The Function of the Seeds of the Seven Great Elements

The seeds of the seven great elements: the seeds of the seven great elements are earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeing, and consciousness. The seeds of the first five great elements—earth, water, fire, wind, and space—are used to constitute material form (rūpa-dharma), while the seeds of the great element of seeing and the great element of consciousness are used to constitute mental dharmas (citta-dharma). The seeds of the great element of consciousness constitute the mental dharmas of the seven consciousnesses, and the seeds of the great element of seeing form the tathāgatagarbha's function and activity of seeing all dharmas. In this way, all dharmas of the entire five-aggregate world are complete. Material dharmas and mental dharmas encompass all dharmas, and the tathāgatagarbha uses the seeds of the great element of seeing to bring all dharmas together under its unifying embrace, forming a complete and systematic worldly dharma.