The Esoteric Significance of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra
Section Three The Seven Great Elements—Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Space, Seeing, and Consciousness—are False and Illusory
I. Original text: 阿难。如汝所言。四大和合。发明世间。种种变化。阿难。若彼大性。体非和合。则不能与。诸大杂和。犹如虚空。不和诸色。若和合者。同于变化。始终相成。生灭相续。生死死生。生生死死。如旋火轮。未有休息。
Explanation: The Buddha said: Ānanda, it is indeed just as you said: because the four great elements combine, the various changes of the world appear. Ānanda, if the essential nature of the four great elements were not combinative, then the great elements could not mix and combine with one another, just as empty space cannot combine with all form-dharmas. If the four great elements could combine and together transform the world, the marks of the world would exist forever, with arising and ceasing continuing on—born, then dying; dead, then born; born and dying, dying and born again, like a whirling fire-wheel that never comes to rest.
Original text: 阿难。如水成冰。冰还成水。汝观地性。粗为大地。细为微尘。至邻虚尘。析彼极微。色边际相。七分所成。更析邻虚。即实空性。
Explanation: Ānanda, just as water can freeze into ice and ice can melt back into water, observe the mark of earth: the coarse is the great earth, the fine is dust particles, all the way to the extremely fine particles close to empty space. Analyzing those extremely minute form-dusts—the forms of matter approaching the boundary of empty space—into seven parts, and analyzing them again, they come even closer to empty space; at this point one can see that the dust particles truly possess the nature of emptiness.
Original text: 阿难。若此邻虚。析成虚空。当知虚空。出生色相。汝今问言。由和合故。出生世间。诸变化相。汝且观此。一邻虚尘。用几虚空。和合而有。不应邻虚。合成邻虚。又邻虚尘。析入空者。用几色相。合成虚空。
Explanation: Ānanda, if these dust particles adjacent to empty space were further analyzed into empty space, then one should know that empty space can give birth to forms and marks. You now say that because the four great elements combine, all the changing marks of the world are born. Observe a single dust particle adjacent to empty space: with how many portions of empty space did it combine to come into existence? It cannot be that particles adjacent to empty space combined to form particles adjacent to empty space. And if a particle adjacent to empty space could be further analyzed into empty space, then with how many forms and marks was that empty space combined?
Original text: 若色合时。合色非空。若空合时。合空非色。色犹可析。空云何合。汝元不知。如来藏中。性色真空。性空真色。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: The Buddha said: If forms could combine, what combines could only be form and could not become empty space; if empty space could combine, it could only combine into empty space and could not combine into form. Form can be analyzed and combined; how could empty space be analyzed and combined? Ānanda, you fundamentally do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of form is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true form. Form and emptiness are both intrinsically pure, pervading the entire dharma realm, manifesting in accordance with the measure—great or small, much or little—that sentient beings' minds should know; sentient beings can only discover them by following their own karma. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe that form and emptiness are born of causes and conditions, or appear spontaneously. All of this is the discrimination and calculation of sentient beings' consciousness minds; whatever they may say has no real meaning.
Here the World-Honored One denies that form can generate empty space and that empty space can generate form. If material form-dust could be subdivided into empty space, then empty space would be composed of form—with how many dust particles and forms would empty space be composed? If dust particles could compose empty space, empty space would no longer be empty space; if so, empty space could also compose dust particles and forms—then with how much empty space could a dust particle be composed? If empty space could compose dust particles, empty space would not be empty space and dust particles would not be dust particles; both would lose their self-nature.
If dust particles and forms could combine into empty space, empty space would be form; if empty space could combine into form, form would be empty space. How could empty space and forms mutually combine and transform into each other? They stand in a relationship of equal opposition: where this exists, that does not; where that exists, this does not. Form is formed by the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind and has appearance and marks, while empty space is formed by the seed of the great element of space and has no appearance or marks; therefore form cannot transform into empty space, and still less can empty space transform into form.
Form is born from the tathāgatagarbha, not generated through the transformation and combination of empty space; empty space is also born from the tathāgatagarbha, not generated through the analysis of form. The World-Honored One made this very clear in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: all things are born from the tathāgatagarbha and all originate from the tathāgatagarbha. Wherever there is form, there is no emptiness; where there is emptiness, there is certainly no form. Where there is no form, emptiness manifests; therefore emptiness is revealed by means of form. In the final summary, all is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; therefore form and emptiness are non-dual.
When form is analyzed to the very end, it becomes dust particles adjacent to emptiness; empty space and dust particles adjacent to emptiness cannot transform into each other; both are born from the tathāgatagarbha and are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The World-Honored One denied any mutual transformation between the two. Both empty space and dust particles are produced by the tathāgatagarbha; if empty space and dust particles could transform into each other, then empty space would have transformed from dust particles, and its source would not be the tathāgatagarbha. Moreover, dust particles fundamentally cannot transform into empty space; this would contradict the truth that the tathāgatagarbha produces all dharmas and that all dharmas are consciousness-only.
