Can Buddhist Practitioners Employ Heterodox Teachings?

The so-called heterodox teachings refer to those outside the Tathagatagarbha—teachings expounded apart from the Tathagatagarbha mind are called heterodox teachings. Many heterodox teachings are of great use to Buddhist practitioners, so one should not reject useful heterodox methods. For instance, doctors curing patients is also a heterodox method. Can we abandon heterodox methods and rely solely on the Tathagatagarbha Dharma to resolve all matters? Clearly not. When heterodox followers eat, we must also eat; they live on Earth, and we cannot leave this planet; they breathe air, and we all share the same air. Since beginningless kalpas, we have never been separated from heterodox teachings. Even after learning Buddhism, we must still cultivate methods identical to those of heterodox practitioners—this is essential. Apart from lacking the Tathagatagarbha Dharma and the Dharma of the Five Aggregates and Non-Self, heterodox traditions possess all other teachings, which we too must fully embody. For example, the heterodox practices of renunciation mind, liberation mind, and meditative concentration, along with various methods for resolving physical ailments, are all highly worthy of our study. Whatever proves useful to us, we should employ. In truth, all heterodox teachings are fundamentally the Tathagatagarbha Dharma. Even when doctors heal patients, it is ultimately the Tathagatagarbha that effects the cure—essentially, it remains the Tathagatagarbha Dharma. No person or teaching can ever separate from the Tathagatagarbha; all are born from it, and all are intrinsically the Tathagatagarbha.