The Arising, Abiding, Change, and Cessation of All Dharmas Are Governed by Karmic Seeds

In the boundless kalpas of birth-and-death saṃsāra, who is the one in charge for sentient beings? Some say it is the tathāgatagarbha that is in charge, some say it is the manas that is in charge; both of these statements can be considered correct. The tathāgatagarbha is the passive kind of being-in-charge that does not take charge, because the tathāgatagarbha has no mind to dominate anything; He will not actively take charge and cause sentient beings to undergo birth-and-death saṃsāra for boundless kalpas. Yet after all, it is the tathāgatagarbha that manifests all dharmas and birth-and-death saṃsāra, so the tathāgatagarbha can also be regarded as the master of sentient beings' birth-and-death saṃsāra. The manas, on the other hand, has the mental activity of domination; in sentient beings' birth-and-death saṃsāra it takes charge actively, and its mind and karma dominate all dharmas and birth-and-death saṃsāra.

As I see it, sentient beings' birth-and-death saṃsāra is governed by karmic seeds, dominated by karmic seeds. Karmic seeds being in charge means the tathāgatagarbha is in charge; it is the tathāgatagarbha that stores and releases karmic seeds, and according to the karmic seeds realizes sentient beings' causes, conditions, and retributions. So karmic seeds being in charge is in fact the tathāgatagarbha being in charge, and the tathāgatagarbha being in charge is the karmic seeds being in charge. Although karmic seeds have no agency and are not the master of the house, they do indeed play the leading role.

Karmic seeds being in charge is at the same time the manas being in charge. The manas corresponds with karmic seeds: whatever karma there is, there is that kind of manas; whatever kind of manas there is, there is that kind of karma. The two match and are consistent with each other. Although there are many karmic seeds that the manas dislikes, after all it was the manas that took charge and created them. There are many things the manas wants to take charge of, but it still needs the corresponding karmic seeds and karmic conditions; without the corresponding karmic seeds, the manas cannot take charge either and can only drift along with the karmic seeds. So karmic seeds being in charge is the manas being in charge, and the manas being in charge is the karmic seeds being in charge. Karmic seeds unify the tathāgatagarbha and the manas: both are at once in charge and not in charge. The tathāgatagarbha gives birth to all dharmas in accordance with the karmic seeds — this is passive being-in-charge; the manas, although it takes charge actively, still conforms to and accords with the karmic seeds, so all dharmas are still decided by the karmic seeds. Yet although the karmic seeds have the final say, if the manas's power of vow is extremely great, it can transcend the karmic seeds, letting the power of vow take charge, and manifest all dharmas in accordance with the power of vow. For example, after an arhat has cultivated the fourth dhyāna of meditative concentration, whereas previously he clearly would have died and departed normally at the end of his lifespan, he can now depart earlier or later; the length of his life is up to him. At this point it is the manas that takes charge, or the manas's power of vow that takes charge. But analyzed carefully, it is still the karmic seeds that take charge, because having cultivated the fourth dhyāna, the karmic seeds have changed; when the karmic seeds change, the retribution changes, and he gains mastery over birth-and-death — it merely looks as if the manas can take charge.

In fact, the manas, at every moment, in every life and every world, corresponds with the karmic seeds; all dharmas are still governed by the karmic seeds, which determine their arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. Sentient beings' saṃsāra through the six realms is originally determined by karmic actions; if through cultivation one makes great pure vows, the karmic seeds change and the retribution changes. On the surface it looks as if the manas takes charge — the manas wants such-and-such, and in the end it turns out such-and-such — but in fact it is still the karma that takes charge and plays the decisive role.

For example, a person in a vegetative state lies in bed for decades, unable to move his body. In our view, his manas should long ago have chosen to leave that unusable body; yet because he still has that bit of human merit, his merit of being human not yet exhausted, the karmic seeds of the human realm not yet extinguished, he continues to live as a vegetative state patient. He must enjoy this bit of merit to the end, lacking the wisdom to make long-term plans, to reserve merit for future lives so that future lives may be lived more comfortably. If the karmic seeds of his merit are gone, the manas will immediately decide to leave; even if it does not decide, it will passively have no choice but to leave, because he cannot survive any longer — there is no merit and no karmic seeds left to sustain his life.

Another example: in the past there were people who, after realizing the fruits, no longer wished to live and chose to commit suicide to leave the human world early, and in their next life they would be born in the heavens to continue cultivation. In this case, one may say the manas took charge; but because they had eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), there were corresponding wholesome karmic seeds sustaining them so that they could abandon the human world and go to the heavens to cultivate. With merit and wholesome karma sustaining them, they could enjoy in advance the wholesome retribution and merit of having eradicated the view of self, and the manas, wanting to commit suicide, could succeed in doing so. If they had not eradicated the view of self and the karmic seeds had not changed, then even if the suicide succeeded, after death they would not be reborn in the heavens, nor would they enter Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa); they would inevitably be reborn in accordance with their original evil and unwholesome karma, perhaps reborn in the three evil realms to suffer. So all dharmas are still decided by the karmic seeds, which have the final say.

Karmic seeds are stored in the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha discerns the karmic seeds and creates all dharmas according to them, so as to manifest sentient beings' causes, conditions, and retributions. Then all dharmas are still governed by the tathāgatagarbha. The manas appears to take charge on the surface, but it may not be able to dominate; constrained by the karmic seeds, it has no way. Therefore all dharmas exist within cause and effect, not outside of cause and effect; there is no dharma that violates cause and effect.