II. Original text: 阿难。火性无我。寄于诸缘。汝观城中。未食之家。欲炊爨时。手执陽燧。日前求火。阿难。名和合者。如我与汝。一千二百五十比丘。今为一众。众虽为一。诘其根本。各各有身。皆有所生。氏族名字。如舍利弗。婆罗门种。优楼频螺。迦叶波种。乃至阿难。瞿昙种姓。
Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of fire has no self-nature of a self; it resides hidden in the various conditions for making fire, and when the conditions are complete, fire will be produced. Observe the households in Rājagṛha that have not yet eaten: when they are about to light fires to cook their meals, they take in hand the instrument for kindling fire from the sun and seek fire under the sun. Ānanda, what is called "combination"? For example, I and you, together with the twelve hundred fifty bhikṣus, now form one assembly. Although the assembly is one, if we investigate its fundamentals, each has his own body, and each has his own clan, family name, and given name. For instance, Śāriputra is of the brāhmaṇa caste, Uruvilvā is of the Kāśyapa clan, and even you, Ānanda, are of the Gautama clan.
Original text: 阿难。若此火性。因和合有。彼手执镜。于日求火。此火为从。镜中而出。为从艾出。为于日来。阿难。若日来者。自能烧汝。手中之艾。来处林木。皆应受焚。若镜中出。自能于镜。出然于艾。镜何不镕。纡汝手执。尚无热相。云何融泮。
Explanation: Ānanda, if this nature of fire exists because of combination, then when those people hold mirrors in their hands to draw fire under the sun, does the fire produced come out of the mirror, come out of the mugwort, or come from the sun? Ānanda, if the fire came from the sun, then since the fire can burn the mugwort in their hands, all the trees and forests along its way should have been set ablaze. If the fire came out of the mirror, then since the mirror can emit fire to ignite the mugwort, why did the fire not melt the mirror? The hand holding the mirror does not even feel heat—how much less could it be melted!
Original text: 若生于艾。何藉日镜。光明相接。然后火生。汝又谛观。镜因手执。日从天来。艾本地生。火从何方。游历于此。日镜相远。非和非合。不应火光。无从自有。汝犹不知。如来藏中。性火真空。性空真火。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。
Explanation: If fire arose from within the mugwort, why would it need to rely on the brightness of the mirror and the sun joining together before fire could be produced? Observe again carefully: the mirror is held by hand, the sunlight comes down from the sky, and the mugwort grows from the earth—from what place did the fire travel to arrive here? The sun and the mirror are too far apart to combine; it should not be that the fire-light appears naturally without any source. You still do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of fire is true emptiness and the nature of emptiness is true fire; both are that intrinsic purity, undergoing no variation, pervading the dharma realm, appearing in accordance with the measure—much or little—that sentient beings' minds should know.
Original text: 阿难。当知世人。一处执镜。一处火生。遍法界执。满世间起。起遍世间。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: Ānanda, you should know that when people of the world hold a mirror in one place, fire arises in that one place; if mirrors were held throughout the dharma realm, fire would arise throughout the world. There is no specific fixed place of origination; it simply appears in accordance with the karmic power of sentient beings. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe fire to be of the nature of causes and conditions or of spontaneity; all of this is the discrimination and measuring of the deluded consciousness mind. Whatever is said has no real meaning.
III. Original text: 阿难。水性不定。流息无恒。如室罗城。迦毗罗仙。斫迦罗仙。及钵头摩诃萨多等。诸大幻师。求太陰精。用和幻药。是诸师等。于白月昼。手执方珠。承月中水。此水为复。从珠中出。空中自有。为从月来。阿难。若从月来。尚能远方。令珠出水。所经林木。皆应吐流。流则何待。方诸所出。不流明水。非从月降。
Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of water is unfixed; its flowing and ceasing are both impermanent. For example, in the city of Śrāvastī there were the ṛṣis Kapila, Caraka, and Padma, Hasata, and other great masters of illusion, who sought the moon's yin-essence to mix their illusion drugs. On the nights of the white moon before the fifteenth of the lunar month, these masters held in their hands vessels for receiving water, to catch the water flowing down from the moon. Did this water come out of the vessel, exist in empty space from the beginning, or come from the moon? Ānanda, if the water came from the moon, and the moon could pour water from such a distant sky into the vessel, then when the moon poured the water, all the trees and forests along the way should also have flowed with water—the forests should have been full of water. Would there still be any need to wait for the square pearl to produce water? If no water flowed from the trees, it shows that the water did not pour down from the moon.
