What Exactly Is the Second Moon?

The second moon arises when the eyes see the first moon: due to pressing the eye, another moon is illusorily manifested within it, identical to or resembling the first moon. The first moon always remains before the eyes, suchness immovable, whereas the second moon moves as soon as the hand moves; the manifested appearance is not stable, arising, ceasing, and changing. From this characteristic one can judge which is the true moon and which is the false moon, and which depends on which for its existence and manifestation. The second moon comes from the first moon; without the first moon, there would be no pressing of the eye to produce the second moon, nor would there be a hand to press. The first moon is a metaphor for the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha; the second moon is a metaphor for the world of the five aggregates manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; and the hand pressing the eye is a metaphor for the manas. In the very beginning, there were only the manas and the tathāgatagarbha, without the five aggregates and the world. It was because the manas, in ignorance, stirred delusively and reached outward grasping and seeking that the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the manas and its ignorance, manifested the universe, the inanimate world, and then transformed the body of the five aggregates. After the second moon appeared, the world became full of confusion, ceaselessly arising, ceasing, and changing, with the true and the false mixed together, right and wrong indistinguishable.

The manas then sees all these dharmas as itself, as all belonging to itself, and thus grasps at them incessantly. From this, birth and death never cease, and from this, life transmigrates through the six realms, afflicted and tormented by suffering, having lost its original tranquility. Because the manas had ignorance in its mind from the very beginning—muddled and confused, in a state of chaos—it refused to remain in tranquility. Its ignorance gushed outward, wanting to discern something, and thus the world came into being, never again able to return to its original state of muddled innocence.

These worldly dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha all come from the tathāgatagarbha; they are all shadows of the tathāgatagarbha, and are all a second tathāgatagarbha. You cannot say these dharmas are the tathāgatagarbha, nor can you say these dharmas are not the tathāgatagarbha; they are and yet are not, they are not and yet are—the relationship is subtle. When all the obscuration of ignorance in the mind is eliminated, you will see clearly the true substance of these dharmas. Whether they are or are not the tathāgatagarbha, you yourself will know clearly and distinctly, without needing others to speak of right and wrong; your own mind will make its own determination. If the eyes had no cataract disease, how could one see a circular shadow within the lamplight? If the mind had no ignorance and delusive thoughts, why would the hand press the eye, delusively manifesting and delusively seeing the five aggregates, the world, the second moon, the moon's shadow, the shadow moon?

In the very beginning, it appeared that the manas was tranquil and unmoving, with no realms appearing, but in fact it was not as calm as still water with settled waves; rather, ignorance had been surging beneath the surface all along. When the surging force grew strong enough, it broke through the surface tranquility, and the vast universe with its myriad worlds was revealed in full. The causes and conditions for sentient beings' birth, death, and transmigration were finally complete, and the life-bodies of sentient beings were born. Where do all worldly dharmas come from? They are all constituted by the seven intrinsically existing great seeds (earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeing, consciousness), coming from the tathāgatagarbha. The seven great seeds are the tathāgatagarbha's wealth; the tathāgatagarbha used its own wealth to create all dharmas. So what exactly are all those dharmas? This should now be very clear.