Chapter 5: Three Parables of Dreams Selected Lectures on the Sutra of the Meeting of Father and Son

Chapter Five Three Dream Similes

Original text: Great King, the sense faculties are like illusions. The sense objects are like a dream. For example, suppose a person, in a dream, enjoys amusement together with numerous court ladies. Great King, what do you think? After that person awakens from the dream and recalls the pleasures experienced, were they real? The King said: No, they were not.

Explanation: Great King, the six sense faculties are like something conjured up, and the objects of the six senses are like things in a dream. For instance, a person dreams of frolicking and amusing himself with many court ladies. Great King, what is your view? After that person awakens from the dream and still recalls the pleasures experienced in the dream, were the dream states real? King Śuddhodana said: They were not real.

The six sense faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are like illusions, conjured from emptiness where nothing exists; their functions are similarly illusory and unreal. The conjurer is the ālaya-vijñāna, like a magician. The Buddha said that the objects of the sense faculties—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas—are like a dream, equivalent to dream objects, fundamentally ungraspable. In the dream, the dream consciousness can still perceive the dreamscape, contact dream people and objects, and give rise to feelings of joy, pleasure, sorrow, or anger. Upon awakening, nothing remains; nothing at all can be apprehended. Sentient beings living in so-called reality are similarly deluded and inverted, as if in a dream. It seems they can contact the objects of the six senses; it seems they have the feelings of the six consciousnesses. In truth, it is all illusory; upon awakening from the dream, nothing can be apprehended. Sentient beings, due to ignorance, have not yet awakened from the dream. Bodhisattvas are in a state between dreaming and wakefulness. Buddhas have already completely awakened and are no longer in the dream; they can fully recall dream events, while ordinary sentient beings are all speaking in their sleep.

Original text: The Buddha said: Great King, this person, grasping what he dreamed as real—is he wise? No, World-Honored One. Why? The court ladies in the dream were ultimately non-existent; how much less so the act of amusing himself with them. You should know that this person, recalling the dream state, merely wearies himself in vain; it cannot be regained.

Explanation: The Buddha said to King Śuddhodana: Great King, this person regards the dream he experienced as real—is he wise? King Śuddhodana said: This person is not wise. Why say so? Because the court ladies in the dream are ultimately not real, much less the act of amusing oneself with them. You should know that this person, recalling the dream state, merely exhausts his mind-consciousness in vain; the dream cannot return; he cannot resume the dream.

Clearly, everything exists in the dream, yet upon awakening, nothing exists. After awakening, he still takes the people and events of the dream as real and constantly clings to them—this person is not wise. The Buddha used this method to alert King Śuddhodana not to crave the pleasures of the five desires. The pleasures of the five desires are like dream events; they should not be craved. Craving them leads to the vain suffering of birth, death, and saṃsāra.

Original text: The Buddha said: Great King, so it is, so it is. Foolish sentient beings, having seen a form with the eye, give rise to fondness and pleasure in the mind. Then they generate craving and attachment, are drawn by that, and create karmic actions of craving. There are three kinds of bodily actions, four kinds of verbal actions, and three kinds of mental actions. Initially created, they cease and vanish in an instant. These karmas do not abide in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle. At the moment of death, when the life faculty ceases, the karmic retribution created by oneself all manifests before him. It is like awakening from a dream and recalling the dream events.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, so it is, so it is; truly it is thus. Foolish sentient beings, having seen a form with the eye, give rise to fondness and pleasure in the mind, then crave the form-object, their minds drawn and adhered to by the form-object, creating karmic actions of craving. Bodily actions are threefold: killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. Verbal actions are fourfold: false speech, frivolous speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech. Mental actions are threefold: greed, hatred, and delusion. After the actions of body, speech, and mind are created, the karmic actions vanish as soon as they are created; finally, the karmic actions cease and are no longer created. But the karmic actions do not abide in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle; they do not go to the east, west, south, north, or the eight directions. However, when the time comes at the end of life for the six sense faculties to cease, the karmic retribution created by oneself will all manifest, just like recalling dream events upon awakening.

Foolish sentient beings see a form with the eye; craving arises immediately, instantly giving rise to a mind of fondness and pleasure, and the mind is held and adhered to by the form. If the external six dusts (objects) could bind, what they bind is the mind. The mind is bound by an invisible rope of craving and attachment and begins to create karmic actions of craving. Karmic actions are divided into bodily actions, verbal actions, and mental actions. The body creates three bodily actions: killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. The mouth creates four verbal actions: false speech, frivolous speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech. Mental actions are greed, hatred, and delusion. Thus, ten kinds of karmas are created. After these three types of actions—body, speech, and mind—are created, they exist as seeds stored in the ālaya-vijñāna. When conditions ripen, the seeds manifest, and sentient beings undergo karmic retribution.

