Selected Lectures from the Sutra of the Collected Teachings on Fathers and Sons

Original Text: Great King, when that consciousness arises, it does not come from anywhere; when it ceases, it does not go anywhere. When that condition arises, it does not come from anywhere; when it ceases, it does not go anywhere. When that karma arises, it does not come from anywhere; when it ceases, it does not go anywhere. Great King, there is not the slightest phenomenon that can pass from this world to another world. Why? Because its inherent nature is empty.

However, whether it is wholesome karma or unwholesome karma, its nature is empty; it cannot be controlled, it arises and ceases. When it arises, it has no source; when it ceases, it has no destination—it is illusory and unreal. For example, if I take a knife to kill someone, before I commit this act, this karma does not exist, nor does it have a source. This action is performed without a performer; its apparent manifestation is like an illusion created by a magician—there is no creator of karma. The act of killing is produced by the combined functioning of the physical body and consciousness, yet the physical body is false, consciousness is false—neither is truly existent. Thus, the actions of the five aggregates are not real. Moreover, once the act of killing manifests, it vanishes in an instant without a trace. Therefore, the act itself is empty, yet it leaves behind karmic seeds.

Moreover, the karmic seeds themselves are empty—they arise from nowhere and cease without going anywhere, proceeding from nothingness to nothingness. After the retribution is experienced, the karmic seeds also vanish without a trace. Karmic seeds are also empty and illusory. If karmic seeds were not illusory, they should not disappear after retribution is experienced or after repentance. If karmic seeds could not disappear, sentient beings would suffer retribution forever, endlessly; those who kill should remain in hell forever, eternally subject to slaughter without end. Therefore, it can be said that all karmas of sin and merit are illusory—they arise from nowhere and cease without going anywhere. Nevertheless, all meritorious karmas will ultimately lead sentient beings gradually toward Buddhahood, until they ultimately attain Buddhahood. All sinful karmas will cause sentient beings to suffer endlessly, lamenting ceaselessly. Upon thorough analysis, only the ālaya-vijñāna is real and unchanging, neither arising nor ceasing, eternally existent. All other phenomena are empty, illusory, arising moment by moment and ceasing moment by moment, with a speed of arising and ceasing faster than lightning.