Sentient Beings’ Rūpa Bodies and Their Dependent Retribution Environments

Question: The mountains, rivers, and earth perceived by human eyes are all the portion of mountains, rivers, and earth jointly manifested with one's own participation. When seeing animals, insects, and our relatives, do we perceive the images born from the contact between the four great elements flowing forth from them and the four great elements of our own Tathāgatagarbha? And is the same true for the flowers, plants, and trees we see?

Answer: The physical bodies of sentient beings are also material forms composed of the four great elements. These material forms are solely manifested by their own Tathāgatagarbha and have no relation to other sentient beings; the Tathāgatagarbha of other sentient beings does not participate in this manifestation. When we see these sentient beings, our own Tathāgatagarbha takes the physical body of the other sentient being and, like an image reflected in a mirror, manifests it as an internal manifestation (adhyātmika-pratibhāsa) at our own supreme sense faculties (adhyātmikāyatana). The physical body of the sentient being is, to us, an external manifestation (bāhya-pratibhāsa) and has no direct relation to us. Our Tathāgatagarbha transforms the physical body of the sentient being into our own internal manifestation. Once it becomes an internal manifestation, it gives rise to the six consciousnesses (vijñāna). These six consciousnesses then perceive and discriminate this internal manifestation, and thus we see the other person, insects, various animals, as well as sentient beings like ghosts, spirits, and devas.

Any being possessing Tathāgatagarbha, whether having eight consciousnesses or fewer than eight consciousnesses, is a sentient being. Their physical body is manifested solely by their own Tathāgatagarbha and has no relation to us. When we see them, it is our own Tathāgatagarbha that captures the image of their four great elements, transforming it into our own internal manifestation. It is this internal manifestation that relates to us, relating to our own Tathāgatagarbha. The external manifestation of the sentient being has no relation to our own Tathāgatagarbha.

Just like our own body, it is solely manifested by our own Tathāgatagarbha. It has no relation to other sentient beings, nor to the Buddha. However, when others see our body, it is their Tathāgatagarbha that transforms our body into an internal manifestation, enabling them to see it. This relationship is not entirely the same as perceiving mountains, rivers, and the earth. The external mountains, rivers, and earth constitute our dependent retribution environment (niṣyanda-vipāka). This dependent environment includes the portion we participate in manifesting. Our Tathāgatagarbha apprehends it by apprehending the portion of external form-dust (rūpa-guṇa) that we participate in manifesting. It then transforms this into an internal manifestation, enabling us to grasp it (ālambana), recognize it, and see it. The flowers, plants, and trees we see are likewise perceived in this manner.