A Brief Exposition on the Essence of Consciousness (64)

Eight. Mountains are high and waters are deep; height and depth are attributes of form and appearance. Only with the visible form of mountain hues can the formal attribute of mountain height be set off; only with the formal attribute of mountain height can the scope of the mountain's coloration be delineated. Only with the color of water can the apparent attribute of water depth be set off; only with the apparent attribute of water depth can the quantity of water be defined. The five sense objects of visible form and the mental objects of form, appearance, and non-manifest form are tightly interwoven, inseparable even for an instant. Otherwise, no form could exist or manifest. Therefore, it is said that external sense objects necessarily include mental objects; the six sense objects are complete. It is impossible to have only the five external sense objects without mental objects simultaneously. External sense objects without mental objects do not exist; they are imaginary. The claim that mental objects are subsequently manifested by the supreme sense faculty in the hindbrain according to the five sense objects has no basis whatsoever and is fundamentally untenable. External sense objects must constitute the complete aspect of the six sense objects. When the Tathāgatagarbha initially creates, it cannot create only visible forms like colors alone, resulting in a vast expanse of color without form or substance. The world is not composed solely of colors. All objects possess their own shapes and characteristics; only thus is there a rich and diverse material world. For example, when the Tathāgatagarbha creates the five aggregates body, it cannot possibly create only the color of the physical body, and then have attributes like height, shortness, fatness, thinness, etc., subsequently manifested separately in someone else's supreme sense faculty. This is by no means possible; no matter who imagines it, they could not conceive of such human or sentient beings. Another example is the golden ground of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. It cannot have only the color gold without hardness, vastness, or boundaries; otherwise, how could one walk upon the golden ground? The Tathāgatagarbha is like a mirror reflecting images; the mirror faithfully reflects the original appearance of external forms. It is impossible for the original form to lack length, size, height, shortness, fatness, or thinness, yet the Tathāgatagarbha arbitrarily projects length, squareness, roundness, size, height, shortness, fatness, or thinness onto the mirror surface. How could that reflection occur? Would the Tathāgatagarbha still be like a mirror reflecting images?