The Illusory and Unreal Nature of Distance

There is a pot of flowers five meters away in front of you—what kind of realm is this distance? Is it real? On what basis do we judge it to be a distance of five meters? The flowerpot is inside the back of your head, your own body is inside the back of your head; there is, in fact, no such thing as distance—it is all a realm mixed with both real and false aspects (带质境), and the space in between is displayed within the back of your head. Then the mind consciousness, based on these three, judges the distance to be five meters. Based on material form, space is displayed, and then space is judged.

But in reality, all three are inside the back of your head, with no gap or distance between them. The conclusion reached by the mind consciousness's judgment is like a turtle's hair or a rabbit's horns—not even a shadow can be grasped. How is the distance inside the back of your head judged? There is fundamentally no distance and no space. To judge distance requires a reference object, and the reference object is false and illusory; distance is even more false and illusory.