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 utter emptiness. All other dharmas are only marks and names — the marks of the six sense objects discriminated by sentient beings' knowing mind. The great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna) and the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) of the Buddha-ground are precisely the Buddha's Dharmakāya. The Dharmakāya can manifest all marks and give rise to all marks; the Sambhogakāya and Nirmāṇakāya Buddhas are born from the Dharmakāya Buddha — without the Dharmakāya there would be nothing at all. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings is conventionally called the Dharmakāya, yet this Dharmakāya is not yet ultimate, for it contains the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses' mind — the karmic seeds of ignorance — and these seeds are still subject to arising, ceasing, and change. When all these seeds of ignorance have been 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 mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna). Only 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 of the Buddha-ground is truly permanent; it is neither annihilated nor subject to impermanence. What is impermanent is not permanent, and what is permanent is not impermanent; the two natures cannot exist simultaneously — only one can exist. Just as one who is dead is not alive, and one who is alive is not dead, the two cannot exist at the same time; simultaneous existence would be illogical. The permanence of the Buddha-ground is beyond relativity (nissapakṣa); it does not come from any object, nor does it require impermanent dharmas to manifest or set off its eternal nature. Its nature of permanence exists inherently, just as it is (dharmatā), with no rationale to be given; worldly logical reasoning is of no use whatsoever here, nor can it be comprehended through emotional or intellectual understanding.

Sentient beings always like to use inference, analysis, and comparison, employing all kinds of mental activities to ponder the Buddha-dharma. Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are absolute truth — beyond thought, beyond analysis, beyond relativity, beyond emotional and intellectual comprehension. Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are not worldly dharmas; they cannot be verified in their true existence through worldly logical thinking and inference. The worldly dharma of annihilation cannot be set in opposition to true permanence; worldly suffering cannot be contrasted with true bliss; the worldly five aggregates (pañca-skandha) cannot be contrasted with the true self; worldly impurity cannot be 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.