Original text: 若从珠出。则此珠中。常应流水。何待中宵。承白月昼。若从空生。空性无边。水当无际。从人洎天。皆同滔溺。云何复有。水陆空行。汝更谛观。月从天陟。珠因手持。承珠水盘。本人敷设。水从何方。流注于此。月珠相远。非和非合。不应水精。无从自有。
Explanation: If the water came from the square pearl, then water should constantly flow out of this pearl—why wait until midnight to receive the water flowing down from the moon before the fifteenth? If the water arose from empty space, since empty space is boundless, the water that flowed out should also be boundless; then from the human world up to the heavens, water should surge everywhere and everything should be submerged—how could sentient beings still move about in water, on land, and in the air? Observe again carefully: the moonlight shines down from the sky, the square pearl is held in a person's hand, and the water-receiving dish was brought and set out by the person himself. From what place did the water pour into the dish? The moon and the square pearl are so far apart that they cannot combine; it should not be that the water essence appears without any source.
Original text: 汝尚不知。如来藏中。性水真空。性空真水。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。一处执珠。一处水出。遍法界执。满法界生。生满世间。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: Ānanda, you still do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of water is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is also true water; both are intrinsically pure and pervade the dharma realm, existing nowhere absent. The nature of water follows the measure that sentient beings' minds should know: hold the square pearl in one place to receive it, and water arises in that place; if square pearls were held throughout the dharma realm, water would arise throughout the dharma realm. There is fundamentally no limitation of direction or place; only by following the karma of sentient beings can it be discovered by them. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe it is born of causes and conditions or exists spontaneously; it is all the discrimination and calculation of the deluded consciousness mind. Whatever is said has no real meaning.
IV. Original text: 阿难。风性无体。动静不常。汝常整衣。入于大众。僧伽梨角。动及傍人。则有微风。拂彼人面。此风为复。出袈裟角。发于虚空。生彼人面。阿难。此风若复。出袈裟角。汝乃披风。其衣飞摇。应离汝体。我今说法。会中垂衣。汝看我衣。风何所在。不应衣中。有藏风地。
Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of wind has no self-nature; its movement and stillness are unfixed, and it does not exist constantly. You often enter the assembly only after adjusting your robes; when the corner of your kaṣāya flutters and touches others, there is a slight breeze brushing their faces. Does this wind come out of the corner of the kaṣāya, issue from empty space, or arise from the other person's face? Ānanda, if this wind arose from the corner of the kaṣāya, then you would be draped in wind as you walked, stood, sat, and lay down all day long; if there were wind in the robe, the robe would flutter up and leave your body. Right now I am speaking Dharma, and in this Dharma assembly my robe hangs down without fluttering. Look at my robe—where is the wind? Surely there is not a place within the robe where wind is stored?
Original text: 若生虚空。汝衣不动。何因无拂。空性常住。风应常生。若无风时。虚空当灭。灭风可见。灭空何状。若有生灭。不名虚空。名为虚空。云何风出。若风自生。被拂之面。从彼面生。当应拂汝。自汝整衣。云何倒拂。汝审谛观。整衣在汝。面属彼人。虚空寂然。不曾流动。风自谁方。鼓动来此。风空性隔。非和非合。不应风性。无从自有。
Explanation: If the wind arose from empty space, then when your robe is not moving, why is there no phenomenon of a breeze brushing? Empty space constantly abides, so wind should constantly arise; if that were so, then when there is no wind, empty space would also cease and not exist. When wind ceases we can see it, but what would the state of empty space ceasing be like? If empty space also had the phenomenon of arising and ceasing, all other dharmas could not exist, and empty space could no longer be called empty space. If it were still called empty space, how could wind arise from it?
If the wind arose from the face of the person being brushed, the wind should also brush against you; you yourself adjusted the robe—how could the wind instead blow onto your own face? Carefully observe again: the one adjusting the robe is you, the face being brushed belongs to the other person, and empty space is still and unmoving—from what place did the wind surge to arrive here? The nature of wind and the nature of space are not the same attribute and cannot combine; the nature of wind should not exist by itself without any source.
Original text: 汝宛不知。如来藏中。性风真空。性空真风。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。阿难。如汝一人。微动服衣。有微风出。遍法界拂。满国土生。周遍世间。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: You still do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of wind is true emptiness and the nature of emptiness is true wind; both are intrinsically pure, pervading the dharma realm, appearing in the worldly realm in accordance with the measure that sentient beings' minds should perceive. Ānanda, if you alone gently adjust your robe, a slight breeze arises; if robes were shaken throughout the dharma realm, wind would arise throughout the land. Wind pervades the world without being limited to any direction or place; it is only discovered by following the karma of sentient beings. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe it is born of causes and conditions or exists spontaneously; it is all discriminated and measured by sentient beings' deluded consciousness minds. Whatever is said has no real meaning.