Undergoing karmic retribution is actually oneself taking revenge upon oneself. When sentient beings create karma, who do they most fear knowing about it? It doesn't matter if ghosts, spirits, or Dharma-protecting deities know; it doesn't matter if Buddhas and Bodhisattvas know. What they fear most is the ālaya-vijñāna knowing. But do you think the ālaya-vijñāna wouldn't know? When the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses create karmic actions, they rely entirely on the ālaya-vijñāna's cooperation; without it, they fundamentally cannot create anything. Therefore, the ālaya-vijñāna knows all the actions created by the five aggregates and simultaneously stores the karmic seeds. Understanding this principle, one should be careful with one's actions of body, speech, and mind, cease creating unwholesome karmas, create more wholesome karmas, and strive to abandon evil and cultivate good.

When bodily, verbal, and mental actions are initially created, they cease and vanish in an instant. For example, taking a knife to kill someone: after picking up the knife, the action of picking up the knife ceases; the next step, extending the hand—afterwards, the action of extending the hand ceases; the next step, stabbing the knife into the other's body—this action vanishes; the next step, pulling out the knife—the action vanishes; the next step, throwing or washing the knife—the action vanishes again. This series of actions constituting killing is created; as the next action arises, the previous action vanishes. After all actions vanish, has the action of killing itself vanished? If this action did not vanish, one would have to keep killing, which is impossible. Any action always has an end. The action itself vanishes upon completion; therefore, any wholesome or unwholesome action is impermanent and cannot be apprehended. Yet the seeds do not vanish; they exist moment by moment in the ālaya-vijñāna, awaiting the ripening of conditions for future retribution.

The creation of actions ceases and vanishes in an instant, extremely fast. Each instant has eighty-one thousand seeds arising and ceasing, arising and ceasing, arising and ceasing, passing by, only then forming the entire act of killing. Therefore, the entire act of killing is entirely characterized by arising and ceasing. Yet this entire action is stored as a karmic seed in one's own ālaya-vijñāna. In a snap of the fingers, in an instant, eighty-one thousand seeds arise and cease, passing by. Countless phenomena of arising and ceasing constitute this snap of the fingers. Therefore, the dharmas of snapping fingers are illusory. And the dharma of killing is connected by immeasurable moments the duration of a snap of the fingers; it is constituted by immeasurable actions similar to snapping fingers. Thus, the action of killing is also illusory, characterized by arising and ceasing, and devoid of self. Contemplating thus, one can realize the emptiness of the body according to the Śrāvaka path.

One can similarly contemplate the seeds of the mind-consciousness arising and ceasing instantaneously. Countless instantaneous arising and ceasing constitute the continuous discriminating and creating actions of the mind-consciousness. The mind-consciousness is characterized by arising and ceasing, is illusory, and is devoid of self. Thus, one can realize the emptiness of the mind. Emptiness of body plus emptiness of mind—emptiness of the five aggregates, no-self—one attains the purity of the Dharma-eye. After contemplating and severing the view of self, one continues to contemplate: How is this series of actions constituting killing created? How can eighty-one thousand seeds arise in the time of a snap of the fingers? How does the ālaya-vijñāna record karmic actions? Contemplating thus, those with good meditative concentration realize very quickly, provided there is no deliberate thinking. If there is, realization cannot occur. To realize the fruit, when conditions are ripe, it happens in an instant. If conditions are not ripe, for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, one remains deluded and inverted within the six paths.

Although karmic actions cease and vanish instantly, these karmic actions do not abide in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle; they vanish just like that. For example, raising a hand and then putting it down—observe the karmic action of raising the hand. Where does it go when it vanishes? The karmic action vanishes; it doesn't go to any place. If there were a place for it to abide, that place would always be raising the hand. If it were killing, the karmic action of killing would always be in a certain place, which would be terrible.

The Buddha said that at the moment of death, when the life faculty ceases—that is, when a sentient being's lifespan is exhausted, at the point of dying but not yet dead—this is called the moment the life faculty ceases. One thing appears: the Buddha said one's own karmic retribution all manifests before one. What is one's own karmic retribution? It is the fruition of the karmic actions created by oneself manifesting, just like knowing what one did in the dream after awakening from the dream. Sentient beings, before death at the end of life, experience the events of this lifetime, whether wholesome or unwholesome, flashing very rapidly in the mind like a movie. At that time, they know what they did in this lifetime, know whether they did more good or evil, what kind of retribution they should receive, and which path they should go to in saṃsāra. The mind is perfectly clear, but they can no longer speak.

