The Black Box World (Twelve)

The secret of how the tathāgatagarbha manifests the inner representation at the site where the faculties, sense-objects, and consciousness function is a matter of very profound Dharma principles, involving the extremely deep logic of Yogācāra. For example, take the material sense-object outside: our eye faculty does not go to where the material sense-object is, and does not touch the substantial material sense-object, yet we nevertheless see it. The form does not reach the eye, and the eye does not reach the form, yet form can be seen—this is truly strange. When we look at a distant mountain, that mountain is very far from our eye faculty; our eye faculty certainly cannot travel there, and the mountain has not come to our eye faculty, yet we can see that mountain. This is indeed very strange. All of this belongs to the mysteries of Yogācāra, involving the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā); this mystery is profound upon profound.

Take, for example, that distant mountain outside: who manifested that mountain? It was jointly manifested by the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings with common karma, and after it was manifested, the tathāgatagarbhas of all sentient beings with common karma together uphold that mountain. Do our own tathāgatagarbhas participate in the mountain outside? Of course they do! We are also among the sentient beings with common karma. When we see that mountain, that mountain is connected with us; our tathāgatagarbha also participated in manifesting and upholding that mountain—that is the outer representation.