The Image in the Mirror of Tathagatagarbha Is Also Rūpa

All dharmas are categorized into form dharmas, mind dharmas, and dharmas that are neither form nor mind. Form dharmas are invariably composed of the four great seeds and constitute what is perceived by mind dharmas. The image seen by the conscious mind in a mirror is also a form dharma, necessarily composed of the four great seeds, though its organizational structure differs from that of form dharmas outside the mirror. Mind dharmas are the discerning mind; the image in the mirror cannot discern, thus it is not a mind dharma.

The appearances outside the mirror are jointly manifested by the Tathagatagarbha of beings sharing collective karma, while the image on the mirror is manifested by the Tathagatagarbha of an individual being based on the appearances outside. The appearances outside the mirror are illusory, and the image on the mirror is even more illusory. Appearances at various levels differ in the particles composed of the four great seeds, resulting in varying degrees of reality. Everything we perceive of our own physical body is like the image on a mirror. Does it exist or not exist? Is it neither existent nor non-existent? Or is it neither non-existent nor non-non-existent?

In the Shurangama Sutra, the Buddha states that the subtle particles of the physical body and the subtle particles of the receptacle world are without duality or distinction, being composed of the same four great seeds. For example, the waste and impurities discharged daily from blood vessels and skin are identical to the sand and soil of the receptacle world; the sweat excreted is identical to the water in nature; the breath exhaled through the mouth, nose, and skin is identical to the wind in the receptacle world; the fiery energy emitted from the body is identical to the fire in the receptacle world. Therefore, the four great seeds composing form dharmas are the same; the body and the receptacle world are without duality or distinction. When the external four great elements undergo change, the body will correspondingly change.

Regarding the "non-existence" view of non-Buddhists: they see form dharmas yet claim non-existence. Since it is non-existent, why do they speak of it? Regarding the "existence" view of non-Buddhists: though all form dharmas are clearly impermanent and empty, they claim them to be real and indestructible. The Dharma taught by the Buddha is neither existent nor non-existent, neither existent nor non-existent, both existent and non-existent, and neither non-existent nor non-non-existent. To grasp one aspect while disregarding the others is the view of non-Buddhists. The Buddha Dharma is eternally perfect and all-pervading; whether explained one way or another, it remains coherent. In contrast, the theories of non-Buddhists always fail to be self-consistent and are self-contradictory.