When creating karma, it seems unnoticed by gods or ghosts; the karmic actions have already vanished. Yet at the moment of death, the retribution can manifest. Why can it all manifest? It is because when creating karmic actions, the actions exist moment by moment as seeds in the ālaya-vijñāna. Although the actions vanish, the karmic seeds remain. Actions, having form and characteristics, can vanish. Seeds, being formless and characteristicless, do not dissipate until the retribution is undergone. The karmic actions of cause and effect are inconceivable.

Original text: Great King, consciousness is the master. Karma is the condition. These two kinds act as causes and conditions. The initial consciousness arises. One may go to the hells, fall among animals, the realm of Yama, or among asuras, humans, or gods. Once the initial consciousness arises, each receives his retribution. The mental factors of the same category continuously follow and revolve. The final consciousness ceasing is called the death aggregate. The initial consciousness arising is called the birth aggregate.

Explanation: Great King, the ālaya-vijñāna acts as the master of sentient beings; it is the primary cause for the birth of the next life's form-body. Karmic actions are the condition for the birth of the next life's form-body. When causes and conditions come together, the initial consciousness of the next life appears, and the next life's form-body is born. At birth, this person either falls into a hell-body, or falls into an animal-body, or falls into a ghost-body, or falls into an asura-body, or falls into a human-body, or falls into a heavenly-body. When the initial consciousness of the next life is born, sentient beings begin to undergo their respective karmic retribution. After that, the consciousnesses on this form-body continuously operate without cease until finally the consciousnesses cease, becoming a corpse; this is called the death aggregate. And when the initial consciousness arises, sentient beings are born; this is called the birth aggregate.

Why is the ālaya-vijñāna the master of karma? Because without the ālaya-vijñāna, there are no five aggregates, and thus no ability to create karma. The mental faculty (manas) intends to create karma; the ālaya-vijñāna knows this and cooperates with the mental faculty, outputting various seeds to accomplish the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five-aggregate body. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five aggregates are all realized by the ālaya-vijñāna outputting seeds. Therefore, the five aggregates *are* the ālaya-vijñāna; they are of the nature of the ālaya-vijñāna. The karma created by the five-aggregate body is a contributing condition. With the ālaya-vijñāna and karmic conditions acting as cause and condition for the birth of the next life's five aggregates, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses of the next life arise, and karmic retribution begins.

For example, one destined to be reborn as a human: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses arise again. After the five aggregates are complete, there are feelings; the karmic retribution of human joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness appears. Without consciousness, one cannot feel pleasure or pain; it's as if the retribution hasn't been received. Actually, being conceived in a human womb, the ten months in the womb are a form of retribution. This retribution must be undergone by the mental faculty; the ālaya-vijñāna does not undergo retribution, nor is it confined in the womb. In the human womb, before four or five months, there is no mind-consciousness; one cannot feel pain or pleasure. Strictly speaking, that period is not truly undergoing retribution. Saying it's not undergoing retribution is actually also undergoing retribution, because that form-body *is* the karmic retribution body. It's just that without mind, one doesn't know pleasure or pain, and the feelings of the mental faculty are not easily known by the mind-consciousness.

If one is reborn in a hell, the hellish form appears, the consciousnesses arise immediately, and one instantly feels the painful sensations of hell; the suffering retribution appears. If reborn among animals, as soon as the animal's perceiving mind appears, it feels pain and pleasure; the suffering retribution appears. Or reborn in the realm of Yama (ghosts), reborn in the asura realm, or born among humans, or born in the heavens—only when consciousness arises does formal retribution begin; then good receives good retribution, evil receives evil retribution. As soon as a heavenly being is born, he feels happiness. As soon as one is born in the animal realm, hell realm, or ghost realm, one feels suffering. But even without the six consciousnesses to feel it, it still constitutes retribution.

After consciousness arises, it operates continuously on the form-body until death. When this lifetime ends, after the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses—these six consciousnesses—all cease, the body becomes like a piece of wood; this is called the death aggregate. When the initial eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses arise, it is called the birth aggregate. One birth, one cessation—that is one lifetime. At the birth and death of each lifetime, nothing is brought, nothing is taken away. Except for bringing and taking away karmic actions to undergo retribution, everything else vanishes without a trace.

