Longchenpa on Buddha-Nature in the ''Great Chariot'', a commentary on ''Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind''

Longchenpa on Buddha-Nature in the Great Chariot, a Commentary on Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind

Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. "The Tathāgatagarbha." In Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind. Vol. 1 of The Trilogy of Rest, by Longchenpa (klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer), 205–41. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2017.

The Tathāgatagarbha

The sūtras of definitive meaning belonging to the final turning of the wheel of the Dharma clearly reveal the great secret of all the Buddhas just as it is. These sūtras are the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchā-sūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādaparipṛcchā-sūtra, the Ratnadārikāparipṛcchā-sūtra, the Vimaladevīparipṛcchā-sūtra, the Aṅgulimālīya-sūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, the Maitreya-paripṛcchā-sūtra, and the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra. These sūtras teach that the dharmadhātu, that is, the intrinsically pure nature of the mind or buddha-element (khams), the essence of the Tathāgatas (the tathāgatagarbha), is primordially present in all beings. It is present from the very beginning and it is unchanging. Spontaneously, and from the very first, its appearing aspect is the source of the major and minor marks of the rūpakāya (the body of form); and its emptiness aspect is the dharmakāya (the body of ultimate reality) beyond all conceptual extremes. Since all enlightened qualities are naturally present within it, it is like a jewel; since it is unchanging, it is like space; and since it pervades all beings, as if moistening them, it is like water. By means of all such metaphors the tathāgatagarbha is set forth. As it is said in the Uttaratantra-śāstra,

As a jewel or space or water are all pure,
Its nature is at all times undefiled.^[1]

For even when it is obscured by impurities, the tathāgatagarbha is itself free from stain. The nature of the mind is primordially luminous. As it is said in the Prajñāpāramitā in Eight Thousand Lines, “As for the mind, the mind does not exist; the nature of the mind is luminosity.”^[2] This is the buddha-element (khams) or potential (rigs) present in all beings. The Uttaratantra declares,

Because the kāya of perfect buddhahood is all-pervading,
Because in suchness there is no division,
Because they have potential for enlightenment,
All beings have at all times buddha essence.^[3]

This buddha-potential is said to be the “beginningless pure expanse of ultimate reality” (thog ma med pa’i chos khams dge ba). It is the primordial Buddha within the ground. As it is said in the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti, “There are no Buddhas, first or last. Primordial Buddha lists to neither side.” And the Hevajra Tantra in Two Sections says,

Sentient beings are truly Buddhas
And yet are stained by adventitious obscurations.
When these are removed, indeed they’re truly Buddhas.

At the time when one is an ordinary being, the nature of the mind is, from the standpoint of appearance, in full possession of the qualities of the rūpakāya. From the standpoint of emptiness, it has all the qualities of the dharmakāya. Since, however, the mind’s nature is obscured by stains and is not actually manifest, it is referred to as the “element” (khams), or the “potential” (rigs). At the time of awakening (sangs rgyas), it is freed from all stain and is called “enlightenment” (byang chub). The only difference between these two cases lies in the complete manifestation or otherwise of the mind’s nature. It is not said that the qualities of enlightenment are non-existent in the condition of ordinary beings and are generated anew later on. For these qualities are beyond all movement and change. As it is said in the Complete Revelation of the Essence Sūtra,

The ultimate expanse from time without beginning
Is the resting place of all phenomena.
Since it is possessed by every being,
All possess the state beyond all sorrow.
As it was before, so it will later be.
It is unchanging suchness.

The luminous character of the mind’s nature is unsullied by defilement. As it is said in the Uttaratantra,

This nature of the mind, this luminosity,
Like space, is without change.
Craving and the rest are adventitious stains
Deriving from deluded thought; and they do not defile it.^[4]

The buddha-potential may be classified twofold as the naturally present potential (rang bzhin gnas rigs) subsisting from the very beginning, and the developed potential (bsgrub pa’i rigs), which arises on the basis of the practices that remove circumstantial impurities. The naturally present potential may again be classified twofold. First, there is the naturally present potential that is the ultimate nature of phenomena—the empty nature of the mind, free from all conceptual extremes (chos nyid rang bzhin du gnas pa’i rigs)—which is the cause for the removal or separation (bral rgyu) [of obscuring stains] from the svābhāvikakāya. Second, there is the naturally present potential that is the phenomenal appearance of the ultimate nature (chos can rang bzhin du gnas pa’i rigs), which is the cause for the removal or separation [of obscuring stains] from the supreme rūpakāya. From the very beginning, phenomenal appearance partakes of the ultimate nature. The Parinirvāṇa-sūtra says,

Son of my lineage, the mind’s nature is naturally luminous; it is naturally devoid of intrinsic being and is naturally pure. Its appearance is arrayed in the brilliant qualities of the major and minor marks, which are not separate from it. They are however distinguished from the standpoint of appearance and emptiness.

The developed potential refers to the potential that is purified by the cultivation of bodhichitta and so on—that is, through the practices on the path of learning, which are related to skilful means and wisdom, the accumulations of merit and wisdom. As the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra says, “Ah, children of the Conqueror! The potential of enlightenment (byang chub kyi rigs) consists in an earnest search for the dharmadhātu. Those who have seen this potential—luminous in nature, vast as the sky—are those who have trained in the accumulations of wisdom and of merit.” And as the Uttaratantra says,

Like a treasure or a tree grown from a fruit
The potential should be understood to have two aspects:
Natural presence that persists from time without beginning
And perfection that derives from proper cultivation.

From the potential’s twofold aspect, it is said,
The triple kāya of the Buddha is attained.
From the first arises the first kāya;
From the second come the later two.

The svābhāvikakāya, fair and beautiful—
It should be understood—is like a precious image.
For it is present by its nature: it is uncontrived
And is a treasury of precious qualities.

