Chapter Five: The Middle Way Nature of Tathagatagarbha

Scripture: ["Shariputra, this characteristic of the emptiness of all dharmas is neither born nor extinguished, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing."]

Section One: The Empty Characteristic of the Five Aggregates and Eighteen Dhatus

What are all dharmas? The "all dharmas" referred to in the Heart Sutra are broadly divided into two major categories: one is form dharmas (rūpa), and the other is mind dharmas (citta). Together, they constitute all dharmas within the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus of the three realms. The five aggregates are the form aggregate, feeling aggregate, perception aggregate, formations aggregate, and consciousness aggregate. The eighteen dhatus include the six sense bases: eye base, ear base, nose base, tongue base, body base, and mind base; the six sense objects: form objects, sound objects, smell objects, taste objects, touch objects, and dharma objects; and the six consciousnesses: eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness.

The five aggregates include both form dharmas and mind dharmas. Within the eighteen dhatus, the six consciousnesses plus the seventh consciousness, the manas (mind base), are mind dharmas; all the rest are form dharmas. The five sense objects discerned by the first five consciousnesses and the dharma objects discerned by the mind consciousness all belong to form dharmas. Sentient beings all live within the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects. The dharmas they experience and contact themselves do not exceed these six sense objects. Their living environment, the universe, the vessel world, and all the trichiliocosms are not beyond the six sense objects: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma.

The five aggregates and eighteen dhatus, whether form dharmas or mind dharmas, all have characteristics; they all have the phenomenal appearances of dharmas within the three realms. Form has form characteristics, mind has mind characteristics. However, these characteristics are illusory existence; they are all empty. Therefore, they are called empty characteristics. Why do the dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus have characteristics yet are empty? The *Diamond Sutra* states: "All phenomena with characteristics are illusory." Because all characteristics are manifested by the Tathagatagarbha; they are not self-sovereign, they vanish when they are said to vanish; their existence is also illusory, like things in a dream. They are also like mirages and castles in the air—illusory, unreal, seeming to exist but actually nonexistent.

After a Bodhisattva realizes the mind (attains enlightenment regarding the fundamental mind), using prajñā wisdom and meditative concentration to contemplate and practice, they will discover: The five material sense faculties are upheld by the Tathagatagarbha; the Tathagatagarbha outputs the four great elements (earth, water, fire, wind) to sustain their existence, and the processes of birth, abiding, change, and extinction never cease. The six sense objects are the internal manifestation aspect (ālambana-pratibhāsa) projected by the Tathagatagarbha, seeming like form yet not form, like objects in a mirror. The seven evolving consciousnesses (vijñāna) are also consciousness seeds output by the Tathagatagarbha, arising and ceasing moment by moment. Among all dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus, not a single dharma is truly imperishable. It is only because sentient beings, bound by ignorance and afflictions for immeasurable eons, grasp emptiness as existence, chasing illusions like in a dream, that they revolve in birth and death without liberation.

What is a castle in the air (mirage)? When sunlight shines on the beach, the hot air rising from the sand creates the appearance of buildings, people, carriages, and horses, and the carriages and horses even seem to be moving. This illusory scene appears; that phenomenon is called a mirage, a false image formed by heat. From afar, the building looks as real as a palace, horses seem to be running, people appear to be walking—it looks just like reality. From a distance, one cannot tell those phenomena are false; but upon approaching, there is nothing there. What is a mirage (specifically "yangyan," heat haze illusion)? When sunlight shines on the sandy desert, hot air rises, creating a misty haze. Thirsty deer, due to their thirst, mistake it for a great river and rush over hoping to drink their fill. But when they get close, there is nothing on the sand. The minds of those wild deer are deluded by the illusory appearance of river water; they believe the river water is truly existent, but in reality, it is empty, nothing at all. The heat haze is like that illusory river water; on the surface, it seems to exist, but in reality, it is empty. The thirsty deer are deceived by their own conscious minds, failing to recognize the truth.

