Whether Karmic Seeds Must Manifest Through the Seven Types of Seeds

When karmic seeds ripen, the Tathagatagarbha discerns them and subsequently delivers them, enabling the karmic seeds to manifest, thereby actualizing the karmic results for sentient beings. How does the Tathagatagarbha actualize karmic results, and in what form? Karmic results are nothing but states of the physical and mental world; changing karmic results means altering the physical and mental states of sentient beings as well as their living environment. The Tathagatagarbha actualizes the karmic seeds of sentient beings by transforming their physical and mental world.

How, then, are the body and mind manifested and altered? By outputting the six great seeds—earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness—the Tathagatagarbha manifests the physical and mental world of sentient beings. Simultaneously, with the cooperation of the Tathagatagarbha's perceiving great seed, they jointly form the physical and mental world of sentient beings. The Tathagatagarbha transforms the physical and mental world by delivering the seven great seeds and by altering the structural composition and forms of the four great seeds. The formation and alteration of the physical body of sentient beings are achieved through the arising and transformation of the four great seeds and the space great seed. The formation and alteration of the material environment in the receptacle world are achieved through the arising and transformation of the four great seeds and the space great seed. All dharmas of sentient beings within the three realms are formed by the Tathagatagarbha's output of the seven great seeds; all karmic retributions are likewise manifested through the Tathagatagarbha's output of the seven great seeds. Among these, material form (rūpa-dharma) is synthesized by the combined function of the four great seeds and the space great seed, while mental dharmas (citta-dharma) are formed by consciousness seeds. The Tathagatagarbha's perceiving great seed forms the perceiving nature of the Tathagatagarbha, cooperating in the generation and alteration of all dharmas.

Without the seven great seeds, there would be no material form, no mental dharmas, no physical body for sentient beings, no conscious mind for sentient beings, and no living environment for sentient beings. The world would be utterly devoid of anything; there would be no world, and thus no basis for sentient beings to create karma or actualize retribution. Therefore, regardless of what kind of karmic result a sentient being may have, its actualization must involve the seven great seeds cooperating with the karmic seeds to enable the karmic seeds to manifest and bring about the karmic result.