The Nirvanic State Is the Illusory Manifestation and Revelation of Tathagatagarbha

The state of nirvana is an illusion manifested by the Tathagatagarbha; it is not truly existent. It is attained through cultivation; without cultivation, there is no nirvana state. Subsequently, one must emerge from the state of nirvana, at which point the nirvana state vanishes and transforms. This demonstrates that such nirvana is characterized by arising and ceasing. Therefore, it is said that nirvana is also unreal. Only the essence of the Tathagatagarbha is truly real and indestructible; the quiescent nirvana nature revealed by the Tathagatagarbha is genuine. The nirvana with residue (sa-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), the nirvana without residue (nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), and the non-abiding nirvana (apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa) of the Buddha stage are all phenomena that were non-existent initially but arose subsequently. Hence, they are illusory phenomena, phenomena subject to arising and ceasing. Apart from the non-abiding nirvana of the Buddha stage, which never vanishes, the nirvana with residue and the nirvana without residue cannot endure permanently without cessation. Only the virtue of nirvana revealed by the Tathagatagarbha is genuine, immutable, neither arising nor ceasing.

Misdefining a concept does not necessarily hinder the attainment of fruition (phala), nor does defining it correctly guarantee attainment. Attainment or non-attainment of fruition, and genuine cultivation or the lack thereof, do not depend on the definition of concepts. There are even Arhats of the fourth fruition who cannot expound the Dharma, while ordinary beings may speak about the cultivation and realization states of the fourth-fruition Arhats. Cultivation does not lie in how one expounds the Dharma but in actual realization and mental cultivation.