The Tathāgatagarbha Relies on Conditions and Uses the Four Great Elements to Manifest Material Form

The tathāgatagarbha relies on conditions—that is, karmic conditions—to manifest the five-aggregate body, or to transform the physical body. If it relied solely on the seeds of the four great elements within the tathāgatagarbha, then the conditions of father and mother would be unnecessary, no conditions at all would be needed; in that case, all sentient beings should be exactly identical, and all worlds and material form (rūpa-dharma) should likewise be exactly identical. The tathāgatagarbha manifesting the five-aggregate body of the threefold realm's inanimate world would also not require the manas and the six consciousnesses. Then the world would be uniform throughout, and there would be no way to speak of the differences in karmic power among sentient beings. The tathāgatagarbha would then be the master consciousness—the world would be generated with the tathāgatagarbha as its master—and the tathāgatagarbha would possess a nature of self, and would no longer be selfless.