Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (20)

Original text: 云何外风界。谓若此风。从四方来。或狂暴起。摧折树木。堕裂山峰。若微细起。飘举身衣。动多罗树。名外风界。

Explanation: What is the external wind element? It is the wind that arises outside the body, blowing from all directions—either a violent gale that breaks and fells trees, or a fierce storm that topples and splits mountain peaks; if it is a gentle breeze, it lifts the clothes on one's body and sways the tāla palms—all of these belong to the external wind element.

The external wind element arises outside the body; winds blow from all directions throughout the material world (bhajana-loka). The greatest winds are storms, tornadoes, and fierce gales that can snap trees and split mountain peaks—yet these are still not the greatest winds. The greatest wind in the universe can destroy a trichiliocosm (three-thousandfold great world system); tornadoes and storms are nothing by comparison. When a world is about to be destroyed, when that wind calamity arrives, the entire material world is blown to pieces—such is the function of the great external wind. If a fine breeze blows, light and thin objects are lifted up, and small grasses and leaves sway, giving people a deep sense of comfort—such is the function of the gentle external breeze.

When wind arises in the space of the external world, before the wind arises, where is the wind? It has no location; the wind has no place to hide. If the wind could hide somewhere, the place where it was hidden would be constantly shaking. Great storms usually arise for no reason at all; after blowing objects down, the storm disappears—where does the wind go? There is nowhere for it to go. If there were a place where a great storm could be stored, that location would also be blown apart and would cease to exist.