Commentary on the Sutra of the Father and Son Compendium, Part LII

King, it is like a person who, upon a high plateau, digs a well to create a pond. What do you think? Where did all the empty space within that pond and well come from?

The King said: It did not come from anywhere.

Explanation: King, it is like someone digging a well on highland soil to draw water. As the earth is removed, an empty space appears, a void comes into being. Consider this: where did the empty space within this pond and well come from? King Śuddhodana replied: This empty space did not come from anywhere.

When a well is dug, where does all the empty space within the well come from? It has no source. Each time a well is dug, a void appears. Where does the void come from? It has no origin, for where there is no matter, there is emptiness. Emptiness is not a truly existent phenomenon. If the earth is filled back in, the void disappears. Where did the void go? It has no destination; no place gains an extra void. When earth is dug out to create a void, the void elsewhere does not diminish. The Tathāgatagarbha is just like this void—neither increasing nor decreasing—because it is formless, without characteristics, pervading all places, existing everywhere.