The Tathāgatagarbha's Grasping and Sustaining of the Embryo, the Faculty-Body, and the Material Environment (Part One)

The embryos, faculties, and material environments of all sentient beings are all sustained and held by the tathāgatagarbha, and only thus can they exist and function. The tathāgatagarbha is the fundamental cause for the arising and functioning of these dharmas; by means of the corresponding conditions, He gives rise to the embryo, the faculties, and the material environment, and then causes these dharmas to continue operating and functioning.

For example, when a hen lays an egg, the surface phenomenon is that the egg is produced by the hen, but in reality it is manifested and brought forth by the tathāgatagarbha; then, when the causes and conditions ripen, the egg will hatch into a chick. On the surface, it appears that the hen can lay eggs, but in fact the tathāgatagarbha is operating within all of this. If the hen did not have a tathāgatagarbha, she could not lay eggs—there would not even be a hen at all. Within this there are many mysteries of the tathāgatagarbha's dharmas awaiting our realization and revelation.

For example, when sentient beings unite in sexual union, whether it is the sperm or the ovum, each is held by its own tathāgatagarbha. One sentient being's tathāgatagarbha holds the sperm, and another sentient being's tathāgatagarbha holds the ovum; only through the tathāgatagarbhas of the two sentient beings can the sperm and ovum combine together. Then the tathāgatagarbha of the sentient being awaiting entry into the womb takes hold of this combined substance, which becomes a fertilized ovum, and thus an embryo comes into being. That tathāgatagarbha will continue to hold and create the embryo, constantly supplying the seeds of the four great elements so that the embryo gradually grows, until finally, when the embryo is complete, the sentient being's life-body is born.

If the tathāgatagarbha does not hold and sustain them, there is no phenomenon of conception, and no formation of an embryo. If the tathāgatagarbha does not hold the sperm and does not hold the ovum, the sperm and ovum have no vitality; even if they combine together, they will not become a fertilized ovum, nor will an embryo come forth. It is only through the operation of the tathāgatagarbha within all of this that the corresponding functions of life exist. Without the tathāgatagarbha, those two things would have no vitality, could not give rise to sentient beings, and no life-body would be formed, nor would any life-body descend. Even in the case of artificial insemination, the sperm and ovum are each held by the tathāgatagarbhas of two sentient beings, and then combined together; when the tathāgatagarbha of the sentient being who is to be reborn enters this combined substance, it becomes an embryo.

Whether or not the sperm and ovum have left the sentient being's body, they are still held by the tathāgatagarbha. Once they have left the body for a long time, the tathāgatagarbha no longer directly holds them, and the sperm and ovum lose their function and vitality. As long as the sperm and ovum are within a certain period after leaving the body, each is still held by its own tathāgatagarbha; therefore, when they combine together, an embryo can be formed. But if the sperm and ovum have left the body for too long, the tathāgatagarbha no longer directly holds them, they have no function, and no life can be produced.