Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume III: The Unreality of the Ear Faculty and Sound Objects

Original: Ananda, listen again to the sounds within this Jetavana Grove: when the meal is ready, the drum is beaten; when the assembly is called, the bell is struck. The sounds of the bells and drums follow one another. What do you think? Are these sounds coming to your ear, or is your ear going to the location of the sound? Ananda, if these sounds are coming to your ear, then just as when I go to beg alms in Śrāvastī, I am not present in the Jetavana Grove. Similarly, if the sound must come to Ananda’s ear, then Maudgalyāyana and Kāśyapa should not hear it simultaneously. How much less could the twelve hundred and fifty śramaṇas all hear the bell sound at once and come together to the dining place.

Explanation: Ananda, listen again to the sound of the large drum summoning people for the meal in this Jetavana Grove, and the sound of the bell struck to assemble the multitude. The sounds of the bell and drum follow one another continuously. What do you think? Do you hear the sound because the sound comes to your ear, or does your ear go to where the sound is? Ananda, if it is that these sounds come to your ear, just as when I go to beg alms in Śrāvastī, I am not present in the Jetavana Grove. Similarly, if the sound comes to your ear, then Maudgalyāyana and Mahākāśyapa would have no sound at their location and could not hear it simultaneously. How much less could those twelve hundred and fifty bhikṣus hear it? How could they all arrive at the dining place simultaneously upon hearing the bell sound?

Original: If, instead, your ear goes to the location of the sound, then just as when I return and dwell in the Jetavana Grove, I am not present in Śrāvastī. When you hear the drum sound, your ear has already gone to the place where the drum is struck. When the bell sound arises simultaneously, you should not be able to hear both at once. How much less could you hear the various sounds of elephants, horses, cattle, sheep, and so forth? If there is no coming or going, then again, there would be no hearing at all. Therefore, you should know that both the faculty of hearing and the sound have no fixed location. That is to say, both the hearing and the sound are illusory. They are fundamentally neither caused by conditions nor spontaneous in nature.

Explanation: If your ear goes to the location of the sound, just as when I return from begging alms to dwell in the Jetavana Grove, I am no longer present in Śrāvastī. When you hear the drum sound, your ear has gone to the place where the drum is struck. If the bell sound then arises, you should not be able to hear both simultaneously. Then you could hear even less the sounds of elephants, horses, cattle, sheep, and all kinds of other sounds. If your ear and the sound do not come to each other, you would hear nothing at all. Therefore, it should be understood that both the faculty of hearing and the realm of sound are illusory. They are fundamentally neither conditioned nor spontaneous in nature; both are the wondrous true suchness nature of the Tathāgatagarbha.