The emptiness of the Great and Small Vehicles is not the same level of realization

The emptiness of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and the emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha of emptiness are two different realms, vastly different, and must not be conflated. As for the three kinds of emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha, no matter which one, one must realize the tathāgatagarbha before one can engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) through 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. "Originally there is no bodhi tree" is the emptiness of the Small Vehicle; at that time he had not yet realized the tathāgatagarbha, and it had no connection with the tathāgatagarbha of emptiness. Later, upon hearing the Diamond Sutra speak the five verses of "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)," it was only then that he realized the tathāgatagarbha.