Miscellaneous Discussions on Buddhism (Part One)
Chapter 8: On the Dharma
1. What is the Dharma?
Dharma means "that which holds its own characteristic and serves as a standard." Whatever can manifest in the world, no matter how illusory, no matter whether oneself or others can cognize it or experience it, as long as there is an image of it, it is dharma.
For example: people, events, objects, and principles—no matter what person or what sentient being, as long as it exists, it is dharma. Events: no matter what kind of event—eating, dressing, walking, moving about, sitting and lying down, talking and laughing, flowers blooming and falling, human affairs in harmony or in conflict, great undertakings and small undertakings—as long as they exist in the world, no matter when they exist, whether they are actually happening or merely imagined in the mind, they are all dharma. What is imagined in the mind, what is fantasized, is all dharma; as long as it is a mental image, it is dharma, and the mind itself is also dharma.
Objects: whether before one's eyes or behind one's back, whether in the past or the present, whether imagined or recalled, whether one can come into contact with them or not—as long as there is an image, they are all dharma.
Principles: all worldly rules, laws, systems, and regulations; wholesome and unwholesome, true and false, right and wrong; all thoughts and concepts, all mental notions, all true doctrinal viewpoints within the Buddha-dharma—as long as they can manifest in the mind, they are all dharma.
All these dharmas are images in the mind, illusory appearances in the mind, all produced through the operation of sentient beings' five aggregates (pañca-skandha), produced through the combined operation of the twelve sense bases (dvādaśa-āyatana), successively born within the eighteen elements (aṣṭādaśa-dhātu), inexhaustible and endless. The final, most ultimate dharma is the tathāgatagarbha: whether sentient beings acknowledge Him, know Him, or recognize Him, He exists as an ultimate truth.
2. The Dharma Is the Truth
The Dharma is the true nature of facts, the truth; therefore when bodhisattvas expound the Dharma, they must expound the true nature of facts, expound the truth. The true nature of each thing is only one; when each person observes from their own standpoint, if the observation is accurate and without error, then the true nature of facts observed will be the same—there is only one true nature of facts. If the conclusions each person draws from observation differ, it shows that many people have observed incorrectly and have not observed in accordance with reality. There are many reasons for failing to observe correctly; each person's reasons are not entirely the same, but the common feature is insufficient power of observation.
Since expounding the Dharma means expounding the true nature of facts, it is best that this true nature of facts be something one has personally realized and proven; expounding it in this way is the most persuasive and most intimate. If one can only quote others' words when expounding the Dharma, one must also have quite good discernment, being able to discern and prove that what others' words state is indeed the true nature of facts. At present we can only be certain that what the Buddha said is all the true nature of facts, but we ourselves do not have the ability to actually prove it; it is merely faith of admiration and faith of reverence in the Buddha's sacred words, not yet reaching correct faith and true faith—true faith requires realization. For anyone other than the Buddha, faith of admiration and faith of reverence carries a certain risk; only correct faith, realized faith, and true faith are reliable. But realized faith is extremely, extremely difficult, so most sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age have faith of admiration, blind faith, and faith of reverence, not correct faith, realized faith, and true faith.
3. What Is the Dharma Realm?
The dharma realm is divided into the supramundane dharma realm and the mundane dharma realm. The mundane dharma realm is divided into the eighteen elements, the ten dharma realms, and the three realms of existence. The eighteen elements are sentient beings' six faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses. The ten dharma realms are the four sagely realms and the six ordinary realms. "Element" (dhātu) means function, boundary, and seed differentiation—it is a dividing line. Different elements have different functions: the functions of the six faculties differ from the functions of the six sense objects, and differ from the functions of the six consciousnesses. The beings of the six destinies each have their own boundaries; the four kinds of sages each have their own boundaries; the ten dharma realms each have their own boundaries. The three realms are the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm; they also have boundaries and can also be called dharma realms—the three realms each have their own boundary differentiations.
