Apart from the tathāgatagarbha, there are no dharmas of causes and conditions

The twelve links of dependent origination taught by the Buddha are, in their essence, each link dependent upon the tathāgatagarbha for their existence; apart from the tathāgatagarbha, there is no dharma of dependent origination. What worldly people speak of as dependent arising is only knowing the surface phenomena, as if it were "this existing, therefore that exists," with this dharma producing that dharma. In reality, conditioned upon this dharma, the tathāgatagarbha produces that dharma, and this dharma itself is also a dharma within the tathāgatagarbha. Any dharma, once separated from the tathāgatagarbha, cannot exist. The arising of any dharma is also the tathāgatagarbha producing it; it is only that many conditions are needed before the tathāgatagarbha can produce that dharma. If one speaks of the dharma of dependent origination apart from the tathāgatagarbha, claiming that this dharma can produce that dharma, it simply does not hold.

For example, "ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ)": ignorance cannot produce the mental formations of the manas; it is the tathāgatagarbha that produces the mental formations of the manas. Because the manas has ignorance and does not know the true reality of the dharma realm, it is unwilling to abide in tranquil suchness; it gives rise to the intent to crave and seek outwardly, and the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the manas's ignorance, produces the mental formations of the manas. The manas's mind then becomes agitated, wanting to grasp the dharmas of the three realms and the body and mind of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), wanting to have bodily, verbal, and mental actions.

"Formations condition consciousness": because of the manas's agitated, restless mental formations and its mind seeking outwardly, the tathāgatagarbha satisfies the manas's mental factor of volition (cetanā) and produces the six consciousnesses, allowing the manas to make use of the six consciousnesses to accomplish its own wishes, carrying out all bodily, verbal, and mental actions.

"Consciousness conditions name-and-form": because the manas's mental formations continue unceasingly, and the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses continue unceasingly, the tathāgatagarbha will automatically collect karmic seeds, thus planting the seeds for rebirth in future lives. At the time of death, the manas's mental formations continue unceasing, seeking a body of the five aggregates, and the tathāgatagarbha will produce the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava). Within the neutrino-body, the manas is not satisfied with the temporary physical body and still wants a body of the five aggregates for the next life. When the conditions of father and mother are complete, the tathāgatagarbha follows the manas into the womb, and name-and-form is produced.

"Name-and-form conditions the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana)": after the fertilized egg of name-and-form is formed, the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the manas's perception of a body of the five aggregates, continuously transforms and fashions the physical body according to the karmic seeds and karmic conditions, growing the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, and tongue faculty on the physical body, while the body faculty also continuously grows and matures. Thus the five faculties are created by the tathāgatagarbha, and together with the manas, the six sense bases are complete.

"The six sense bases condition contact": after the conditions for the six sense bases are complete, because the manas wants to see the six sense objects, the tathāgatagarbha transmits the outer six sense objects through the five faculties into the five supreme faculties (rūpa-prasāda), and the six faculties come into contact with the six sense objects. This contact is also produced by the tathāgatagarbha.

"Contact conditions feeling": when the six faculties can contact the six sense objects, the manas wants to discern the six sense objects, and the tathāgatagarbha will produce the ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness to jointly discern the objects of the six sense objects (in the mother's womb, the eye consciousness cannot yet be produced to see forms). Thus the six consciousnesses have feelings regarding the six sense objects; all three kinds of feeling—painful, pleasant, and neither painful nor pleasant (neutral feeling, upekṣā-vedanā)—are present, and the manas also has its own feeling within them. These feelings are also produced by the tathāgatagarbha.

"Feeling conditions craving": because there are the three kinds of feeling of the six consciousnesses, the manas has its own feeling based on the feelings of the six consciousnesses; it also has feeling when it itself contacts sense objects—either the pleasant feeling of craving and love, or the painful feeling of aversion and rejection, or neutral feeling. Because of these feelings, craving arises, especially the craving of the manas. Based on this, the tathāgatagarbha can produce all subsequent bodily, verbal, and mental actions, producing more dharmas. The feelings of the six consciousnesses and the feeling of the manas are all produced by the tathāgatagarbha outputting seeds of consciousness; the craving of the six consciousnesses is also produced by the tathāgatagarbha outputting seeds of consciousness; and especially the craving of the manas is produced by the tathāgatagarbha conditioned upon the manas's feeling.

"Craving conditions grasping (upādāna)": because the manas has craving, it develops the nature of grasping, wanting to possess and grasp the myriad dharmas of the six sense objects in the three realms. This grasping nature is also produced by the tathāgatagarbha outputting seeds of consciousness. Apart from the tathāgatagarbha there would be no manas at all, let alone the manas's feeling, craving, and grasping nature.

"Grasping conditions existence": due to the manas's grasping of the myriad dharmas of the three realms, the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the manas's mental formations, continuously produces all the dharmas of the three-realm world. "Existence conditions birth": after the dharmas of the three-realm world are produced, the living environment for the body of the five aggregates is complete, and thus the tathāgatagarbha will produce the body of the five aggregates.

"Birth conditions aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress (śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasyopāyāsa)": because the body of the five aggregates is of a nature of arising, ceasing, illusion, and transformation, after it is born, the tathāgatagarbha sustains it, continuously outputting the seeds of the four great elements, allowing the physical body to continuously grow and gradually age, and finally to die. Within this process, there are immeasurable sufferings of birth and death, with sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress without end. These sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death are also all produced by the tathāgatagarbha in accordance with conditions; the root still lies in the manas's grasping nature and the manas's craving. Only by eliminating the manas's craving can all feelings of suffering be eliminated.

From the above twelve links of dependent origination, it can be seen that all the dharmas of the three-realm world arise because of the manas's craving and grasping; the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the manas and the karmic seeds, produces all the dharmas of the five-aggregate world. Birth, death, suffering, and happiness are all produced by the tathāgatagarbha. Apart from the tathāgatagarbha there are no dharmas, and apart from the manas's grasping, the tathāgatagarbha would not produce dharmas either. Therefore, in all dharmas there is the manifest functioning of both the manas and the tathāgatagarbha; all dharmas cannot be separated from the manas and the tathāgatagarbha.