The One True Dharmadhātu: In Its Entirety, It Is None Other Than Suchness (Tathatā)

All dharmas are consciousness; the whole of it is true suchness (tathatā), and apart from this there is nothing else. Even a single blade of grass is consciousness, let alone everything else. The wind cannot blow by itself, trees cannot sway by themselves, and the myriad things cannot arise and cease, cease and arise, on their own.

The eighth consciousness neither arises nor ceases; what arises and ceases are the myriad things and affairs—all dharmas that arise and cease are brought into function by the eighth consciousness. The substance of the eighth consciousness neither arises nor ceases, while the functioning of the eighth consciousness arises and ceases moment by moment; all worldly dharmas of the three realms are His functioning. All of these functions are the functions of the seven great seeds, and the seven great seeds in their entirety are the eighth consciousness; likewise, all dharmas in their entirety are the eighth consciousness. All dharmas are like golden vessels, and the eighth consciousness is the gold itself: when you see a golden vessel, you should have seen the gold.

The eighth consciousness operates and functions by means of the mental factors (caittas), and uses seeds to generate all dharmas. The eighth consciousness uses the seeds of consciousness to give birth to consciousness, forming mental dharmas. There are also material dharmas (rūpa), which are generated by the five great seeds. And there is the great element of seeing, which is the seeing nature of the eighth consciousness itself; in this way, all the functions and capacities of the eighth consciousness are complete.

The eighth consciousness also has its own seeds of consciousness, which are likewise perfused moment by moment, forming the eighth consciousness's own capacity for discernment; and this perfusion never stops—except at the Buddha stage. Therefore the eighth consciousness never ceases. The perfusion of the seeds of the seven consciousnesses has times when it stops, and therefore the seven consciousnesses can cease and are subject to arising and ceasing; the eighth consciousness has never undergone arising or ceasing.

The myriad dharmas are just material dharmas and mental dharmas. Mental dharmas include the eighth consciousness and its own mental factors, and include the seven consciousnesses and the mental factors of the seven consciousnesses. Mental dharmas include both conditioned dharmas and unconditioned dharmas. The entire world is just like this: the whole of it is the eighth consciousness, and the whole of it is true suchness. This is the entire guiding framework of the Buddha's teachings—without going into the finer details for now.