How to Understand That All Dharmas Are Suchness

All dharmas are true suchness, all are born from and sustained by the Tathāgatagarbha, and all possess the nature of Tathāgatagarbha, reality, and thusness. Since all dharmas are born from the Tathāgatagarbha, they are manifestations produced by the Tathāgatagarbha using the seven great seeds; they all possess the inherent nature of the great elements, are all real, and abide in suchness. The Tathāgatagarbha and its seeds do not move or change according to the birth, cessation, or variation of any dharma; they are real and unchanging, hence also called true suchness, possessing the nature of true suchness. All dharmas born from the Tathāgatagarbha essentially possess the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha, therefore they are also all true suchness. This is the meaning of "every dharma is true suchness."

The Tathāgatagarbha causes all things to ceaselessly undergo birth, change, and cessation, yet It Itself does not change. If the Tathāgatagarbha were also subject to change, It would be a dharma characterized by birth, abiding, alteration, and extinction; this would entail immense faults. If this were so, then problems would arise: When did the Tathāgatagarbha come into being? How was It born? Before Its birth, when It did not exist, nothing whatsoever existed—not even empty space. What would that state be like? Where would the karmic seeds of sentient beings reside? Where would the manas (mind faculty) exist? If the Tathāgatagarbha could cease, how would It cease? For what reason would It cease? After Its cessation, what would become of the seeds of all dharmas? Would the karmic retribution of sentient beings still exist?

The Tathāgatagarbha abides nowhere; certainly, It does not abide within the myriad things. Otherwise, when the myriad things are destroyed, would the Tathāgatagarbha also be destroyed along with them? If one were to dissect the myriad things piece by piece, could one then find the Tathāgatagarbha? This is fundamentally impossible. The entire process from the growth to the destruction of all things is the functioning of the combination of the four great elements; it is all the result of the Tathāgatagarbha's activation and sustaining.

Within all dharmas, one can find traces of the Tathāgatagarbha's operation. Its traces and imprints are the mental dharmas and material dharmas formed by the seven great seeds, all of which are the fundamental substances within the Tathāgatagarbha Itself. Therefore, seeing the dharmas, one should see the Tathāgatagarbha. The entire vista of green mountains is nothing other than the Dharma; the whole constitutes a single true Dharma Realm—the Tathāgatagarbha, which is neither born nor extinguished. Not a single hair's breadth, not a speck of dust, is permitted to stand outside the Tathāgatagarbha. All are dharmas within the mind of the Tathāgatagarbha, and all are the essence, characteristics, and functions of the Tathāgatagarbha. Sentient beings live within the Tathāgatagarbha; in reality, there are no sentient beings, all are the Tathāgatagarbha. Which dharma is not the Tathāgatagarbha? Which dharma can exist independently, transcending and separate from the Tathāgatagarbha? None can.