The Origin of the Outer Representation and the Inner Representation

Question: Are the television, tables, chairs, and benches in my room manifested by my own tathāgatagarbha alone, or jointly manifested by the tathāgatagarbhas of all sentient beings?

Answer: All external things are manifested jointly by the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings with shared karma; the tathāgatagarbha of a single sentient being cannot manifest any external thing on its own. Because in any living environment, there is never just a single sentient being existing alone—countless sentient beings exist there, and those living environments belong to sentient beings with shared karma. Therefore, the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings with shared karma, in accordance with the nature of the self-nature of the great elements, form the shared seeds of the four great elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—and then jointly use these four great element seeds to construct all external things, including the universe and the material world (the vessel world).

When each sentient being perceives all things, that being's own tathāgatagarbha then, on its own, transforms the outer representation of external things at the supreme faculty in the brain into inner representations, forming images. When the inner six faculties contact the images of the inner six sense-objects, the tathāgatagarbha then gives rise to the six consciousnesses, and the six consciousnesses discern the images of these things. Afterward, sentient beings believe that what they contact are real external things. Therefore, everything that sentient beings come to know is the inner representation manifested solely by their own tathāgatagarbha. The inner representations of the inner six sense-objects are all illusory and unreal—"All marks are false and illusory"—this is precisely the principle.

The items in one's own room are also manifested jointly by the tathāgatagarbhas of the relevant sentient beings with shared karma; the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings without such connections do not participate in the manifestation. All the six sense-object realms that a sentient being contacts are inner representations manifested by one's own tathāgatagarbha, and have nothing to do with others. The seemingly real tables, chairs, benches, televisions, and so on outside are manifested jointly by the tathāgatagarbhas of the relevant sentient beings, including the people who made those tables, chairs, benches, and televisions—these sentient beings can jointly project and manifest the tables, chairs, benches, and televisions. When one sees them, one's own tathāgatagarbha manifests them once again, becoming images in one's own mind; what one sees is just a shadow.