Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity Are the Absolute Truth

The Dharmakāya is precisely the true permanence, true self, true bliss, and true purity spoken of by the Buddha in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; it is not a mere noun or concept of emptiness and nothingness. All other dharmas are only appearances and names—the appearances of the six sense objects discriminated by sentient beings' knowing mind. The great perfect mirror wisdom (ādarśajñāna) and the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) at the Buddha-stage are precisely the Buddha's Dharmakāya. The Dharmakāya can manifest all appearances and give rise to all appearances; the Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha) and the Nirmāṇakāya (nirmāṇakāya) are generated by the Dharmakāya Buddha (dharma-kāya-buddha); without the Dharmakāya there would be nothing at all. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is expediently called the Dharmakāya, yet this Dharmakāya is not yet ultimate, for within it are stored the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses' mind—seeds of ignorance and karma. These seeds still undergo arising, ceasing, and change. When all these seeds of ignorance have been completely exhausted, there will no longer be any seeds of an arising-and-ceasing nature within the tathāgatagarbha; at that point the tathāgatagarbha will never again undergo change, and it will be renamed the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), the great perfect mirror wisdom (ādarśajñāna). This is the true Dharmakāya, possessing the genuine virtues of permanence, bliss, self, and purity—true permanence, true self, true bliss, true purity.

The tathāgatagarbha at the Buddha-stage is truly permanent; it neither ceases nor has any impermanent nature. The impermanent is not the permanent, and the permanent is not the impermanent; the two natures cannot exist simultaneously—only one can exist. It is just like how the dead are not the living, and the living are not the dead; the two cannot exist at the same time, and their simultaneous existence would be illogical. The permanence at the Buddha-stage is beyond relativity: it does not come from any object, nor does it need impermanent dharmas to manifest or set off its everlasting nature. Its nature of permanence exists naturally so/intrinsically so/such by nature, with no principle that can be expounded. Worldly logic and inference are of no use whatsoever here, nor can it be understood through emotional or intellectual interpretation.

Sentient beings always like to use inference, analysis, and comparison, employing all kinds of mental consciousness activities to ponder the Buddha-dharma. Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are absolute truth—transcending thought, transcending analysis, beyond relativity, transcending emotional and intellectual understanding. Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are not worldly dharmas; they cannot be verified in their true existence through comparison by means of worldly logical thinking and inference. The world's annihilatory dharmas cannot be set in opposition to or contrasted with true permanence; the world's suffering cannot be set in opposition to or contrasted with true bliss; the world's five aggregates (pañcaskandha) cannot be set in opposition to or contrasted with true self; the world's impurity cannot be set in opposition to or contrasted with true purity. Opposition and comparison are conceptual proliferation (prapañca), devoid of real meaning. Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are real, eternal, and unchanging.