Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (11)

How does the kalala come into being?

Original text:大王。若时女人。而于内心。如所思维。彼补噜沙。彼补噜沙。亦生爱乐。由二和合。羯逻蓝生。又复思维。相似和合。而得生者。无有是处。若二女人。无有是处。二补噜沙。亦无是处。若彼彼思惟。而得生者。亦无是处。自体无实。非相应故。

Explanation: Great King, if a woman, in her mind, thinks of another person (a man), and that man also feels love and desire for this woman, then when these two unite, a kalala (fertilized egg) within seven days will come into being. If the two people are not together, each in a different place, and merely imagine in their minds that the two could unite, with their bodies not physically touching, for a fertilized egg to be produced is impossible. Because there is no actual physical contact, the tathāgatagarbha cannot output the earth element and the five great seeds out of thin air to sustain a fertilized egg that does not exist; therefore no living being is born.

If two women were to unite and produce a kalala, that is also impossible; if two men were to unite and produce a kalala, that is likewise impossible. If any two people merely think of each other, without actually uniting, and thereby produce a kalala, that is even more impossible. Because there is no actual material body and no four great elements, a kalala cannot come into being, since the conditions are not complete.