What dharmas are the root body and the container world?

The sense faculties and the material world (bhājana-loka) both refer to the material form (rūpa) that the tathāgatagarbha transforms and creates using the five great seeds to supply what sentient beings need for survival. They share common material properties and are constantly arising, ceasing, and changing. Among them, the sense faculties (the root-body) belong to sentient beings' individual karma, while the material world belongs to sentient beings' shared karma. The faculties include the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, and body faculty; the body is the entire body, the totality of the body, including the five faculties. The "world" (dhātu) is the material universe—the worlds of the three realms of desire, form, and formlessness—including the palaces of the various heavenly realms, the various mountains, rivers, lands, trees, treasures, various living environments, the implements used for survival, and so on. Dhātu refers to the boundaries of the various implements and materials: the desire realm has boundaries with the form realm, and boundaries with the formless realm; each of the three realms has its own boundaries, with distinctions among them.

Because the sense faculties and the material world are material form, the five great seeds all operate within them; therefore they all possess energy and are all energy fields. Form, sound, smell, taste, and touch all have energy, and their influence on the bodies and minds of sentient beings is very great. In the universe there exist all kinds of sounds—the so-called sounds of nature (tiānlài)—and sentient beings do not know why. Because there exist various kinds of material form in the universe, the movement and collision of material forms produce energy fluctuations, which give rise to sounds. The space in the universe is vast, boundless and endless; sounds drift through space without obstruction, appearing especially expansive, distant, resonant, and soul-stirring. When sentient beings hear them, some feel tranquility and yearn for it in their hearts, while others feel terror and dread, fleeing from it as fast as they can.

Why do sounds appear in empty space? This is because empty space is not devoid of things; within empty space there are various kinds of minute particles in enormous quantities. When these particles move and collide with one another, sounds arise from this. These particles are composed of the five great seeds of earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The vibration of each great seed can release energy, and in combination they can generate even more energy; energy is also converted among them and can transform into new energy. Precisely because of this, humans are able to convert water power and wind power into electrical energy, generating electricity for lighting and for the needs of production and daily life.

Form objects and sound objects are a kind of energy; smell objects are also a kind of energy. Some fragrances have the effect of refreshing and stimulating the mind, while some fragrances have the effect of suppressing the brain's nerve cells, thereby causing people to fall unconscious and be poisoned. Taste objects are likewise, and touch objects even more so. Thus all six sense objects have energy. The material universe belongs to form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, all of which have energy.