The World of Black Boxes

Chapter Four: Illusions Within the Black Box

I. The Illusion of Time and Space

(1) Time is an Unreal Dharma

Time is a dharma not corresponding to the mind (citta-viprayukta-saṃskāra), illusory and not truly existent. Why is time an illusory dharma? How is the duration of half a lifetime or a full lifetime calculated? The operation of the Five Aggregates (skandhas) over a year is called one year of age. A year consists of 365 days, and the length of a day is determined by the sun’s movement, or rather, by the Earth’s revolution around the sun. The divisions of time within a day are set according to the angle of sunlight projected onto the Earth’s surface, or by the length of shadows cast by objects under sunlight. Yet the Earth is an illusory dharma, the sun and light are illusory dharmas, terrestrial objects are illusory dharmas, and shadows are illusory dharmas. Can these illusory dharmas combine to produce the true dharma of time? Clearly, they cannot.

The time thus manifested is even more illusory than material forms (rūpa-dharma). It does not correspond to the mind; regardless of the mind’s state, these illusory dharmas operate according to fixed patterns, and a day passes by. The accumulation of days forms a year; the accumulation of years forms a decade. Further accumulation sees half a lifetime pass, then a full lifetime, ending in death. Hence, time is also called “fleeting time” or “the passage of time,” a false appearance primarily manifested through the sun and objects. In truth, there is no appearance whatsoever—no form at all. Yet people still count on their fingers; no matter how they calculate, the dharma of time does not exist. It is all illusion, miscalculation, false discrimination, and idle speculation.

Time also represents the process of mental consciousness’s operation and change—one thought after another, one action after another, unfolding in sequence, with continuity revealing time. Thoughts are unreal, actions are unreal, the continuity is illusory, and thus time is also unreal. By emptying time, emptying space, and emptying material forms, the mind becomes much lighter, free from oppression and tension, at ease and content. Further emptying the body and mind liberates the self.

(2) The Division of Space

Space is divided based on material forms. For example, one room and another room constitute two spaces, with walls, roofs, and foundations defining the space of a house and the distinct positions between rooms. Similarly, the division of space between two countries is based on geographical location, area, and boundaries on the Earth’s surface. A trichiliocosm (three-thousandfold world system) or a Buddha-land is divided according to the three realms (triloka) and the universe as a container world. Whether walls, soil, bricks, houses, fields, mountains, rivers, the Earth, or the stars and cosmos of the three realms, all are material illusions formed by the four great elements (mahābhūta) output by the Tathagatagarbha. Their essence is illusory, not truly existent. If even objects are unreal, how much more so is space?

For instance, location A and location B are two spaces. The distance between them is measured in units like meters or kilometers. These units are artificially defined based on matter, yet matter itself is composed of the four great elements, created by the Tathagarbha, and thus unreal. Therefore, the units of measurement are also unreal, so the distance and space between A and B are unreal, and even locations A and B themselves are unreal—all is illusory.

Similarly, two planets in the universe are two spaces. The distance between them is measured in light-years. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, with light’s speed being 300,000 kilometers per second. This involves light, time, and kilometers. Kilometers have been analyzed as dependent on matter and thus illusory; time is also dependent on matter, and since matter is unreal, time is illusory. Light, too, is a material form, created by the Tathagatagarbha’s output of the four great elements, inherently illusory. The time light takes, the distance it travels, and its speed are all illusory. Thus, the distance and space between planets are illusory.

(3) The Unreality of Distance

A flowerpot is five meters away. What is the nature of this distance? Is it real? How is the five-meter distance determined? The flowerpot exists within the brain’s Sublime Root (adhipati-pratyaya), and one’s own body is within the Sublime Root. There is no actual distance; all are “appearances with substance” (sādhāraṇa-viṣaya) and “pure appearances” (sva-saṃvedya-viṣaya). The intervening space is manifested within the Sublime Root’s black box. Consciousness then judges the five-meter distance based on these three factors: relying on material forms to manifest emptiness, then judging emptiness.

