The Emptiness of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna Is Not a Single Realm

The emptiness of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and the emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha as emptiness are two different realms, vastly different from each other, and must not be conflated. As for the three kinds of emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha, whichever one it may be, one must realize the tathāgatagarbha before one can contemplate it in direct perception — utterly different from the emptiness of the Small Vehicle. The mind's emptiness after realizing the tathāgatagarbha cannot be conflated with the emptiness before realizing the tathāgatagarbha; their natures are different, and their mental states are different. "Bodhi originally has no tree" is the emptiness of the Small Vehicle; at that time Huineng had not yet realized the tathāgatagarbha, and it had no connection with the tathāgatagarbha as emptiness. Later, upon hearing the Diamond Sutra and the five verses of "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)," only then did he realize the tathāgatagarbha.