V. Original text: 阿难。空性无形。因色显发。如室罗城。去河遥处。诸刹利种。及婆罗门。毗舍首陀。兼颇罗堕。旃陀罗等。新立安居。凿井求水。出土一尺。于中则有。一尺虚空。如是乃至。出土一丈。中间还得。一丈虚空。虚空浅深。随出多少。此空为当。因土所出。因凿所有。无因自生。
Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of empty space has no shape or form; it is revealed and discovered by means of form. In the city of Śrāvastī, in places far from the river, there were people of the kṣatriya caste, the brāhmaṇa caste, the vaiśya and śūdra castes, as well as the Bhāradvāja clan, the caṇḍāla caste, and so forth. When they built new houses to settle down, they dug wells in search of water. When one foot of earth was dug out of the ground, there was one foot of empty space in the ground; when one zhang (ten feet) of earth was dug out, there was one zhang of empty space in the ground. The depth of the empty space was determined by how much earth was removed. Did this empty space appear because of the earth, exist because of the digging, or arise spontaneously without any cause?
Original text: 阿难。若复此空。无因自生。未凿土前。何不无碍。唯见大地。迥无通达。若因土出。则土出时。应见空入。若土先出。无空入者。云何虚空。因土而出。若无出入。则应空土。元无异因。无异则同。则土出时。空何不出。
Explanation: Ānanda, if this empty space arose spontaneously without cause, then before the earth was dug, why was there no such empty space? One saw only the obstruction of the great earth, and did not see open, unobstructed space. If this empty space was born from the earth, then when the earth came out, one should have seen the empty space enter. If the earth came out first and no empty space entered, how can it be said that the empty space appeared because the earth came out? If there were no entering or exiting between earth and empty space, their appearance should involve no difference; no difference means they are the same—exiting together and entering together. Then when the earth went out, why did the empty space not go out?
Original text: 若因凿出。则凿出空。应非出土。不因凿出。凿自出土。云何见空。汝更审谛。谛审谛观。凿从人手。随方运转。土因地移。如是虚空。因何所出。凿空虚实。不相为用。非和非合。不应虚空。无从自出。
Explanation: If the empty space appeared because of the digging, then what was dug out should have been empty space, not earth; if the empty space did not come from the digging, and the digging could only bring out earth, why could empty space be seen to appear? Examine and observe again carefully, scrutinize and contemplate carefully: the digging implement turns according to the direction in which the human hand turns it, and the earth goes out because the ground is displaced—from what did this empty space appear? The digging implement and empty space—one substantial, one insubstantial—cannot make use of each other and cannot combine; it should not be that empty space arises by itself without any source.
Original text: 若此虚空。性圆周遍。本不动摇。当知现前。地水火风。均名五大。性真圆融。皆如来藏。本无生灭。阿难。汝心昏迷。不悟四大。元如来藏。当观虚空。为出为入。为非出入。汝元不知。如来藏中。性觉真空。性空真觉。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。
Explanation: If the nature of this empty space is perfect and pervades the dharma realm, being fundamentally unmoving and unshaking, then you should know that empty space together with the earth, water, fire, and wind presently before us are together called the five great elements. Their nature is true and perfectly harmonious without obstruction among them; all are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, fundamentally without arising or ceasing. Ānanda, your mind is benighted and deluded, not awakened to the fact that the four great elements are fundamentally the tathāgatagarbha. You should observe whether empty space has exiting and entering, or has no exiting and entering. You fundamentally do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of awareness is true emptiness and the nature of emptiness is true awareness—intrinsically pure, pervading the dharma realm, manifesting in accordance with the measure that sentient beings should know.
Original text: 阿难。如一井空。空生一井。十方虚空。亦复如是。圆满十方。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: Ānanda, when a well is dug, empty space appears in that well; digging wells in the ten directions is likewise so—empty space of the ten directions manifests. Empty space appears perfectly throughout the ten directions without obstruction, with no fixed direction or place; it only appears by following the karma of sentient beings. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe it is born of causes and conditions or exists spontaneously; it is all merely the discrimination, calculation, and measuring of sentient beings' deluded consciousness minds. Whatever is said has no real meaning.
VI. Original text: 阿难。见觉无知。因色空有。如汝今者。在祇陀林。朝明夕昏。并太虚空。为同一体。为非一体。或同非同。或异非异。
Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of seeing and the nature of awareness themselves have no knowing; it is due to the two dusts of form and space that the nature of seeing and the nature of awareness appear. For example, you are now in Jeta's Grove: bright in the morning, dim at evening; and at midnight, there is brightness on the white-moon nights before the fifteenth of the lunar month, and darkness on the black-moon nights after the fifteenth. These marks of brightness and darkness, form and space, and so on are discriminated and manifested because of the seeing-awareness nature. Now, is this nature of seeing of the same body as the marks of brightness and darkness and great empty space, or of a different body? Or is it both the same and not the same, both different and not different?