The supramundane dharma realm is called the one true dharma realm (eka-satya-dhātu), which is the tathāgatagarbha of suchness. He does not belong to the three realms of existence, is not within the three realms, and has no characteristics of the three realms of existence, yet He is also not outside the three realms of existence. All dharmas of the three realms of existence, as well as the buddha-lands of the ten directions, the worlds of the lotus treasury, and the oceans of worlds, are all within the one true dharma realm and do not go beyond the mind of suchness. When sentient beings cultivate to the stage of wondrous enlightenment (sugata), before attaining buddhahood, they must wait in the inner court of Tuṣita for the conditions to ripen, then descend to be born in the human world and accomplish the path through the eight aspects of a buddha's life. When the faculties and dispositions of the beings in the human world have ripened, the time for the wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattva to accomplish the path has also arrived, and he will descend to the human world and accomplish the path through the eight aspects. Therefore all buddhas come to the human world to attain buddhahood.
4. What Is Merit?
Merit is the benefit of wisdom; with wisdom one can dissolve karma. Eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and seeing the mind will eliminate the karma of the three evil destinies; repentance imbued with wisdom also has merit and can dissolve karma. The growth of wisdom during cultivation can all dissolve karma to varying degrees; when unwholesome karma is exhausted, one becomes a buddha.
5. What Is Dry Wisdom?
Dry wisdom: "dry" means without water. Dry wisdom is wisdom without the moisture of meditative concentration (samādhi) to nourish it—brittle, parched wisdom. Such wisdom has no actual guiding function, just as soil without water cannot become clay; without the stickiness of clay, it cannot plaster walls, cannot pave the ground, cannot be used for construction. Dry wisdom is the same: wisdom that leaves one's mouth dry from talking is actually not drawn out from one's own inner being; it is not realized, but learned by the conscious mind, inferred, or analyzed—this is merely the stream of those who parrot words, not true wisdom. This is the initial stage of cultivation; if one stops at this stage and takes it as ultimate, one will halt and make no progress, unable to enter the true treasure mountain.
6. What Is the True Dharma?
The so-called true Dharma is the dharma that can lead sentient beings toward breaking through ignorance and toward liberation. The true true Dharma refers to the dharma of the self-nature of suchness (tathatā). Suchness is the most correct of all mundane and supramundane things; it is the root of all dharmas, and all dharmas emerge from it. The self-nature can also enable sentient beings, relying on it, to attain liberation, to realize nirvāṇa, to accomplish the buddha path, and to be far removed from all suffering and adversity. Therefore the self-nature of suchness is the true Dharma, and all dharmas concerning the self-nature of suchness are also the true Dharma.
Apart from the dharma spoken by the Buddha, and the dharmas concerning liberation and prajñā that accord with what the Buddha taught, which are the true Dharma, others—such as the dharmas of non-Buddhist paths and worldly wholesome dharmas—cannot enable sentient beings to attain liberation, see the mind and see the nature, and break through ignorance; therefore they are not the true Dharma. Worldly wholesome dharmas can enable sentient beings to subdue evil and cultivate goodness, to be good people and qualified people, but at most they can temporarily preserve the human body or enable rebirth in the heavens to enjoy blessings; they cannot lead toward liberation, and therefore they also do not belong to the true Dharma. Even if sentient beings cultivate worldly wholesome dharmas, it does not necessarily produce in them the mind of renunciation, the mind seeking liberation; it may even increase the bondage of birth and death.
The Buddha-dharma and worldly wholesome dharmas are not contradictory and do not conflict with each other; on the contrary, the two complement each other. When the Buddha first taught the Dharma, he also taught the wholesome dharmas of humans and gods, teaching the five vehicles of dharma, but in the end he returned to the one buddha vehicle—all are dharmas for attaining buddhahood. Worldly wholesome dharmas are very necessary and should be vigorously promoted; this is the foundation for studying the Buddha-dharma. But worldly wholesome dharmas are, after all, not the Buddha-dharma and cannot replace the Buddha-dharma. If wholesome dharmas proliferate within the Buddhist gate, and these wholesome dharmas are taken to be the true Buddha-dharma, then they will flood and crowd out the true Buddha-dharma; in the end the true Buddha-dharma will be diluted and replaced, the Buddha-dharma will perish rapidly, and then even the worldly wholesome dharmas will no longer exist.
