Lectures on the Sutra of the Father and Son Collection (39)

The external fire element does not come from anywhere nor go anywhere.

The external fire element is collectively upheld by the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings with shared karma; the tathāgatagarbha of a single individual cannot uphold the external fire element but can only uphold the fire element within their own body. Unlike today, where matches and lighters exist, in the past, other methods were used to generate fire. One method involved using a convex lens to focus sunlight, igniting artemisia grass, dried cow dung fragments, or tula cotton. Once ignited, these materials were used to light other substances for cooking or roasting.

Once this fire started burning, it could consume grass, trees, mountains, forests, and settlements. Originally, there was no fire at all, yet once this fire arose, it could spread wildly across mountains and fields. Entire mountains could be consumed; no matter how tall the trees or how vast the forest, all could be destroyed. If the fire continued to spread, it could ruin the entire world. Where did this fire come from? Setting aside the explanation that it comes from the tathāgatagarbha, let us first consider emptiness. If the fire came from the sun, then even without holding a convex lens, merely allowing the sun to shine would not produce fire. If the sun possessed fire capable of burning forests, it would also cook the bodies of us sentient beings, causing us to perish instantly at any time and place. Thus, life could not exist in the world. Therefore, fire does not come from the sun.

Does fire come from empty space? It does not come from empty space either. If fire existed within empty space, all objects would be incinerated, and the world would be left utterly empty. Fire does not come from the sun, nor from empty space, nor from human hands, nor from the mirror, nor from the grass. It has no source. Let us first explain this from the perspective of the Śrāvakayāna. The fire element comes without a source. Finally, when the fire extinguishes, where does it go? It has no destination; it goes without departing. If it had a destination, wherever fire went would ignite. The fire element is the nature of burning and heat. It comes without a source and goes without a destination; when it comes, its origin cannot be found, and when it goes, its destination cannot be found. In essence, it is all the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; it is the function of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, all phenomena ultimately return to our true mind. Apart from this, not a single dharma is real.