The Changeless Nature

Buddha Nature 57Just as the gold that had fallen into that place filled with rottingrubbish was seen there by the god who then showed the man, withgreat insistence, that most beautiful thing so that it might be cleansedcompletely, so also do the victors see that the most precious andperfect buddha-nature within all beings has fallen into the great filthof negative affects and so they teach the dharma to everyone in orderthat it might be purified.Fifth ExampleWere there an inexhaustible treasure buried beneath the ground ofa poor man's house, neither would the man know of it nor would thetreasure be able to say to him, "I'm here!".Similarly, since beings have not realised the very precious treasurewhich is contained within their minds, the immaculate true nature towhich nothing need be added and from which nothing need beremoved, they continually experience the many kinds of suffering of'deprivation'.The precious treasure contained beneath the pauper's house wouldnot tell the man, "I, a precious treasure, am here" and the man wouldknow nothing of its presence there. In this example, all beings whohave this treasure of dharmakaya present within the mansion of theirmind are like paupers and so the great sages, the buddhas, have takenbirth in a most perfect way in the world so that these beings mightobtain this treasure.Sixth ExampleJust as a seed, with its imperishable quality of germinating, ispresent in the mango and other fruits and, in the presence of thevarious necessary conditions — ploughed soil, water and so on — willgradually produce the substance of a king of trees, so also is this