The arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of all dharmas is 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 kind of passive being-in-charge that does not actively take charge, because the tathāgatagarbha has no mind to dominate anything; He would 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 mental activities of domination and is the active being-in-charge in sentient beings' birth-and-death saṃsāra; its mind and karma dominate all dharmas and birth-and-death saṃsāra.

In my view, sentient beings' birth-and-death saṃsāra is governed and dominated by karmic seeds. That karmic seeds are in charge means that the tathāgatagarbha is in charge: it is the tathāgatagarbha that stores and releases karmic seeds, and realizes sentient beings' causes, conditions, and karmic retributions according to those karmic seeds. So karmic seeds being in charge is in fact the tathāgatagarbha being in charge, and the tathāgatagarbha being in charge is karmic seeds being in charge. Although karmic seeds have no agency and are not the protagonist, they actually 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 such a manas; whatever manas there is, there is such karma. The two are mutually matched and consistent. 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 corresponding karmic seeds and karmic conditions are still needed; without corresponding karmic seeds, the manas cannot take charge either and can only drift along with the karmic seeds. Therefore, karmic seeds being in charge is the manas being in charge, and the manas being in charge is karmic seeds being in charge. Karmic seeds unify the tathāgatagarbha and the manas: both are in charge and yet not in charge. The tathāgatagarbha gives birth to all dharmas in accordance with karmic seeds—this is passive being-in-charge; although the manas is the active being-in-charge, it also conforms to and accords with the karmic seeds, so all dharmas are still decided by the karmic seeds.

Although it is the karmic seeds that have the final say, if the manas's power of vow is very great, it can also transcend the karmic seeds, with the power of vow taking charge and manifesting all dharmas in accordance with the power of vow. For example, after an arhat has cultivated the fourth dhyāna, whereas previously he clearly would have died and departed at the normal time at the end of his lifespan, now he can depart earlier or later—the length of his life is decided by the arhat himself. At this point it is the manas that takes charge, or the power of vow of the manas that takes charge. But upon careful analysis, it is still the karmic seeds that are in charge, because having cultivated the fourth dhyāna, the karmic seeds have changed; when the karmic seeds change, the karmic retribution changes, and one gains freedom over birth-and-death—so it appears as if the manas can take charge.

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

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

Take another example: in the past, there were some people who, after realizing the fruits, no longer wished to live and chose to commit suicide in order to leave the human world early, so that in future lives they would be reborn in the heavens to continue cultivation. In such a case, one may say it is the manas taking charge, but because they had eliminated the view of self and had corresponding wholesome karmic seeds supporting them, they were able to abandon the human world and go to the heavens to cultivate; with merit and wholesome karma supporting them, they could enjoy in advance the wholesome retribution and merit of having eliminated the view of self, and so when the manas wished to commit suicide, the suicide could succeed. If they had not eliminated the view of self and the karmic seeds had not changed, even if the suicide succeeded, after death they would not be reborn in the heavens, nor would they enter nirvāṇa without remainder; they would inevitably be reborn in accordance with their original evil and unwholesome karma, perhaps reborn in the three evil realms to suffer. Therefore, all dharmas are still decided by the karmic seeds, which have the final say.

Karmic seeds exist within the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha discerns the karmic seeds and creates all dharmas according to them, so as to manifest sentient beings' causes, conditions, and karmic retributions. Then all dharmas are still governed by the tathāgatagarbha. The manas appears on the surface to be in charge, but it may not necessarily be able to dominate, because it is restricted by karmic seeds; He has no way to truly take charge. From this it can be seen that all dharmas exist within cause and effect, do not go beyond cause and effect, and there is no dharma that violates cause and effect.