Therefore, all dharmas are themselves characterized by arising and ceasing; they are empty. Empty things cannot be taken away; only real things can be taken away. What can be taken away? The ālaya-vijñāna always follows oneself life after life, carrying the karmic seeds life after life, realizing karmic retribution life after life. As for where the five aggregates go to undergo retribution, the ālaya-vijñāna doesn't care; it doesn't undergo retribution anyway. It never abandons sentient beings; it merely continuously manifests the five-aggregate body according to karma. So who is the closest to sentient beings? It is the ālaya-vijñāna; it refuses to part from the five-aggregate body even for an instant.

Original text: Great King, there is not the slightest dharma that can go from this world to another world. Why? Because its nature is arising and ceasing. Great King, when the body-consciousness arises, it comes from nowhere. When it ceases, it goes nowhere. When that karma arises, it comes from nowhere. When it ceases, it goes nowhere. When the initial consciousness arises, it comes from nowhere. When it ceases, it goes nowhere. Why? Because its own nature is apart [from substantial existence].

Explanation: Great King, there is fundamentally not a single dharma that can be taken from this world to another world. Why is this? Because all dharmas are characterized by arising and ceasing. Great King, when the body-consciousness arises, it has no source; when it ceases, it has no destination. The karmic actions created by consciousness, when they arise, have no source; when they cease, they have no destination. The initial consciousness arising on the form-body, when it arises, has no source; when it ceases, it has no destination. Why are these dharmas without source or destination? Because the self-nature of these dharmas is apart from all dharmas; there are no real dharmas.

Original text: Knowing thus, know the body-consciousness and the emptiness of body-consciousness. Know one’s own karma and the emptiness of one’s own karma. Know the initial consciousness and the emptiness of the initial consciousness. If there is cessation, cessation is empty. If there is arising, arising is empty. Know the revolving of karma: there is no doer, nor is there a receiver. There are only names and characteristics, discriminated and displayed.

Explanation: Knowing thus, one knows the body-consciousness and knows the emptiness of body-consciousness; knows the karmic actions created by oneself and the emptiness of those karmic actions; knows the initial consciousness and the emptiness of the initial consciousness. If these dharmas cease, their cessation is also empty; if these dharmas arise, their arising is also empty. Knowing the revolving of karmic force, there is no doer, nor is there a receiver of retribution; it is merely the discrimination and display of various names and characteristics.

The body-consciousness arises without a source; it doesn't come from the east, south, west, north, or from space. The body-consciousness has no source. After the body-consciousness ceases, it has no destination. Therefore, the body-consciousness is illusory; it is empty. Created karmic actions, when they arise, have no source and no destination; they are also empty and illusory. Knowing thus, one can realize the Śrāvaka fruit of emptiness. For example, before the karma of killing arises, where is this killing karma? Where is the killing action? It doesn't exist anywhere; karma has no source. After creating this karma, the karma vanishes. Where did the killing action go? There is nowhere for it to go; it didn't go to the east, south, west, north, or the space above and below; it has no destination.

Another example: the action of picking up a book—this action ceases, where did it vanish to? Nowhere to go; it is illusory. Before the action of intending to pick up the book arises, where does it exist? Nowhere to exist. Before speaking, where is the speech stored? Nowhere to store it. After speaking, the speech vanishes; where did it vanish to? Nowhere to go. If there were a place to store these things, even space couldn't hold it all. All actions and creations are illusory, conjured, empty. Analyzing it this way and that, not a single dharma is real. If a person is completely a Śrāvaka, only concerned with his own liberation, he would feel that his own life is meaningless, very boring.

To want to live on, one must generate the mind of a great vehicle (Mahāyāna) Bodhisattva, resolve to become a Buddha and liberate suffering sentient beings. Living is only this one matter; there is no second matter. Everything in the world is empty, possessing nothing. With such a mind living in the world, what is the mental state? It is like dwelling lightly in space; everything has no relation to oneself, no attachments, no afflictions, freely and spontaneously at ease. Ordinary sentient beings live too heavily, carrying burdens on their shoulders, holding things in their hearts, wanting everything, yet unable to take anything when they die; it's all empty—how could they take it?

The self-nature of consciousness is apart from all dharmas; it does not possess all dharmas; it is empty, without self-nature. This is called 'self-nature apart'. One should know the body-consciousness thus, know the emptiness of body-consciousness; know one's own karmic actions and the emptiness of karmic actions thus; know the initially arising consciousness on the form-body and the emptiness of consciousness. The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses—before they arise, they have no location; after they cease, they have no place to go. Therefore, they are empty. If the consciousness is ceased, this cessation itself is also empty. Who ceases it? There is no agent that causes the consciousness to cease; the consciousness ceases by itself; no one ceases it.

