The Mind's Clinging to All Dharmas in the Three Realms

The operation of the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms is entirely the functional manifestation of the seven great seeds transmitted by the Tathāgatagarbha. The operation of the seven great seeds upon the six sense faculties and six sense objects, the operation of earth, water, fire, wind, and space upon the physical body, and the operation of consciousness seeds upon the mind-consciousness are all reflected in the functioning of the Five Aggregates. When the consciousness seeds, the four great seeds (earth, water, fire, wind), and the seed of space operate together with the seed of perception, the Five Aggregates arise. When the Tathāgatagarbha transmits the seeds, the functional manifestation of the seeds is formed. The functional manifestation of the seeds is also the functional manifestation of the Tathāgatagarbha, yet it differs from the Tathāgatagarbha itself; the two are in a relationship of non-duality and non-separation. The seeds inherently possessed by the Tathāgatagarbha manifest all dharmas. Both the seeds and all dharmas belong to the Tathāgatagarbha. The Tathāgatagarbha can both gather in and emit; therefore, all dharmas are of the Tathāgatagarbha.

However, the Tathāgatagarbha does not possess the mental activities of the seven consciousnesses. It is completely selfless, unattached to any dharma, and its mind-ground is inherently pure. The manas (mind-root), however, grasps all dharmas manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha as "self," "mine," or "belonging to me." It grasps the functional manifestations of the six consciousnesses as "self" and "mine," unaware that they are all born from the Tathāgatagarbha and belong to it. It grasps the dharmas manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha yet remains unaware of the existence and manifesting function of the Tathāgatagarbha itself. The Tathāgatagarbha, based on karmic seeds and karmic conditions, gives rise to the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Realms. Not a single dharma is not produced by its operation. Yet, the manas considers them all to belong to itself, giving rise to attachment and craving. Because of its grasping and clinging nature, it becomes bound and enveloped within the Three Realms, unable to achieve liberation and release. It is the manas that is bound and enveloped, not the six consciousnesses, because it is the manas that seizes and holds onto all dharmas without letting go.