The Cause of Experiencing the Retribution of Suffering

These are brought about by the unwholesome karma of sentient beings. The unwholesome karma created in past lives is stored in each one's tathāgatagarbha; when the conditions ripen, the tathāgatagarbha will output the seeds of that unwholesome karma, and the retributive results for sentient beings will manifest. The living environment is the circumstantial retribution, which exists in dependence upon sentient beings' five aggregates; the body of the five aggregates is the direct retribution, the true subject that undergoes suffering. All these retributive results are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. The source of these unsatisfactory living conditions is the tathāgatagarbha—it is He who delivers the seeds of the four great elements and the six great elements, forming the five aggregates that undergo suffering retribution and the harsh environment, transforming our world into all kinds of hardships such as cold and heat.

If we go to settle accounts with the tathāgatagarbha, He will say: go settle accounts with the manas—I merely comply and do not act as the master; it was not that I actively set out to transform and create all this suffering retribution. If we go ask the manas, the deluded manas cannot explain anything, so it must quickly let the mind consciousness analyze what is going on. The mind consciousness must then use theories from the Buddha's teachings, such as cause and effect, to think, analyze, and verify, and then report to the manas. Once the manas knows, it will let body, speech, and mind act carefully and create no more karma.

From now on, whatever unsatisfactory things we encounter, we should go look for the tathāgatagarbha—the source is there with Him; it is all He who brought it about. But we should not wrongly accuse Him either. Following the vine to find the melon, in the end it comes down to the manas itself; the mind consciousness itself also bears a certain responsibility. These two are the principal culprits, the main targets of education and reform. Our cultivation is precisely to educate and reform the mind consciousness and the manas; once they are reformed, the world will become beautiful, perfect, and tranquil.