Like a universal monarch is the sambhogakāya:
It is sovereign of the mighty realm of Dharma.
The nirmāṇakāya is like a golden form:
It therefore has the character of a reflection.^[5]

The svābhāvikakāya, the nature of the mind, the naturally present potential that is the ultimate nature of phenomena, is like a jewel. Within this spontaneously present state, there manifests the naturally present potential that is the phenomenal appearance of the ultimate nature. This is both the saṃbhogakāya, which is like a universal sovereign, and the nirmāṇakāya, which is the saṃbhogakāya’s reflection, and which provides the support for the appearance of the supreme nirmāṇakāya that manifests for the sake of beings to be guided. In the case of ordinary beings, these kāyas are veiled by impurities and are thus not perceptible. However, the accumulation of merit (arising through the cultivation of bodhichitta and so on) removes the veils that conceal the rūpakāya, whereas the accumulation of wisdom (effected through meditation on emptiness) dispels the veils that conceal ultimate reality, the svābhāvikakāya.

The potential that is naturally present and the developed potential are linked together primordially as support and supported. The first is like the support provided by limpid water, while the second is like the various reflections that appear in the water. The potential that thus dwells within the ground is like an object that is to be known, whereas the developed potential subsisting in the present situation is like the knowing mind. Once again, they are linked in the manner of support and supported. The natural potential—both the ultimate nature (chos nyid) and its phenomenal appearance (chos can)—is in a manner of speaking the cause that makes possible the removal [of obscuration]. It is not the result of it. The developed potential is like an antidote that dissipates the veils but is not the actual cause of the two kāyas in the manner of a causal process involving an agent and object of production. This potential brings forth a wealth of perfect qualities, which are realized on the path of learning. It releases them and brings them to maturity on the level of buddhahood.

As it is written in the Sūtrālaṃkāra,

The natural and the developed,
The support and the supported—
[The first] exists [as cause] and it does not exist [as the result].
[The second] should be understood as meaning the release of qualities.^[6]

All beings are pervaded by the tathāgatagarbha. Nine images or similes are used to illustrate how it dwells in the midst of defilement. It is said in the Uttaratantra,

Like a buddha in a faded lotus, honey in the midst of bees,
Like the kernel in the husk and gold in filthy soil,
Like treasure in the earth, the shooting plant within the tiny grain,
Or like the image of the Conqueror wrapped up in tattered rags,

Like a lord of men enclosed within a beggar-woman’s womb,
Or like a precious image hid within the clay—
Concealed by the defilements’ adventitious veils,
The buddha-element subsists in sentient beings.^[7]

These nine similes all refer to the buddha-element, which is obscured in ordinary beings, in the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha arhats, and in bodhisattvas who are on the paths of seeing and meditation. There are four images that illustrate how the tathāgatagarbha dwells in the minds of ordinary beings who have not entered the path and also of those who have entered it but are on the paths of accumulation and joining. It is present in their minds but is concealed by four impurities. The first image is that of the tathāgatagarbha that dwells within latent desire. As it is said in the Uttaratantra,

Just as enclosed within a faded lotus flower,
The Tathāgata, shining with the thousand marks of buddhahood,
Is seen by those who have unsullied divine sight,
And taken from the petals of that blossom, water-born,

In just the same way, those who “go in bliss” behold with their enlightened and unsullied eyes
That their own nature dwells in those caught in the Hell of Torment Unsurpassed;
And, sovereigns of compassion who remain until the ending of saṃsāra,
They act to liberate those beings from their obscurations.^[8]

The second image is that of the tathāgatagarbha dwelling in latent anger. As it is said in the Uttaratantra,

Just as honey in the midst of swarming bees
Sought for by a skilful man
Who sees it and with clever art
Withdraws it from the swarm,

Likewise, the great Sage with his all-knowing eyes
Beholds the wisdom, buddha nature, honeylike,
And acts to free it fully and forever
From the beelike veils obscuring it.^[9]

The third image is that of the tathāgatagarbha that dwells within latent ignorance.

Just as the kernel of a grain within its husk
Is inappropriate for human use,
And those who wish to eat of it
Must first withdraw it from its shell,

Just so the nature of the Conqueror
Is mingled with the dross of the defilements.
As long as it has not been freed therefrom,
Enlightened deeds in the three worlds will not occur.^[10]

The fourth image is that of the tathāgatagarbha dwelling amid the manifest and strongly active defilements of desire, aversion, and ignorance.

Just as in a time of great commotion
A person’s gold was dropped into a foul and dirty place,
Where it remains just as it was
For many centuries, by nature indestructible,

Until a god endowed with pure and godly eyes
Discerned it there and speaking to some person said,
“The gold that here lies hid is of great price.
Let it be cleansed and made into a precious thing,”

The Sage, beholding thus the excellence of sentient beings
Sunk in their defilements like that foul and filthy place,
Sends down upon them rains of pure instruction
That the mire of their defilements might be cleansed away.^[11]

There is one image that illustrates how the buddha-element dwells amid the propensity to ignorance as this is found in the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha arhats.

Just as in the earth beneath a poor man’s dwelling,
There was once a treasure inexhaustible,
Of which the man knew nothing
(For the treasure did not say that it was there),

Within the mind there lies a precious treasure.
Its nature is immaculate, with nothing to be added, nothing to remove.
Because they do not know this, living beings
Constantly endure the many ills of poverty.^[12]

Two images illustrate how the buddha essence dwells amid the defilements that are to be eliminated by the path of seeing. The first is as follows.

Just as the ever-present tendency to burgeon from a seed,
Subsisting in a mango and the fruits of other trees,
Is provoked by water and the tilling of the ground,
That thence a kingly tree will gradually grow,

Just so, the pure expanse of ultimate reality that’s caught inside the rind—
Living beings’ ignorance and all the rest—
Will, on the basis of the virtues,
Burgeon by degrees into a king of sages.^[13]

The second of the two examples is as follows.