In reality, all three are within the Sublime Root, without separation or distance. The conclusion drawn by consciousness is like the hair of a tortoise or the horns of a rabbit—utterly ungraspable, not even a shadow. How does the brain’s Sublime Root perceive distance? There is no distance or space at all. Judging distance requires reference points, but reference points are false and illusory; distance is even more false and illusory.

(4) Space is Produced and Manifested by the Tathagatagarbha

Distance is defined by a mixture of matter and time. Matter is illusory and unreal; time is illusory and unreal; thus, distance is illusory and unreal. Space is “form-dependent form” (rūpa-paryāya-rūpa); where there is no form, it is called space. In truth, there is no space; it is merely a supporting phenomenon, a false sensation of the mind. If space, void, and distance were real, then great beings with supernatural powers, like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, could not reach countless Buddha-lands in the snap of a finger or a single thought. In the Shurangama Sutra, the Buddha said: “The void is born within your mind, like a single cloud dotting the vast clear sky.” This means that although the void is immeasurably vast, within our Tathagatagarbha mind, it is like a cloud floating in the sky—minuscule and illusory.

This shows that the void is also produced and manifested by the Tathagatagarbha, not a truly existent dharma. In the Shurangama Sutra, the Buddha stated that the void is illusory, a false dharma, “form-dependent form.” For example, where there is a mountain, there is no void. If the mountain is removed, the void appears; if the mountain is returned, the void disappears. This shows that the void is spoken of relative to material forms, manifested by forms. Therefore, time and space are illusions. Correcting the illusion is right enlightenment (samyaksaṃbodhi). Those with right enlightenment are normal beings—Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Those with illusions are deluded and inverted beings, not normal. The completely normal being is the Buddha, while beings vary in their degree of abnormality.

(5) The Unreality of Movement Through Space

I walked from location A to location B, taking one hour to cover eight li. Along the way, I passed mountains, rivers, fields, and one landmark after another. First, time is defined by sunlight, not real. Second, the landmarks passed are material forms, not real. Third, my body of Five Aggregates is inherently unreal; the activities of the Five Aggregates are unreal; my legs and feet never truly lifted or moved.

None of these elements of time, space, location, or characters are real. Thus, the illusory “I” moved from the illusory location A to the illusory location B, and this event was illusorily completed. There was no time, no space, no mountains, rivers, fields, trees, houses, no body of Five Aggregates, and no void. Only my Tathagatagarbha itself played out all of this—that is all! In the transcendental realm, there is no time or space at all. Time and space are worldly dharmas (saṃvṛti-satya), and worldly dharmas are not real in the slightest.

In a dream, I flew from one Buddha-land to another. Upon waking, I found I had been in bed all night, not moving an inch. We beings are in the midst of the great dream of birth and death, creating immeasurable karmic actions. The moment we attain Buddhahood, awakening from the great dream, we realize we have done nothing at all; nothing has happened. Nothing in the dream counts. Though we may have killed countless beings, in truth, not a single being was killed. When we become Buddhas and awaken from the great dream of birth and death, nothing has occurred—no time, no space, nothing from the dream.

The only thing to do upon awakening is to find a way to awaken from the great dream of birth and death as quickly as possible! Then nothing remains—how wonderful! In the Buddha’s eyes, nothing has happened. In our minds, everything is happening—everything exists. Thus, we are inverted beings, 180 degrees opposite to the Buddha. If the Buddha faces south, we face north. Inverted beings take everything they see as real: war, hatred, ethnicity, nations, justice, evil... Hurry and wake up! Stop dreaming!

II. The Illusion of a Torch Becoming a Circle of Fire

Seeing a burning match head produces one sensation. If the burning match head is shaken rapidly, forming a circle of fire, you experience another sensation. Different appearances yield different feelings. Seeing a single torch produces one sensation; shaking it rapidly to form a fire circle intensifies the sensation, making it more thrilling and startling. Regardless of the sensation, through contemplation and deep analysis, you realize it was a false alarm, a groundless sensation—what basis is there for it? Being unsettled by fire in a mirror, terrified by danger on a screen—where is the actual event?

