Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (88)

When one realizes no-self, not only is the person empty, but karmic actions are also empty. For example, when I kill someone, is there an "I" who is killing? What is called "I"? My conscious mind—the mind consciousness that wants to kill—is false and empty; my physical body is false and empty, so is there such a person as "me"? There is no such person as me. Is the knife I hold real? It is not real. Then does the karmic action of my killing someone exist? It is empty. The person is empty, the object is empty, and thus the action of the deed is empty—the karmic action of my taking up a knife to kill someone is false and illusory. Is there anyone performing the act of killing? No. As for the person I killed, is there such a person? No—his physical body is likewise empty and false, his conscious mind is likewise empty and illusory, his feelings are empty and illusory, and his suffering is empty and illusory. So is there an "I," a "he," or a karmic action? None of these exist. As long as one applies effort in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in this way, it will be hard not to realize the fruits; one can even awaken to the true mind and attain enlightenment, and can even cultivate to the fruition of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva.