The Dharma Transmission Gatha of the Seventh Patriarch Vasumitra

Original Text: The mind is like the realm of space, demonstrating the dharma equal to space; upon realizing space, there is neither affirmation nor denial.

Explanation: The eighth consciousness of sentient beings is like space—formless, markless, non-active, non-creating, wishless, desireless, unspoken, and unrevealed. For this great matter of cause and condition, all Buddhas appear in the world to reveal to sentient beings the Tathagatagarbha mind-dharma, which resembles space. When sentient beings hear the Buddha's teachings, diligently practice, and realize the Tathagatagarbha with a mind as vast as space, they gradually discover that all phenomena in the world lack inherent existence of their own. All phenomena arise, manifest, and appear dependent on causes and conditions within the Tathagatagarbha, being entirely the result of the function, nature, and activity of the Tathagatagarbha. Thus, each phenomenon is emptiness itself in its very essence, the very mind of emptiness—the Tathagatagarbha. The relationship between phenomena and the Tathagatagarbha is neither identical nor different: while sharing the same essence, they possess distinct natures and functions. There is no dichotomy of "is" or "is not."