All dharmas are merely provisional names

For example, a nation: a single individual is not called a nation; since a single individual is not a nation, many people are also not a nation; then a billion people are not a nation either. Where is the nation? It is merely a provisional name! Therefore all dharmas are merely provisional names, without any real substance—except for tathatā (suchness).

By the same reasoning, a head is not called a person, an arm is not called a person, a leg is not called a person; and when combined together, they are still not called a person. What, then, is a person? There is no person! It is merely a provisional name, without any real substance! All dharmas are merely provisional names, without any real substance—except for tathatā (suchness).

What is so-and-so as a person? There is no such person as so-and-so: the head, eyes, brain, and marrow are not so-and-so; the arms, legs, hands, and feet are not so-and-so; thoughts, awareness, notions, and feelings are not so-and-so either. Combined together, they are even less so-and-so; yet one does not depart from these dharmas to see so-and-so as a person. If someone reviles so-and-so, can the reviling reach so-and-so? It cannot! If someone strikes so-and-so, can the striking reach so-and-so? It cannot either! So-and-so is empty, and both striking and reviling are empty! There is no such person and no such event.