The external dust (bāhyaviṣaya) of a burning match head, no matter how fast it is shaken, remains a single point, a single match head. It never forms a small circle of fire, just as a person running on a circular track, no matter how fast, remains one person running. Many identical people do not appear running around the track to form a circle. However, if the viewer’s vision is impaired and cannot keep up with the runner’s speed, visual obstacles arise. The image of the previous position does not fade before the next appears, continuously overlapping, so the viewer sees many people running around the track.

When the external dust particles of the match head enter the black box, they remain individual match heads. No matter how fast the external match head is shaken, at any given time and position within the black box, there is only one internal dust match head. Multiple match heads do not gather to form a circle. Then why does the mind-consciousness perceive a circle of fire? This is due to the persistence of vision: past images remain in the mind-consciousness while new ones continuously appear. Sequenced in order, they appear as a circle of fire. Even seeing a single match head is an unreal perception, an illusion—how much more so seeing a small circle formed by many match heads?

III. The Illusion of Dome Cinema

The six consciousnesses (vijñāna) discern the internal six dusts (adhyātma-viṣaya) within the black box, considering the various dust realms to be highly three-dimensional and tangible, feeling utterly real, with no sense of their illusory nature. It is like watching a dome cinema film in a dome theater: the screen’s images feel very real. An airplane on the screen seems about to fly over your head; a knife seems about to stab your heart; a bullet seems about to hit your forehead; a club seems about to strike your body.

In short, whatever you see feels exceptionally real, as if you are personally present—including the sounds you hear. Yet, when we calm down rationally, we know nothing on the screen exists in reality. Moreover, there are no actual objects on the screen; it is merely a synthesis of modern technological information, deceiving our senses, generating various thoughts and sensations, making us feel excitement, addiction, fear, or shock.

The six dust realms we perceive are the same. The black box is like the dome cinema. The six consciousnesses sit within the black box, observing the six dust realms inside, feeling all realms are exceptionally real—so tangible, three-dimensional, and vivid that one cannot help but love or hate them intensely. One feels truly present within the realms, inseparable from them. In reality, these realms are like the scenes in dome cinema—all virtual, mere combinations of signals, without actual substance.

IV. The Illusion of Seeing Form Explained by Refraction

Seeing form requires light. Light is one condition for seeing form; without light, form cannot be seen. Light serves to manifest form dust (rūpa-viṣaya). As long as form dust is within a light source, it can be manifested. The Tathagatagarbha then captures the particles of the four great elements from the form dust and transmits them to the eye’s superficial root (indriya). These are further transmitted via the nervous system to the black box. The form dust and other dust realms discerned by eye-consciousness are all illusory shadows, differing somewhat from the original dust realms. The six dusts within the black box are not the external substantial dust realms; they are illusory images reflected in a mirror.

The principle of refraction illustrates that the form dust seen by eye-consciousness within the black box is not the true, original form dust outside but a transformed semblance, not real form. Light travels at a certain speed, which varies in different media due to differences in material structure and resistance. When light passes through two media, its direction changes at the interface, causing refraction. If form dust appears precisely at the interface of two media, light manifests it there, and the appearance manifested in the two media will differ.

For example, air and water are two media with different resistances to light. When light travels from air to water, its direction changes, and the manifested form dust changes, though the form dust itself does not alter. For instance, a chopstick half-submerged in water: light manifests the parts in air and water separately, their positions shifting, so eye-consciousness sees the chopstick as bent. Is this bending phenomenon occurring in the Sublime Root’s black box, or in the external appearance (bāhyākāra) and essential realm (svabhāva-viṣaya) before transmission to the eye root?

If the essential realm’s chopstick were truly bent, would it remain bent when removed from water? The essential realm’s chopstick does not change regardless of the medium; otherwise, it would be altered when removed, but in reality, it remains unchanged, as before. The phenomenon of the bent chopstick arises from the Tathagatagarbha’s transformation of the essential realm into an external appearance with substance (sādhāraṇa-viṣaya), continuing until the internal appearance (adhyātmika-ākāra) within the Sublime Root. Thus, eye-consciousness does not see the truth, nor does mind-consciousness.

