After the Mind Is Empty, Are There Still Manifestations of Realms?

As long as sentient beings have the manas in existence and the five aggregates in existence, the tathāgatagarbha will output karmic seeds and the seeds of the seven great elements, manifesting the dharmas that the five aggregates require, and thus all kinds of states appear. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have the manas and the five aggregates; therefore, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas exist within all the states of the world, broadly delivering sentient beings with affinities. Yet this absolutely does not affect the Buddhas' and Bodhisattvas' realization of the mind's emptiness or their realized virtue of no-self. Because the emptiness of the mind does not mean that all dharmas must be extinguished before it can be called the emptiness of the mind; rather, it means not taking any dharma as real, not pursuing any dharma, and not clinging to any dharma—this is the emptiness of the mind. The emptiness of the mind means letting the mind empty out dharmas, not falling into existence, rather than letting dharmas be extinguished while the mind remains. If all dharmas were to be extinguished, first the manas would have to be extinguished, and then the body of the five aggregates would also be extinguished; this sentient being would then disappear, and the dharmas would subsequently cease as well. In that case, this person would have vanished and could no longer cultivate the Buddha-dharma, and could not attain buddhahood. Some arhats do this at the time of death. Before the time of death, however, the arhat's manas and five aggregates still exist, and the tathāgatagarbha must manifest all the dharmas the arhat needs in order to live, including states.

The key point of this question is what the emptiness of the mind is. The emptiness of the mind is to view dharmas as empty and contemplate them as empty, not to destroy dharmas so that they cease to exist. Many people misunderstand the emptiness of the mind, thinking that emptiness means non-existence. The emptiness of the mind means that no matter what dharma appears, the mind knows that the essence of the dharma is empty, and therefore does not pursue or cling to dharmas, nor does affliction arise.

If emptiness meant non-existence, then when someone believes they have become empty, would they still eat and do things? Would the physical body still have any activity? Have they extinguished themselves? For those who believe they have become empty, why do they still speak with their mouths, why do they still type with their hands? Is not being empty the same as not existing? Such a misunderstanding is very great. The Buddha was the most thoroughly empty, yet the Buddha also had the activities of the five aggregates, and also taught the Dharma within states, broadly delivering sentient beings; moreover, He taught the dharma of the five aggregates and spoke of the world's formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness. Did the Buddha teach this way because He acknowledged the five aggregates as real? Because He acknowledged the world as real? Neither. The Buddha taught the five aggregates so that sentient beings could correctly understand the five aggregates and, through cultivation, realize that the five aggregates are all empty; the Buddha taught about the world so that sentient beings could correctly understand the world and, through cultivation, realize that the world is illusory, thereby achieving the emptiness of the mind. Therefore, the emptiness of the mind refers to a state of the mind, not making states empty. States are empty to begin with; whether or not the mind is empty, states still manifest. No matter what states manifest, the mind empties those states, neither recollecting, nor abiding in, nor clinging to them.