The Immovability of the Tathāgatagarbha

What the tathāgatagarbha keeps unmoved are thoughts and mental activities; its mind does not stir or turn as sense objects come and go. Yet even while the mind is unmoved, it still gives rise to the myriad dharmas instant after instant—all dharmas are brought forth by Him. His work is immense, yet He never feels busy.

Whatever karmic actions the seven consciousnesses perform, the tathāgatagarbha does not stir its thoughts and has no sensation. Whatever karmic seeds manifest, the tathāgatagarbha has no emotional reactions; it manifests dharmas in accordance with karmic seeds, yet remains unrelated to all dharmas. Let the winds blow from east, west, south, or north—I remain serene and unmoved, like Mount Sumeru. "Unchanging yet according with conditions, according with conditions yet unchanging; untainted by defilement, never drifting along and losing its self-nature, never merging into the stream of the myriad dharmas, never keeping company with the myriad dharmas"—this describes the tathāgatagarbha.