Does Buddhadharma Destroy Worldly Dharmas?

The Buddha-dharma both destroys worldly dharmas and does not destroy worldly dharmas. Why is this said? Because if worldly dharmas were not destroyed, sentient beings would greedily cling to worldly dharmas and be unable to attain liberation from the suffering of birth and death; on the other hand, if the Buddha-dharma destroyed worldly dharmas, then worldly dharmas could not be established, leaving only the Buddha-dharma of the tathāgatagarbha, and then all sentient beings would be in Nirvāṇa without remainder, with no world and no sentient beings.

So how does the Buddha-dharma destroy worldly dharmas? The Four Noble Truths and the twelve links of dependent origination are used to destroy worldly dharmas. The Four Noble Truths reveal that the world is suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self; when sentient beings recognize and realize this principle, they exhaust their afflictions and attain liberation. The dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination reveals that all worldly dharmas arise from causes and conditions, and are all empty; realizing this principle, extinguishing ignorance, and no longer greedily craving and grasping at worldly dharmas, one can be liberated from worldly suffering. From the perspective of the Mahāyāna dharma, all worldly dharmas are illusorily manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, so all worldly dharmas are empty, illusory, and unreal—this also destroys worldly dharmas. Both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna dharmas lead sentient beings to recognize and realize that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are empty and without self, and that the six faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses are all empty, illusory, and without self—this destroys the worldly dharma of the five aggregates.

How does the Buddha-dharma not destroy worldly dharmas? From the perspectives of prajñā and Yogācāra, all dharmas are suchness (tathatā), and suchness establishes all worldly dharmas—this is not destroying worldly dharmas. "The dharma abides in its dharma-position, and the worldly marks are ever-abiding"—this is not destroying worldly dharmas. The tathāgatagarbha possesses the nature of perfect accomplishment (pariniṣpanna), and can perfectly accomplish all worldly dharmas; all dharmas constitute one true dharma-realm, called the one true dharma-realm (eka-tattva-dharmadhātu).

The five aggregates and golden vessels are entirely gold; one must first destroy the marks of the five aggregates in order to recognize the mark of gold. After recognizing the mark of gold, the five aggregates and golden vessels are also gold, and then one does not destroy the marks of the five aggregates and golden vessels. First destroy, then establish; without destroying, nothing is established. When one stares at the marks of the vessels of the five aggregates, one overlooks the gold; once the gold is recognized, the marks of the five aggregates are not an obstacle. When one takes the five aggregates as the self and as real, one cannot recognize the true; only by destroying the marks of self and reality of the five aggregates can one recognize the true. Only by destroying and demolishing worldly dharmas can the true be revealed and realized—hence first destroy, then establish. But in the final analysis, when one cultivates to the most ultimate Buddha-dharma, everything in the world is the true; the Buddha-dharma does not destroy worldly dharmas, but rather perfects them.

So what exactly is the Buddha-dharma? This question requires proving by negation what is not the Buddha-dharma, and then one will know what the Buddha-dharma is. What is not the Buddha-dharma? There is not a single dharma that is not the Buddha-dharma; whatever you see, hear, perceive, and know, and whatever you can imagine, is all the Buddha-dharma. What is the Buddha? For this question, as long as you point out what is not the Buddha, you will know what the Buddha is. There is nothing in the worldly dharmas that is not the Buddha; sentient beings rely on the Buddha at every moment, using the Buddha's dharma, yet they never recognize the Buddha, do not know the dharma, and do not know to repay the Buddha's kindness and the dharma's kindness. How to repay the Buddha's kindness? Only by recognizing the Buddha, knowing the dharma, and enabling sentient beings also to recognize the Buddha and know the dharma, is one repaying the Buddha's kindness.