Does the black box deceive? Does eye-consciousness deceive? Do you still trust your eyes? Believe that what you see is real? Believe that all dharmas discerned by the six consciousnesses are real? Still confident? Still daily discussing this and that, right and wrong—have you truly seen anything clearly? Even witnessing someone stealing with your own eyes may not be actual theft; catching someone red-handed may not be factual; witnesses and evidence may not be genuine; being beaten or scolded may not stem from hatred; care and concern may not be love. Sharp words may not be harsh; thunderous force may not be malicious. With distorted vision, truth cannot be seen; with a distorted mind, facts cannot be perceived.

The bending of the chopstick is actually an illusion caused by light. The chopstick is not bent; the change in light’s direction alters the relative position it manifests. In reality, there is no change. The Tathagatagarbha transmits the shadows of the two sections of the chopstick, manifested by light, to the Sublime Root. Eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness then perceive a bent chopstick.

Similarly, sunlight shining into water changes its direction, making the water appear shallow. In reality, the water is not shallow; the shallowness is an illusion of eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness. The light also makes the position of a fish in water appear shallow, so if you reach for it based on that position, you will miss it. The fish is not where your eye-consciousness perceives it but diagonally below that position, unseen by eye-consciousness.

Light can bring us illusions; darkness can too. In darkness, we often feel there is something frightening, unpredictable, uncontrollable, that might threaten us. In reality, there is nothing; it is merely the solitary mind-consciousness (mano-vijñāna) indulging in random thoughts.

V. Different Beings Seeing the Same Form Proves That Seeing Form is an Illusion

A chopstick submerged in water: beings in the Form Realm (rūpadhātu) would never see it as bent, because they live above the sun, possessing their own light and needing no sunlight. Seeing form is unaffected by sunlight; without sunlight’s illumination, they naturally do not see the chopstick as bent. Beings in the Desire Realm (kāmadhātu) heavens may not see it as bent either, because they do not rely on the brain’s Sublime Root; they do not live in the black box world. Moreover, due to their vast merit, they see form with the divine eye (divya-cakṣus), far superior to the physical eye, perceiving all dharmas differently from beings below the heavens. Furthermore, the moon resides in the Cāturmahārājika Heaven, the sun in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. The four heavens above Trāyastriṃśa have no sun or moon; their inhabitants also see form without sunlight, using the divine eye, perceiving things fundamentally differently from humans.

For example, seeing the same Ganges River: gods see it as lapis lazuli; humans see water; fish see it as palaces and homes; hungry ghosts see flames. Due to differences in merit, karma, and eyes, perceptions differ. Gods see humans; dogs see humans; cows see humans; horses see humans; cockroaches see humans—all see differently, with different feelings, thoughts, and reactions. Even among humans, perceptions vary: a man’s view of a woman differs from a woman’s view of a woman; a child’s view differs from an elder’s. Even among people, due to differences in individual merit and karmic obstacles, the same event is seen differently. Thus, feelings, thoughts, reactions, and choices differ. What standard or reality can be claimed for what beings perceive? All is illusory and unreal.

VI. The Phenomenon of Brain Atrophy Illustrates the Illusoriness of the Black Box World

The clinical manifestations of brain atrophy fall into two categories: decline in brain tissue function and cognitive impairment, primarily related to the location and extent of atrophy. Diffuse cerebral cortex atrophy indicates organic lesions of varying degrees in the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile sensory areas of the cortex, as well as functional regions for language, thought, and movement.

The six consciousnesses primarily rely on these areas to discern the six dust realms within the Sublime Root and generate bodily, verbal, and mental actions. If the cerebral cortex diffusely atrophies, the six dust realms generated within the brain’s Sublime Root become distorted and false, causing various obstacles and inversions in the six consciousnesses’ discernment, cognition, and judgment. This further leads to disorders and abnormalities in the feeling aggregate (vedanā-skandha), perception aggregate (saṃjñā-skandha), and formation aggregate (saṃskāra-skandha). Severe cases may even include symptoms like visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, or tactile hallucinations. Clearly non-existent people or events are claimed to exist; clearly present ones become blurred, with confused cognition. Cerebellar atrophy often causes paralysis of speech- and limb-related muscles, weakened contractility, and motor incoordination, resulting in slurred speech, imbalance while walking, and tremors.

