The Tathagatagarbha Upholds the World Through the Transformation and Manifestation of Karmic Seeds

Question: Are there worlds beyond the Saha World where our Tathagatagarbha does not participate in upholding?

Answer: For worlds with which we currently have no karmic connection, our Tathagatagarbha cannot temporarily participate in manifesting and upholding them. Firstly, the necessary karmic seeds are absent. Secondly, even if karmic seeds exist, the conditions for those seeds to manifest are not yet mature, so the Tathagatagarbha cannot function there. However, this does not mean that our Tathagatagarbha does not function in any other worlds. When karmic seeds ripen, the Tathagatagarbha, knowing this, must manifest and uphold that world according to those karmic seeds. Only then, after our life ends here, can we be born into that world.

For example, if someone has already created the karma for hell and the seeds are stored, when the karmic conditions for hell ripen, the Tathagatagarbha will participate in manifesting hell. As soon as this person's karmic conditions in the human realm end, they will immediately be born into hell; the Tathagatagarbha does not need to create the hell realm at the moment of their death. For worlds with which we have a karmic connection, the Tathagatagarbha participates in manifesting them before we are reborn there; otherwise, we would lack the conditions and qualifications to be born into that world.

For instance, regarding rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss: when wholesome karmic seeds are stored and ripen, the Tathagatagarbha must manifest the lotus palaces there. When the conditions for the Pure Land are fully assembled, we will immediately be seated within the lotus and born into the Pure Land. This demonstrates that our Tathagatagarbha is prescient. What it knows are the karmic seeds. Only after understanding the state of the karmic seeds can it first go to the Pure Land to participate in the manifestation, enabling us to be born there after our life ends. If the Tathagatagarbha does not participate in the manifestation, we cannot be born in the Pure Land. Why would the Tathagatagarbha not participate in the manifestation? Because the conditions for the Pure Land are not yet fully assembled, rebirth there is temporarily impossible.

How can we cause the conditions to ripen sooner? The manas (mental faculty) must have deep faith and earnest vows, single-mindedly aspiring for the Pure Land. The manas must possess the volition; mere superficial vows from the conscious mind are insufficient, because the decision to go or not to the Pure Land is determined by the manas. The Tathagatagarbha primarily discerns the mental activities (cittacaitta) of the manas. When the manas genuinely desires to go from the depths of the mind, the Tathagatagarbha discerns the volitional mental activity (cetanā) of the manas and will manifest the lotus palaces in the Pure Land. Reciting the Buddha's name must also penetrate the manas; merely reciting verbally is not enough. If the manas lacks the mental activity of reciting the Buddha's name, it does not resonate with Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land. Most people recite the Buddha's name only with their mouth, not their mind. Their inner mind is not focused with single-minded mindfulness; they are restless and distracted, their minds elsewhere. Such recitation merely creates a karmic connection with the Dharma; it absolutely cannot lead to rebirth in the Pure Land.