Why Are All Dharmas Neither of the Nature of Causes and Conditions Nor of the Nature of Spontaneity?

The universe's inanimate world (bhājana-loka) is a part of all dharmas. When the inanimate world of the universe first arose, what causes and conditions, or contributing conditions, prompted the appearance of the universe's inanimate world? There were none—no dharma can be found that could assist the arising of the inanimate world. For example, in the gradual formation of the Earth, before its formation, no dharma existed that could serve as a contributing condition for the Earth's formation; and during the process of the Earth's formation, likewise there was no dharma that could serve as a contributing condition for its formation. Therefore, the appearance of the Earth is not a matter of causes and conditions, and the formation of the universe's inanimate world is likewise not a matter of causes and conditions.

Then, is the formation of the universe's inanimate world a matter of naturalness? We must consider what the conceptual definition of naturalness is. So-called naturalness should mean existing spontaneously and naturally, unaffected by external factors, constantly existing and ever-present, neither arising nor ceasing. For example, the existence of the Earth should be something spontaneously and naturally existent; it should not be that it did not exist before and then gradually formed over a certain period of time—what is formed after the fact is no longer natural. And if, after existing for a period of time, it gradually degenerates, disappears, and perishes, that is equally unnatural. Likewise, the universe's inanimate world has a beginning and an end, has arising and ceasing, has coming and going—thus it is not a matter of naturalness.

In summary, the universe's inanimate world is neither a matter of causes and conditions nor a matter of naturalness. Then what nature is it? It is all the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The arising and ceasing of the inanimate world, as well as its arising, abiding, changing, and perishing, are all brought about by the tathāgatagarbha; they are all formed by the seeds of the seven great elements within the tathāgatagarbha. Arising is the tathāgatagarbha's arising; abiding is the tathāgatagarbha's sustaining; change is the tathāgatagarbha's transforming; perishing is the tathāgatagarbha's seeds receding. Therefore, the universe's inanimate world, and indeed all dharmas, are characteristics of the tathāgatagarbha.