The Changeless Nature

Buddha Nature 59pure dharmakaya nature contained within the confine of the 'peel'that is beings' ignorance and so on. Similarly, when it is supported bythe virtue of the two accumulations 41 , it will gradually become thevery 'substance' of a king of victors.Just as a tree grows out from within the skin of a banana or mangofruit, on account of the presence of the right conditions — water,sunlight, air, soil and time — so it is also with the seed or germ ofperfect buddhahood contained within the skin of the negative-affectfruit of beings. Likewise, when the necessary condition, virtue, isencountered, then this true nature will be perceived, the perceptionwill increase and will be finally realised 42 .Seventh ExampleA god, seeing a precious image of the tathagata, wrapped in smellytattered rags, lying by the side of the road, would tell someone aboutits presence there so that it could be retrieved.Similarly when the buddhas, who have unhindered vision, see thevery 'substance' of the tathagatas, present even in animals, wrapped upwithin the negative affects, they show the means for making it free.A god with divine vision, who had seen the tathagata image,precious by nature, wrapped in smelly rags and lying by the road,would point it out to people that they might free it. In like way, thevictors see the buddha-nature (which is present even in animals) lyingon the road of samsara, wrapped in the tattered rags of the defilements,and they teach the dharma in order to liberate it.Eighth ExampleAn ugly-looking woman, having no one to whom to turn andstaying in a pauper hostel, may hold the glory of a future king in herwomb but would be ignorant of the fact of his presence.