The Non-Arising and Non-Ceasing Nature of the Tathāgatagarbha

The true mind of tathāgatagarbha cannot be attained, nor can it be lost. What does "neither lost nor attained" mean? It means neither arising nor ceasing. Since it does not arise, it cannot be attained, because it has existed from the very beginning; since it does not cease, there is no need for it to arise, and thus there is nothing to attain. The true mind is itself an unconditioned dharma; there is no need for you to cultivate anything in order to reach the unconditioned. An unconditioned dharma that is cultivated is the unconditioned of the seventh consciousness, which still has a time of ceasing, and therefore it remains a conditioned dharma subject to arising and ceasing.

Suchness, the unconditioned, neither arises nor ceases, accompanying the tathāgatagarbha like a shadow following a form. The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without characteristics; they mutually contain one another and mutually cooperate, together accomplishing all dharmas. Yet even in mutual containment there is no mark of containing—it is simply that they do not repel one another. It is the same with the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha and sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha: they mutually cooperate and mutually contain one another. Therefore, the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings does not need to merge into the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is not material form; it has no inside and no outside, and they cannot enter into or merge with one another. Only material forms can enter into and merge with one another.