X. Does External Dharmic Dust Truly Exist?

External dharmic dust refers to phenomena like mountains outside oneself. The shape, height, majesty, and grandeur of a mountain are all external dharmic dust. Only after the Tathagatagarbha comes into contact with them are they transmitted into the subtle sense faculty, becoming internal dharmic dust, which the six consciousnesses can then discern.

If there were no external dharmic dust, the mountains outside would possess only color, with nothing else. How then could one distinguish this mountain from that mountain? How could one differentiate mountains, rivers, and the earth? Would the entire universe and worldly realm not simply be a patchwork of colors?

Person A is one individual, and Person B is another. For Person B, Person A constitutes external dust, encompassing the six dusts of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. Person A's height, build, gender, demeanor, age, appearance, and so forth are all external dharmic dust. After Person B's Tathagatagarbha contacts these, they are transmitted into Person B's subtle sense faculty, becoming internal dharmic dust. It cannot be said that Person A is merely a patch of color—form dust—lacking external dharmic dust such as height, build, age, appearance, etc., could it? If every person were only a patch of color without dharmic dust, then how would individuals differ from one another? Does each person's Tathagatagarbha create internal dharmic dust using another's Tathagatagarbha? Does each person's Tathagatagarbha arbitrarily fabricate the dharmic dust and appearance of others?