Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (24)

The Earth Element and the Nature of the Earth Element Are Utterly Unattainable

The nature of earth is one of the four great elements—the natures of earth, water, fire, and wind. These four great elemental natures exist within the tathāgatagarbha, where He contains and stores the seeds. When the seeds are transmitted forth, they can manifest our material bodies and manifest mountains, rivers, and the great earth. The seeds of the four great elements can manifest all material form (rūpa).

Both the earth element and the nature of the earth element are utterly unattainable—illusory and empty. Only the Buddha's wisdom can fully discern and fully realize this truth of such reality. We can only understand a similar portion of it, or even just a small part. Even bodhisattvas at the stage of equanimity (equal enlightenment) cannot completely know these principles. Only the Buddha's wisdom can know these seed-related issues without remainder, fully knowing all the functional seeds within the tathāgatagarbha, without the slightest omission. This is why the Buddha possesses the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā). Bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi onward possess the wisdom of the varieties of paths, knowing a portion of the functional seeds within the tathāgatagarbha. Those who understand none of it at all are bodhisattvas below the first bhūmi, or ordinary bodhisattvas who have not attained enlightenment. The more one knows, the higher one's wisdom, and the higher the bodhisattva's stage of attainment.