The principle of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds is based upon the fact that these worlds are not actually separate. They are simply different ways of experiencing life depending upon the prevailing cause and conditions that are in operation at any given moment. As such, they all flow into one another. It works like the weather – rainy days give way to cloudy days, which in turn become sunny days.

Each one also contains aspects of the others within itself. Even as there is a flow from one world to another, each world contains the others within itself. The lower worlds posses the higher worlds as ideals, whereas the higher worlds embrace the lower worlds through compassionate understanding based on personal experience.

The key point to remember, however, is that since we contain all of the Ten Worlds within ourselves, we also carry the world of Buddhahood. Therefore, we all have the capacity to bring out the world of the buddha from within as soon as we meet up with the right causes and conditions. The teaching of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds is a very profound teaching, but even more important is the realization born from it that all beings are potential buddhas.
Lotus Seeds