Just as a spirit who discovers by the road
An image of the Conqueror contrived of precious jewels,
But wrapped in tattered, foul and fetid rags, declares—
That it may be uncovered—“There it is beside the path,”

In just the same way those with unobstructed sight behold
The actual blissful Buddha even in the state of stooping beasts,
Enveloped in defilements in their various kinds,
And likewise show the means whereby it might be freed.^[14]

Then there are two images that illustrate how the pure expanse of ultimate reality dwells amid obscuring defilements that are eliminated on the path of meditation. Here is the first of these two:

Just as a woman, ill-favored and protectorless,
And living in a shelter for the destitute,
May carry in her womb the glory of a king,
Not knowing she is pregnant with a lord of men,

Birth in existence, too, is like a home for destitutes;
And impure beings resemble the expectant woman.
By the stainless element they bear within them
They’re protected—like the woman with a king within her womb.^[15]

The second image is as follows:

When molten gold is poured in and the form is set, at peace,
It has but the outer aspect of its earthen mould.
Those who see and understand—that they might free the gold within—
Will clear away the outer case whereby it is concealed.

Likewise, having seen that that which is by nature luminous
Can only be obscured by something adventitious,
Sublime enlightened beings act to cleanse obscuring veils
From beings who resemble mines of precious gems.^[16]

The nine impurities related to these images are set forth in the Uttaratantra.

Desire, aversion, ignorance
(whether in their flagrant state or else as latent tendencies),
All that is discarded on the paths of seeing and of meditation,
impurities subsisting on the pure and impure grounds,

These nine are illustrated by analogies
Like being concealed within a lotus flower.
If the confining secondary defilements were to be
Distinguished, they would be numbered in their millions.^[17]

Regarding those who have these stains, the Uttaratantra says:

Childish beings, arhats, those who train,
And those possessed of wisdom are, in their respective order,
Stained by these impurities:
By four, by one, by two, and then by two.^[18]

These images and the impurities they illustrate are laid out in the Uttaratantra as follows:

Just as a lotus rising from the mud
Delights the mind when first beheld,
But later brings no joy,
So too is joy deriving from desire.

Bees when strongly agitated
Use their stings.
So too when anger has arisen,
It engenders sorrow in the mind.

Just as the pith of rice and other grains
Is covered by its outer husk,
Likewise understanding of the essence
Is hindered by the shell of ignorance.

Just as filth is uncongenial,
So too defilement in its full arising,
Causing those in the desire realm to pursue
Their cravings, is like filth.

Just as wealth when all concealed
Remains unknown, its treasure unobtainable,
The self-arisen element in beings
Is likewise hidden by the ground of tendency to ignorance.

Just as the gradual growing of a shoot
Cuts through the outer layers of a seed,
Just so, when suchness is beheld
All that seeing discards is countered.

Through connection with the noble path,
The transitory collection,^[19] the essential point, is quelled.
All that is discarded on the path of meditation—all that primal wisdom sheds—
Is shown to be like tattered rags.

The impurity supported by the seven grounds
Is like the impurity of confinement in the womb.
Nonconceptual primal wisdom is like being freed
From such confinement, like a birth without travail.

Impurities connected with the three successive levels,
It should be understood, are like the traces left by clay.
The concentration vajra-like
Of great beings will remove them.

Desire and so forth: all the the nine impurities
Resemble thus the lotus and the rest.^[20]

Moreover, as it is recounted in the teachings of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra,

The Blessed Lord said to Kāśyapa: “This is how it is, my noble son. There was once a king who had in his service a giant with a jewel of diamond in his brow. It came to pass that when the giant was contending with another giant-like champion, his opponent struck his head with his own and without the former’s realizing it, the jewel in his brow sank into his flesh. Since he had been wounded however, he called for a physician and asked his services. But the physician was wise; and since the wound had been caused by the jewel as it sank into the giant’s flesh, he did not apply any medicine.
      “Well now, strong man! Where is the jewel in your forehead?” At this the giant grew afraid and told the physician that, to his knowledge, the jewel was still in his brow and had not disappeared. And thinking that if the jewel were not there, it must have been an illusion, he became extremely downcast. To comfort the giant, the physician then said, “Do not be sad! When you were contending, the jewel in your brow sank into your flesh leaving nothing outside but an indication of its presence. When you were fighting, your blood was up and the gem sank down into your flesh. Yet, by the power of this same jewel, you felt nothing.”
      The giant, however, disbelieved him and said, “O physician, do not lie. If the jewel had really sunk into my flesh, there would be filthy pus and blood, and there would be no indication of it outside.”
      At that, the physician placed a mirror in front of the wound, and the jewel clearly appeared in it. On seeing this, the giant was greatly amazed.
      Noble son, such is the plight of beings! Because they do not serve and follow a spiritual master, they fail to see that they have the buddha-nature. This nature is veiled; it is overwhelmed by desire, aversion, and ignorance. And so these beings circle in saṃsāra, amid the torments of many different realms of existence.

This story, from the point just indicated in the text and until the words, “Noble son! Within the bodies of all beings are the ten strengths, the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks” explains the buddha nature in numerous different ways. In the Hevajra-tantra, we find,

Great primordial wisdom dwells within the body,
Wholly free of all discursive thought.
All things does it pervade.
It dwells within the body, yet from the body it does not arise.

In the Precious Net it is said,

All beings, I and everyone,
Are primordially enlightened,
But through the power of thought do beings circle in saṃsāra.
To free them all I generate the attitude of supreme awakening.

The Wisdom at the Moment of Death Sūtra says, “When the mind is understood, this is buddhahood. You should strongly cultivate the attitude of mind of thinking that nowhere else should buddhahood be sought.” Praises of the Mind Vajra says,

Just as water dwells unsullied
It the very heart of earth,
Primal wisdom also dwells
Unsullied in the midst of our defilements.

And in the Guhyagarbha-tantra it is said,

In any of the four times or the ten directions
No perfect buddha will be found.
The perfect buddha is the mind itself.
Therefore do not look elsewhere for buddhahood—
Where even the enlightened ones cannot discover it.

Thus it is set forth in these and other sacred texts. In short, it should be understood, with the help of metaphors—such as that of the great sheet of silk as vast as the three-thousandfold universe—that the kāyas and wisdoms of buddhahood dwell primordially within all beings, as inalienably as sunlight in the sun itself. This buddha-element is at all times naturally pure and changeless. The stains upon it are adventitious and imaginary. As the Commentary to the Uttaratantra declares,

Great Sage! Defilements are darkness, whereas perfect purity is light. Defilements are weak, whereas profound insight (vipaśyanā) is of great strength. Defilements are adventitious, whereas natural purity is the fundamental root.

Being primordially unstained, the buddha-element is pure; changeless and unmoving, it is the supreme identity (bdag dam pa); being at all times present, it is everlasting; and though it has fallen into the samsaric state of many sufferings, it is not overwhelmed thereby. Thus it is transcendent bliss. The Uttaratantra says,

Its results are the transcendent qualities
Of purity, identity, happiness and permanence.^[21]

The tathāgatagarbha pervades all beings. It is said in the Sūtrālaṃkāra,^[22]

Just as it is said that space is always everywhere,
Likewise it is said to be at all times present.
Just as space pervades all forms,
Likewise it pervades the multitude of beings.

This buddha-essence is veiled by defilements, and yet, in itself, it is unsullied—it is like the sun enshrouded by the clouds. From the very first and until the time of our awakening, it is indestructible and inseparable from us. As it is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra, “The tathāgatagarbha pervades all beings in their three conditions, yet it remains unchanged by either defilement or the purity [of enlightenment].” The three conditions are mentioned in the Uttaratantra:

As impurity, impurity-and-purity,
And utter purity
Are described respectively
Beings, bodhisattvas, Tathāgatas.^[23]

Impurity thus refers to the condition of ordinary beings, both impurity and purity to the condition of the bodhisattvas, while utter purity refers to the condition of the buddhas. But what is this buddha-potential like? There is no image that can adequately illustrate it, and therefore it is said to resemble the condition of the Tathāgata. The Uttaratantra goes on to say,

Because it is beyond the world,
There's nothing in this world whereby we can imagine it.
This is why it has been taught
That the buddha-element is like the Tathāgata.^[24]

On the other hand, according to the way the buddha-element actually is, it does not actually resemble any of the images supplied because, although the nature is one and the same, yet there are differences according to different conditions, and thus it is that the nine images apply to the buddha-element only in a piecemeal fashion. Who is able to behold the buddha-nature truly? Only the buddhas see it as it is. People who have been accepted by a spiritual master but who have no direct realization of the fundamental nature; the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; beings who have faith in the Mahāyāna, and also the bodhisattvas dwelling on the grounds of realization understand it only in the manner of an aspiration—in terms of a general idea or universal. Even the bodhisattvas on the tenth ground realize this nature only partially. As the Commentary to the Uttaratantra says,

Just as the sun is glimpsed between the clouds,
Those who are intelligent perceive it only partially.
Even noble beings with the clear eyes of their minds do not
      behold it fully.
But you, Lord, see the spotless dharmakāya, endless
      wisdom,
The ultimate expanse replete with knowledge objects
      numberless.

The buddha-element or essence subsists as the buddhafield “Wheel of Ornaments,” the ornaments in question being the three kāyas together with the primordial wisdoms within the nature of the mind. When it is seen exactly as it is, this is buddhahood. These texts [the Uttaratantra, the Commentary to the Uttaratantra, and all texts that teach the tathāgatagarbha] should therefore be explained and cherished. For beings who are on the path of learning, the buddha-element is understood through faith and in a general manner. As it is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra, “The ultimate truth of the self-arisen wisdom must be realized through faith. The blazing orb of the sun is invisible to those who have no eyes.” And the Essence of Enlightenment Sūtra describes how it is seen only in part and not completely.

Ordinary beings, the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas do not see the buddha-essence exactly as it is. Consider the following illustration. A man who was blind from birth asked someone to tell him the color of ghee. He received the answer that it was like snow. On touching some snow, the blind man thought that the color of ghee was cold. He then inquired about the color of snow and was told that it was like a swan’s wing. When he heard a swan’s wing flapping, he thought that the color of snow was like the sound of wings. When he asked about the color of the swan’s wing, he heard that it was like a conch; and when he touched a conch, he concluded that the color of the swan’s wing was smooth. In whichever way his inquiry was expressed, the blind man was unable to discover the precise color of ghee. In the same way, it is very difficult to see the buddha-nature.

This same sūtra gives another example of how difficult it is for ordinary beings to realize the tathāgatagarbha:

Once upon a time, a king summoned a group of blind men before him, and placing an elephant in front of them, asked them to describe it. Those who touched the trunk said that the elephant was like a hook. Those who touched its eyes said that it was like a bowl. Those who touched its ears, said that it was like a winnowing fan. Those who touched its hind quarters said that it was like a sedan chair, while those who touched its tail said that it was like a rope. All the blind men were describing the same elephant though without perceiving it fully. In just the same way, buddhahood has only been defined in terms of one or other of its aspects. Some have defined it as emptiness, others like a magical illusion, others as luminosity. But all have failed to understand it fully.

The noble bodhisattvas have a slight understanding of it, but they fail to see it precisely as it is. As it is said in the Parinirvāṇa-sūtra,

Noble son! In order to find a cure for his blindness, a man once consulted a physician. The latter took a golden scalpel and cut away the membrane of the man’s cataracts. When he showed the man one of his fingers, the latter said that he could see nothing, but when he showed him two or three of his fingers, the man said that he could see something slightly. Son of noble family! In just the same way, if the buddha nature were not expounded in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, countless bodhisattvas would fail to glimpse the buddha nature, even though they may have perfected the transcendent virtues and abide on the ten grounds of realization. But if the Tathāgata sets it forth, they will have an inkling.

The metaphors that the sūtra then goes on to give illustrate the fact that whereas the buddha essence is partially glimpsed, it is not understood with complete certainty. It could be argued that if the buddha essence—subtle as it is and hard to realize—cannot be seen by ordinary beings, there is no point in teaching it. But being told that the buddha nature is present in our and others' minds will prevent us from losing hope. Through understanding that liberation is not hard to achieve, we will have enthusiasm. Neither will we belittle others, but will respect them as the equals of the Buddha our Teacher. By dispelling ignorance regarding the presence of the kāyas and wisdoms of ultimate reality within us, we will acquire wisdom whereby the ultimate expanse will be realized. Knowing thus the fundamental mode of being, we will avert all misconceptions with regard to existence and nonexistence, permanence and discontinuity; and thus we will have access to the primordial wisdom that realizes the ultimate truth. By avoiding a proud sense of superiority and self-centeredness, we will perceive that others are of equal importance to ourselves and will have a great love for them. These are the five reasons for which the teaching on the buddha essence has been expounded. As the Uttaratantra says,

Like clouds and dreams and magical illusions,
Here and there it has been taught
That all things are completely empty.
Why then does the Victor here declare
The buddha essence to be present in all beings?^[25]

And in answer to this question, the text continues,

Disheartedness, contempt for lesser beings,
Believing what is incorrect, negating perfect qualities,
Excessive self-love—for those who harbor these five defects,
Thus he spoke that they might give them up.^[26]

If these five faults are discarded, five qualities will ensue. The Uttaratantra declares,

Enthusiastic joy, respect for others as if they were the Teacher,
Wisdom, primal wisdom, and great love:
Through the birth of these five qualities there comes
A freedom from wrongdoing and the view that all are equal.^[27]

Those who have a mistaken view regarding the buddha nature assume an arrogant demeanor. Their faces are covered with the golden net of wrong opinions, and they turn their backs on the sūtras of definitive meaning and the view of the Secret Mantra, saying that this quintessential teaching is of a mere expedient value. They speak like this because they think that the result arises from a cause. If it were not so, the result (so they think) would be like the permanent self of the non-Buddhists. They therefore declare with an absolute certainty that even the two kāyas of the Buddha manifest from the twofold accumulation.

Kayé! O you who have fine faces decked with lotuses! The truth is that you fail to understand the wisdom intention of the teachings expounded in the three turnings of the wheel of the Dharma. You consider as definitive the extreme position of emptiness. In the teachings of the first turning of the Dharma-wheel, intended for beginners and those of basic capacity, the four truths are expounded in terms of what is to be rejected together with the remedies to this, so that beings may turn away from saṃsāra. These teachings describe the methods whereby beings are freed from what is to be abandoned [the truths of suffering and origin].

Now as a means to escaping the fetters of clinging to these remedies, the middle turning of the Dharma wheel expounds space-like emptiness and the eight similes that illustrate the illusory nature of all things. These teachings were given for the sake of beings of moderate capacity and for those who have trained in the earlier teachings.

The final turning of the Dharma wheel was intended for those who have perfected the previous teachings and for those of great capacity: it expounds the nature of phenomena just as it is. The buddha essence [as taught in the third turning] is not the same as the self of the non-Buddhists who, destitute of true knowledge, impute real existence to the self. This self of theirs has no existence at all. The non-Buddhists quantify it as great or small, and they do not affirm that it possesses the kāyas and wisdoms.

You who say that the teaching on the tathāgatagarbha is of only expedient value have a view that clings to no-self and emptiness—which is no more than an antidote to the self and nonemptiness. It does not constitute the definitive teaching.

In the Parinirvāṇa-sūtra we find the following parable:

This, moreover, is how it is, my noble son. There was once a woman with a very young child that fell ill. Overcome with sorrow, she brought him to a doctor who mixed butter, milk and molasses and gave the mixture to the child, telling the woman that she must not allow the child to suck from her breast until the mixture had been digested. In order to prevent her child from drinking, the woman smeared her breasts with bile, telling him that there was poison on her breasts and that he should not drink. The child, being thirsty, wanted to drink but, tasting the bitterness of the bile, could not do so. Later, when the medicine had been digested, the woman washed her breasts clean and told the child to come to suckle, for now he could drink. But, despite his thirst, the child would not, remembering the bitterness he had tasted before. Whereupon his mother explained that she had smeared her breasts with bile to prevent him from drinking before the medicine had been digested. But now that it had been digested, she had washed her breasts and they were now no longer bitter. And so the child came slowly back and was able to drink again.
Noble son! In order to liberate all beings, I the Tathāgata have emphatically declared to them the absence of the self. Through earnest practice, beings may understand that there is no mental state called “I” and thus may pass utterly beyond sorrow. Moreover, it was in order to dispel the wrong view of the Cārvākas, and to bring beings to the utterly pure existence of the human state through meditating on the doctrine of no-self, that I the Tathāgata have explained that all phenomena are devoid of self, so that beings may grow used to emptiness. It was like the woman who, for her child’s sake, had smeared her breasts with bile. And just as later the woman washed her breasts and called her child to drink, so too have I explained the tathāgatagarbha. O bhikṣus, do not be afraid! Just as the woman called to her child, who then came slowly back, you should, O bhikṣus, distinguish these two cases. You should not consider that the tathāgatagarbha is nonexistent. When formerly in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras I expounded emptiness, you should understand that I did so thinking only of the fact that phenomena have no intrinsic being. Meditation on an emptiness that is a mere nothingness will not result in the arising of the kāyas and wisdoms of buddhahood. For a result must follow upon its cause.

It is in such a manner that emptiness means the emptiness of concepts that grasp things, in the very moment of their perception, as being either one or many. It means the emptiness of their intrinsic being. Things are like reflections in a mirror. Emptiness does not mean that things are like imaginary objects that in the past did not exist, that in the present do not exist, and that in the future will not exist. As it is said in the Heart Sūtra: “Form is emptiness; emptiness is form. Emptiness is none other than form, and form is none other than emptiness. The same is true for feelings, perceptions, conditioning factors, and consciousness—all are empty.” And the Middle Length Prajñāpāramitā declares that every phenomenon is, in its own time, empty by its nature. If there were no form, how could there be emptiness of form?
As it is said in the Uttaratantra,

Emptiness endowed with supreme aspects
Has been likened to a portrait that’s complete.

And,

Therein is nothing to remove
And thereto not the slightest thing to add.
The perfect truth viewed perfectly
And perfectly beheld is liberation.

The buddha-element is void of what is adventitious,
Which has the character of something separable.
This element is not itself devoid of supreme qualities,
Which have the character of what cannot be parted from it.^[28]

It is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra,

What is being set forth in this passage? The tathāgatagarbha is in its nature utterly pure. There is no reason at all to remove defilements from it because its very nature is freedom from adventitious stains. And there is not the slightest reason for pure qualities to be superadded to it, for its nature, the dharmatā, is already endowed with pure and inalienable qualities. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha is empty of defilements that are alien to it and that may be removed from it. It is not empty of the inconceivable qualities of enlightenment, which are more numerous than the grains of sand in the Ganges and from which it cannot be parted by any means. So it is said. Therefore, to affirm that it is empty with regard to what is absent from it [namely, defilement] is the correct way of seeing. Furthermore, to say that whatever superior quality it possesses is present in it permanently is to understand the matter properly, just as it is.

The two kāyas of a buddha are present from the beginning. That which obscures them is dispelled by the two accumulations. It is not the case that the action of dispelling is the productive cause of the produced result (of the two kāyas). For in that case, it would follow that the dharmakāya and saṃbhogakāya are conditioned and thus impermanent. The dharmakāya is therefore beyond all movement and all change. As it is said in the Madhyamakāvatāra,

This peaceful kāya, radiant like the wish-fulfilling tree,
Is like the wishing-jewel that without forethought lavishes
The riches of the world on beings till they gain enlightenment.
It is perceived by those who are beyond conceptual construction.^[29]

And the Uttaratantra says,

Because he has the mastery of every quality,
Because death’s demon he destroys,
Because he is without intrinsic nature
And because he is the lord of all world, he’s permanent.^[30]

And once again, in contradiction of the causal process, it also says,

It is unconditioned and spontaneously present;
It is not known through outer causes;
Endowed with knowledge, love, and power—
It is buddhahood, the fulfillment of the twofold aim.^[31]

It is thus that the process of enlightenment in terms of cause and result—of something that engenders and something that is engendered—is denied. Consequently, the meaning of no-self, emptiness, nonduality, and so on should be understood in the following way. In the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, the Buddha says,

The secret essence of the Tathāgata, the buddha nature utterly pure, is said to be beyond change and movement. Even if it is described as existing, the wise and learned should not cling to it. To describe it as nonexistent is to speak falsely. Inferior people deny it as nonexistent. They fail to understand the secret essence of the Tathāgata. If it is described as suffering, the blissful nature of the body is not understood. Foolish people think that all bodies are impermanent; they consider them like unfired pots. The wise and learned, on the other hand, discern correctly and do not say that everything is at all times impermanent. Why so? Because within this body of ours is the buddha nature, the seed. Fools consider that all the qualities of enlightenment are without self [just empty], but for the wise and learned, the no-self is just an ascribed label, which they understand in terms of the absence of true existence. Secure in this knowledge, they have no doubts about it. When the tathāgatagarbha is described as empty, the foolish, hearing this, conclude that it is nonexistent in a nihilistic sense. But the wise and learned understand the Tathāgata potential as unchanging and beyond all movement. When liberation is said to be like an illusion, fools conclude that to say that beings attain liberation is a teaching of demons. The wise and learned, on the other hand, understand that, among humankind, only the lionlike Tathāgata is everlasting, unchanging, and beyond all movement. When it is said that conditioning factors [the second interdependent link] manifest because of ignorance, foolish people hearing this make a distinction between ignorance and knowledge. But the wise and learned understand that, by their very nature, they are not two, and that genuine reality is the absence of duality. When it is said that because of conditioning factors, consciousness arises, foolish people thing [sic] that conditioning factors and consciousness are two different things. The wise and learned, on the other hand, understand that by their nature they are not two, and that the absence of this duality is a genuine reality. When it is said that all things are without self, and that even the tathāgatagarbha is without self, foolish people understand that self and no-self are two different things. But the wise and learned understand that, by their nature, they are not two. Self and no-self are not two by their nature.
The tathāgatagarbha is therefore praised by all the bhagavān buddhas as boundless, immeasurable, and infinite. And I too have expounded it in detail in the sūtras [of the last turning of the Dharma wheel].

When in the Magical Display Sūtra it is said that the Icchantikas^[32] will never pass beyond sorrow, and when this same text speaks of them as cut off from the buddha-potential, one might conclude that the buddha essence is not in fact possessed by all beings. This, however, is not so. This was said with regard to those who, having given up the teachings of the Great Vehicle, will not gain freedom for a very long time, and to those who, straying from the path, are temporarily separated from the buddha-potential developed on the path. They are not, however, cut off from the luminosity that is the nature of the mind. As it is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra,

When the Buddha said that the Icchantikas would never pass beyond sorrow, he was thinking in terms of “another time” (dus gzhan la dgongs nas)^[33] He said it in order to remove aversion to the Dharma of the Great Vehicle. For it is hostility to the teaching of the Great Vehicle that produces the Icchantika condition. But since they possess the utterly pure buddha-potential, it is wrong to think that they will never become utterly pure. For thinking of the fact that all beings without distinction may be purified, the Buddha declared that “Though [the veil] is beginningless, it has an end. That which is naturally pure and permanent has been enveloped from beginningless time by a sheath [of defilement] and consequently has not been seen. It is like a golden statue hidden beneath a veil.”
From time without beginning, the pure expanse of ultimate reality [the buddha-potential] dwells in all beings. The time will come when each one of them will become utterly pure. “Though the veil is beginningless, it has an end.” So it is established.

The awakening of the two kinds of buddha-potential is accompanied by signs. The signs of the awakening of the naturally present potential that is the dharmakāya (rang bzhin chos sku’i rigs) are described in the Madhyamakāvatāra,

Certain simple, ordinary people,
When they hear of emptiness, will feel
A joy that leaps and surges in their hearts.
Their eyes will fill with tears, the hairs upon their skin stand up.

Such people are the vessels for the teaching;
They have the seed of wisdom, perfect buddhahood.
The final truth should be revealed to them,
In whom ensuing qualities will come to birth.^[34]

The signs of the awakening of the naturally present potential that is the appearance of the rūpakāya (gzugs sku chos can gyi rigs) are described in the Sūtrālaṃkāra,

Compassion prior to embarking (on the path),
Interest and acceptance,
Perfect virtuous practice
Are said to be the certain signs of the potential.