7. The Definition of Mental Sense-Objects
Question: The inner six sense objects are form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and form included in the mental-object base (dharmāyatana). Is the form included in the mental-object base the same as the mental sense-object (dharma-viṣaya)? What is its specific definition? What is the relationship between the five sense objects and this mental sense-object—are they equal, parallel, or in a relation of inclusion?
Answer: The form included in the mental-object base is the mental sense-object; it is a mental sense-object further transformed and manifested on the basis of the inner five sense objects. It is also composed of particles of the four great elements and belongs to material form (rūpa). Combined with the five sense objects, it constitutes complete form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. The five sense objects are only a small portion of the content of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, not the complete five sense-object forms; the mental sense-object is the greater portion of the content of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch—only when combined do they constitute complete material form. For example: the form object combined with the mental sense-object upon that form object constitutes the complete inner material sense-object (inner rūpa-viṣaya); the sound object combined with the mental sense-object upon that sound object constitutes the complete sound object. The five sense objects and the mental sense-object are in a parallel, mutually dependent relationship; the mental sense-object arises and exists in dependence on the five sense objects. The inner five sense objects are discerned by the five sense consciousnesses; the mental sense-object is discerned by the mind consciousness. From this it can be seen that the five sense consciousnesses alone cannot discern form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, and the mind consciousness alone also cannot discern form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; only when the five sense consciousnesses and the mind consciousness operate in combination can complete form, sound, smell, taste, and touch be discerned.
8. The Relationship Between Outer and Inner Six Sense Objects
The outer six sense objects are the living environment jointly manifested by the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings with common karma; these must exist, for only by relying on the outer six sense objects can the tathāgatagarbha manifest the inner six sense objects that the six consciousnesses discern. The outer six sense objects are not something a single sentient being can possess alone, nor something a single tathāgatagarbha can manifest alone. Because there are outer six sense objects, our own tathāgatagarbha can, in reliance on the outer six sense objects, manifest within the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of our brain inner six sense objects identical to the outer six sense objects; then the six faculties contact the six sense objects, and the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to the six consciousnesses to discern the inner six sense objects. Yet sentient beings all believe that what is discerned is a truly existent realm of the six sense objects; they take the realms of the six sense objects that their six consciousnesses see, hear, perceive, and know as real, clinging to them intensely and performing all kinds of karmic actions, not knowing that all are illusory manifestations—and so birth-and-death and saṃsāra continue without end, and they suffer immensely.
9. How to Prove the Existence of the Outer Six Sense Objects
For example, the mountains, rivers, and the great earth outside are outer material sense-objects; they are possessed in common by many sentient beings, not by one person. So you can see the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, and other sentient beings can also see them. When you are asleep, unconscious, or dead, you cannot see the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, but other sentient beings can still see them. This shows that the mountains, rivers, and the great earth are not possessed by one person but are possessed in common by all sentient beings.
Another example: your family's house is not possessed by you alone; your family members can also enjoy the house and live in it. When you leave home and cannot come into contact with the house, the house still exists, your family members still live in the house, and the house also belongs to them. When your whole family leaves the house, other people can still see the house and can move in and live there; they can also become the owners of the house.
Without the outer six sense objects, there would be no inner six sense objects; the inner six sense objects exist in dependence on the outer six sense objects, like the images in a mirror. We all live within the images in the mirror, and beyond the images there is still the actual entity; the tathāgatagarbhas of other sentient beings can, in reliance on that actual entity, also manifest images for other sentient beings to discern. If there were no actual entity, there would be no images; a mirror would not produce images without cause. The outer six sense objects are like the moon in the sky; the inner six sense objects are like the moon in the water—"a thousand rivers with water, a thousand moons"—all are reflections of the moon, while the moon in the sky is only one: it is the form-object realm, one of the outer five sense objects.
The outer six sense objects are also manifested by the mind alone, created and produced by the tathāgatagarbha; they are illusory and unreal, arising and ceasing, changing and mutating, and will also disappear and perish—they do not abide long. Before we were born onto the Earth, the Earth already existed. So was the Earth created by your mind alone? Obviously not; it was jointly manifested by the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings with common karma, and is one of the outer six sense objects. After we die, the Earth still exists as before, for the use of other sentient beings. Only when the conditions of all sentient beings with the Earth are exhausted, after all sentient beings have died, will the Earth be destroyed.
