Selected Lectures on the Sutra of the Meeting of Father and Son
Chapter 3: Detailed Explanation of the Internal and External Six Elements (2)
Original text: 大王。云何身内火界。若此身中。所有执受。温暖蒸热。咀嚼饮食。成熟变坏。便令安和。入热数者。名为火界。
Explanation: Great King, what is the fire element within the body? If within this body all that is felt as warmth and heat, which can ripen, break down, and digest the food and drink that is chewed and swallowed into the body, bringing ease and comfort—those things that belong to the category of heat are called the fire element.
The fire element has the nature of heat and warmth. If the body lacked the fiery nature and temperature, the food in the stomach could not decompose and be absorbed by the body. Therefore, no matter how delicious the food and drink sentient beings eat, no matter how complete its color, fragrance, and flavor, when it enters the stomach, the fiery nature in the body cooks and decomposes the food; bacteria also break down the food in the stomach, making it decayed and easy to absorb. Therefore, the food, drink, and nutrition that sentient beings consume are extremely filthy and impure. Thus one should not be attached to food and drink; by frequently contemplating this impurity, one can reduce greedy craving for food and drink.
In fact, upon careful reflection, the material body, from top to bottom, from inside to outside, is extremely filthy and impure, full of bacteria everywhere. The decay of food depends entirely on the bacteria's decomposition of it; without the help of bacteria, food could not be absorbed. It is bacteria that help the stomach and intestines digest, absorb, and excrete; sentient beings rely on these beneficial bacteria to live normally. Therefore, there is no need to crave and be infatuated with one's own filthy material body, or with the filthy material bodies of other sentient beings.
The Buddha said that the material body of sentient beings is like a moving toilet, a large manure bucket, wrapped in a layer of smooth outer skin. If this outer skin were peeled away, the whole body would reveal flesh, blood, sinews, and bones—a bloody mess, with bacteria everywhere; even the outer skin is full of bacteria. Would the appearance still be beautiful and lovely then? When one has cultivated the divine eye (divyacakṣus), the eye becomes like a microscope, and one will then discover that the inside and outside of the material body are full of bacteria, which the naked eye cannot see; only with the divine eye or with the aid of a microscope can they be seen. Those bacteria also struggle among themselves; when the bacterial populations become unbalanced, skin diseases and other illnesses arise—wherever the bacterial populations are unbalanced, there is disease. Sentient beings feel hungry also because the bacteria are hungry; when the bacteria want to eat food, sentient beings become gluttonous and greedy for taste.
Original text: 云何外火界。谓不执受。温热相生。若复有人。于旷野中。寻求火缘。或以蒿艾。或牛粪屑。或兜罗绵。引火生已。或烧草木。山林聚落。及余方处。皆为所烧。
Explanation: What is the external fire element? It is the mark of warmth and heat that is not individually appropriated by one's own Ālayavijñāna, but is the mark of temperature and warmth jointly upheld by the Ālayavijñānas of all sentient beings with shared karma—that is the external fire element. If someone in the wilderness seeks the external conditions for making fire—using wormwood or mugwort, or cow-dung fragments, or tuoluocotton (fine cotton), or fire-making implements such as a convex lens—and after kindling the fire, the fire can burn grasses and trees, mountain forests, villages and settlements, and all other surrounding places that can be reached, all being burned by the great fire.
The external fire element is jointly upheld by the Ālayavijñānas of sentient beings with shared karma; the Ālayavijñāna of a single person cannot uphold the external fire element, and can only uphold the fire element within one's own body. In the past, unlike now, there were no matches or lighters; fire was made by other very primitive methods, such as using a convex lens under sunlight to focus rays and ignite wormwood, cow-dung fragments, or tuoluo cotton; once ignited, these were used to light other things, and only then could fire be made for cooking, or for burning other materials.