The minds of sentient beings are foolish like the thirsty deer, unable to distinguish true from false, real from unreal. Our present minds are still deluded, still in a state of inversion, not yet awakened; it is the same as being in a dream. The seven consciousness minds are like those thirsty deer, believing the myriad dharmas to be truly existent, chasing after them daily, pursuing them for a lifetime, even for immeasurable kalpas, yet ending up with nothing at all. Sentient beings live in the human world; their seven consciousness minds, life after life, cling to the five desires and six sense objects. For money, property, status, fame, children, family, and for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, they scheme, seize, and widely create unwholesome karma. Some feel successful, complacent and proud, unaware that what they see and obtain are all illusory appearances. When impermanence arrives, eyes close, and the stinking skin-bag (body) must be discarded—what single dharma can be taken? As the saying goes: "Only when the day of impermanence arrives does one realize they are a person in a dream; nothing whatsoever can be taken along, only karma follows the body." And impermanence does not refer solely to death; moment-by-moment birth and extinction, utterly unobtainable—this is true impermanence. Right in the present moment when all dharmas appear to exist, they are impermanent, subject to birth and extinction, illusory, like a mirage.

Section Two: The Empty Characteristic of Tathagatagarbha

Why is Tathagatagarbha said to have an empty characteristic? How does it differ from the empty characteristic of the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus? To say Tathagatagarbha has an empty characteristic is because it lacks the six sense base characteristics, six sense object characteristics, six consciousness characteristics of the three realms, lacks the five aggregates characteristics, lacks all worldly characteristics, yet it is a real existence. The two kinds of characteristics—the myriad dharmas of the five aggregates and Tathagatagarbha—whether conventional dharmas or ultimate dharmas, all characteristics are empty; their essence is the empty-nature mind, Tathagatagarbha. "All phenomena with characteristics are illusory." Characteristics that have appearances are empty; characteristics without appearances are also empty. The two kinds of emptiness have different meanings: the emptiness of phenomena with characteristics means they are utterly unobtainable; the emptiness of phenomena without characteristics means they have no form, no physical appearance.

The five aggregates and eighteen dhatus have appearances yet are empty; Tathagatagarbha has no appearances yet is empty. The five aggregates and eighteen dhatus have appearances but no inherent nature, therefore said to be empty; Tathagatagarbha has inherent nature but no appearances, also said to be empty. Though both are called "empty," these two kinds of emptiness have a great distinction: one is conventional dharma, the other is ultimate dharma; one is illusory appearance, the other is true appearance; one is function, the other is essence; one is expedient, the other is ultimate; one is dependent arising nature (paratantra-svabhāva), the other is perfected reality nature (pariniṣpanna-svabhāva). Yet the two are one entity with two inseparable aspects; appearances depend on nature to exist, and nature manifests through appearances. Tathagatagarbha, though empty, is the real dharma; the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus, though seemingly existent, are illusory dharmas. The five aggregates and eighteen dhatus are not said to be empty only after they cease; they are empty in the very moment of their existence because they lack self-nature and are not truly existent. Just as the *Diamond Sutra* says, they are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows—manifested by our deluded discrimination. In reality, the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus are precisely the empty-nature mind of Tathagatagarbha; entirely they are the functional activity of the seeds of Tathagatagarbha. If one insists on saying they have a characteristic, it is the characteristic of Tathagatagarbha.

Section Three: Why the Empty Characteristic of All Dharmas is Neither Born Nor Extinguished

All dharmas are manifested by Tathagatagarbha; therefore, all dharmas are empty characteristics. Although the true thusness mind-substance (citta-dhātu) of Tathagatagarbha, which can produce the myriad dharmas, is truly existent, it is not an existence within the three realms; it cannot be seen, touched, smelled, or contacted. Anything that exists within the three realms must be subject to birth and extinction. Tathagatagarbha is not an existence within the three realms; therefore, it is neither born nor extinguished. "This characteristic of the emptiness of all dharmas is neither born nor extinguished" means that the empty-nature mind Tathagatagarbha is not a dharma that is born. It has existed since beginningless kalpas. All dharmas that are born will have extinction, but Tathagatagarbha is not a dharma that is born, so it will never be extinguished.

