The External Object-Aspect Necessarily Includes External Dharma Objects

If the outer object-aspect contained only the five sense objects and no mental sense-object, then the image entering the eye would have no inverted reflection; upright and inverted are precisely the mental sense-object, which is visible form. If the outer object-aspect had no mental sense-object, what entered the eye would be just a patch of color, without shape or posture, without any distinction of mass or texture. Everyone can observe what the image in another person's eye actually looks like, and then you will know.

For example, when looking into a mirror, the image outside the mirror is the outer object-aspect; the mirror receives and captures the image of the outer object-aspect, and the image formed on the mirror's surface is called the inner object-aspect. Without the image outside, there would be no image on the mirror—such is the fact.

Generally speaking, the image on the mirror is not much different from the outer image: whatever is outside, that is what appears on the mirror; whatever the outer image is, that is what the image on the mirror is. If the inner object-aspect has a mental sense-object, how could the outer object-aspect lack one? The tathāgatagarbha manifests images as they truly are; "as they truly are" means just the same as the outside. The visible form, expressive form, and non-expressive form of the outer mental sense-object are all manifested through the mirror, identical to the outer image. Whether through direct perception and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in meditation, or through logical inference, the conclusion is the same.