What Are All the Dharmas in the World Ultimately?

In the third volume of the Shurangama Sutra, the Buddha states that the seven great seeds possess a nature that is perfectly interpenetrating, fundamentally the Tathagatagarbha, neither arising nor ceasing, pervading the entire Dharma realm, serenely abiding eternally, and manifesting according to karmic conditions. Since the seven great 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 interpenetrating without obstruction, forming the illusory world. Thus, the seven great 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. So, what is the appearance and nature of the world constituted by these seven great seeds?

The seven great seeds are not empty, for they possess functional roles, actions, and attributes capable of forming all dharmas. They neither arise nor cease and are the truly existent dharmas within the essential substance of the Tathagatagarbha mind. Although the seeds are not empty, they are formless, devoid of any worldly conventional appearances. Therefore, the eyes of ordinary people cannot see, perceive, or know them. What is conventionally called "empty" is, in reality, emptiness (śūnyatā).

Since the seven great seeds are formless and empty, and neither arise nor cease, they do not emerge from within the Tathagatagarbha, nor do they cease and return into the Tathagatagarbha. Since the seven great seeds never leave the Tathagatagarbha yet are capable of forming all the dharmas of the world, then formless dharmas cannot form dharmas with form. The conventional dharma appearances that are formed are still empty, formless, and of the nature of emptiness. Furthermore, because the Tathagatagarbha is formless, the formless cannot contain dharmas with form, as form and formlessness are mutually incompatible. Therefore, all conventional dharmas manifested and formed by the seven great seeds must necessarily also be formless in order to exist within the empty appearance of the Tathagatagarbha.

Then why do all the conventional dharmas seen by sentient beings appear to have form? For what reason do sentient beings perceive conventional dharma appearances with form? For example, sentient beings perceive the four great elements constituting the form-body and the seven great elements constituting the five-aggregate body moving from place A to place B. The five aggregates vividly appear before them—there is self, others, objects, time, space, location—every kind of dharma appearance is present, not a single one missing. What are these dharma appearances? Why are there appearances of form, appearances of mind, and dharmas that are neither form nor mind? The four great elements and the five great elements never arose; they do not emerge from the Tathagatagarbha. So why do the conventional-appearing form-body and various material appearances manifest? The seeing faculty (seeing-consciousness) and the consciousness faculty never arose; they do not go outside the Tathagatagarbha. So why are conventional mental appearances born and presented?

The form-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. These dharma appearances are all illusorily seen by 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 great seeds have never left the Tathagatagarbha; they have fundamentally never emerged from it, nor have they ever ceased or returned into it. These events have fundamentally never occurred. If they had, then outside the Tathagatagarbha there would be dharmas not belonging to it. Then what would be the boundary between such dharmas and the Tathagatagarbha? What would be their relationship? This would be difficult to explain. Since all conventional dharmas have neither arisen nor ceased, who, ultimately, perceives the arising and ceasing of these dharmas? By what means are they perceived? Has the perceiver ever arisen? Will it cease? What are the dharma appearances of the process and result of seeing? Has seeing arisen? Has it ceased?

Within the Tathagatagarbha, there is no such thing as a five-aggregate body moving from place A to place B, no such thing as entering the womb, leaving the womb, or departing from the body, no such thing as the arising or ceasing of any dharma. All events and dharma appearances are the false seeing of the seventh consciousness (manas), illusory seeing, and therefore illusory dharmas are seen. In reality, none of it exists; nothing whatsoever has happened. Everyone might as well go to sleep! If one cannot sleep peacefully or rest assuredly, then one should rise and study the Buddha Dharma. Study and then realize it. Strive to realize the essential reality of all dharmas, to clearly recognize all dharma appearances, and one will awaken from the great dream. In the illusory play of the world, fundamentally there are no people, no play, and no spectator. What is it then? A dream. But it's 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 cannot help but weep bitterly! Since beginningless kalpas, it has been utterly absurd—pointlessly creating so many karmic actions, enduring so much suffering, all the grasping and rejecting, greed and attachment, false movements, all kinds of distress and anguish, expending so much effort, becoming so entangled, only to find that in the end, nothing at all exists. Isn't that utterly absurd and pitiful?