Why are the myriad dharmas of the five-aggregate world neither born nor extinguished? This is explained from the perspective of the dharma's principle-substance (li-t'i). The myriad dharmas of the five-aggregate world have no self-nature; their substance-nature is the nature of Tathagatagarbha; it is the functional activity of the empty-nature mind Tathagatagarbha. The phenomenal appearances of the five aggregates have birth, but their dharma-nature was never born, so it is not true birth. The phenomenal appearances of the five aggregates have extinction, but the dharma-nature was fundamentally never born, so how could it have ever been extinguished? Therefore, extinction is also illusory extinction. All dharmas appear to arise and cease illusorily on the surface of the Tathagatagarbha mind-substance. But from the standpoint of Tathagatagarbha, all dharmas are merely part of the functional nature of Tathagatagarbha. This functional nature is originally existent; it has never been born and will never cease.

To give an example: The scenes in a dream are the solitary shadow realm (ālaya-vijñāna's manifestation of mental objects alone) projected by Tathagatagarbha. We dream that we have become rich, possessing much property, land, gold, silver, jewels, cars, airplanes, etc. Suddenly, we wake up, and all this wealth disappears. A wise person naturally would not say the wealth in the dream truly existed. Since the events in the dream never actually occurred, one cannot speak of them having ceased. By the same token, life itself is fundamentally a great dream. All the myriad dharmas of the five-aggregate world are illusory projections given to us by Tathagatagarbha, including this so-called "us," which is equally illusory. If one clings to the five aggregates and says they have birth and extinction, is that not foolish?

When Bodhisattvas cultivate to the stage of the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvahood (Daśabhūmi) and attain the Insight Like an Illusion (māyopamasamādhi), they can directly perceive that all the objects experienced by sentient beings, as well as the bodily, verbal, and mental actions they perform, are all without gain or loss. It is like a deluded person asleep dreaming: within the dream, there are joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, happiness and sorrow arising and ceasing, yet they do not know it is a dream. Moreover, within the dream, they perform many wholesome and unwholesome actions. The Bodhisattva further contemplates that their own practice of the Bodhisattva path is also like extensively cultivating the six pāramitās within a dream. All are based on the illusory appearances of the six sense objects of the world and the various mental factors (caitta) of the deluded minds of the seven consciousnesses manifested by their own minds. Practicing the Bodhisattva path is all appearances within a dream; not a single dharma is truly obtainable. Therefore, it is said the Bodhisattva path is like a dream.

Section Four: The Immeasurable Middle Way Nature

The previous section explained the Middle Way nature of the empty characteristic of all dharmas being neither born nor extinguished. Besides this Middle Way nature, Tathagatagarbha also possesses immeasurable Middle Way natures.

I. Neither Defiled Nor Pure

Next, the Heart Sutra mentions "the empty characteristic of all dharmas is neither defiled nor pure." We have already explained that the empty characteristic of all dharmas refers to Tathagatagarbha. Why is Tathagatagarbha neither defiled nor pure?

Tathagatagarbha is also called the inherently pure mind (prakṛti-prabhāsvara-citta). "Inherently pure" contains two meanings: First, it means Tathagatagarbha has the nature of self-existing true reality; no dharma is needed to produce it. Apart from it, no dharma has a truly imperishable self-nature. Second, it means Tathagatagarbha has no perception, awareness, or cognition regarding the six sense objects. It projects the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects but does not give rise to mental activity, thoughts, greed, hatred, delusion, or afflictions towards them. It has no self-nature, no ego-clinging (ātma-grāha) or dharma-clinging (dharma-grāha). Therefore, it is said to be pure.

