The Classification of Worldly Dharmas

Mental factors (caittas), as the name suggests, are dharmas that belong to the mind. Emotions, attitudes, opinions, suggestions, anxiety, agitation, jealousy, sadness, and so on—all are dharmas that arise upon the mind and belong to the mind, and therefore are all called mental factors. Dharmas that arise upon the body, dharmas that belong to the body, are, as the name suggests, called body-possessed dharmas. The dharmas possessed by the physical body—such as falling ill, changes in body weight, the occurrence of various mishaps, things being produced, or things being diminished, and so on—all the arising, ceasing, and changes belonging to the body are body-possessed dharmas. The physical body is divided into the internal body and the external body: the internal body is the body itself, and the external body is the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; taken together, they all constitute the body of the five aggregates. The body is material form (rūpa), and the dharmas that arise upon the body are also material form; therefore, whatever is possessed by material form is also material form. All worldly dharmas are divided into material form and mind, as well as what is neither material form nor mind. In terms of their possession, they are divided into mental factors and body-possessed dharmas, as well as dharmas possessed by neither body nor mind. All these dharmas are subsumed under the possession of the tathāgatagarbha. Once all dharmas are returned to the tathāgatagarbha, there is nothing left at all—so what is it that we are still greedily attached to now? It is all empty; it is all false appearance. Unfortunately, the habit of greedy attachment is too deeply rooted and too hard to transform. The fundamental reason is that the true reality of the dharma realm has not been understood, has not been seen clearly. This matter takes three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas to be thoroughly clarified, and by then, the practice of the Path is also complete.