Original text: 阿难。此见若复。与明与暗。及与虚空。元一体者。则明与暗。二体相亡。暗时无明。明时无暗。若与暗一。明则见亡。必一于明。暗时当灭。灭则云何。见明见暗。若明暗殊。见无生灭。一云何成。
Explanation: Ānanda, if this seeing were originally of one body with brightness, darkness, and empty space, then brightness and darkness, being two bodies, annihilate each other: when there is darkness there is no brightness, and when there is brightness there is no darkness. If the nature of seeing were one with darkness, then when brightness appeared, the seeing would vanish and could not see the brightness; if the seeing were one with brightness, then when darkness arrived, the seeing would perish, and if the seeing perished, how could it see the darkness? If brightness and darkness differ and are not one body, while the nature of seeing has no arising or ceasing, how could the three be one body? Oneness cannot be established.
Original text: 若此见精。与暗与明。非一体者。汝离明暗。及与虚空。分析见元。作何形相。离明离暗。及离虚空。是见元同。龟毛兔角。明暗虚空。三事俱异。从何立见。明暗相背。云何或同。离三元无。云何或异。分空分见。本无边畔。云何非同。见暗见明。性非迁改。云何非异。
Explanation: If this essence of seeing is not of one body with brightness and darkness, then apart from brightness, darkness, and the mark of empty space, what shape and form does this essence of seeing have? Apart from brightness, darkness, and empty space, this essence of seeing is fundamentally like a turtle's hair or a rabbit's horns—utterly unobtainable. Brightness, darkness, and empty space—these three are all different—from which mark could the essence of seeing be established? Brightness and darkness contradict each other—how could they be said to be of the same body as the essence of seeing? Apart from the three—brightness, darkness, and empty space—there is fundamentally no seeing; how could it perhaps be different? The matter of same or different cannot even arise. Separating empty space and seeing, the two fundamentally have no boundary or connection—how could they be said to be not the same? The matter of same or different cannot even arise. Whether seeing brightness or seeing darkness, the nature of seeing never changes—how could it be said to be not different?
Original text: 汝更微细审详。审谛审观。明从太陽。暗随黑月。通属虚空。壅归大地。如是见精。因何所出。见觉空顽。非和非合。不应见精。无从自出。若见闻知。性圆周遍。本不动摇。当知无边。不动虚空。并其动摇。地水火风。均名六大。性真圆融。皆如来藏。本无生灭。
Explanation: Examine again carefully and observe minutely and in detail: brightness comes from the sun, darkness accompanies the black moon, unobstructed penetrability belongs to empty space, and obstruction belongs to the great earth. From what did this essence of seeing appear? The seeing-awareness is without form, empty and inert, without any combinative nature—it should not be that the essence of seeing came out by itself without any source, should it? If the nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing is perfect and pervades the dharma realm, being fundamentally unmoving and unshaking, you should know that the nature of seeing, together with the boundless, unmoving empty space and the moving earth, water, fire, and wind, are all among the six great elements; their nature is true and perfectly harmonious, all are the tathāgatagarbha, fundamentally without arising or ceasing.
Original text: 阿难。汝性沉沦。不悟汝之。见闻觉知。本如来藏。汝当观此。见闻觉知。为生为灭。为同为异。为非生灭。为非同异。汝曾不知。如来藏中。性见觉明。觉精明见。清净本然。周遍法界。随众生心。应所知量。
如一见根。见周法界。听嗅尝触。觉触觉知。妙德莹然。遍周法界。圆满十虚。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: Ānanda, your mind-nature is still sunk and submerged; you have not yet awakened to the fact that seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are fundamentally the tathāgatagarbha. You should observe whether this seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing is arising and ceasing, the same as or different from the dust-objects, or not arising and ceasing, neither the same as nor different from the dust-objects. You have never known that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of seeing is the clarity of true awareness, and the essence of seeing of true awareness is the clear nature of seeing; both are intrinsically pure, pervading the dharma realm, manifesting in accordance with the measure that sentient beings' minds should know.
For example, the single faculty of seeing can see the form-dharmas pervading the dharma realm; the faculties of hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching can be aware of contact and know all dharmas; their wondrous merit is luminous and pure, pervading the dharma realm, perfect throughout the worlds of the ten directions—where would there be any direction or place? Sentient beings discover them according to their respective karma. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe them to be born of causes and conditions or to exist spontaneously. The arising of these ideas and views is the result of sentient beings' consciousness minds discriminating, calculating, and measuring; whatever is said has no real meaning.
VII. Original text: 阿难。识性无源。因于六种。根尘妄出。汝今遍观。此会圣众。用目循历。其目周视。但如镜中。无别分析。汝识于中。次第标指。此是文殊。此富楼那。此目犍连。此须菩提。此舍利弗。此识了知。为生于见。为生于相。为生虚空。为无所因。突然而出。
Explanation: Ānanda, the nature of consciousness has no source; it arises falsely by means of the six kinds of faculties and objects. Now observe comprehensively the assembly of noble ones in this gathering: using your eyes to observe them one by one, your eyes can survey all the surrounding dharmas. But what the eyes see is like images in a mirror, without any particular analysis. In the course of observing, your eye-consciousness points out one after another: this one is Mañjuśrī, this one is Pūrṇa, this one is Maudgalyāyana, this one is Subhūti, this one is Śāriputra. This knowing nature of your eye-consciousness—was it born from within the nature of seeing, born from the marks of form, born from empty space, or did it suddenly emerge without any cause?