The cerebral and cerebellar atrophy described above represent pathological changes in the Sublime Root’s black box. Once the Sublime Root black box malfunctions, beings’ cognition of the six dust realms becomes impaired, causing further distortion and disorder in bodily, verbal, and mental actions, severely affecting quality of life. Thus, beings live in the black box world, discerning only the realms within the Sublime Root’s black box. The black box is the vast world of beings. In other words, the black box world is highly illusory and unreal, utterly unreliable and undependable.

VII. Obstacles Caused by Sublime Root Pathology

The Sublime Root resides in the brain, where mind-dharmas and form-dharmas interconnect. Imbalance of the four great elements in the Sublime Root, cerebellar atrophy, and cerebral degenerative diseases can cause motor impairment, cognitive impairment, and memory impairment. Due to aging and pathology of the Sublime Root, the mind-dharmas of the six consciousnesses cannot function or arise normally, making beings highly susceptible to death. Cerebral hypoxia and atrophy can damage the Sublime Root, obstructing the birth of the six consciousnesses and various cognitive activities. Human life is extremely fragile: a single failed breath can cause cerebral hypoxia, brain death, and the end of life. Why does deep breathing aid meditation? Deep breathing ensures oxygen supply to the brain, benefiting physical health. With a clear brain, the six consciousnesses are comfortable, no longer struggling to resist or alter the physical body, making it easier to attain meditative concentration (dhyāna).

From this, it is evident that the functions of the Five Aggregates are dependently arisen (paratantra-svabhāva), not self-determined. They cannot stand alone, being utterly illusory and unreal. Normal activities of the Five Aggregates rely on so many external conditions; lacking even one, they fail. Such a body of Five Aggregates is extremely unreliable, utterly insubstantial, and thus not the self. What beings rely on is untrustworthy. If one could rely on nothing, one would fear nothing. How wonderful if we could cultivate to the point of relying on no external environmental conditions! When birth-and-death phenomena no longer affect us, the body of Five Aggregates would be nearly immortal—likely achievable only at the Eighth Bhūmi (aṣṭamī bhūmiḥ) or above. We should seek to rely on the reliable, permanent dharma—unchanging and requiring no external conditions.

VIII. The Illusion of Nearsightedness and Farsightedness

Nearsightedness and farsightedness primarily relate to organic degeneration of the superficial roots (indriya). The particles of the four great elements transmitted through the superficial roots become slightly distorted, causing the image formed in the Sublime Root to deform, no longer matching the original appearance. Eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness discern this distorted form dust, hence glasses are needed to correct and compensate for the pathology of the superficial roots. In the Shurangama Sutra, the World-Honored One explained that those with eye diseases, such as cataracts obstructing the retina, see circular halos around lights when looking at them. In reality, there are no halos in the light; others do not see them. It is due to an extra bit of flesh growing on the patient’s retina, obstructing the transmission of external form dust particles of the four great elements. In the Sublime Root at the back of the brain, a dark spot appears—the halo. The internal form dust of the light seen by eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness thus has a halo, not uniformly bright.

Closing the eyes to rest and calm the spirit conserves energy. Seeing with the eyes consumes qi and blood. Overuse exhausts qi and depletes blood. If organs like the liver and kidneys lack sufficient qi and blood, becoming deficient, eye strain, swelling, and pain occur, leading to conditions like nearsightedness and farsightedness, with blurred vision. Reading text requires the aid of glasses. Although those with eye diseases see blurrily, other normal people see the same objects and text clearly. Thus, the forms each being sees are the false, illusory forms within their own Sublime Root’s black box, not the true, real forms outside.