As for the benefits of the awakened buddha-potential, the same text says,

Even if, a long time later, they must go to lower realms,
They will be quickly freed therefrom,
There they suffer little pain;
And wearied with the world, they will bring beings to maturity.^[35]

As the text says, once the buddha-potential has been awakened, then even though it is possible to be reborn in the lower realms, one is quickly freed therefrom, like a ball of silk bouncing up from the ground. Suffering but little, [the bodhisattvas] feel an intense weariness with the world and bring beings to maturity. If beings did not possess this buddha-potential, they would feel no sorrow in the midst of pain, and some of them would feel no impulse to leave saṃsāra and to attain nirvāṇa. Even the desire to be free would not arise in their minds. On the other hand, the fact that, even in the absence of anyone to teach them, some beings feel pity for those who suffer, and feel revulsion with their existential condition when they themselves feel pain—all this is said to be through the power of the pure expanse of ultimate reality [the tathāgatagarbha] that they have within them from beginningless time. As it is said in the Uttaratantra,

If one did not have the buddha-element,
No sorrow would one feel in pain,
No wanting would there be to pass beyond all suffering—
No interest and no aspiration would there be for it.

This seeing of the faults and sorrows of existence,
The qualities and happiness of the state beyond all sorrow
Comes from the possession of the buddha-potential.
If this potential were not there, it would not come.^[36]

Having thus shown in some detail how the possession of this potential means that one possesses the essence of buddhahood, I will conclude with the following poetic interlude.

Without exception every being has the essence of the Sugata
Enveloped in enshrouding adventitious stains wherein
The clear light, flame of the expanse of ultimate reality,
From time without beginning, dwells.
The kāyas and the wisdoms dwell in every being
Spontaneously present, never to be parted.
When emptiness and the essence of compassion are
      achieved,
This buddha-element receives the name of the enlightened
      state
And brings about the good and happiness of every being.
Present of itself from time without beginning,
But like sun and sky concealed by clouds,
It is obscured by adventitious stains.
Thus pain is suffered in existence, which is like a dream.
Cultivate a strength of diligence in order to remove
      defilement.

These appearances of the six migrations,
Adventitious and illusory,
Produced by karma and habitual tendencies,
Are the stuff of dreams.
In the present, past, and future,
They are utterly unreal though they appear.

Primal wisdom, luminous,
Is present of itself and from the very first.
Beings have it constantly, yet at this time they do not see it.
Just as when asleep they do not see their place of rest.

Therefore, do not cling
To what is meaningless, imaginary, defiled,
But in the clear light of the mind’s own nature
Train yourself.
Seize for yourself and others
All the riches of the twofold goal.

Why is it that beings wander in saṃsāra, even though they possess this potential? What is the reason for it? It is because beings fail to recognize the buddha-potential dwelling within them and instead grasp at a self where there is no self. The conditions for this failure are provided by the unbroken sequence of defilement, by false friends, by indigence, and by lack of independence. It is thus that beings circle in saṃsāra. As it is said in the Sūtrālaṃkāra,

Habituation to defilement, evil friends,
Poverty, subjection to the power of others—
These in brief are threats to the potential:
You should know that there are four of them.^[37]

And as it is said in the Stages of Luminosity,

Beings do not see primordial luminosity.
They call their minds their “I” and cling to “mine.”
“These things,” they say, “are other.” And clinging to a self,
Confused, they wander through the reaches of existence.
Joy and sorrow, all awry, they feel
According to their karma.

And words to similar effect are found in The All-Creating King Tantra.

The primordial, luminous nature of the mind is self-arisen primordial wisdom, empty and clear. By nature, it is empty like space, yet its character is luminous like the sun and moon. And the radiance of its cognitive potency manifests unceasingly and unobstructedly like the surface of a limpidly clear mirror, free from stain. Having thus the nature of the dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya, the sugatagarbha is unconfined and is not limited either to saṃsāra or nirvāṇa. Its empty nature provides the open arena necessary for the manifestation of all things; its luminous character allows the five self-arisen lights to appear as sense-objects; and its cognitive potency—self-cognizing primordial wisdom—manifests as the detecting cognition owing to which delusion is said to occur. It is said in the Guhyagarbha Tantra,

Ema-o! Through the working of one’s thoughts,
One strays from the sugatagarbha.

It is at that moment that, inasmuch as one fails to recognize primordial wisdom, one speaks of coemergent ignorance (lhan cig skyes pa’i ma rig pa). Inasmuch as one takes the self-experience [and display] of primordial wisdom as something other, one speaks of conceptual ignorance (kun brtags pa’i ma rig pa). Through failing to recognize that this self-experience of primal wisdom arises within the fundamental mode of being; and through clinging to it as a self and sense-objects, this same self-experience is mistaken for the outer vessel of the universe and for the beings that are its inner essence, with their bodies (the result of their habitual tendencies) and their minds, filled as they are with the five poisons in their various forms. As The All-Creating King declares,

Beings fail to understand my nature—
I who am the all-creator.
They scrutinize the things that I myself create
And crave and are attached to them,
And therefore these appearances acquire solidity.
Yet transient, illusion-like, they all disintegrate.
Beings are like men born blind
Who do not see the way things are.

The cause of their delusion is ignorance. As it is said in the abridged Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, “All beings of whichever capacity, high, medium, or low, have manifested through ignorance, so the Sugata has said.” The contributing condition for their delusion is their clinging to duality. As it is said in the Prajñāpāramitā in Eight Thousand Lines, “Beings circle in saṃsāra because of their clinging to 'I' and 'mine.'” And the Prajñāpāramitā in Twenty Thousand Lines says,

Ordinary, childish beings perceive aggregates where there are no aggregates, elements where there are no elements, sources where there are no sources, and dependently arising things where there are no dependently arising things. Because of their fully ripened karma, they incorrectly apprehend dependently produced phenomena.

