眾生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成

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Dharma Teachings

21 May 2023    Sunday     3rd Teach Total 3945

The Immovability of Tathāgatagarbha

What remains unmoved in the tathāgatagarbha is its mental activity and thoughts; its mind does not stir or turn in response to the coming and going of sense objects, and it does not grasp at the marks of any sense object. Yet even while the mind is unmoved, it still moment by moment gives rise to the myriad dharmas and sustains them. All dharmas are brought forth by Him; His work is extremely numerous, but however numerous it may be, His mind-ground is pure and non-active (wu-wei), without stirring thoughts or ideation, and He never feels busy. No matter what karmic actions the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses perform, the tathāgatagarbha does not stir its thoughts in response and has no notions whatsoever; no matter what karmic seeds manifest, the tathāgatagarbha has no emotions or feelings, yet it can continuously manifest the various dharmas in accordance with those karmic seeds—while remaining unrelated to all dharmas. "Let the winds blow from east, south, west, or north as they will; I remain serene and unmoved like Mount Sumeru." He is unchanging yet accords with conditions, accords with conditions yet remains unchanging; He is not defiled, does not lose His self-nature by following the vulgar stream, does not merge into the current of the myriad dharmas, and does not keep company with the myriad dharmas—all of this describes the intrinsic nature of the tathāgatagarbha.

——Master Sheng-Ru's Teachings
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The Tathāgatagarbha Neither Exits Nor Enters

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Tathāgatagarbha: No Ignorance, No Cessation of Ignorance

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