The Mechanisms Behind Life and Natural Phenomena

Many people marvel at the wonder and mystery of life and nature, so much so that scientists in every field devote their entire lives to exploring the mysteries of life and nature, hoping to uncover the operating mechanisms behind all dharmas in the world. Because our ignorance is deep and heavy, our wisdom is limited, our vision is too narrow, our knowledge is too restricted, and our power of observation is too weak, we cannot observe what the underlying operating mechanisms actually are. Our understanding of many natural phenomena is insufficient; we do not know their essential characteristics and internal mechanisms, and that is why we find the activities of life so mysterious. If one could see clearly all the operating mechanisms of the body's activities and its internal structures, as well as the phenomena of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing in nature, then these material forms would hold no mystery for us. We would feel that the life activities of the physical body are simply as they are, and that the material universe (the inanimate world) is naturally and inherently so—nothing to marvel at.

All the natural activities existing within the material universe—such as the stirring of wind and grass, lightning and thunder, violent storms and sudden downpours, gentle breezes, the passing of spring and the arrival of autumn, and the alternation of the four seasons—are the operating mechanisms of these phenomena arising naturally on their own, or are they formed by the convergence of causes and conditions? On the surface, they are all formed by causes and conditions, including the karmic conditions of sentient beings with common karma, manifested in response to their collective karmic power. The living environments that sentient beings with greater wholesome karma are drawn to are of another kind of beautiful state: there are no phenomena of birth, aging, sickness, and death, no alternation of the four seasons; the living environment is always comfortable and perfect, because these environments are manifested in response to the pure karma of sentient beings. But in the Sahā world there are birth, aging, sickness, and death, arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing, and countless phenomena of impermanence and change—these are manifested in response to sentient beings' mixed karma of wholesome and unwholesome actions.

So how do these life and natural phenomena occur, and what operating mechanisms lie behind them? To say that these phenomena are all dharmas born of causes and conditions is only a surface answer; in reality, it is the tathāgatagarbha that directs all these dharmas from behind. According to the common karma and individual karma created by sentient beings, the tathāgatagarbha manifests karmic conditions, and then, in accordance with those karmic conditions, gives rise to all dharmas. The reason the tathāgatagarbha can create all these dharmas is that He possesses the seeds of the seven great elements, and the different combinations of these seven great element seeds constitute the richly colorful world. Among them, material form is constituted by the seeds of the five great elements, and mental dharmas are constituted by the seeds of consciousness and the seeds of the perceiving faculty; the combination of material dharmas and mental dharmas manifests dharmas that are neither material nor mental. In this way, all dharmas in the world are complete, and the world of sentient beings is established. Because karmic seeds and karmic conditions differ, the seeds distributed by the tathāgatagarbha differ accordingly, and the dharmas produced naturally vary. Because of these variations, the functions of dharmas are complete, and the world can be diverse.

 The differences among all dharmas are caused by karmic seeds. When karmic seeds differ, the retribution and phenomena differ; but these are only differences on the surface of phenomena, while in essence they are the same—all are the function of the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha manipulates His own inherent seeds, causing them to gather, disperse, unite, and separate, transforming them into the world's splendidly varied phenomena of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. Once the karmic seeds and karmic conditions change, the phenomenal world changes accordingly. Therefore, the operating mechanism behind life and natural phenomena is the principle by which the tathāgatagarbha generates all dharmas. If one masters the functions and roles of the tathāgatagarbha's seeds, one will gradually uncover the secrets of these phenomena and will no longer find nature so miraculous.