Do Not Confuse Tathatā with the Consciousness Mind

The Dharma is originally non-dharma, meaning that within the Dharma of Tathagatagarbha, there is not a single dharma to be found—it is formless, markless, and the essence of mind is fundamentally empty. This statement does not mean we should abandon the aspiration for Buddhahood or the intention to practice the Dharma, for doing so would prevent liberation from the fiery pit of birth and death. Those who do not study Buddhism lack both the aspiration for Buddhahood and the intention to practice the Dharma, yet they remain perpetually trapped within the cycle of birth and death.

The mind that neither contemplates good nor contemplates evil refers to the true suchness mind. It lacks the function or capacity to contemplate dharmas of the three realms or dharmas of the six dusts; it fundamentally does not contemplate and does not know good, evil, right, or wrong. "Not contemplating good and evil" does not mean that if the conscious mind also enters a state of not contemplating good, evil, right, or wrong, it then becomes true suchness. When the conscious mind is not contemplating, it is in a state of entering samadhi. The state of samadhi is still a realm of the conscious mind, not the inherent state of the true suchness original mind. Therefore, one should not mistake the conscious mind in its non-contemplation of good and evil for true suchness, nor believe that this state signifies enlightenment. If the conscious mind enters samadhi and ceases contemplation, it cannot engage in Chan (Zen) investigation. Without Chan investigation and contemplation, one cannot realize the Way.

The wisdom realms realized through our cultivation can all be expressed in words. What cannot be expressed may indicate a lack of genuine realization. Where the Tathagatagarbha is, what it is, and how it functions—all of this can be expressed. A few brief sentences can make it clear, while a lengthy discourse can explain it in greater detail. The Buddha spent forty-nine years teaching and still did not exhaust the Dharma of Tathagatagarbha; He expounded only an exceedingly minute fraction of it. The untaught Dharma remains immeasurably vast. Therefore, as long as one has genuine realization, one can express the Tathagatagarbha and will express it accurately.