Tathāgatagarbha and Material Form

The seeds of the four great elements are the intrinsically existing seeds within the tathāgatagarbha; when combined, they can generate various kinds of material form (rūpa). The subtle particles of the four great elements are the smallest particles formed by the combination of the seeds of the four great elements; when these particles further aggregate, they form larger grains, and through continuous aggregation, a kind of material form can come into being. When these subtle particles coalesce, their different arrangements produce different kinds of material form. Because the ways these particles can be arranged are extremely diverse, a splendid, resplendently colorful world is formed, each thing having its function, and each sentient being having what it needs. In essence, all are making use of the tathāgatagarbha, yet sentient beings are unaware of it.

Before sentient beings come to this world, their own tathāgatagarbha, together with the tathāgatagarbhas of other sentient beings, outputs the seeds of the four great elements, participating in manifesting the outer representation of the universe as the material environment (the external object-aspect), and then continuously upholds and sustains that outer representation. When a sentient being's five faculties, whose conditions are complete, come into contact with a certain outer representation, the tathāgatagarbha, through the first five faculties, takes in the subtle particles of the four great elements of that outer representation and transmits them to the supreme faculty at the back of the brain, manifesting the inner representation. When the supreme faculty contacts the inner representation, the tathāgatagarbha then manifests the six consciousnesses; when faculty, sense-object, and consciousness again come into contact, the six consciousnesses can then discern the inner six sense-objects.

Why does the output of the seeds of the four great elements by the tathāgatagarbha result in the formation of material form? Apart from the operation of the conscious mind, the four great elements cannot automatically form material form; it is always the tathāgatagarbha that makes use of the seeds of the four great elements to fashion material form. All dharmas, apart from the tathāgatagarbha, would vanish and perish in an instant, leaving no trace. The seeds of the four great elements are transmitted outward to form the four great elements; then the tathāgatagarbhas jointly use the four great elements to fashion material form, then jointly sustain that material form, and then jointly and continuously transform it. So who determines the ordering of the seeds of the four great elements? It is determined, of course, by the tathāgatagarbha. Does the tathāgatagarbha actively determine the ordering of the seeds? No—it is determined by the karmic seeds of sentient beings.