Tathāgatagarbha Creates and Sustains the World According to Karmic Seeds

Question: In worlds other than the Saha world, is it the case that our tathāgatagarbha does not participate in upholding and sustaining them?

Answer: For worlds with which we temporarily have no karmic connection, our tathāgatagarbha temporarily cannot participate in manifesting and upholding them. First, we do not have those karmic seeds; second, even if we have the karmic seeds, the conditions for those seeds to manifest are not yet ripe, so the tathāgatagarbha cannot participate in operating there. However, this does not mean that our tathāgatagarbha does not participate in operating in all other worlds. When karmic seeds ripen, the tathāgatagarbha knows it and, in accordance with those karmic seeds, participates in manifesting that world and upholding it, so that when we die here, we can be born into that world.

For example, if someone has already created karma leading to hell and the seeds have already been stored, when the karmic conditions for hell ripen, the tathāgatagarbha participates in manifesting hell. As soon as this person's karmic conditions in the human realm come to an end, he can immediately be reborn into hell, without the tathāgatagarbha needing to fabricate the hell realms at the time of his death. For worlds with which we have a karmic connection, the tathāgatagarbha participates in manifesting them before we are reborn there; otherwise we would have no conditions or qualification to exist in that world.

For example, in going to the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī), once wholesome karmic seeds have been stored and the conditions for those seeds ripen, the tathāgatagarbha must fabricate the lotus palace there. When the conditions for Sukhāvatī are complete, we can immediately sit within a lotus flower and be born into the land of bliss. This shows that our tathāgatagarbha knows in advance and is aware beforehand; what it knows is the karmic seeds. Only after knowing the state of the karmic seeds can it go ahead to Sukhāvatī to participate in manifesting it, and then we can be born there when we die. If the tathāgatagarbha does not participate in manifesting it, we cannot be born into the land of bliss. Why would the tathāgatagarbha not participate in manifesting it? Because the karmic connection with Sukhāvatī is not yet complete, and for the time being we cannot go there.

If one wishes for the conditions to ripen soon, what should one do? The manas must have deep faith and earnest aspiration, wholeheartedly yearning for the land of bliss. The manas must have the intention; it is not enough for the mind consciousness to merely make a superficial vow, because the matter of whether one goes to Sukhāvatī is decided by the manas. The tathāgatagarbha primarily discerns the mental activities of the manas. When the manas wants to go—wanting from the depths of the heart—once the tathāgatagarbha discerns the manas's mental factor of volition (cetanā), it will go to the land of bliss to fabricate the lotus palace. Recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) likewise must penetrate deep into the manas; it is not enough to merely recite with the mouth. If the manas has no mental activity of recollecting the Buddha, one does not correspond with Amitābha Buddha and the land of bliss. The vast majority of people who recite the Buddha's name recite with the mouth but not with the mind; their hearts are not abiding mindfulness of this very object; rather, their minds are restless like monkeys and horses, absent-minded. Such recollection of the Buddha merely establishes a dharma connection; one simply cannot reach the land of bliss.