What Is the Realm of Sentient Beings?

The realm of sentient beings is precisely the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness, as well as the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses. All of these are generated by the tathāgatagarbha; the seeds originate from the tathāgatagarbha, and all the materials come from the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, the essence of all these dharmas is the tathāgatagarbha. Hence it is said that the realm of sentient beings is the Dharmakāya, and the Dharmakāya is the realm of sentient beings. The relationship between the realm of sentient beings and the Dharmakāya tathāgatagarbha is just like the relationship between steamed buns and flour: steamed buns are made from flour, and the steamed bun is entirely flour. A steamed bun cannot exist independently apart from flour, whereas flour can exist on its own. The value of flour lies in its ability to be made into steamed buns, yet the arhats only want the flour to exist in a valueless state, without wanting any steamed buns to eat. The realm of sentient beings is also the realm of the Buddha; apart from the realm of sentient beings, the existence of the Dharmakāya would have no meaning.