From this we can see that the nature of seeing comes first and the discriminating, knowing nature of the six consciousnesses comes after: there is seeing at the eye faculty, seeing at the ear faculty, seeing at the nose faculty, seeing at the tongue faculty, seeing at the body faculty, and seeing at the manas; after seeing, there is the nature of consciousness. Moreover, the discriminating, knowing nature of the six consciousnesses is not born from the nature of seeing. Then what is the relationship between the nature of seeing and the nature of consciousness of the six consciousnesses? What is the difference between the two? What is the relationship between the nature of seeing and the tathāgatagarbha? If the nature of seeing is the seeing of the tathāgatagarbha, then after the tathāgatagarbha sees, there is still the seeing of the manas; and after the manas sees and makes the decisions, the nature of consciousness of the six consciousnesses can appear. Moreover, the tathāgatagarbha does not see specific marks of brightness and darkness or of form and space; the seeing nature of the tathāgatagarbha does not fall into worldly marks—otherwise the tathāgatagarbha would have worldly afflictions, and then it would not be a pure mind.
Original text: 阿难。若汝识性。生于见中。如无明暗。及与色空。四种必无。元无汝见。见性尚无。从何发识。若汝识性。生于相中。不从见生。既不见明。亦不见暗。明暗不瞩。即无色空。彼相尚无。识从何发。
Explanation: Ānanda, if your nature of consciousness were born from within the nature of seeing, and if there were no marks of brightness and darkness, no marks of form and space—if all four marks were absent—then there would be no nature of seeing of yours. If even the nature of seeing does not exist, from where would the nature of consciousness be born? If your nature of consciousness were born from the marks of form and not born from seeing, then your nature of consciousness could neither see brightness nor see darkness. If it could not see brightness and darkness, there would be no form and empty space; not seeing the marks of brightness and darkness, there would be no form and empty space—from what place would the nature of consciousness be produced?
Original text: 若生于空。非相非见。非见无辨。自不能知。明暗色空。非相灭缘。见闻觉知。无处安立。处此二非。空则同无。有非同物。纵发汝识。欲何分别。若无所因。突然而出。何不日中。别识明月。
Explanation: If your nature of consciousness were born from empty space, since empty space has neither marks nor the nature of seeing, the nature of consciousness would have neither form-marks nor the nature of seeing; without the nature of seeing there would be no capacity to discriminate, and the nature of consciousness naturally could not know the causes and conditions of the arising and ceasing of brightness, darkness, form, and space, and seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing could not be established. Emptiness is equivalent to nonexistence, and existence is equivalent to things; between these two opposing phenomena, even if your nature of consciousness could be produced, what would it discriminate? If the nature of consciousness suddenly appeared without any cause, why does it not, in the daytime under the sun, separately discern the bright moon?
Original text: 汝更细详。微细详审。见托汝睛。相推前境。可状成有。不相成无。如是识缘。因何所出。识动见澄。非和非合。闻听觉知。亦复如是。不应识缘。无从自出。若此识心。本无所从。当知了别。见闻觉知。圆满湛然。性非从所。兼彼虚空。地水火风。均名七大。性真圆融。皆如来藏。本无生灭。
Explanation: Examine again carefully, scrutinize minutely and in detail: the nature of seeing exists only by relying on and being supported by your eyes; the marks of form are the objects before you—what has visible shape is called existence, and what has no mark is nonexistence. But from what did the consciousness mind appear? What is the condition for the birth of such a nature of consciousness? The consciousness mind is moving, while the nature of seeing is still and clear; the two cannot combine. The natures of hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are likewise so. It should not be that the consciousness mind arises by itself without cause or place.
If this consciousness mind fundamentally has no place of birth, you should know that the discriminating nature of the consciousness mind and the nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing all exist perfectly, purely, and peacefully; their nature is not born from any place, and together with empty space, earth, water, fire, and wind, they are all among the seven great elements. Their nature is true and perfectly harmonious; all are the tathāgatagarbha, fundamentally without arising or ceasing. Within the tathāgatagarbha, no dharma is born and no dharma ceases.
