The Differences and Connections among the Object of Essential Nature, the Outer Six Sense-Objects, and the Inner Six Sense-Objects

The outer six sense-objects existing in the universe are jointly produced and jointly sustained by the tathāgatagarbhas of all sentient beings, and are maintained by all tathāgatagarbhas using the seeds of the four great elements. Since the seeds of the four great elements arise moment by moment and cease moment by moment, the outer six sense-objects likewise arise and cease moment by moment. The outer six sense-objects are the most primordial material form—material form composed of real seeds and relatively substantial. Strictly speaking, this is called the essential object (the object of fundamental substance), which is discerned by the tathāgatagarbha; the manas cannot discern it, and the six consciousnesses even less so. Even so, the essential object is also arising, ceasing, and changing moment by moment. In the process of the arising, ceasing, and mutation of the seeds of the four great elements, these seeds radiate outward, dispersing into the various tathāgatagarbhas, which is why we can sense that there is a magnetic field and energy around matter.

The tathāgatagarbha will take back the seeds of the four great elements that have radiated outward; only after they are taken back are they called the outer six sense-objects. The tathāgatagarbha then transmits the seeds of the four great elements on the outer six sense-objects into the supreme faculty through the five sense faculties. The five sense faculties refer to the body's various nervous systems. For example, the eye faculty has the vitreous body and a neural conduction system, which transmits the fine particles of the four great elements emitted by matter outside the eye faculty all the way to the supreme faculty of the eye at the back of the brain, thereby forming the inner material sense-object. When the inner material sense-object lands in the supreme faculty of the eye, faculty and sense-object make contact. In fact, it is the manas that first discerns both the outer and inner material sense-objects; after the manas has discerned them, if it wishes to know them in detail, the eye consciousness and mind consciousness are brought forth; if the manas does not wish to know them in detail, we remain unaware of such material sense-objects. The mental sense-objects that accompany the five sense-objects are transmitted simultaneously with them: the mental object of form is transmitted through the eye faculty together with material form, the mental object of sound is transmitted through the ear faculty together with sound, the mental object of scent is transmitted through the nose faculty together with scent, and it is the same with the mental objects of taste and touch.

This means that there are many dharmas within the supreme faculty; when the manas does not wish to discern them, the six consciousnesses cannot discern them either, and we remain unaware of the dharmas transmitted in through the five sense faculties. If the conduction of the nervous system is free of obstruction and error, the formed inner six sense-objects will somewhat resemble the outer six sense-objects, or even be very similar, because the inner six sense-objects are the shadow of the outer six sense-objects; and the outer six sense-objects are the shadow of the essential object, like a reflection in a mirror. The inner six sense-objects we discriminate are like reflections in a mirror, while the outer six sense-objects, which we cannot discriminate, correspond to the actual object outside the mirror. That actual object is somewhat more real than the inner six sense-objects, and more closely accords with the original essential object of the six sense-objects. The essential object is composed of real four great elements, which the manas cannot reach. Only after the tathāgatagarbha, like a mirror, takes in the four great elements from that essential object and conjures them up can the manas take it as its object.