The seven consciousness minds create karma; the five aggregates create karma. The seeds of the karma created are stored within Tathagatagarbha. Thus, Tathagatagarbha stores the defiled and pure karmic seeds of the seven evolving consciousnesses. Tathagatagarbha is like a cup; the karmic seeds are like dirty water in the cup. The cup itself is clean, pure. The water in the cup is not clean; thus, the entire cup of water is neither defiled nor pure. To say Tathagatagarbha is "not defiled" means the water in the cup can be defiled or can become pure, but the cup body itself can never be stained by the water. The Tathagatagarbha substance has no defilement, no ignorance or afflictions. To say Tathagatagarbha is "not pure" is because the water contained within is dirty, impure; Tathagatagarbha contains defiled karmic seeds. Because Tathagatagarbha contains the defiled seeds of the seven evolving consciousnesses, the seven consciousness minds that arise have afflictions and ignorance; they are impure. However, Tathagatagarbha, since beginningless kalpas, has never corresponded with afflictions or ignorance; it always manifests its own pure nature within the functioning of all dharmas.

The mind-substance of Tathagatagarbha is always pure and will forever remain pure without changing. Its nature is originally pure and constantly abides in nirvāṇa. What is pure is Tathagatagarbha; what is impure are the first seven consciousnesses and the seeds. Cultivation is for the first seven consciousnesses, transforming the defiled into the pure. Tathagatagarbha is originally pure; there is no need to cultivate Tathagatagarbha. Only at the stage of Buddhahood are all defiled seeds within Tathagatagarbha completely transformed into pure seeds. At this point, Tathagatagarbha is no longer "neither defiled nor pure"; it becomes the ultimately pure Stainless Consciousness (amala-vijñāna), also called Suchness (tathatā), truly worthy of the names "True" (tathā) and "Thus" (tā).

II. Neither Increasing Nor Decreasing

The meaning of "neither increasing nor decreasing" has three aspects: First, it refers to the fact that the mind-substance of Tathagatagarbha contains the seeds of the seven great elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, consciousness, and wisdom/seeing). These seeds are projected out and can produce the myriad dharmas of the three realms. The quantity of these seeds never increases or decreases, and their function of producing the myriad dharmas also neither increases nor decreases nor changes. Second, it means the number of Tathagatagarbhas within the Dharma realm neither increases nor decreases; the realm of sentient beings remains constant. Third, it means the mind-substance of Tathagatagarbha never undergoes alteration. It does not uphold precepts, does not cultivate, does not learn worldly dharmas, nor does it learn Buddhist dharmas. Its inherent wisdom (prakṛti-jñāna) neither increases nor decreases.

The first seven consciousness minds of sentient beings do increase and decrease. When ignorance decreases, wisdom increases. When meditative concentration increases, scattered mental activities decrease. When precept conduct increases, evil deeds decrease. The Tathagatagarbha mind has no gain or loss, no increase or decrease. Through cultivation, defiled mental actions transform into pure mental actions, but the number of seeds of the seven consciousnesses does not change. The number of seeds of the seven great elements does not undergo any increase or decrease whatsoever. Therefore, all dharmas manifested by the seven great element seeds neither increase nor decrease. Hence, it is said the empty characteristic of all dharmas neither increases nor decreases.

III. Immeasurable Middle Way Natures

Besides the Middle Way natures of "neither born nor extinguished, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing" mentioned in the Heart Sutra, Tathagatagarbha possesses other Middle Way natures. The *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way)* by Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva discusses the Eight Negations of the Middle Way: Neither born nor extinguished, neither ceasing nor permanent, neither identical nor different, neither coming nor going. Additionally, there are: Neither empty nor existent, neither long nor short, neither above nor below, neither before nor after, neither speaking nor not speaking, neither acting nor not acting, neither eating nor not eating, neither creating nor not creating, neither cultivating nor not cultivating, neither seeing nor not seeing, neither hearing nor not hearing, and so on—immeasurable Middle Way natures. These Middle Way natures require realization of the true nature (of mind) and then experiential verification one by one. Without realizing the true reality, merely thinking about them will only result in "emotional understanding and intellectual interpretation" (vicāra and vitarka), without the slightest experiential benefit.