Between the Dharma of tathāgatagarbha and the Dharma of manas, which is ultimately more important?

Question: Between the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha and the dharma of the manas, which one is ultimately more important? If Pāpīyas wishes to destroy the Dharma, which dharma's propagation would he most want to obstruct?

Answer: Both the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha and the dharma of the manas are important. If one must compare which is more important, then the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha is more important, because without the tathāgatagarbha there would be no dharmas at all. Without realizing the tathāgatagarbha, practicing any dharma is useless. Without realizing the tathāgatagarbha, there would be no subsequent contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), and there would be no wonderful discriminating wisdom to contemplate the various functions and natures of the manas, nor would the equality wisdom of the manas arise.

If Pāpīyas wants to destroy the Buddha-dharma and obstruct the Buddha-dharma, he would certainly first destroy the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha, and then obstruct the dharma of the manas. Pāpīyas has great merit. When the Buddha dwelt in the world propagating the Dharma, he followed at the Buddha's side and attended many Dharma assemblies, most of the time attending with the purpose of destroying the Dharma. On a few occasions, under the influence of the Buddha's power and the inspiration of the Buddha-dharma, and under the chastisement of bodhisattvas, he had no choice but to listen carefully to the Dharma at the assemblies, and even to protect and uphold the Buddha-dharma. He has always known that the Buddha-dharma is very good and very important, that it can bring sentient beings coolness and liberation. However, because of his extremely strong desire for a retinue, he hopes that the followers under his control will become more and more numerous, not fewer and fewer. Therefore he does not want sentient beings to learn the Buddha-dharma well, does not want sentient beings to gain coolness of mind and attain liberation, and thus escape from his control.

So when Pāpīyas learned that the World-Honored One was going to expound some important Mahāyāna sutra, he would try by every possible means to obstruct it. The Buddha clearly knew Pāpīyas's schemes, yet never exposed him, leaving it to the Dharma-protecting bodhisattvas to teach Pāpīyas a lesson. In this way, Pāpīyas heard a great deal of Buddha-dharma at the Buddha's Dharma assemblies, mainly Mahāyāna teachings, and he came to know quite a lot of Mahāyāna dharma. Because of this root of goodness and merit in later ages, he will be able to become a true bodhisattva, and in the future he will be able to attain buddhahood.

But before he becomes a true bodhisattva, and before he descends into the hells to undergo evil retribution, he still has his demonic nature and a very strong desire for a retinue. He will certainly make use of the Buddha-dharma he has heard to teach sentient beings similar-sounding Mahāyāna dharma and the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha, which is fairly close to the Buddha-dharma. Because he has supernatural powers, it is easy for him to learn the hidden meaning of the tathāgatagarbha. When he teaches the tathāgatagarbha, he will be willing to reveal the hidden meaning to sentient beings, for he does not fear that sentient beings will only know the result—knowing the result is useless; the process of cultivation in between is what matters most. If Pāpīyas acts this way, he cleverly achieves his aims: first, making sentient beings worship him, thereby drawing them to his side; second, preventing sentient beings from truly cultivating, so they cannot truly attain liberation. If sentient beings easily learn the hidden meaning, they can no longer apply effort in cultivation, and they will also give rise to extremely heavy arrogance and commit evil karma. In this way, no matter what, sentient beings cannot escape Pāpīyas's control, and Pāpīyas achieves his goal. So Pāpīyas does not fear that sentient beings all learn the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha—as long as they learn it contrary to the Dharma, and easily come to know the hidden meaning of the tathāgatagarbha, it becomes even harder for them to attain liberation. Such sentient beings still belong to Pāpīyas's retinue, controlled by Pāpīyas.

Then we know that what Pāpīyas fears most is genuine practice and realization. And genuine practice and realization in studying the Dharma are both related to meditative concentration (samādhi) and the manas. When meditative concentration is complete, the cultivation can permeate the manas, and it becomes easy to realize the Buddha-dharma; then liberation is not far off. Pāpīyas can do nothing about this, so he will obstruct and hinder by every means the dharma of meditative concentration and the realization of the manas—openly appearing to protect it while secretly sabotaging it. Sentient beings cannot see through his tricks and even think that he protects the Dharma well, that he has deep cultivation, that he is truly a bodhisattva. Pāpīyas is very cunning. On the surface he strongly supports the Buddha-dharma and will even personally teach and propagate the Dharma, but he will never let sentient beings truly realize the Buddha-dharma. These covert maneuvers he performs absolutely cannot be discovered by the wisdom of sentient beings. Only sentient beings with deep roots of goodness and merit can receive the blessing of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, remain unconfused by his bewitchment, and attain true realization. Therefore roots of goodness and merit are extremely important.