After the fire burns, it may destroy grasses and trees, mountain forests, and villages. Originally there was not a single spark in the mountain forest, and all things grew well; yet once fire arises, it burns across the mountains and fields, burning away the entire mountain—trees of any height and forests of any size are destroyed. If the fire spreads further, it can destroy the entire world. Where does this fire come from? Setting aside for now the question of whether it comes from the Ālayavijñāna, let us first speak of the emptiness of fire. If fire came from the sun, then without holding a convex lens in hand, no matter how the sun shines, it cannot produce fire or ignite a piece of wood for cooking. If the sun had fire that could burn a forest, it could also burn sentient beings' bodies to a cooked state; then sentient beings would die at any time and place, or die at birth, or perhaps could not even be born, and then no sentient beings could exist in the world. Therefore fire does not come from the sun.
Does fire come from empty space? It also does not come from empty space; if there were fire in empty space, all objects would be burned up, and the world would be devoid of things. Fire does not come from the sun, does not come from empty space, does not come from a person's hand, does not come from the lens, does not come from the grass; the fire element has no place of origin—it comes from nowhere. This is the Hīnayāna explanation. Finally, when the fire is extinguished, where does the fire go? There is no destination—it goes nowhere. If there were a destination, then wherever the fire went, that place would be burned. The fire element is simply the nature of burning and heat; it comes from nowhere and goes nowhere—when it comes, no place of origin can be found; when it goes, no destination can be found. In essence, it is all the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, the function of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, when all dharmas are traced to their end, they all归结 to the tathāgatagarbha, the source of all dharmas; apart from this, no dharma is real.
In the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, the Buddha said that fire comes from the tathāgatagarbha and is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. But the tathāgatagarbha has no marks at all—no form, no appearance, no hardness, no heat, no watery nature, no fluttering nature; it does not even have a material appearance as large as a speck of dust, yet it can manifest the ten directions' trichiliocosm (three thousand great thousand worlds). This is truly inconceivable. Therefore, when one studies the Buddha-dharma to the end, one will realize the true reality of all dharma realms, never again being deluded and inverted, and will perfectly accomplish the Buddha Way.
Original text: 大王。此火界性。生无所来。灭无所去。生时本空。灭时亦空。自性空故。但唯言说。之所显示。如是火界。与火界性。皆不可得。唯佛正智。而能了知。
Explanation: Great King, the nature of this fire element, when arising, comes from nowhere; when ceasing, it goes nowhere. Before the fire element is born, there is no place it comes from; when it ceases, there is no place it goes. The nature of the fire element is originally empty; from emptiness this tiny bit of existence is produced, and this bit of existence gradually develops and grows, then ceases—and when it ceases, it is also empty, with no destination. The self-nature of the fire element is empty and illusory, not real existence; it is merely a false appearance displayed by language. Therefore it is said that the fire element and the nature of the fire element are both unobtainable; only the Buddha's correct wisdom can fully understand this.
The seeds of the fire element are formless and without appearance, and the Ālayavijñāna itself is also formless and without appearance. If something with form and appearance were stored inside the formless Ālayavijñāna, could it be stored? First, it cannot be stored; second, if it could be stored, the Ālayavijñāna would become something with form and appearance, which could then be seen by the eye and touched by the hand, and realizing the Ālayavijñāna would be extremely easy—everyone could become an enlightened bodhisattva. The Ālayavijñāna is not some bag or vessel; it is formless and without appearance and cannot store a material body with form, yet it can manifest a material body—truly inconceivable. It is inconceivable because sentient beings lack wisdom; when wisdom is complete, all dharmas can be conceived. The Buddha has wisdom and can conceive of them; when sentient beings studying Buddhism manifest great wisdom, they can conceive of all dharmas, and conceiving of all dharmas is no problem; they will no longer be confused and puzzled about the dharmas.