10. Empty Space and Form
Empty space is the edge of form; it is a kind of form without form-appearance—this is the definition of empty space, and this statement may be hard to understand. Empty space can be revealed in reliance on form, but it does not exist in reliance on form. The source of empty space is the tathāgatagarbha; it exists in reliance on the tathāgatagarbha, and only because there is the tathāgatagarbha does empty space appear. Form-appearance, too, can only appear because there is the tathāgatagarbha—this is the fundamental source of all dharmas. Their superficial false appearance is that form-appearance is revealed in reliance on empty space, and empty space is revealed in reliance on form-appearance, the two setting each other off. When there is no form-appearance, empty space still exists. Before the universe was formed, it was a void of empty space without a single trace of form-appearance; this shows that empty space does not exist in reliance on form.
11. The Difference Between Space and Empty Space
Space is sometimes equated with empty space and sometimes not; it is demarcated in reliance on some coordinate object. For example, a room: only with a house is there the space of the house; without a house, it is empty space. For example, China's airspace is also called China's space; only with China is there China's airspace; without China there is no China's space. Space is also one of the objects sentient beings compete for; everyone wants to expand their own space for living and activity, hence there is contention.
Humanity finds the space of the Earth insufficient and wants to occupy the space of other planets. Without the Earth and all the planets, there would be no planetary space; dharmas that exist in dependence on something else are paratantra nature (paratantra-svabhāva), illusory and unreal. The outer universe of starry skies is the first manifestation, unreal like illusion; the inner starry sky manifested in reliance on the outer starry sky is the second manifestation, even more illusory and unreal; the inner and outer space set off in reliance on the material form of the starry skies is especially illusory and unreal.
12. Three Kinds of Ignorance
The sixth and seventh consciousnesses of ordinary sentient beings all have ignorance, including the ignorance of one thought (ekacitta-avidyā) and beginningless ignorance (anādi-avidyā), as well as immeasurable, boundless delusions like dust and sand. The ignorance of one thought is the craving and clinging to one's own five aggregates, and the craving and clinging to all dharmas of the three realms of existence. Because of the ignorance of one thought, there is the suffering of birth-and-death and saṃsāra in the three realms. To cut off the suffering of birth-and-death and saṃsāra, one must extinguish the ignorance of one thought completely; first one must eradicate the view of self that takes the five aggregates as self, then cultivate to attain the first dhyāna, and in sequence cut off the various afflictive bondages such as greed, hatred, delusion, and conceit; then the craving and clinging to one's own five aggregates can be exhausted, the clinging to the dharmas of the three realms of existence can be exhausted, and when the ignorance of one thought is exhausted, one is liberated from the suffering of birth-and-death and saṃsāra.
The beginningless ignorance within the seventh consciousness is that, from beginningless kalpas, sentient beings have never known what the true reality of the dharma realm is, have not known that there is the mind of ultimate reality of all dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha, and that it is He who gives birth to the myriad dharmas of the three realms of existence; therefore they cling to the myriad dharmas of the world as real—this is beginningless ignorance. When one realizes the mind of ultimate reality of the dharma realm, seeing the mind and seeing the nature, one breaks through beginningless ignorance. When the seventh consciousness has recognized the true reality of all dharmas and possesses the great wisdom of prajñā, and later, when beginningless ignorance is completely exhausted, the ignorance of the seventh consciousness is extinguished; there is the complete transformation of consciousness into wisdom, the ultimate attainment of buddhahood, and the tathāgatagarbha is then renamed the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna).
13. Common Karma and Individual Karma
The part that sentient beings share is their common karmic force: the common external mountains, rivers, and great earth, the common universe of inanimate vessel-world, the common living environment. Everything else is not shared; each enjoys their own five aggregates and eighteen elements and their own eighth consciousness. Every sentient being has their own eight consciousnesses, which are not shared; that is why sentient beings are so vastly different, mind differing from mind—one person, one way of thinking; one person, one kind of conduct; one person, one kind of retribution.
