Is There Tathāgatagarbha in Insentient Things?

Insentience means the absence of a conscious mind and all its functional attributes; thus, there is no capacity for discernment, nor the operation of mental factors.

However, insentient things are also manifested and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha, collectively manifested and sustained by the tathāgatagarbhas of beings sharing the same karma. When multiple tathāgatagarbhas cooperate, they can only output the four great elements (earth, water, fire, wind) to form the four great elements, manifesting the universe, the vessel world, mountains, rivers, lands, flowers, plants, trees, and other insentient objects, without outputting consciousness seeds. Therefore, insentient objects are also a function and effect of the tathāgatagarbha, yet they lack the functional attributes of the five aggregates (skandhas) of sentient beings. The output of consciousness seeds is the individual action of a single being's tathāgatagarbha, which can form a conscious mind, possessing the functions of consciousness and the operation of mental factors—this constitutes sentient beings. The dharmas formed by the tathāgatagarbha's output of the four great elements versus its output of consciousness seeds differ: the former results in insentient objects without conscious activity or the five-aggregate body, while the latter results in sentient beings with conscious activity and the five-aggregate body. Both involve the functional effect of the tathāgatagarbha; only their functions differ.

Within the five-aggregate body, the tathāgatagarbha operates in conjunction with the seven consciousnesses, cooperating with the seven consciousness minds to function. It discerns the activities of the seven consciousness minds, enabling the five-aggregate body to be vibrantly alive. In contrast, multiple tathāgatagarbhas have no cooperative relationship with insentient objects; they merely output and modify the seeds of the four great elements. Insentient objects lack mental activity and are not born or operated by a single tathāgatagarbha. Thus, within insentient objects, one cannot find one's own tathāgatagarbha, and therefore, one cannot attain realization or comprehend the mind through them. However, within the functioning of the five-aggregate body, one can find the tathāgatagarbha, attain realization, and comprehend the mind. Therefore, in the Āgama Sūtras, the World-Honored One said: "The five aggregates are not the self, yet they are not different from the self, nor are they contained within the self."