The Distinction Between Sentient and Insentient Beings

The fundamental distinction between sentient and insentient lies in the fact that the material body of sentient beings is exclusively generated and sustained by their own tathāgatagarbha. Furthermore, their material body possesses the discerning functions of the seven consciousnesses, thereby enabling the activities of the five aggregates (Skandhas). In contrast, the material phenomena of the insentient are collectively generated and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha of beings sharing collective karma. They lack the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates because the seven consciousnesses arise from the consciousness seeds output by a single tathāgatagarbha; it is impossible for them to be formed by consciousness seeds jointly output by numerous tathāgatagarbhas. Therefore, insentient objects lack the activities of the seven consciousnesses and five aggregates and are not sentient beings. The essential difference between the activities of the five aggregates in sentient beings and the activities of material phenomena in the insentient is that the aggregate body of sentient beings possesses the functional roles of sensation (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), mental formations (saṃskāra), and consciousness (vijñāna).

If the mental faculty (manas) of a being perceives that a certain material phenomenon is useful to itself and can serve as its own material body, its tathāgatagarbha and mental faculty will enter or attach to this material phenomenon, giving rise to the activities of the five aggregates. This is the attachment phenomenon in sentient beings. The reason beings seek rebirth is their desire for the activities of the five aggregates. Without a material body, it is impossible to engage in the activities of the five aggregates. Therefore, beings will always find ways to seek rebirth. If they truly lack the merit and opportunity for rebirth, they will utilize material phenomena as their own material body and then carry out the activities of the five aggregates upon this material phenomenon. Consequently, on the material body of beings, there must necessarily be the aggregate of sensation (vedanā), or the functions of the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā), the aggregate of mental formations (saṃskāra), and the aggregate of consciousness (vijñāna). Only when these functions combine can they form a sentient being with the five aggregates. If a material phenomenon cannot be utilized by beings to generate the activities of the five aggregates, beings will not attach to that material phenomenon.

After an earthworm is cut into two, three, or several segments, each segment may survive. At this point, each segment becomes an individual earthworm. An individual earthworm is a single sentient being, with its own tathāgatagarbha facilitating its distinct activities of the five aggregates. The other surviving segments become earthworms in the same way. This is because the earthworm's body possesses a special regenerative function; its bodily functions can be utilized. When a being's tathāgatagarbha and mental faculty invest into it, they can possess their own material body and engage in the activities of the five aggregates. The bodies of other animals, when severed, cannot regenerate and cannot be reused as a material body, so beings do not invest in them, and the severed limbs will decay and perish.

Those beings lacking the merit and affinity for rebirth will utilize any available material as their own material body. The number of beings in the great chiliocosm is vast. There are extremely many wandering spirits and lonely ghosts—beings in a disembodied, free-floating state. They seize any opportunity for rebirth or attachment they encounter, striving by all means to be reborn or attach, in order to have their own activities of the five aggregates. Without a material body, they feel unanchored and experience great suffering. Being able to utilize a material body to live in the world provides them with an anchor; no one wishes to be without a body. If environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity are suitable, the number of beings seeking rebirth or attachment becomes particularly large. They may transform into various bacteria-like beings or be reborn among the tiniest flying and crawling beings. Regardless of the type of being they invest in, as long as they can have a material body as an anchor, they are willing, even though the life of bacteria—arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing—is extremely rapid, involving repeated rebirths and deaths. They still seek rebirth because the feeling of being without a body is truly painful.

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