Not knowing the true reality of the dharma realm, one becomes deluded and inverted, believing that all dharmas are real and worth craving and grasping; as a result, one grasps at the suffering of birth and death, drifting in the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, unable to escape. Knowing the true reality of all dharmas, one is no longer deluded and inverted; when one has wisdom, one should recognize the truth and not be invertedly attached to false appearances.
Original text: 大王。云何身内风界。轻动等相。谓此内风。或时上行。或时下行。或住腹间。或胁或背。或发瘾胗。或聚成块。或如刀裂。或如针刺。出入息等。遍满身支。
Explanation: Great King, what are the marks of lightness and movement of the wind element within the body? The marks of movement are: the wind in the body moving from below upward; or from above downward; or from left to right, from right to left; or dwelling in the abdomen, the flanks, or the back; or wind that causes rashes and swellings into lumps; or wind that makes the body feel pain like knife-cutting or needle-pricking; and the wind of the breath entering and leaving the body—these kinds of wind pervade the body's limbs.
The characteristic of wind is lightness and buoyancy; when wind pushes, walking and cycling are fast; when the wind blows, some light things are blown upward. Wind also has the characteristic of movement; wind can make objects unstable and cause them to turn and move. The wind inside the body may move from below upward, or from above downward, or from left to right, from right to left; these flows are the moving nature of wind, which can be felt when the qi channels move during meditation. The qi channels are wind; wherever the qi channels go, sensations appear in the body. Originally, when sitting, the body is bent; once the qi channels run to the back, the back immediately straightens—without deliberately sitting up straight, the body naturally straightens. This is the governing effect of wind's moving nature on the body.
That the body can function is because there is the wind nature within the body; without the wind nature, the limbs could not move, and the mouth could not speak. How is speech produced? When there are initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) and feelings in the mind, one wants to express them in language. Then a stream of wind arises in the body; the wind touches the navel, then moves upward, touching the heart and lungs, then further up touching the windpipe and throat, then touching the tongue, teeth, and lips, and then speech is produced.
Without the wind element, speech cannot be produced. The wind nature is movement, and speech is also movement; without the wind nature, the navel cannot pulsate and speech sounds cannot form. No matter how many thoughts are in the mind, without the function of wind, language cannot be produced and ideas cannot be expressed. That sentient beings can speak and express themselves in language shows that there must be a wind nature inside the body; when the wind moves and touches the internal organs, speech is expressed. When the wind's kinetic energy is insufficient, a person is short of breath and reluctant to speak, and speaking is laborious. Therefore speech is also illusory: where is each sound of speech stored? There is no place to store it; after speaking, the words cease—where did they cease to? There is no place of cessation either.
All matters and principles in the world are illusory and unreal like this—from nothing to nothing, everything is unobtainable. By engaging in much contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) like this, one can realize the emptiness of self and the emptiness of all dharmas, and gradually there will be no dharma that cannot be let go of. Not being able to let go is because the principle is not fully understood, or one understands a little but has no actual realization. Once the principle is thoroughly understood, one will know that from the material body to the entire universe, the mountains, rivers, and great earth, the trichiliocosm, and the Buddha-lands in the ten directions—all go from nothing to nothing; no dharma is real.
Actual realization requires deep meditative concentration and deep, subtle contemplative practice. Without a genuine process of contemplative practice, cultivation will be ineffective, and there will be no power to subdue afflictions. When encountering actual people and matters, one still takes everything contacted as real and becomes attached and afflicted. When meditative concentration is insufficient, merit is inadequate, and the wisdom of contemplative practice is also insufficient, one cannot attain the fruit of no-self.
Original text: 云何外风界。谓若此风。从四方来。或狂暴起。摧折树木。堕裂山峰。若微细起。飘举身衣。动多罗树。名外风界。
Explanation: What is the external wind element? The external wind element refers to the wind element in the container world (bhājana-loka) outside the material body: winds arising from all directions in empty space, or violent gales that snap trees, or storms that topple and split mountain peaks; if it is a gentle breeze, it lifts the clothes on the body and sways the tāla trees—all these belong to the external wind element.
