The Illusion of Myopia and Presbyopia

Nearsightedness and presbyopia are mainly related to organic degeneration of the gross physical sense organ. The particles of the four great elements transmitted through the gross physical sense organ become somewhat distorted, causing the image formed in the supreme faculty to be deformed and no longer conform to the original appearance. What the eye consciousness and mind consciousness discern is thus distorted material sense-object, so glasses are needed to correct and compensate for the pathological condition of the gross physical sense organ. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the World-Honored One spoke of those whose retinas have impairments, or who have cataracts: when they look at a lamp, they can see a circular shadow appear within the lamplight, though in fact there is no circular shadow in the lamplight, and others cannot see it. It is because a bit of excess flesh has grown on the retina of the person with eye disease, obstructing the transmission of the four great elemental particles of external material sense-objects, so that a dark spot appears in the supreme faculty at the back of the brain—that is the circular shadow. The inner material sense-object lamplight seen by the eye consciousness and mind consciousness then contains the circular shadow; it is not entirely bright.

When one closes the eyes to rest the spirit and remains calm and composed, the eyes, when viewing objects, need to consume qi and blood. Excessive use of the eyes will cause qi deficiency and blood depletion. When the body's organs, such as the liver and kidneys, lack sufficient qi and blood and become deficient, it leads to eye fatigue, swelling and aching, and pathological conditions such as nearsightedness and presbyopia, with unclear vision, so that reading text and the like requires the aid of nearsighted or presbyopic glasses. Although a person with eye disease sees things blurred and unclear, other normal people viewing the same objects and text see them normally, clearly and distinctly. Therefore, the form seen by each sentient being is the false and illusory form within the black box of one's own supreme faculty, not the true and real form outside.

After putting on glasses, seeing form again feels clear and normal, yet the form seen is even more illusory and unreal. The tathāgatagarbha takes in the particles of external material sense-objects that travel through the air onto the glasses. These particles differ somewhat from the actual external material sense-objects. The glass lenses of the glasses block out a portion of the particles, and then magnify the material sense-object, turning it into an illusory appearance composed of a false, similar arrangement and combination of particles. This is then transmitted to the gross physical sense organ of the eye, where the particles are blocked again in part. Passing through the vitreous body and the optic nerves of the eye, it is transmitted into the supreme faculty, becoming an inner material sense-object that is even more false and illusory than before, appearing slightly larger than before, making it easier for the eye consciousness and mind consciousness to recognize. So how could there be anything real in what the six consciousnesses discern? What necessity is there to cling to the likes and dislikes, the rights and wrongs, of sounds?

Conclusion: Whatever can change according to conditions—whatever changes as conditions change—must be a false dharma, an illusory dharma, an unreal dharma, and should be negated, not taken as true, nor regarded as self or belonging to self. So do you still believe what your naked eye sees? Do you believe what the six consciousnesses know and perceive? Finally: is everything you know correct? Are you still self-confident? And last of all: do you still take the false as real? Do you want to take the real as real? Will you be able to take the real as real in the future? How can you take the real as real?