Original text: 阿难。汝心粗浮。不悟见闻。发明了知。本如来藏。汝应观此。六处识心。为同为异。为空为有。为非同异。为非空有。汝元不知。如来藏中。性识明知。觉明真识。妙觉湛然。遍周法界。含吐十虚。宁有方所。循业发现。世间无知。惑为因缘。及自然性。皆是识心。分别计度。但有言说。都无实义。
Explanation: Ānanda, your mind is coarse and restless; you have not yet awakened to the fact that the clarity and knowing nature of seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing is fundamentally the tathāgatagarbha. You should observe this consciousness mind at the six places of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas: is it the same as or different from the six places, or neither the same nor different? Is the consciousness mind empty or existent, or neither empty nor existent? You fundamentally do not know that within the tathāgatagarbha, the nature of consciousness is the knowing nature of the luminous, tranquil true nature, and the luminous nature of true awareness is the true nature of consciousness; the wondrous awareness is pure, peaceful, and tranquil, pervading all dharma realms, embracing the empty space of the ten directions—where would there be any direction or place? All appears by following the karma of sentient beings. People of the world are ignorant and deludedly believe it is born of causes and conditions or exists spontaneously; it is all the deluded discrimination and calculation of the consciousness mind. Whatever is said has no real meaning.
VIII. The Concepts of the Four Great Elements, the Six Great Elements, and the Seven Great Elements
The four great elements are earth, water, fire, and wind; they are the seeds that form material form-dharmas. When material form is subdivided to the point where it can no longer be divided, that is the ultimate minutiae of the four great elements, but it is still not the seeds of the four great elements themselves; it is still composed of the seeds of the four great elements.
The seven great elements in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra are earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeing, and consciousness—the seven factors that compose the world of sentient beings. The four great elements together with space compose the material body, the aggregate of form; consciousness composes sentient beings' aggregates of consciousness, feeling, perception, and volitional formations. The "self-nature of the great elements" (mahābhūta-svabhāva) refers to the functions of the seeds of the four great elements. If one speaks of the six great elements, this means earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, not including the great element of seeing. This seeing is also a seed within the tathāgatagarbha, referring to the seeing nature inherently possessed by the tathāgatagarbha itself, which is called the buddha-nature. Excluding the great element of seeing, the seven great elements can thus be abbreviated to the six great elements.
The four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind cannot be further divided, but the matter composed of the four great elements can be divided; divided to the very end, it becomes particles adjacent to emptiness. Earth is composed of the four great elements, water is composed of the four great elements, fire is composed of the four great elements, and wind is composed of the four great elements; only the proportional structures of the four great elements differ, forming different kinds of matter.
The ultimate minutiae of the four great elements are also material form composed of the four great elements; divided to the point of being indivisible, they become particles adjacent to emptiness, approaching nothingness. These particles adjacent to emptiness are still composed of the four great elements, only extremely minute. The subdivision of matter into particles adjacent to emptiness is not the dispersal and decomposition of matter's four great seeds into an earth-nature portion, a water-nature portion, a fire-nature portion, and a wind-nature portion, such that the matter disintegrates, ceases to exist, or turns into empty space. Rather, it is the division of matter itself, divided into extremely minute particles of matter.
Within the tathāgatagarbha there are the seven great natures of earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeing, and consciousness, all of which are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha inherently possesses these seven great seeds, which, through various conditions, manifest the five aggregates, the eighteen realms, and the myriad dharmas of the world; thus all dharmas of the world are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, produced by the combination of the seven great seeds.
The nature of emptiness has no form; it is revealed by means of form. Empty space has no shape or marks; where there is no form at the edge of form, it is provisionally named empty space. There is also space within matter and within the body; where there is no matter, it is provisionally named space. Space is not truly existent; it is manifested by means of form. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra the World-Honored One gave an example: digging earth to bore a well—when the earth comes out, there is space, and space is revealed. It appears by following karma: as karma manifests, space appears—it is fundamentally the tathāgatagarbha. The seeing-awareness has no knowing; it exists by means of form and space. Seeing form, seeing space, seeing brightness, seeing darkness—this essence of seeing comes from the tathāgatagarbha; it does not come from form, space, brightness, or darkness, nor does it arise by itself. Seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are fundamentally the tathāgatagarbha.
For example, the single faculty of seeing sees throughout the dharma realm; hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are aware of contact and know, their wondrous merit luminous and pure, pervading the dharma realm. "Wondrous"—only what comes from the tathāgatagarbha is wondrous, possessing the nature-virtues of the tathāgatagarbha, pervading the dharma realm in accordance with conditions, manifesting whenever conditions exist. The seeing natures on the six faculties, fundamentally speaking, all come from the seeing nature of the tathāgatagarbha; all are the tathāgatagarbha's subtle tathatā-nature. If one does not cling to the seeing nature of the six consciousnesses, one will see the seeing nature of the tathāgatagarbha and will know that all dharmas are the function of the tathāgatagarbha's seeing nature.
The nature of consciousness has no source; it arises falsely by means of the six kinds of faculties and objects. When the six faculties contact the six objects, the tathāgatagarbha produces the six consciousnesses. The six faculties are false, the six objects are false, and thus the six consciousnesses also emerge falsely. Why are they false? Because they are born from the tathāgatagarbha, not originally existent, not real. The tathāgatagarbha transmits consciousness seeds to the six consciousnesses; only then do the six consciousnesses have their functions and can discriminate the six objects. "Great" refers to the self-nature of the great elements, the seeds within the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha outputs the seeds according to various conditions, and only then are the myriad dharmas of the world born.