How is it that beings arise? Owing to the two kinds of ignorance, conditioning factors [action] occur and it is through these that existence is compounded. It is through conditioning factors that different kinds of beings exist [consciousness as the result], and name-and-form and so on are produced. Once the body takes shape [beginning with the stage when the embryo is globular, and so on until the moment of birth], there is contact, feeling, and the six senses and so on, until the stage of aging-and-death. Thus there unfolds the twelvefold cycle in which beings turn—on account of which one speaks of saṃsāra, or cyclic existence. It might be thought that it is impossible for the primordial, fundamental nature to exist as saṃsāra, and that within the sugatagarbha there can be no circling in saṃsāra. But this is untrue. The process resembles the case of limpid, transparent water that is free from all impurity, but which because of the winds of winter turns to ice as hard as stone. Within the primordial nature, and because of the duality that has arisen of apprehended and apprehender, hallucinatory appearances are perceived that are various and seemingly quite solid. This is demonstrated in the Song of Action from the Collected Songs or Realization,

When blown and agitated by the wind,
Even yielding water will turn hard as stone.
When the mind’s disturbed by thought,
Formless nescience takes shape
As something solid and extremely hard.

This is what happens when delusion occurs within the sugatagarbha. The unchanging, unmoving primordial purity of the nature of the mind is called the ultimate universal ground of joining (sbyor ba don gyi kun gzhi). It is the dharmakāya, in which the perfect rūpakāyas, buddhafields, and primordial wisdoms are all implicit. Yet they are veiled by ignorance, on account of which they are falsely perceived in terms of apprehender and apprehended. So it is that the ultimate ground of joining becomes the universal ground of various habitual tendencies (bag chags sna tshogs pa’i kun gzhi), in which are lodged—from time without beginning—the seeds of all the many habits of delusion. Subsequently, and depending on which habitual tendencies are the stronger, happy or evil destinies are experienced and one circles in them as in a dream. At that time, one clings to “I” and “self”; one tastes of hatred and desire and all the five poisons. Thus one engages in action and the creation of yet further habitual tendencies. Thoroughly mistaken with regard to things that have no existence, one clings to them and experiences them in all their variety as if they were truly existent. One turns continuously on the wheel of hallucinatory appearances revolving day and night without reprieve. This very circling is completely groundless. It seems that one wanders farther from liberation because of one’s manifold delusions. But these are like the illusions of a dream. One wanders, prey to feelings of joy and sorrow, just like the prince who, losing his realm, became a wanderer on the road. Yet throughout the entire time of his destitution, he possessed by his very nature the happiness of supreme riches. For he was born within the kingly state, and his sorrow was but a transient condition. As it is said in the Treasure Inexhaustible, a Song of Instruction,

Beings entangled in the bindweed of existence,
In the desert of self-clinging parched with thirst,
Are like a young prince dispossessed and fatherless.
Mental anguish is their lot; they have no chance of
happiness.

And yet, throughout the time that they wander senselessly in the desert of the world, they nevertheless possess, as it has been shown above, the tathāgatagarbha as their very nature. The Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra says,

Kyé, O child of the Buddha! So it is. Imagine an immense expanse of silk cloth, equal in size to all the worlds of the three-thousandfold universe, and on this vast sheet of silk are painted all the worlds of the entire universe. Thus it is devised. The great sheet of silk is painted over every part of its extent. The three-thousandfold universe is painted equal in size to the worlds of the three thousand-fold universe. The worlds of the two-thousandfold universe are painted equal in size to the worlds of the two-thousandfold universe; the worlds of the one-thousandfold universe are painted equal in size to the worlds of the one-thousandfold universe. The worlds of the four cosmic continents are painted equal in size to the worlds of the four cosmic continents. The great ocean too is painted according to its actual size; the painting of Jambudvīpa is the size of Jambudvīpa; the painting of Pūrvavideha is the actual size of Pūrvavideha in the east; the painting of Aparagodānīya is the actual size of Aparagodānīya in the west; the painting of Uttarakuru is the actual size of Uttarakuru in the north. The painting of Mount Sumeru is in size equal to Mount Sumeru itself; the palaces of the gods living on the earth are painted equal in size to the actual palaces; the palaces of the gods of the desire realm are painted equal in size to those palaces; palaces of the gods of the form realm are painted equal in size to those actual palaces. In length and width, this great sheet of silk is of a size equal to the worlds of the three-thousandfold universe. And nevertheless it is placed within a single infinitesimal particle. And in the same way that it was placed within a single infinitesimal particle, it is placed in each and every infinitesimal particle. Now it came to pass that certain beings were born, wise and learned, perspicacious and clear-minded, with eyes endowed with divine sight, pure and clear. And with their godlike eyes, they looked upon this great silken sheet and saw that it was enclosed within a tiny, infinitesimal particle and was thus of no use to anyone. And they bethought themselves, “Kyémamala! If this infinitesimal particle were forcibly split with great power, the great sheet of silk will sustain all beings.” And so they contrived a great energy and power and with a tiny vajra, they split the infinitesimal particle. And as they had thought, this great sheet of silk did indeed support and sustain all beings. And just as they had done to this one infinitesimal particle, likewise did they do to all the other particles without exception.
Kyé, O child of the Buddha! Likewise the unbounded primal wisdom of the Tathāgata, the primal wisdom that sustains all beings, permeates the mind streams of all beings. And the mind streams of beings are likewise as unbounded as the primal wisdom of the Tathāgata. So it is. But childish beings, fettered by their clinging to their thoughts and their perceptions, do not know the primal wisdom of the Tathāgata. They are completely ignorant of it; they do not experience it; they do not realize it. But perceiving with his wisdom free from all attachment that the dharmadhātu dwells present in all beings, the Tathāgata transformed himself into a teacher who declared, “Kyémamala! Beings know nothing of the perfect primal wisdom of the Tathāgata, even though they are completely permeated by it. I will therefore reveal to them the path of the noble ones. Thus they may eliminate and destroy all the fetters that their thoughts contrive.

[Taken from the auto-commentary, 310:6-348:3]