The external wind element arises outside the body; in the container world there are winds in all directions. The greatest winds are storms, tornadoes, and gales that can snap trees and split mountain peaks—and these are not even the greatest winds; the greatest wind in the universe can destroy the trichiliocosm, so tornadoes and storms are nothing. When the world is about to be destroyed, when that wind calamity comes, the entire container world is blown to destruction—such is the function of the great external wind. If a fine breeze comes, light and thin objects are lifted, small grasses and leaves sway, making people feel pleasant—such is the function of the external gentle breeze.
When the wind in the external sky arises, before the wind arose, where was the wind? The wind has no location, no place to hide. If wind could hide somewhere, the place where it hid would be constantly shaking. Great storms usually arise without any cause; after blowing objects down, the storm disappears—where did the wind go? There is no place to go. If there were a place to store the storm, that place would also be blown apart and cease to exist.
Original text: 大王。此风界相。生无所来。灭无所去。生时本空。灭时亦空。自性空故。无有男相。亦无女相。但唯言说。之所显示。如是风界。与风界性。皆不可得。唯佛正智。而能了知。
Explanation: Great King, this mark of the wind element, when arising, comes from nowhere; when ceasing, it goes nowhere. This shows that when the wind arises it is empty, and when it ceases it is also empty; the self-nature of wind is empty. The wind element has no male mark and no female mark; it has neither male nor female marks, yet when the wind element forms a material body, there is the distinction of male and female marks—so male and female marks are also empty and illusory. The self-nature of the wind element is empty; language is merely used to display the wind element, but there is no substantial wind element. Therefore it is said that the wind element and the nature of the wind element are both unobtainable; only the Buddha's wisdom, the Buddha's correct wisdom, can know this.
Although the wind element itself has no male or female marks, if a person can create the karma of a man, a male material body will be born; if one creates the karma of a woman, a female material body will be born. If a woman can create the karma of a great manly person, in the next life she will transform into a male material body; if a man does a woman's deeds and has a woman's disposition, the karmic seeds stored in the Ālayavijñāna will cause him to transform into a female material body in the next life. The retributive body transforms according to karmic actions and karmic seeds; what can transform is illusory, not real, and is without self. The true dharma never changes; only the Ālayavijñāna never changes and is the mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta).
Original text: 大王。云何内空界。若此身内。皮肉血等。显现增长。离质碍性。谓若眼窍。耳穴面门咽喉。咽啖饮食。所引滋味。于肠胃间。通彻而出。
Explanation: Great King, what is the internal space element? If within this body the skin, flesh, blood, and so forth can manifest and grow without the nature of material obstruction, that is the internal space element. If there were the nature of material obstruction, they would be restricted, and the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones could not grow. The eye sockets, ear holes, nostrils of the face, throat, and other places that have openings with nothing in them are the space element. After tasting and swallowing food and drink, the food can pass down the esophagus into the stomach and intestines, and after digestion be excreted—from the mouth to the esophagus to the stomach to the small and large intestines, this passage is the space element, without material obstruction. If it were not empty, there would be obstruction, and food could not enter the body, much less be excreted.
What is the space element? The "space" here refers to empty space, the emptiness of having nothing, the meaning of openness. Where there is no skin, no blood, no flesh inside the body, where there is no obstruction, that is space. There is space in the blood vessels so blood can flow; the windpipe must be empty for breathing; there is a space element in the stomach and intestines so food can flow through them; there is space in the body so gases, liquids, food, urine and feces, and so forth can flow within, cells can divide, and muscles, sinews, bones, and so forth can grow.
There are gaps and spaces within the body's cells, so the various particles within the cells can move along their respective orbits in the gaps. Between the electrons, protons, ions, nucleons, and other particles in the cells there are gaps, so that various physical and chemical reactions can occur between the particles, cells can divide and grow, and the material body can change. There are also gaps between cells, so the oxygen breathed in can enter the body's cells to produce blood and flow within the body. These various gaps in the body are called the internal space element.
