born into this world, their Tathāgatagarbha has already worked for vast eons, constructing the world perfectly before the being can be born there. Before a celestial body is to be destroyed, the Tathāgatagarbha of all sentient beings must go to other worlds to participate in construction. After the new world is built, when the karmic connection with this world ends, sentient beings will take rebirth there. The work performed by our Tathāgatagarbha is extremely abundant and immense, yet it never proclaims itself, enduring hardship without complaint, seeking neither fame nor gain. Truly, one does not know for what purpose it does all this.