The Four Great Elements and the Six Dust Realms

Question: When light enters the eye, the photoreceptor cells inside the eye convert the light source into electrical signals, which are then transmitted via the optic nerve to the visual center in the cerebral cortex. What then decodes these electrical signals into images?

Answer: If the internal six dusts are electrical signals, what are the external six dusts? What are called electrical signals? In what form do the internal and external six dusts manifest? The internal six dusts perceived by our six consciousnesses are all particles formed by the four great seeds, possessing a certain energy, which may conveniently be called electrical signals. However, the external six dusts are likewise particles formed by the four great seeds, without any substantial form of materiality, also possessing a certain energy, and may also be called electrical signals. Yet, there is a distinction between the internal and external six dusts, or electrical signals. The external six dusts are illusorily formed by the Tathāgatagarbha using the four great seeds; they are false, like images outside a mirror. The internal six dusts are false upon false, illusion upon illusion, like reflections within a mirror.

When light reaches the supreme truth eye faculty, if the mental faculty (manas) grasps and seeks to perceive, the eye consciousness and mental consciousness arise. Together, they perceive the electrical signals of the light, and the electrical signals manifest in the form of visual appearances within these two consciousnesses. Whichever consciousness perceives, the corresponding appearance arises within that consciousness. Therefore, when the six consciousnesses perceive dust objects (sense objects), there is no involvement of decoding. If one insists on calling it decoding, it would be mistakenly recognizing the particles of the four great elements as having certain forms and appearances, mistakenly taking those forms and appearances as truly existent, and thus clinging to them.

For example, a child uses a pile of small parts to assemble a puzzle, turning the parts into an object, and then clings to that object, craving it endlessly. The four great seeds are like the parts, and the six dust realms are like the puzzle. When the six consciousnesses recognize the dust objects, they assemble the particles of the four great elements into the six dust realms, and then cling to and crave them—just like a child playing house, childish.

To empirically realize this entire process—that all phenomena are empty, leaving only the empty Tathāgatagarbha, and even then not clinging to it—this is to arrive home, to become a Buddha. Since all phenomena are empty, why do we engage in so many activities daily?

Dedication: With all the merit from Dharma propagation and group practice on our online platform, we dedicate it to all beings in the Dharma realm and to the people of the world. May the world be at peace, free from war; may conflict cease, and weapons forever rest; may all disasters completely subside! May the people of all nations unite and assist one another, cultivating kindness towards each other; may there be favorable weather and national prosperity with peace! May all beings deeply believe in cause and effect, cultivate compassion and refrain from killing; may they widely form good affinities and extensively cultivate wholesome karma; may they believe in the Buddha, learn the Buddha-Dharma, and increase their wholesome roots; may they understand suffering, abandon its causes, aspire to cessation, and cultivate the path; may they close the door to the evil destinies and open the path to Nirvana! May Buddhism flourish eternally, and the true Dharma abide forever; may the burning house of the three realms be transformed into the lotus land of Ultimate Bliss!