Original text: 若时业缘。引生六处。诸处生已。围绕空界。此说名入。内空界数。然彼空界。从何所来。又若方处。外所显现。离质碍性。名外空界。
Explanation: If karmic conditions ripen, the Ālayavijñāna will give birth to the six sense objects: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. After the six sense objects are born, they surround the space element; this is called the six entrances (ṣaḍāyatana), belonging to the category of the internal space element. But where do these space elements come from? Furthermore, if in places outside the material body, what manifests without the nature of material obstruction, without material form, is the external space element.
The six bases (ṣaḍāyatana) are form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. Each material form is composed of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, and there is also the great element of space that together composes material form; thus material form is composed of five great elements, and within material form there are spaces and gaps. The four great material elements within material form enclose the space; because the size of the space within material form differs, and the proportion of the space element differs, the density of the material form differs, and the physical properties of the material differ. Moreover, these six bases of material form are all manifested in the minds of the six consciousnesses, imaged at the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the brain; therefore they belong to the internal six sense objects, and the space at the supreme faculty belongs to the internal space element. Where does the internal space element come from? When it comes, there is no place of origin; when it goes, there is no destination.
Where there is no matter outside the body is empty space, called the external space element. The external space element is boundlessly vast; the worlds of the ten directions are all established in empty space—however many Buddha-lands one wishes to establish, all can be established. Why is this so? Because empty space is boundlessly vast and is not a really existing dharma. If empty space really existed, it would have fixed limits and boundaries and would not be boundless; the establishment of Buddha-lands could not exceed this range, and then the Buddha-lands would be limited. But empty space has no boundaries, so the trichiliocosm can be established at will; when all sentient beings become Buddhas, each Buddha will have his own trichiliocosm, and the worlds will neither overlap nor be crowded. Because empty space has no boundary and is not material form, it is devoid of things and can therefore contain all things. Such is the external space element.
Original text: 大王。若色变坏。一切皆空。所以者何。是虚空界。本无尽故。安静不动。犹如涅槃。遍一切处。无有障碍。
Explanation: Great King, if material form decays and becomes empty nothingness, that is the space element. Why, when matter disappears, is everything empty? Because the space element has no end and no boundary; everywhere can become space. And empty space is originally tranquil and unmoving, neither arising nor ceasing, neither increasing nor decreasing, like the nature of nirvāṇa. Empty space pervades all places, and no dharma can obstruct it.
When things decay they become empty space: if a house is destroyed, that place entirely becomes empty space; if the earth is destroyed, the place of the earth entirely becomes empty space; if the trichiliocosm is destroyed, the trichiliocosm all becomes empty space, and in empty space there is nothing at all. Empty space is tranquil and unmoving. Why does it not move? Because it is a false [construct] of nothingness; objects are also false, but objects can be moved, whereas no one can move empty space even a little. If a very tall building is constructed in empty space, can the empty space be moved? No; only where there are things is there no emptiness, and where there are no things there is emptiness. Empty space does not move; no one can move empty space, because empty space has no things and no boundaries—how could it move? There is no material form in empty space; it is nothingness and emptiness. Sentient beings constantly need empty space and nothingness in order to move their bodies and place objects; because empty space has no obstruction, sentient beings need this unobstructed function, for moving about and storing things.
Some people say that air is also empty and should, like empty space, be boundless and immovable. But in fact air and empty space are very different: air is a material form composed of the four great elements. Although on the surface it also appears to be without things—invisible and untouchable—instruments can detect the presence or absence of air. Air is material; it contains the various gases that sentient beings need, and therefore air can flow. Sentient beings need air, mainly for the oxygen in it for breathing.
