Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume Three: The Illusory Nature of the Wind Element

Original text:阿难。风性无体。动静不常。汝常整衣。入于大众。僧伽梨角。动及傍人。则有微风。拂彼人面。此风为复。出袈裟角。发于虚空。生彼人面。阿难。此风若复。出袈裟角。汝乃披风。其衣飞摇。应离汝体。我今说法。会中垂衣。汝看我衣。风何所在。不应衣中。有藏风地。

Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of wind has no self-nature of its own; its movement and stillness are not constant and it does not exist perpetually. You often arrange your clothing before entering among the assembly; when the corner of your saṃghāṭī flutters, it touches other people, and at that time there is a faint breeze brushing across their faces. Does this wind come out from the corner of the kaṣāya, arise from empty space, or arise from the faces of the others? Ānanda, if this wind comes out from the corner of the kaṣāya, then you would be draped in wind all day long as you walk, stand, sit, and lie down; if there were wind inside the clothing, the clothing would flutter up and leave your body. Right now I am speaking the Dharma, and in this assembly my clothing hangs down, not fluttering. Look at my clothing—where is the wind? Surely there is not a place inside the clothing where wind is stored?

Original text:若生虚空。汝衣不动。何因无拂。空性常住。风应常生。若无风时。虚空当灭。灭风可见。灭空何状。若有生灭。不名虚空。名为虚空。云何风出。若风自生。被拂之面。从彼面生。当应拂汝。自汝整衣。云何倒拂。汝审谛观。整衣在汝。面属彼人。虚空寂然。不曾流动。风自谁方。鼓动来此。风空性隔。非和非合。不应风性。无从自有。

Explanation: If the wind arises from empty space, then when your clothing is not moving, why is there no phenomenon of a breeze brushing? Empty space is permanently present, so wind should constantly arise; if that were so, then when there is no wind, empty space would also cease and no longer exist. When wind ceases, it can be seen; what would be the state of empty space ceasing? If empty space also had the phenomenon of arising and ceasing, then all other dharmas could not exist, and empty space could no longer be called empty space. If it were still called empty space, how could wind arise from it?

If the wind arises from the face of the person being brushed by it, then the wind should also brush against you; you yourself arranged your clothing—how could the wind instead blow onto your own face? Observe carefully and attentively once more: the one arranging the clothing is you, the face being brushed belongs to another person, and empty space is tranquil and unmoving—from what place does the wind surge forth to arrive here? The nature of wind and the nature of space are different attributes; they cannot merge or combine. The nature of wind should not exist on its own without any source.

Original text:汝宛不知。如来藏中。性风真空。性空真风。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。阿难。如汝一人。微动服衣。有微风出。遍法界拂。满国土生。周遍世间。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 wind is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true wind; both are intrinsically pure, pervading the entire dharmadhātu, according with the measure of what sentient beings' minds should perceive. Ānanda, if you alone gently put on your clothing and a faint breeze arises, it brushes throughout the dharmadhātu; the wind would arise throughout the whole land, pervading the world—how could it be limited to any direction or place? It is only manifested according to the karma of sentient beings. Worldly people are ignorant and confusedly believe it is born from causes and conditions, or that it exists naturally; all of this is fabricated by the deluded discriminating consciousness of sentient beings through discrimination and calculation. Whatever statements there may be, none of them has any real meaning.