The eighth consciousness is unborn and undying, originally existent; no one can manifest Him. When there are conditions, the eighth consciousness manifests the myriad dharmas; without conditions, He does not manifest them. When He manifests in accordance with conditions, He Himself never changes.
14. The Functional Natures of the Eight Consciousnesses
The so-called deluded thoughts are the mental notions and ideas that arise when the manas grasps at objects with attention (manaskāra) and the mind consciousness gives rise to thoughts; sometimes the seven consciousnesses together give rise to thought. As long as the seven consciousnesses exist, they must function; when the seven consciousnesses function, thoughts necessarily appear. All eight consciousnesses have the five universal mental factors (sarvatraga-caitasika): attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā). Volition means thinking, deliberation (manasikāra), choosing, deciding, and acting. Perception means that the mind has taken up a mark, recognized the mark, and identified the mark. Feeling means experiencing, receiving, and accepting. Attention means directing the mind toward an object and focusing on the object. Contact means the consciousness contacting the realm. The marks taken by the eighth consciousness differ from those of the preceding seven consciousnesses; the content of His deliberation differs, the objects and content of His feeling differ, the objects of His attention differ, the objects of His contact differ—in every way He differs from the preceding seven consciousnesses.
Consciousness means discrimination. If one wants no discrimination, one must extinguish consciousness: the eye consciousness extinguished, no seeing; the ear consciousness extinguished, no hearing; the nose consciousness extinguished, no smelling; the tongue consciousness extinguished, no tasting; the body consciousness extinguished, no feeling of touch; the mind consciousness extinguished, no perceiving or knowing; the manas extinguished, no deciding. Then the myriad dharmas are extinguished along with them. But without cultivating to the stage of the arhat of the fourth fruit, one also cannot extinguish the manas. If the eighth consciousness were also extinguished, everything would be abolished and all would end at once; even the Buddha cannot extinguish the eighth consciousness, let alone anyone else.
15. When Body and Mind and World Completely Fall Away, One Becomes a Buddha
Question: The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment says that all sentient beings wrongly take the four great elements as the image of their own body and the conditioned shadows of the six sense objects as the image of their own mind. Once this riddle is solved, the Buddha-dharma is also fully expounded. But how are the seeds of love and hatred accumulated over many lives and many kalpas to be removed?
Answer: When the problems of body and mind are solved, the Buddha-dharma is not yet fully expounded; there are still the extremely numerous and extensive issues of the consciousness-only seed-wisdom that need to be studied. After eradicating the view of self, and then seeing the mind and seeing the nature, and possessing the consciousness-only seed-wisdom to attain the first bhūmi, the defiled seeds will gradually be cleared away; when the seeds of love and hatred are exhausted, one becomes a buddha. One needs, when the conditions present themselves, to clear away the afflictive habitual tendencies within the mind, and thereby the defiled seeds are severed.
But when the problems of body and mind are completely, thoroughly, and ultimately solved, one has become a buddha. The Buddha-dharma is precisely for solving the problems of body and mind. "Body" includes the inner body, the physical body, and also the outer body, the universe of inanimate vessel-world as the living environment. "Mind" refers to the seven consciousnesses. When all seven consciousnesses have transformed consciousness into wisdom, body, mind, and world completely fall away and transform; the Sambhogakāya Buddha and the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha are both accomplished, and the world becomes a pure buddha-land.
16. Citing Scriptures to Prove One's Own Wrong Views Is Slandering the Buddha and the Dharma
The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment is entirely about the wondrous function of the buddha-nature, about the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. It is not saying that the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses with its nature of seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing should also be like the buddha-nature. If the meaning of the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment is understood as expounding the activities of the seven consciousnesses, that is a great misunderstanding. It is just like the Sixth Patriarch in the Platform Sūtra, who was expounding the self-nature of suchness throughout, yet countless people misunderstood it as expounding the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses with its nature of seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing—the misunderstanding is truly enormous.
