All dharmas of body and mind return to the tathāgatagarbha

Mental factors (caittas), as the name implies, are dharmas that belong to the mind. Emotions, attitudes, opinions, suggestions, anxiety, agitation, jealousy, sadness, and so on—all are dharmas that arise upon the mind, belonging to the mind, and are therefore called mental factors. Dharmas that arise upon the body, belonging to the body, are, as the name implies, called factors belonging to the body. Dharmas belonging to the material body—for example, falling ill, changes in body weight, the occurrence of various mishaps, producing some things, or losing some things, etc.—all the arising, ceasing, and changes belonging to the body are factors belonging to the body. The material body is divided into the inner body and the outer body: the inner body is the physical body, and the outer body is the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; taken together, they all constitute the body of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha). The body is material form (rūpa), and the dharmas that arise upon the body are also material form, so whatever belongs to material form is also material form. All dharmas belonging to the body are also dharmas belonging to the mind—which mind does this refer to?

All worldly dharmas are divided into material dharmas (rūpa-dharma), mental dharmas (citta-dharma), and dharmas that are neither material nor mental. In terms of their belonging, they are divided into factors belonging to the mind, factors belonging to the body, and factors belonging to neither body nor mind. All these dharmas are subsumed under the ownership of the tathāgatagarbha. Once all dharmas are returned to the tathāgatagarbha, there is nothing left at all—so what are we still craving and grasping at now? It is all empty, all false appearance. Unfortunately, the habit energy of craving and grasping is too deeply rooted and too hard to transform. The fundamental reason is that the real nature of the dharmadhātu has not been thoroughly understood or clearly seen. This matter takes three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas to completely clarify; after that, everything changes, and the practice of the path comes to an end.

The Mental Factors of Sentient Beings

What mental factors operate within longing? What mental factors operate within thinking? What mental factors operate within investigation? What mental factors operate within deliberation? What mental factors operate within contemplative inquiry (chan can)? What mental factor is understanding? What mental factor is willingness? What mental factors operate within hope? What mental factor is comprehension? What mental factors operate within planning? What mental factor is expectation? What mental factor is well-wishing? What mental factors are within vow-power?

What mental factors are comprehending, realizing, and knowing? What mental factors are agreeing, endorsing, and echoing? What mental factor is abiding mindfulness of this very object? What mental factor is the mental image in the mind that lingers and cannot be dispelled? What mental factor is being unable to forget, thought after thought? What mental factor is keeping firmly in mind? What mental factor is unwavering resolve? What mental factor is fixing the mind on one point? What mental factor is keeping the eyes unblinking and unmoving? What mental factor is conscience? What functions does the volitional mental factor (cetanā-caitta) have? What functions and roles does the perception mental factor (saṃjñā-caitta) have?

The states of the mind, the characteristics of the mind, personality, temper, and disposition all belong to mental factors; there are wholesome ones, unwholesome ones, and ones that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome. Strictly speaking, there are not only fifty-one mental factors; if divided finely, there are at least several hundred or even a thousand. Bodhisattva Vasubandhu merely roughly and coarsely summarized them into fifty-one, and the summary is not comprehensive. If the Buddha were to summarize these mental factors, it would be extremely subtle and fine. Therefore, in learning Buddhism, apart from relying completely on what the Buddha said, we may rely on what others say, but we must handle it with discretion and have the ability to be flexible and adaptable.

Even when relying on what the Buddha said, one should still have a certain capacity for flexibility, for fully understanding what the Buddha said is also very difficult. Sometimes the Buddha's words and the Buddha's intent have certain differences and gaps and are not entirely consistent, because sentient beings' wisdom is limited and the Buddha cannot fully express His meaning plainly; He often speaks in implied ways, in ingenious ways, and when one's wisdom is insufficient, misunderstanding easily arises. Many people expound Buddhist sutras, but what they expound is actually not the Buddha's original intent; the phenomenon of distorting the Buddha's meaning is too widespread and too common. The Buddha has endured it all—though without a mind that endures.