There is not a single dharma in the mundane or supramundane that is not empty, except the ālaya-vijñāna. From beginning to end, from inside to outside, emptying all dharmas of the three realms, one realizes the fourth fruit (Arhat). Not only will one never go to the three evil paths again, one will also transcend the three realms. Emptifying oneself of all kinds of mental activities, all kinds of minds—greedy mind, hateful mind, deluded mind, arrogant mind, the mind that knows all dharmas—all emptied, one can enter the remainderless nirvāṇa. The form-body is relatively easy to realize as false and illusory. Denying the consciousness's various perceptions, feelings, thoughts, plans, and discriminations, realizing the consciousness as empty and illusory, is slightly more difficult. For those of sharp faculties, as long as these conditions are fulfilled, cultivation and realization are not very difficult.

When realizing no-self, not only is the person empty, but karmic actions are also empty. For example, when I kill a person, is there an 'I' killing? What is called 'I'? My consciousness, the consciousness intending to kill, is illusory and empty; my form-body is illusory and empty—then is there this person called 'me'? There is no 'me'. Is the knife held in the hand real? It is not real. Then does the karmic action of killing exist? It is empty. The person is empty, the object is empty, the action of creation is empty—this karmic action of 'I' taking a knife to kill a person is illusory. Is there anyone creating the act of killing? No. Is there the person killed by me? No; his form-body is similarly empty and false; his consciousness is similarly empty and illusory; his feelings are empty and illusory; the painful feeling is empty and illusory. Then is there an 'I', a 'him', a karmic action? None exist. As long as one contemplates diligently like this, it's hard *not* to realize the fruit. One can also realize the mind (明心), attain enlightenment, and cultivate to the stage of the First Ground Bodhisattva.

The Buddha said: Know the revolving of karma—there is no doer, nor is there a receiver. The arising, functioning, and ceasing of karmic actions are all empty; there is no creator of karma, nor is there a receiver of karma, nor a receiver of retribution. Emptying everything along this path, the sacred nature of the mind arises; it is no longer an ordinary mind; there are no ordinary mental activities. Afflictions like greed, hatred, and delusion melt away like snow in boiling water. Thus, one does not need to expend much effort and energy to counteract various afflictions. Using antidotes to counteract afflictions is very tiring for the mind. Counteracting for many lives and kalpas does not solve the fundamental problem because one takes all dharmas as real things, believes they exist—how can one counteract them thoroughly and solve the fundamental problem? Instantly recognizing that everything is empty and illusory—is there still a need to apply antidotes? Fundamentally, there is no need for antidotes.

Therefore, the method of following greed, hatred, and delusion to counteract greed, hatred, and delusion is really too circuitous, too tortuous, too slow. It is not the most fundamental method, nor the fastest shortcut. We must start from the root. For example, to remove a big tree, one must start from the root; cut the root, and the whole tree falls, never to grow again. Cultivation cannot be plucking leaves, slowly plucking leaf by leaf; when plucked, they grow again, plucked, they grow again—this is endless. The counteracting method of cultivation is like plucking leaves. The contemplation methods described above are methods of cutting the tree root—completely thorough, cutting it off at the root; then the leaves, branches, and trunk will never grow again and thus become extinct. Eliminating afflictions is also like this: directly cut off the root source of all dharmas, realize the emptiness of all dharmas; when facing all dharmas, afflictions will no longer arise.

Original text: The Buddha said: Great King, for example, suppose a person, in a dream, fights a battle together with numerous adversaries. What do you think? After this person awakens and recalls the events of fighting in the dream, were they real? The King said: No. The Buddha said: Great King, this person, grasping what he dreamed as real—is he wise? The King said: No, World-Honored One. Why? In the dream, there were ultimately no adversaries; how much less so fighting together with them. You should know that this person merely worried and troubled himself in vain; there was nothing real.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, for example, suppose a person in a dream fights a battle together with numerous adversaries. What do you think? After this person awakens and still recalls the fighting events in the dream, were those things real? King Śuddhodana said: They were not real. The Buddha said: Great King, this person regards the dream as real and clings to it—is he a wise person? King Śuddhodana said: This person is not a wise person, World-Honored One. Why? Because adversaries do not exist in the dream, much less the act of fighting them. This person merely generated worry and trouble for himself; there were no real people or events in the dream.