Original text: 大王。譬如有人。于彼高原。穿凿池井。于意云何。是池井中。所有空相。从何所来。王曰。无所从来。
Explanation: Great King, suppose someone digs a well on high plateau land to draw water; as the earth is dug out, an empty space appears—a void appears. What do you think? Where does the mark of space in this pond-well come from? King Śuddhodana said: This mark of space has no place of origin.
Each time a well is dug, a void the size of the well appears. Where does the mark of space within the well come from? It has no place of origin. Because where there is no matter, there is emptiness; emptiness is not a material dharma. If the earth is filled back in, the emptiness disappears—where did the emptiness go? It has no destination; nowhere can an extra piece of empty space appear. When digging earth produces a piece of empty space, the empty space elsewhere is not diminished. The Ālayavijñāna is similar to empty space in neither increasing nor decreasing, because it is formless and without appearance, pervading all places and existing everywhere.
Original text: 佛言大王。设使彼人。复填以土。于意云何。空何所去。王曰。空无所去。所以者何。是虚空界。无去来故。不住男相。亦非女相。大王。外虚空界。本来无动。自性离故。但唯言说。之所显示。除佛正慧。而能了知。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, suppose that person then fills the pond-well with earth again. What do you think—where did the mark of space go? King Śuddhodana said: The mark of space also has no destination. Why is this so? Because the space element originally has no going or coming. The space element has no male mark and no female mark. Great King, the external space element has never undergone any change, because its self-nature is free of all marks; empty space has no substance—only language can display empty space. Only the Buddha's supreme great wisdom can fully know its meaning.
The space element neither comes nor goes; the Ālayavijñāna likewise, like empty space, neither comes nor goes, being formless and without appearance. When you came here from home, did your Ālayavijñāna come? The Ālayavijñāna has no feet and no wings; it cannot come. When you return, does the Ālayavijñāna go back? It also does not go, likewise because it is formless. Therefore, Chan masters of the past would ask their disciples: "Where have you come from?" The disciple said: "I have come from Shanghai." The master then asked: "Did you come by boat or on foot?" The disciple answered: "I came by boat." Upon hearing this, the master said: "Before you came by boat, I should have given you a blow of the staff." Indeed he should be struck—can you ride a boat? Have you ever ridden a boat? With what would you ride a boat? Self-nature, like empty space, neither comes nor goes, because it is without marks; the Chan master's questioning never departs from self-nature.
Original text: 大王。云何识界。谓若眼根为主。缘彼形色。及彼表色。名眼识界。若余五根。缘于自境。各别建立。名五识界。又此识界。不着于根。不住于境。非内非外。及二中间。
Explanation: Great King, what is the consciousness element? The meaning of the consciousness element is: if the eye faculty is primary and it conditions the visible form's shaped-form and expressive-form, it is called the eye-consciousness element. If the other five faculties each condition their corresponding sense objects, each separately established, they are called the five consciousness elements. Furthermore, this consciousness element does not adhere to the faculties, does not abide in the sense objects, and is neither inside nor outside, nor between the two.
The consciousness element refers to the six consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. With the eye faculty as primary—"conditioning" means relying and depending—the eye faculty and so forth serve as contributing conditions for the birth of the consciousness-mind; with the eye faculty as primary, conditioning and depending on the shaped-form of visible form-sense objects (form with shape), such as long and short, square and round, tall and short, fat and thin—this is called shaped-form, form with shape. And also expressive-form: expressive-form refers to the various actions of form such as walking, standing, sitting, lying down, bending, and stretching. Here it says with the eye faculty as primary, and at the same time the manas also conditions the dharma-sense-object of unexpressive-form upon visible form; then eye-consciousness and mind consciousness arise, jointly discerning the shaped-form and expressive-form of visible form, as well as the manifest-color and unexpressive-form. When faculty and object contact, the eye-consciousness and mind consciousness produced by the Ālayavijñāna are called the consciousness element.