After putting on glasses, forms appear clear and normal, but what is seen is even more illusory and unreal. The Tathagatagarbha captures particles of external form dust, transmits them through the air to the glasses, where the particles differ somewhat from the actual external form dust. The glass lenses block some particles, magnify the form dust, forming a false, illusory arrangement of particles, then transmit this to the eye’s superficial roots. Further particles are blocked, passing through the eye’s vitreous body and optic nerve to the Sublime Root, becoming an internal form dust even falser and more illusory than before, appearing slightly larger, easier for eye-consciousness and mind-consciousness to recognize. Thus, what the six consciousnesses discern has no reality. Why cling to preferences for forms and sounds, right and wrong?

IX. The Same Principle Underlies All Lenses

Magnifying glasses, concave/convex lenses, funhouse mirrors, and microscopes operate on the same principle as nearsighted/farsighted glasses. They all alter the external appearance form dust transmitted by the Tathagatagarbha, then transmit this lens-altered form dust to the superficial and Sublime Roots. Thus, the internal form dust within the black box is formed through multiple transformations by various media. What reality can be claimed for the form dust beings see through these lenses? How much does it differ from the external essential realm’s original state? What tangible, usable form exists?

X. Questions for Contemplation:

1. When nearsighted or farsighted people see without glasses, is what they see real?

2. Various lenses cause illusions. When wearing glasses, is what they see real?

3. When eyes are normal, is what they seen real and true?

Conclusion: Any dharma that changes according to causes and conditions, changing when conditions change, must be a false, illusory, unreal dharma. It should be negated—not taken as real, nor regarded as self or belonging to self. Then, do you still trust what your physical eyes see? Trust what the six consciousnesses know and perceive? Finally: Is everything you know correct? Still confident? And finally: Do you still mistake the false for real? Want to recognize the true? Can you recognize it in the future? How to recognize it?

XI. The Illusion of Solitary Mind-Consciousness Regarding Chaotic Realms

During meditation or seated concentration, consciousness focuses on one realm, attention concentrated, not attending to other dharma dusts or six dust realms. If suddenly slapped or shouted at, when consciousness and the mental faculty (manas) are unprepared—i.e., not attending—the sudden sound causes fright, easily leading to chaos, and consciousness becomes frenzied.

The mind that loses sanity and becomes frenzied is consciousness. Solitary mind-consciousness discerns chaotic realms, which are also appearance-only states (pratibimba-viṣaya), involving non-valid cognition (abhūtaparikalpa) and erroneous discernment. Externally, this manifests as abnormal behavior, because discerning abnormal chaotic realms produces erroneous cognition, leading to strange actions. But to the person themselves, it seems normal; they consider it a normal reaction.

XII. The Illusion of Sound

Person A speaks. Person B listens nearby. Person C listens via telephone. Person D listens via recording device. Person E listens through a metal pipe. Person F listens through a vacuum pipe. Person G listens through a wall. Person H listens through a door. Person I listens through a loudspeaker. Do these people hear the same sound? Why? Sound transmitted through a vacuum, air, metal, or an empty pipe will be discerned differently by ear-consciousness.

Sound belongs to the four great elements’ material forms. Its transmission requires a medium; without a medium, it cannot propagate. Different media offer different resistances, altering transmission speed and the particles of sound dust, resulting in different sounds. What is resistance? During transmission, some particles cannot pass through the medium, being blocked or absorbed. The particles that do pass change, altering the sound formed. The more media passed through, the longer the distance, the greater the resistance, the more particles blocked, the more the sound degrades.

The ultimate destination of sound transmission is the Sublime Root’s black box. Each person’s auditory nerve and brain nutrients differ, affecting the sound entering the Sublime Root differently. Thus, each person hears a somewhat different sound. This shows that what we hear is not real; there is no such thing as sound—just a mass of electrical signals and information. We all live in a virtual world of information.

XIII. How Sound is Produced

How is speech sound produced? Some people talk nonstop all day, feeling uncomfortable if not speaking. Others say nothing all day, not feeling stifled. Sound production relates to a person’s inner awareness. Awareness arises from thought; after mental processing, awareness and sensations arise, agitating the mind, generating a flow of qi in the dantian (elixir field). If not released, this qi feels stifling. Thus, wind begins moving from the dantian, successively contacting the navel, heart, chest cavity, lungs, throat, tongue, and teeth, producing strings of sounds.