Original text: The Buddha said: Great King, so it is, so it is. Foolish ordinary beings, seeing an unpleasant form with the eye, immediately give rise to annoyance, aversion, destruction, criticism of faults, and create karmic actions of hatred. There are three kinds of bodily actions, four kinds of verbal actions, and three kinds of mental actions. Initially created, they cease and vanish in an instant. These karmas do not abide in the east, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle. At the moment of death, when the life faculty ceases, the karmic retribution created by oneself all manifests before him. It is like awakening from a dream and recalling the dream events.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, truly it is so; you are correct. Foolish ordinary sentient beings, seeing an unpleasant form with the eye, immediately give rise to anger and annoyance in the mind, give rise to a mind of aversion and abandonment, want to destroy the unpleasant form, criticize the various faults of the unpleasant form, and create karmic actions of hatred. Their karmic actions are divided into three bodily actions, four verbal actions, and three mental actions. The initially created karmic actions cease and vanish instantaneously. These karmic actions do not abide in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle. When approaching the end of life as the form-body is about to cease, the karmic retribution created by oneself manifests, just like recalling dream events upon awakening from a dream.

Ordinary beings (异生, *prthagjana*) are born at a different time, in a different place, into a different species—that is, after death, born at another different time, in a different location, into a different kind, undergoing different karmic retribution. Different time means after the intermediate state (bardo) ends, then rebirth. Different location—perhaps heaven, perhaps hell, perhaps the form realm, perhaps another planet; this is uncertain. Different kind—different identity within the six paths: perhaps human, or heavenly being, or ghost, or animal, or asura; this is also uncertain.

Foolish ordinary beings, seeing an unpleasant form with the eye, give rise to a hateful, annoyed mind, an averse mind, a mind wanting to destroy or ruin, then create karmic actions of hatred—either hitting, or scolding, or destroying. Bodily actions are killing, stealing, sexual misconduct; verbal actions are false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, frivolous speech; mental actions are greed, hatred, delusion—these are the ten unwholesome karmas. How are these karmic actions created? When creating karmic actions, the initial creation ceases and vanishes instantly. Actions, once created, cease immediately. Actions of hitting and scolding vanish as soon as they arise; when arising, they have no location; when ceasing, they have no place to go; all is empty.

The ten unwholesome karmas do not abide in the east, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle; unwholesome karma has no abode. But after creation, when the life faculty is about to cease, the karmic retribution manifests; the seeds ripen. The karmic actions of a lifetime flash like lightning, appearing and vanishing; it feels like this lifetime was just a dream. The feeling at the moment of death is exactly like the feeling upon awakening from a dream; one knows this life is about to end and knows what the karmic retribution after death will be. Yet while alive, one doesn't feel it's a dream; instead, it feels very real.

Explanation: Great King, the ālaya-vijñāna acts as the master of sentient beings; it is the cause for the birth of the next life's form-body. The karmic actions of this life are the condition for the birth of the next life's form-body. When causes and conditions come together, the initial consciousness of the next life appears, and the next life's form-body is born. This person either falls into a hell-body, animal-body, ghost realm, or lands in an asura-body, human-body, or heavenly-body. When the initial consciousness of the next life is born, sentient beings begin to undergo their respective karmic retribution. After that, the consciousnesses on this form-body operate continuously without cease until finally the consciousnesses cease, becoming a corpse and a dead being; this is called the death aggregate. And when the initial consciousness arises, sentient beings are born; this is called the birth aggregate.

The ālaya-vijñāna is the master of sentient beings. The bodily, verbal, and mental karmic actions created by the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses are the contributing conditions for birth. Causes and conditions combined, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses of the next life arise, and the karmic retribution of the next life begins. Once the initial consciousness arises, one immediately knows one is born in hell, born in heaven, born among animals, born in the ghost realm. For example, one destined to be reborn as a human: as soon as the initial consciousness arises, feelings appear; the human karmic retribution manifests. Without consciousness, there is no experiencer; one cannot feel pleasure or pain; one has not truly received the retribution. The karmic retribution body in the human womb for the first four or five months has no consciousness; thus, one cannot feel painful or pleasant sensations. Strictly speaking, that period is not truly undergoing retribution. Saying it's not undergoing retribution is actually also undergoing retribution, because that form-body *is* the karmic retribution body; it's just that without mind, one doesn't know pleasure or pain.

