The Parable of the Magician

A magician manifests countless heavenly flowers in the air, brilliantly colorful, and also manifests heavenly cats and heavenly dogs. Question: Does this magician himself truly exist? Or is he a fictitious person spoken of expediently, with no such person actually existing? If the magician truly exists while the tathāgatagarbha does not truly exist, then how do all dharmas appear? Are they not manifested by the magician, the tathāgatagarbha? For the tathāgatagarbha not to truly exist and yet be able to manifest all dharmas is impossible. If there is no such person, yet this person is eating, this does not accord with logic. If the storehouse does not exist, yet can store limitless things, this also does not accord with logic.

The meaning of the character "real" in "substantial entity" is that "real" means truly existing, existing, not empty or false. It differs from the "real" that has form and appearance and can be seen and touched—there is an essential distinction. The "real" that can be seen and touched is a false realness, not true existence; it is an illusory false appearance, conjured up by the true mind of suchness, which cannot be seen or touched. The "real" of the true mind of suchness, the tathāgatagarbha, cannot be seen or touched, has no appearance or form, yet its mind-substance exists without falsehood and has genuine function. It truly exists. In both the mundane and supramundane worlds, only this one is real; everything else is empty and false.

In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the World-Honored One said, "Still neither the true Self nor ultimate reality." This means that sentient beings' ālayavijñāna is not yet the true self, not yet completely real, because the mind-substance still contains the arising-and-ceasing seeds created by the seven consciousnesses. The seeds still have the nature of arising and ceasing; it is not yet the self of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, nor is it completely permanent and unchanging. Only upon attaining buddhahood does the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) become the true self, become completely and utterly real, with no more arising, ceasing, or transformation of seeds, having become permanent, blissful, self, and pure.