Is It Mind That Arises First or Dharmas That Arise First? Is It Mind That Ceases First or Dharmas That Cease First (2)

They further contemplate: what existing causes grasping to exist? From this they deduce that craving exists, because there is craving for sense objects, grasping exists. They further contemplate: what existing causes craving to exist? From this they deduce that feeling exists, because there are feelings of suffering, happiness, and neither-suffering-nor-happiness, there is craving. They further contemplate: what existing causes feeling to exist? From this they deduce that contact exists, because the six faculties contact the six sense objects, there is feeling. They further contemplate: what existing causes contact to exist? From this they deduce that because the six sense bases exist, contact exists. They further contemplate: what existing causes the six sense bases to exist? From this they deduce that because name-and-form exists, the six sense bases exist. They further contemplate: what existing causes name-and-form to exist? They contemplate how name-and-form—the fertilized egg—is born and grows.

They then contemplate and verify: because ignorance is not severed, the manas grasps at and clings to itself, and will enter the womb in the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava), thus abiding within the fertilized egg. But can only the manas enter the womb and abide in the womb? Of course not, because the embryo is also composed of the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Does the manas contain the four great element seeds? No—it is the tathāgatagarbha that possesses the four great element seeds and can form a material embryo. Without the tathāgatagarbha, the Ālayavijñāna, the manas can neither enter the womb nor abide in the womb, and cannot transform into an embryo; it is the tathāgatagarbha that outputs the four great element seeds to grow the embryo. The manas does not have this function; it is the tathāgatagarbha that outputs seeds to form the embryo's head, limbs, and other physical faculties, and it is the tathāgatagarbha that possesses the seeds of the six consciousness-minds, giving birth to the six consciousnesses, enabling the fetus to have the capacity for discriminating awareness.

When they deduce to this point, they know that name-and-form is produced by the tathāgatagarbha—this is the true meaning of "name-and-form is conditioned by consciousness, and consciousness is conditioned by name-and-form." This is also the content of the ten-linked chain of dependent origination, and also the result of retrogressively deducing the twelve links of dependent origination. Then how is the tathāgatagarbha itself born? The tathāgatagarbha has no birth; it is thus by its very nature, inherently existent, and there is no dharma that can give birth to Him. Therefore, the pratyekabuddhas, deducing back and forth, reach the tathāgatagarbha and can deduce no further—they have reached the end. They then understand that it is the tathāgatagarbha that produces the five aggregates of name-and-form. This is the dharma of dependent origination: consciousness conditions name-and-form, and name-and-form conditions consciousness.

The material forms of the universe's inanimate world are also composed of the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind, and these seeds all exist within the tathāgatagarbha. When the karmic conditions of all sentient beings mature, the tathāgatagarbhas of all sentient beings output the four great element seeds together, jointly manifesting the universe's inanimate world, and only then can sentient beings be born. Then, after sentient beings are born, how are the material five sense objects needed in daily life produced? This involves the Hundred Dharmas Gate of Clear Understanding. The Hundred Dharmas Gate of Clear Understanding teaches that material forms are produced through the combined operation of the eight consciousness-minds (the eight kings of mind) and the mental factors (caittas) of the eight consciousnesses. The eight consciousness-minds include the eight minds; the mental factors include the five universal factors, the five object-specific factors, the eleven wholesome dharmas, the six root afflictions, the twenty secondary afflictions, and four dharmas that are not necessarily wholesome or unwholesome. Material forms include the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body; form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; and material form included in the dharma realm—eleven in total.