The consciousnesses on the same form-body continuously function and play a role. Throughout one lifetime, the eye consciousness and other six consciousnesses on the same form-body all continuously function; this is called mental factors of the same category (同分心品). When the final consciousness ceases, the form-body becomes a corpse like wood, called the death aggregate. When the initial consciousness arises, it is called the birth aggregate. The six consciousnesses are called the aggregate of consciousness.

Explanation: Great King, there is fundamentally not a single dharma that can be taken from this world to another world. Why is this? Because all dharmas are characterized by arising and ceasing. Great King, when the body-consciousness arises, it has no source; when it ceases, it has no destination. The karmic actions created by consciousness, when they arise, have no source; when they cease, they have no destination. The initial consciousness arising on the form-body has no source when it arises; it has no destination when it ceases. Why are these dharmas without source or destination? Because the self-nature of these dharmas is apart from all dharmas; they lack the reality of all dharmas.

Not the slightest dharma goes from this world to another world; nothing is taken away. Why? Because the nature of these dharmas is characterized by arising and ceasing, empty and illusory. The form-body is empty, the mind is empty, karma is empty—everything is empty, all dharmas are completely empty, self-nature empty. When the initial consciousness arises, it has no source; when it ceases, it has no destination. The self-nature of these dharmas is apart from all dharmas; they do not truly exist; they are empty and illusory. Karma ceased is also empty; karma arisen is also empty. There is no creator of karma, nor is there a receiver of karmic fruit; there is no experiencer; it is merely the discrimination and display of names and characteristics.

Original text: The Buddha said: Great King, for example, suppose a person, in a dream, is harmed by a piśāca, feels terrified, becomes deluded, confused, and faints. Great King, what do you think? After this person awakens and recalls being harmed by a ghost in the dream, was it real? The King said: No, it was not. The Buddha said: Great King, this person, grasping what he dreamed as real—is he wise? The King said: No, World-Honored One. Why? In the dream, there was ultimately no ghost harming him; how much less so being deluded, confused, and fainting. You should know that this person merely wearied himself in vain; there was nothing real.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, for example, suppose a person in a dream is harmed by a piśāca ghost, feels extremely afraid, becomes confused, and faints. Great King, what do you think? After this person awakens and still recalls being harmed by a ghost in the dream, was this event real? King Śuddhodana replied: It was not real, World-Honored One. The Buddha said: Great King, this person regards the dream as real—is he a wise person? King Śuddhodana replied: He is not a wise person, World-Honored One. Why say so? Because in the dream, there was fundamentally no event of being harmed by a ghost, much less being frightened and fainting. You should know this person merely exhausted his mind in vain; there was no real event.

Original text: The Buddha said: Great King, so it is, so it is. Foolish ordinary beings, seeing a form with the eye, become confused and uncomprehending, create karmic actions of delusion. There are three kinds of bodily actions, four kinds of verbal actions, and three kinds of mental actions. Initially created, they cease and vanish in an instant. These karmas, having ceased, do not abide in the east, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle. At the final moment, when the life faculty ceases, the karmic retribution created by oneself all manifests before him. It is like awakening from a dream and recalling the dream events.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, truly it is so; you are correct. Foolish ordinary sentient beings, seeing a form with the eye, become confused in the mind, unable to comprehend the essence of the form, create karmic actions of delusion—three bodily actions, four verbal actions, three mental actions. The initially created karmic actions cease and vanish instantaneously. These karmic actions do not abide in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle. When approaching the end of life as the form-body is about to cease, the karmic retribution created by oneself all manifests, just like recalling dream events upon awakening from a dream.

The initially created karmic actions cease and vanish instantaneously. After this karma ceases, it does not abide in the east, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the middle; it has no abode. For example, the verbal karma of speaking: before arising, it has no place to abide; after vanishing, it has no place to go. But ultimately, when the life faculty ceases, the seeds of this verbal karma ripen, and one undergoes retribution according to the karmic seeds. At the moment of death, one's own and others' karmic retribution manifests, just like recalling dream events after awakening from a dream. After that, one only undergoes retribution according to karma, vainly suffering the cycle of the six paths.

The ālaya-vijñāna is the master of sentient beings. The bodily, verbal, and mental karmic actions created by the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses are the contributing conditions for birth. Causes and conditions combined, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses of the next life arise, and the karmic retribution of the next life begins. Once the initial consciousness arises, one immediately knows one's retribution. For example, one destined to be reborn as a human: as soon as the initial consciousness arises, feelings appear; the human karmic retribution manifests. Without consciousness, there is no experiencer; one cannot feel pleasure or pain; one has not truly received the retribution. The karmic retribution body in the human womb for the first four or five months has no consciousness; thus, one cannot feel painful or pleasant sensations. Strictly speaking, that period is not truly undergoing retribution. Saying it's not undergoing retribution is actually also undergoing retribution, because that form-body *is* the karmic retribution body; it's just that without mind, one doesn't know pleasure or pain.

