Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (213)

Emulating Tathāgatagarbha to Attain the Wisdom of Equality

After we understand the principle of the tathāgatagarbha and Buddha-nature, we should also learn from the tathāgatagarbha ālayavijñāna, learning from His mental conduct of treating all sentient beings with equality. No matter what the sentient beings' manas intends to do, He cooperates, selflessly giving and dedicating Himself—whatever is asked of Him, He offers. If sound is wanted, He produces sound; if material sense-objects are wanted, He provides material sense-objects. Regardless of whether the mind is wholesome or unwholesome, He gives everything in accordance with the minds of sentient beings, equally according with sentient beings. An unequal mind is a deluded mind; an equal mind is the Buddha's mind. The Buddha observes all sentient beings as Buddhas, whereas sentient beings observing the Buddha see only His thirty-two marks; if the Buddha does not manifest the thirty-two marks, sentient beings treat Him as an ordinary person. This is because sentient beings have not opened their eyes and can only see external appearances, not the substance. We should diligently cultivate the Buddha-dharma, attain the equal dharma-nature as soon as possible, realize the tathāgatagarbha and Buddha-nature, and soon possess the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna).

This kind of Mahāyāna dharma is not the realm of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, but the essential dharma of Mahāyāna bodhisattvas—the tathāgatagarbha dharma that bodhisattvas cultivate and realize. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas can only study and cultivate the Two Vehicles' dharma, realizing the falsity of the five aggregates and eighteen realms of the mundane world, realizing the non-self of persons, eliminating grasping at the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and attaining liberation. They cannot realize the ālayavijñāna and Buddha-nature, do not realize the equal dharma-nature, and therefore also do not possess the wisdom of equality.