All dharmas are the tathāgatagarbha; all are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. If one has not realized this principle, one should not cite scriptures to validate one's own views. Citing scriptures to validate one's incorrect views as correct is slandering the Buddha and the Dharma—a considerable offense. If you can directly observe, in the present, the nature of greed, hatred, and delusion—how it is precisely the buddha-nature, how it is the ultimate enlightened nature and enlightened mark—then you may say that all lust, anger, and delusion are precisely the ultimate enlightenment, and that wisdom and foolishness are alike prajñā; otherwise, please remain silent.
When one has no realization, it is better not to discuss the very deep and difficult Buddhist sūtras and the profound meanings of the Dharma. Especially regarding the buddha-stage realms that are too remote from our own—we should choose silence. I myself do not speak of what the buddha-stage is like; others should all the more not discuss it. What basis is there to discuss? What is meant by lofty and grandiose talk? Content that exceeds one's own realization and range of understanding, if one insists on speaking of it, is lofty and grandiose talk.
17. What Are the Conditionings Disassociated from the Mind?
The conditionings disassociated from the mind (citta-viprayukta-saṃskāra) total twenty-four: acquisition, life faculty, commonality of sentient beings (sattva-sabhāga), the nature of the unenlightened, the formless concentration, the cessation concentration, the formless retribution, body of names, body of phrases, body of letters, birth, abiding, aging, impermanence, transmigration, determinate difference, correspondence, speed, sequence, time, direction, number, combination, and non-combination.
The conditionings disassociated from the mind are manifested jointly by the eight consciousness-kings, the fifty-one mental factors, and the eleven material forms. For example, impermanence, a conditioning disassociated from the mind, is manifested through the combined operation of the eighth consciousness, the seventh consciousness, the sixth consciousness, and the five sense consciousnesses; it is manifested through the mental factors of attention, contact, feeling, perception, and volition of the eight consciousnesses toward the myriad dharmas, and is manifested upon the eleven material forms. Impermanence can also be manifested upon mental dharmas, likewise manifested through the joint operation of the eight consciousnesses and the mental factors. These impermanent dharmas are not determined by the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses and do not change their impermanent nature in accordance with the cognition of the seven consciousnesses; therefore they are called conditionings disassociated from the mind.
The impermanence of the five aggregates is manifested through the combined operation of the eight consciousnesses; the eight consciousnesses together with the mental factors give birth to the five aggregates, give rise to feelings, give rise to discernment, give rise to various activities, and are manifested at the place where the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body, form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, and the form included in the mental-object base combine, and are manifested at the six consciousnesses and the mental factors. The other conditionings disassociated from the mind are all manifested in this way. They are not determined by our perceiving mind; no matter what our mind is like, no matter how it cognizes, impermanent is impermanent—the five-aggregate world cannot become permanent because of our craving; this is not decided by the mind. By the same token, time, direction, number, aging, and the other twenty-four conditionings disassociated from the mind are all manifested jointly by the eight consciousnesses, the mental factors, and the eleven material forms; their existence or non-existence is not determined by the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses.
18. How Are Time and Space Manifested?
Time is manifested in reliance on material form; the arising, ceasing, and mutation of material form manifests and sets off time. Material form is manifested in reliance on mental dharmas and mental factors; mental factors operate in reliance on mental dharmas, and mental dharmas are subsumed in the eighth consciousness. The sequential flux of material form conjures up the conditioning disassociated from the mind that is time; time is a conditioning disassociated from the mind.
When material form appears and the consciousness-mind appears, the consciousness-mind can, in reliance on material form, identify and judge time and space. Without material form, time cannot be manifested, nor can space be manifested. If there is no consciousness-mind, then time and space cannot be identified, cognized, or judged at all; even if they existed, it would be as if they did not. Just imagine: without the sun, without trees, houses, mountains, and forests, how could time be discerned? If not even empty space existed, and there were no mountains, forests, rivers, ponds, great seas, or high mountains, how would space be divided and defined? Therefore, dharmas that can only be manifested in reliance on certain other dharmas are conditionings disassociated from the mind, more illusory than material form, more illusory than the mind of the seven consciousnesses.
Empty space, without material form to set it off, differs slightly from space that has a marker. Empty space is not a conditioning disassociated from the mind; it is a material form generated by the tathāgatagarbha using the seed of the space element, different from ordinary material form—a material form without form-appearance.
