The Sutra of the Compilation of the Father and the Son: Lecture (38)

What is the external fire element?

Original text: What is the external fire element? It is not grasped and held; it is the arising of warmth and heat phenomena. If there is a person in the wilderness seeking the conditions for fire, using wormwood, or cow dung chips, or tinder, and ignites the fire, then it burns grass, trees, mountains, forests, villages, and other places, all being burned.

Explanation: What is the external fire element? It is not the warmth and heat phenomena solely grasped and held by one's own Tathagatagarbha; it is the warmth and heat phenomena jointly held by the Tathagatagarbha of all sentient beings with shared karma, which is the external fire element. If someone in the wilderness seeks the external conditions for fire, using wormwood, or cow dung chips, or tinder, with a convex lens or fire-starting tool, ignites the fire, then the fire can burn grass, trees, mountains, forests, village settlements, and all surrounding accessible areas, all being burned by the great fire.