Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (21)

Original text: 大王。此风界相。生无所来。灭无所去。生时本空。灭时亦空。自性空故。无有男相。亦无女相。但唯言说。之所显示。如是风界。与风界性。皆不可得。唯佛正智。而能了知。

Explanation: Great King, this mark of the wind element—when it arises, it comes from nowhere; when it ceases, it goes nowhere. This shows that when the wind arises, it is empty, and when it ceases, it is also empty; the self-nature of wind is empty. The wind element has no male mark, nor any female mark. Without male or female marks, it is only revealed through verbal expression. However, when the wind element forms a material body, there arises the distinction of male and female marks, so male and female marks are also empty and illusory. The self-nature of the wind element is empty; verbal expression is merely used to indicate the wind element, and there is no substantial wind element. Therefore it is said that both the wind element and the nature of the wind element are utterly unobtainable; this principle can only be known by the Buddha's wisdom, by the Buddha's correct wisdom.

Although the wind element itself has no male or female marks, if a person can create the karma of a man, he will be born with a male material body; if he creates the karma of a woman, he will be born with a female material body. If a woman can create the karma of a true man, a great person, in the next life she will transform into a male material body; if a man does the deeds of a woman and has the mental disposition of a woman, the karmic seeds are stored in the tathāgatagarbha, and in the next life he will transform into a female material body. The retributive body transforms in accordance with karmic actions and karmic seeds; that which has transformative agency (parināma) is illusory, not real, and is without self. The true dharma never changes; only the tathāgatagarbha is forever unchanging—it is the mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta).