The Meaning of the One True Dharma Realm

The meaning of the one true dharmadhātu is that all dharmas are manifested and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha; they are all functions and operations of the tathāgatagarbha. There is no dharma that can exist apart from the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha—even a corpse is like this. As for dharmas that the tathāgatagarbha no longer sustains, they immediately perish without remainder, leaving not even a trace. The true body left behind by a practitioner belongs to the material sense-objects (rūpa) of all sentient beings; it is jointly sustained by the tathāgata­garbhas of sentient beings with karmic connections, including the practitioner's own tathāgatagarbha, which also sustains it. When a finger falls off one's own body, at first it is sustained by one's own tathāgatagarbha, so it still has warmth and the nervous system still functions; if it is reattached, it can be used. If one's own tathāgatagarbha does not personally sustain it, the finger has no warmth and becomes stiff; at that point it is jointly sustained by the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings with karmic connections, and reattaching it is of no use.