The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume Three: The Water Element Is Illusory

Original text: 阿难。水性不定。流息无恒。如室罗城。迦毗罗仙。斫迦罗仙。及钵头摩诃萨多等。诸大幻师。求太陰精。用和幻药。是诸师等。于白月昼。手执方珠。承月中水。此水为复。从珠中出。空中自有。为从月来。阿难。若从月来。尚能远方。令珠出水。所经林木。皆应吐流。流则何待。方诸所出。不流。明水非从月降。

Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of water is not fixed; its flowing and ceasing are impermanent. For example, in the city of Śrāvastī there were the ṛṣis Kapila, Cakravāda, and Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra, and other great illusionists who sought the essence of the moon (taiyin jing) to mix with their illusion drugs. On the nights of the bright moon before the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, these masters held vessels for holding water in their hands to receive the water descending from the moon. Does this water arise from the vessel, does it inherently exist in empty space, or does it come from the moon? Ānanda, if the water came from the moon, since the moon can cause water to emerge in a vessel from such a distant place in the sky, then all the forests and trees along its path should also pour forth flowing water—would the flowing water still need to wait to be produced by the water-holding square pearl? If no flowing water appears from the forests and trees, it shows that the water does not descend from the moon.

Original text: 若从珠出。则此珠中。常应流水。何待中宵。承白月昼。若从空生。空性无边。水当无际。从人洎天。皆同滔溺。云何复有。水陆空行。汝更谛观。月从天陟。珠因手持。承珠水盘。本人敷设。水从何方。流注于此。月珠相远。非和非合。不应水精。无从自有。

Explanation: If the water arose from the square pearl, then this square pearl should constantly pour forth flowing water—why would it need to wait until midnight to receive the water descending from the moon before the fifteenth day? If the water arose from empty space, since the nature of empty space is boundless, the flowing water should also be boundless; then from the human world up to the heavens, water should surge everywhere, submerging everything—how could there still be beings moving in water, on land, and in the air? Observe carefully once more: the moonlight descends from the sky, the square pearl is held in a person's hand, and the water-holding dish was set out by the person himself—from what direction does the water flow and pour into the dish? The moon and the square pearl are so far apart that they cannot come together or combine; it cannot be that the essence of water appears from nowhere on its own.

Original text: 汝尚不知。如来藏中。性水真空。性空真水。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。一处执珠。一处水出。遍法界执。满法界生。生满世间。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。

Explanation: You still do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of water is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true water; both are intrinsically pure and pervade everywhere throughout the dharmadhātu. The nature of water accords with the measure that sentient beings' minds should know: if one holds the square pearl in one place, water arises in that place; if the square pearl is held throughout the dharmadhātu, water will arise throughout the entire dharmadhātu, with no limitation of direction or location at all—it manifests according to the karma of sentient beings. Worldly people, being ignorant, confusedly believe it is produced by causes and conditions or exists by nature; all of this is the discrimination and calculation of the deluded conscious mind. As long as there is verbal expression, there is no real meaning at all.