What Are All the Dharmas in the World Ultimately?

In the third volume of the Surangama Sutra, the Buddha states that the seven fundamental seeds are inherently perfect and interpenetrating, fundamentally the Tathagatagarbha, neither arising nor ceasing, pervading the entire Dharma Realm, serenely abiding eternally, and manifesting according to karma. Since the seven fundamental seeds are inherently of the nature of the Tathagatagarbha, they are like the Tathagatagarbha itself—neither arising nor ceasing, neither increasing nor decreasing, never defiled, mutually perfect and unobstructed, forming the illusory world. Thus, the seven fundamental seeds, like the Tathagatagarbha, neither come nor go, are neither empty nor existent, neither change nor differ, are pure and eternally abiding, yet without any image. Then, what is the appearance and nature of the world formed by these seven fundamental seeds?

The seven fundamental seeds are not empty because they possess functional efficacy and attributes, capable of forming all dharmas, yet they neither arise nor cease; they are the truly existent dharmas within the essential nature of the Tathagatagarbha-mind. Although the seeds are not empty, they are without form; they do not possess any worldly conventional appearances. Therefore, the eyes of ordinary people cannot see, perceive, or know them, calling them "empty," yet in reality, this is emptiness (shunyata).

Since the seven fundamental seeds are formless and empty, yet neither arise nor cease, they do not go forth from within the Tathagatagarbha, nor do they cease and return into the Tathagarbha. Since the seven fundamental seeds do not depart beyond the Tathagatagarbha yet are able to form all worldly dharmas, then formless dharmas cannot form dharmas with form. The conventional appearances formed are still empty, formless, and of the nature of emptiness. Moreover, the Tathagatagarbha is formless; within it, dharmas with form cannot exist, because the formless and the formed are mutually incompatible. Therefore, all conventional dharmas manifested and formed by the seven fundamental seeds must necessarily also be formless in order to exist within the empty nature of the Tathagatagarbha.

Then why do all the conventional dharmas seen by sentient beings appear to have form? Why do sentient beings perceive conventional dharmas with form? For example, sentient beings perceive the four great elements forming the material body and the five aggregates formed by the seven great elements; they see movement from place A to place B; the five aggregates manifest vividly before them. There is self, others, objects, time, space, location—all kinds of dharmic appearances are present, not a single one missing. What are these dharmic appearances? Why are there appearances of form, appearances of mind, and dharmic appearances that are neither form nor mind? The four great elements and the five great elements never arose; they do not depart from the Tathagatagarbha. Why then do the conventional appearances of the material body and various object-forms appear? The seeing faculty and the consciousness faculty never arose; they do not go outside the Tathagatagarbha. Why then are conventional mental appearances born and manifested?

The material body is a false, illusory appearance; it does not truly exist. The five-aggregate body is a false, illusory appearance; it does not truly exist. Place A and place B are false, illusory appearances; they do not truly exist. Time and space are false, illusory appearances; they do not truly exist. All these dharmic appearances are illusory perceptions of sentient beings; the seeing itself is illusory, and even the illusion is illusory.

Since none of these dharmas ever arose, then there is no question of their cessation. The seven fundamental seeds never departed beyond the Tathagatagarbha; they never actually came out from within the Tathagatagarbha, nor did they cease or return into the Tathagatagarbha. This simply never happened. If it had happened, then there would be dharmas outside the Tathagatagarbha not belonging to it. Then what would be the boundary between such dharmas and the Tathagatagarbha? What would be their relationship? This would be problematic. Since all conventional dharmas neither arose nor ceased, ultimately, who perceived the arising and cessation of these dharmas? With what were they perceived? Did the perceiver ever arise? Will he cease? What are the dharmic appearances of the process and result of perception? Did they arise? Did they cease?

Within the Tathagatagarbha, there is no such thing as a five-aggregate body moving from place A to place B, no entering the womb, leaving the womb, or departing from the body, no arising of any dharma or cessation of any dharma. All events and dharmic appearances are the false perceptions of the seventh consciousness, illusory seeing. Therefore, illusory dharmas are seen; in reality, none of it happened, nothing happened at all. Just go to sleep! If you cannot sleep peacefully, cannot rest assured, then rise and study the Buddha Dharma. Study and then realize; strive to realize the true substance and reality of all dharmas as much as possible. Discern all dharmic appearances clearly, and you will awaken from the great dream. Within the false play of the world, fundamentally, there are no people, no play, and no spectator. What is it then? A dream. But it is not even a dream; there is no dream either. Who sees the dream? Who watches the play? No one.

Finally, when one truly realizes these dharmas, one will be unable to help but weep bitterly! Since beginningless kalpas, it has been utterly futile—pointlessly creating so many karmic actions, enduring so much suffering, all the grasping and rejecting, craving and clinging, false movements, all kinds of distress and affliction, so much mental effort, so much entanglement, only to find that in the end, there is nothing at all. Isn't that utterly futile and pitiful?