As for the shaped matter such as earth within the marks of the world, it is formed by the combination of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Within earth there are not only earth seeds but also water seeds, fire seeds, and wind seeds. For example, a stone contains the hardness of earth; striking it produces sparks, showing that it has the nature of fire; the occurrence of mudslides shows that the stone has the nature of water; the stone also contains space, which is the nature of space; where there is space there is the existence of wind, and thus the nature of wind. External matter is all generated by the combination of the great-element natures; it is not matter of a single nature.
Consciousness is a functional attribute unique to sentient beings, which material form does not have; therefore material form is called "insentient things." "Wondrous" refers to the nature of the tathāgatagarbha—this is true wonder: without shape or marks, yet with so many uses; possessing nothing, yet able to produce so many dharmas—true emptiness yet wondrous existence. He has never left us for a single second or kṣaṇa; He never leaves nor abandons us, yet He is not located within us, nor mixed together with us.
IX. 性色真空，性空真色；性水真空，性空真水；性火真空，性空真火；性风真空，性空真风。
The earth, water, fire, and wind of the inanimate world of the universe are composed of the four great seeds of the tathāgatagarbha; therefore the nature of earth, water, fire, and wind is the nature of the four great seeds. The four great seeds are without shape or marks and are empty; therefore earth, water, fire, and wind are the nature of emptiness. The nature of the four great seeds is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; therefore the nature of earth, water, fire, and wind is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, that is, the wondrous tathatā-nature. Because the tathāgatagarbha contains the four great seeds, and the four great seeds can generate the earth, water, fire, and wind of the inanimate world of the universe, earth, water, fire, and wind are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, transformed by the tathāgatagarbha by means of the four great seeds; thus the tathāgatagarbha contains the nature of earth, water, fire, and wind and also possesses the properties of earth, water, fire, and wind. The tathāgatagarbha is not earth, water, fire, and wind, yet is also earth, water, fire, and wind; the tathāgatagarbha and earth, water, fire, and wind are neither identical nor different.
"The nature of emptiness" refers to the emptiness-nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The myriad dharmas born from the tathāgatagarbha are empty in nature and not real; they are generated by the flowing forth of a portion of the tathāgatagarbha's seeds; therefore a portion of the tathāgatagarbha becomes form, and thus the essence of all form-dharmas is the true emptiness-nature mind, the tathāgatagarbha. The emptiness-nature mind, the tathāgatagarbha, can produce all forms and marks; therefore all forms and marks are also the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. "The nature of form is true emptiness": the nature of forms and marks is in essence the tathāgatagarbha, the true emptiness-nature mind, the tathāgatagarbha-nature. This is roughly the same as the phrase in the Heart Sutra: "form is emptiness, emptiness is form." By the same principle, water, fire, and wind have this same relationship with the tathāgatagarbha.
X. 性觉真空，性空真觉；性见觉明，觉精明见；性识明知，觉明真识；性真圆融。
"The nature of awareness is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true awareness": the nature of awareness is true emptiness, and the nature of empty space is true awareness. This "awareness" is the awareness of the tathāgatagarbha; the awareness-nature tathāgatagarbha can give birth to empty space. Empty space is "form at the boundary of form"—where there is no form-mark, that is empty space. The fundamental nature and essence of empty space is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. The relationship among empty space, forms and marks, and the emptiness-nature mind tathāgatagarbha needs to be understood clearly; once the two kinds of emptiness can be distinguished, reading the sutra becomes easy to understand.
"The nature of seeing is the awareness's clarity, and the essence of awareness is the clear seeing": the nature of seeing is the clear nature of awareness, and the nature of awareness is the clear nature of seeing. The nature of seeing is born from the clear awareness-nature tathāgatagarbha; seeing brightness, seeing darkness, and seeing empty space are all the nature of awareness, the nature of the tathāgatagarbha.
"The nature of consciousness is the luminous knowing, and the awareness's luminosity is the true consciousness": the nature of consciousness of the six consciousnesses is the tathāgatagarbha's clear knowing nature, and the tathāgatagarbha's luminous awareness-nature is the true nature of consciousness of the six consciousnesses. The nature of consciousness is born from the clear awareness-nature tathāgatagarbha; therefore it is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha.
"The nature is true and perfectly harmonious": to summarize, the natures of the seven great elements—earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeing, and consciousness—are all the nature of the true-awareness tathāgatagarbha; they can perfectly harmonize with one another without obstruction, together constituting all the dharmas of the world of the five aggregates, enabling all dharmas to manifest according to conditions and according to the mind's measure; in essence they are all the tathāgatagarbha's one true dharma realm.