The other five faculties are also like this: with the ear faculty as primary, conditioning sound-sense objects, with the manas also conditioning the dharma-sense-object upon sounds, the Ālayavijñāna gives birth to ear-consciousness and mind consciousness, jointly discerning sounds; with the nose faculty as primary, conditioning external smell-sense objects, nose-consciousness and mind consciousness arise, jointly discerning smells; with the tongue faculty as primary, conditioning taste-sense objects, tongue-consciousness and mind consciousness arise, jointly discerning tastes; with the body faculty as primary, conditioning touch-sense objects, with the manas simultaneously conditioning the dharma-sense-object upon touch, body-consciousness and mind consciousness arise, jointly discerning touch. These consciousnesses are called the consciousness element.
The consciousness element does not abide in the faculties, nor in the sense objects, nor inside or outside the faculties and objects, nor between them, because the consciousness element is formless; it neither mixes with nor merges with material form.
Original text: 然此识界。各各了别。彼彼境已。即便灭谢。生无所来。灭无所去。大王。识生时空。灭时亦空。自性离故。不住男相。亦非女相。但唯言说。之所显示。如是识界。与识界性。皆不可得。唯佛正慧。而能了知。
Explanation: However, after each of these consciousness elements has discerned its respective sense object, it immediately ceases. The consciousness element, when arising, has no place of origin; when ceasing, it has no destination. Great King, when the consciousness element arises it is empty, and when it ceases it is also empty. The self-nature of the consciousness element is free of all marks and is also empty; it does not abide in male marks, nor in female marks; the consciousness element is merely an illusory appearance displayed by language. Therefore it is said that the consciousness element and the nature of the consciousness element are both unobtainable; only the Buddha's supreme, perfect great wisdom can fully and unobstructedly know its meaning.
After the eye-consciousness discerns visible form, the eye-consciousness disappears; after the ear-consciousness discerns sounds, the ear-consciousness disappears; after the nose-consciousness discerns smells, the nose-consciousness disappears; after the body-consciousness discerns touch, it disappears; after the mind consciousness discerns dharma-sense-objects, it disappears. These six consciousnesses come from nowhere and go nowhere—empty when they come, empty when they cease. When eye-consciousness arises, there is no location; it does not come from the eye faculty or the form-sense object, does not come from empty space, does not come from the brain—it comes from nowhere. When it ceases, there is no place of cessation; it does not go into the eye faculty, does not go into the form-sense object, does not go into empty space, does not go into the brain. This is only the Hīnayāna explanation; from the Mahāyāna perspective, they all come from the Ālayavijñāna.
The self-nature of the consciousness element is free of all dharmas and does not adhere to any dharma; its self-nature is originally empty. The nature of consciousness does not abide in male marks, nor in female marks; it has no male mark and no female mark, yet the nature of consciousness can discern male and female marks. The consciousness element originally has no form or self-substance; it is merely displayed through language. Therefore it is said that the consciousness element and the nature of the consciousness element are both unobtainable—unable to be attached to or grasped; only the Buddha's correct wisdom and correct insight can thoroughly know this matter.
These consciousnesses do not abide in the six faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, nor in the external sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma; they do not abide in the faculties or objects, nor in any dharma. The consciousness element itself has no male or female marks; it is merely a false appearance of language, a noun. Therefore the six consciousness elements and the nature of the consciousness element are unobtainable. The nature of consciousness is discrimination: the eye-consciousness discriminates form, the ear-consciousness discriminates sounds, the nose-consciousness discriminates fragrant and foul odors, the tongue-consciousness discriminates sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy tastes, the body-consciousness discriminates touch-sense objects, and the mind consciousness discriminates form included in the dharma realm (dharmāyatana); their self-natures are all unobtainable. Only the Buddha's correct insight can completely and thoroughly know this matter; sentient beings can only know a part, or an extremely small part, or not know it at all.