This sound is composed of the four great elements, possessing material attributes. Contact with internal organs causes some energy loss. Excessive talking damages qi and spirit, also dissipating meditative concentration. Sound composed of the four great elements also carries magnetic field effects, exerting certain positive or negative influences on people. Every syllable in sound arises and ceases instantly. Even the tiniest elements composing syllables arise and cease extremely rapidly. Sound composed of such rapidly arising and ceasing elements—where each sound differs from the next—what reality can it have? If one insists on discerning meaning, meaning is also illusory and unreal. Hearing praise brings joy; hearing criticism brings displeasure. Why such emotional reactions? It is still taking sound and its content too seriously.

These dharmas are all matters within the black box, with no reality whatsoever. The sound produced by person A’s mouth is solely manifested by A’s Tathagatagarbha—A’s Tathagatagarbha’s directly perceived object (ālambana-pratyaya). When person B hears it, the sound is B’s Tathagatagarbha’s indirectly perceived object (paratantra-ālambana). This is then manifested in B’s Sublime Root, with significant alteration of the four great elements’ particles. The sound heard by B’s ear-consciousness and mind-consciousness is thus greatly distorted, even less real.

Therefore, if I insult you face-to-face all day, you need not react. If a loudspeaker praises you all day, do not rejoice. It is nothing—meaningless electromagnetic waves, a string of signals. Many people have vanity, seeking fame and reputation, wishing everyone knew them. They do not know why they seek this empty fame, what use it is—at best, self-comfort and self-intoxication. In truth, being known or unknown matters not at all. These people cannot see through it, willingly burdening themselves.

XIV. What the Six Consciousnesses Discern is All Information, Not Real Six Dust Realms

The six dust realms contacted by the six consciousnesses are all signals—also called information—transmitted from the essential realm. Regardless of what the five dust realms are like, by the time they reach the black box, they are information. What the six consciousnesses perceive is also information and shadows, yet they mistake them for tangible, colorful dust realms. How to prove this? Consider the information discerned by eyes and ears through phones and computers. The information on phones and computers includes text, images, videos, and sound, yet the phone/computer itself contains no text, images, videos, or sound.

For example, an online group has 100 members. Each communicates via phone/computer in the group, viewing text, images, and videos in the group space, listening to voice messages. Yet what each person sees and hears is the content within their own Sublime Root’s black box, belonging solely to them, not shared with others. Thus, on your own phone/computer, deleting any information arbitrarily affects no one else; others remain unaware. Moreover, however others handle this information, it has no effect on the original essential realm.

How does this information appear? One person types text on their phone—the text belongs to the essential realm. Signals are transmitted through the phone’s medium; others’ phones receive the signals, transmit them to the Sublime Root, where the six consciousnesses arise to discern. What they discern is information, not actual text, images, videos, or sound. Yet the six consciousnesses forcibly discern this information as specific forms and sounds. Thus, the discernment of the six consciousnesses is illusion. Moreover, all dharmas within the black box are entirely information and signals, without substantial six dust realms—all are shadows. Therefore, what the six consciousnesses discern is entirely false appearances.

How do we perceive a mass of signals as six dust realms? Like a string of signals virtualizing into a TV screen: we are actually watching TV but unrelated to the screen. Why do we invest our minds in virtual images? How to withdraw the mind, detach from the images? How relaxed and content one would be as a bystander! Everything unrelated to me—how liberating!

Regarding all realms: each is but an image in my mind, illusorily arising and ceasing, coming and going. I watch realms arise, watch them cease, watch them come, watch them go, letting realms come and go as they please, my mind unmoving. Cultivation should be like this; ultimately, it will be like this. Only then is there liberation.

XV. What is Seen with the Divine Eye and in Meditation is Also Illusion

What is seen with the divine eye is also manifested by one’s own Tathagatagarbha. If the dharmas seen feel real, it is still illusion. Meditative-concentration-produced forms (dhyāna-ja-rūpa) arise at the brain, at the Sublime Root. Thus, the meditative-concentration-produced forms seen in meditation are still illusions. As long as there is a physical body and brain, all dharmas will arise there. Dharma dust, form included in the dharma-element (dharmāyatana), all manifest at the brain.

