The Profound Meaning of the Diamond Sutra from the Yogācāra Perspective (27)

Sound dust (śabda-viṣaya) is divided into external sound dust and internal sound dust. External sound dust is emitted by various material things such as the universe, valleys, and rivers, jointly transformed and created by the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings of common karma in accordance with causes, conditions, and karmic conditions. The sound dust emitted by sentient beings is transformed and produced by each sentient being's own tathāgatagarbha. It is also composed of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind; it is material, subject to arising and ceasing, and it is false and illusory, impermanent, empty, and suffering, and is without self. Internal sound dust arises when the tathāgatagarbha, through the ear faculty, contacts external sound dust and manifests an identical shadow, which is transmitted through the ear's conducting nerves to the supreme faculty (indriya) of the cerebral cortex. When faculty and object contact each other, the tathāgatagarbha produces ear consciousness to discriminate sounds. In fact, this sound is manifested by one's own tathāgatagarbha; it is false, illusory, subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, suffering, and without self. This principle is similar to a tape recorder: the sounds we hear from a tape recorder resemble the real sounds recorded beforehand, but in fact they are only images.

Scent dust (gandha-viṣaya) is divided into external scent dust and internal scent dust. External scent dust is composed of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, jointly transformed and created by the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings of common karma in accordance with karma and conditions. The scent dust of sentient beings' own bodies is transformed and created individually by their own tathāgatagarbha. Internal scent dust arises when the tathāgatagarbha, through the nose faculty, contacts external scent dust and manifests a similar shadow, which is transmitted through the nose's nerves to the cerebral cortex at the back of the head, where it contacts the nose's supreme faculty. The tathāgatagarbha then produces nose consciousness to make discriminations; in fact, one is only discriminating a false image. Both internal and external scent dust are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, empty, and suffering, and are not self. Sentient beings do not know this and give rise to grasping minds within it.

Taste dust (rasa-viṣaya) is divided into external taste dust and internal taste dust. External taste dust is material, composed of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, jointly transformed and created by the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings of common karma in accordance with karma and conditions; it is subject to arising, abiding, change, and extinction, impermanent, illusory, and suffering, and therefore is without self. Internal taste dust arises when the tathāgatagarbha, through the tongue faculty, contacts external taste dust and manifests a similar shadow, which is transmitted through the tongue's conducting nerves to the cerebral cortex, where it contacts the tongue's supreme faculty. The tathāgatagarbha then produces tongue consciousness, which has the function of discrimination; what is discriminated is only an illusory false image. Internal taste dust is false and illusory, impermanent, suffering, and without self.

Touch dust (spraṣṭavya-viṣaya) is divided into internal and external touch dust. External touch dust is composed of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, jointly transformed and created by the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings of common karma in accordance with karma and conditions; it is subject to arising, abiding, change, and extinction, impermanent, false and illusory, suffering, and without self. Internal touch dust arises when the tathāgatagarbha, through the body, contacts external touch dust and produces a similar shadow, which is transmitted through conducting nerves to the back of the head, where it contacts the body's supreme faculty. The tathāgatagarbha then produces body consciousness to cognize it. Internal touch dust is subject to arising and ceasing, illusory, impermanent, suffering, and without self. Sentient beings, lacking this knowledge, believe that everything they discriminate is real and belongs to them as "mine."

Mental dust (dharma-viṣaya) is also divided into external mental dust and internal mental dust. External mental dust is composed of the subtle particles of the four great elements; it is the form-aspect (saṃsthāna-rūpa), expressive gesture (vijñapti-rūpa), and non-expressive form (avijñapti-rūpa) that manifest upon the five sense objects—forms included in the realm of dharmas (dharmāyatana)—and it is jointly manifested by the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings of common karma. External mental dust is then transmitted together with the five sense objects into the supreme faculty, where the tathāgatagarbha transforms it into internal mental dust, which contacts the manas; then the tathāgatagarbha produces the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) to discriminate the internal mental dust. Therefore, both internal and external mental dust are illusory, subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, and suffering, and are without self.