The consciousnesses on the same form-body continuously function and play a role throughout one lifetime; this is called mental factors of the same category (同分心品). When the final consciousness ceases, the form-body becomes a corpse like wood, called the death aggregate. When the initial consciousness arises, it is called the birth aggregate. The six consciousnesses are called the aggregate of consciousness.

Explanation: Great King, there is fundamentally not a single dharma that can be taken from this world to another world. Why is this? Because all dharmas are characterized by arising and ceasing. Great King, when the body-consciousness arises, it has no source; when it ceases, it has no destination. The karmic actions created by consciousness, when they arise, have no source; when they cease, they have no destination. The initial consciousness arising on the form-body has no source when it arises; it has no destination when it ceases. Why are these dharmas without source or destination? Because the self-nature of these dharmas is apart from all dharmas; they lack the reality of all dharmas.

Not the slightest dharma goes from this world to another world; nothing is taken away, because the nature of all dharmas is characterized by arising and ceasing, empty and illusory. The form-body is empty, the mind is empty, karma is empty—everything is empty, all dharmas are completely empty, self-nature empty. The initial consciousness arising has no source; ceasing has no destination. The self-nature of these dharmas is apart from all dharmas; they do not truly exist; they are empty and illusory. Karma ceased is also empty; karma arisen is also empty. There is no creator of karma, nor is there a receiver of karmic fruit; there is no experiencer; it is merely the discrimination and display of names and characteristics.

Original text: Great King, you should know: The sense faculties are like illusions. The sense objects are like a dream. All dharmas are entirely empty and quiescent. This is called the gate of liberation of emptiness. Emptiness having no characteristic of emptiness is called the gate of liberation of signlessness. If there are no characteristics, then there is no wishing or seeking; this is called the gate of liberation of wishlessness. These three dharmas proceed together with emptiness. The path leading to nirvāṇa should be cultivated thus.

Explanation: Great King, you should know that the six sense faculties are like illusions, and the various objects of the senses are like things in a dream. All dharmas are entirely empty and quiescent; this is the gate of liberation of emptiness (śūnyatā-vimokṣa). The emptiness of dharmas having no characteristic of emptiness is called the gate of liberation of signlessness (animitta-vimokṣa). If all dharmas have no characteristics, then one should not generate any wishes or seekings; no wishing or seeking is called the gate of liberation of wishlessness (apraṇihita-vimokṣa). Thus, the three gates of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—proceed together with emptiness. The path leading to nirvāṇa should be cultivated in this way.

The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind six sense faculties are all conjured up. The various objects seen by the eyes, heard by the ears—the objects of the six senses—are like dream events, not real. What more do we need to pursue? All dharmas are entirely empty and quiescent; not one is not empty; not one is not quiescent; nothing exists. This is the gate of liberation of emptiness. Realizing that all dharmas are empty, knowing they are empty, the mind is liberated.

Emptiness having no characteristic of emptiness is called the gate of liberation of signlessness. The dharma of emptiness has no characteristic that can be seen, spoken of, or pointed out; even emptiness is empty—this is the gate of liberation of signlessness. Knowing emptiness has no characteristics at all, not even emptiness, the mind is even more liberated. If there are no characteristics at all, not even emptiness, what is there to cling to? What is there to seek? There is nothing more to seek; this is the gate of liberation of wishlessness. Without wishes or seekings, the mind is even more liberated. Accomplishing the three gates of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—one becomes a noble one (Ārya).

The three dharmas—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—proceed together with emptiness; they are not separate from emptiness, yet have no characteristic of emptiness; the three are also not separate from each other, progressing step by step, leading to ultimate liberation. Sentient beings wishing to enter nirvāṇa, seeking the unborn and unceasing, should cultivate thus, continuously generating mental activities of emptiness, becoming emptier and emptier, even emptying emptiness, only then is emptiness completely clean and thorough. If the mind still has an 'emptiness', then it is not truly empty; one should still cease the mind of emptiness. On the path to nirvāṇa, one should cultivate and learn thus to realize nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is liberation; nirvāṇa is the unborn and unceasing; nirvāṇa is quiescent and unconditioned; nirvāṇa is great freedom.