What is Buddha-light? When mind-consciousness does not know or discern it, form dust still exists. This form dust remains illusory, phantom-like, composed of the four great elements, arising and ceasing instantaneously, empty. Buddha-light is also composed of matter—form dharma of the four great elements—illusory, phantom-like, arising and ceasing, unreal. Thus, seeing Buddha-light in meditation and feeling it is real is illusion. Therefore, we need not cling to Buddha-light. Demons (māra) can also manifest such light; demons can manifest the Buddha’s appearance.

XVI. Why There Are More Fish on the Monitor Than in Reality

Zhu Qing Shi said: Our world is like a large fish tank with a goldfish swimming inside. Assume at least two cameras: one observing the tank from the side, one from behind, with two monitors in another room. Imagine a person entering the monitor room: they see two fish in the tank, looking different because one is filmed from the tail, the other from the side. These two fish are strange: whatever one does, the other reacts immediately, simultaneously.

The monitor is like the black box; the person is like the six consciousnesses. The six consciousnesses see the six dust realms within the black box, like the person seeing images on the monitor. The monitor is surveilling a fish in a tank in another room. Clearly, there is one fish in the tank; why does the monitor show two different fish? Because the two cameras film the fish from different angles, capturing different images, making it seem like two fish, so two fish are seen on the monitor.

The monitor is like the black box; what is inside is illusory false appearances resembling the external, but not necessarily identical—perhaps with significant errors. The six consciousnesses do not know this, thinking they see real appearances. This misperception could be vast. If ten cameras are placed at different positions, they capture ten fish; if a hundred, a hundred fish—ten or a hundred different fish are seen on the monitor. At a certain quantity, these fish from different angles combine into one complete fish. In the Shurangama Sutra, when the Buddha instructed setting up the Shurangama altar, placing octagonal mirrors in the practice site, it was based on this principle.

XVII. Different Sublime Roots in Different Realms Lead to Different Tactile Sensations

Beings in the human realm all have a Sublime Root; beings in the animal realm also have a Sublime Root. Animals’ physical bodies, like humans’, are flesh composed of substantial seeds of the four great elements, with brains and a Sublime Root. If the Sublime Root develops pathology, animals can also suffer schizophrenia or madness. Due to karmic obstacles, animals’ Sublime Roots are inferior to humans’, causing significant illusions in seeing people and objects, perceiving dharmas unrealistically. But each animal has strengths unique to its kind: some have keen vision, seeing in the dark; some have acute hearing; some sharp smell; some sensitive taste; some delicate touch. However, animals generally have poor thinking power in consciousness, lacking logical analysis. Most rely on the mental faculty’s intuition, thus seeming simple-minded. Apart from killing for survival, they scarcely use their minds to create other evil karma, being beings purely undergoing retribution.

Beings in the four Formless Realm (ārūpyadhātu) heavens have no form dust or physical bodies due to their formless environment. Thus, they have no Sublime Root, no internal five dusts or dharma dust, no five consciousnesses, but do have mind-consciousness, mental faculty, and the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna). Their eighth consciousness and mental faculty exist perpetually without cessation; mind-consciousness also exists perpetually without cessation. What their mind-consciousness discerns is the appearance-only state (pratibimba-viṣaya) in meditation, with no external dharma dust, only the appearance-only state. If mind-consciousness ceased, only the eighth consciousness and mental faculty would remain—the state of the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti). Thus, Formless Realm gods’ mind-consciousness perpetually exists without cessation, with no day or night, no need for sleep or rest, perpetually in meditation, facing the appearance-only state.

XVIII. The World is Illusory; the One True Dharma Realm

The worlds of the ten directions are the One True Dharma Realm (ekasatya-dharmadhātu). Can we now understand what the One True Dharma Realm truly is? The Buddha Dharma is used to analyze the false appearances of the worldly realm. Analysis ultimately reveals emptiness. What cannot be emptied is the formless, true Dharma Realm. Holography, dome cinema, etc., all illustrate that the world is illusory. Everything we contact is illusory.