Commentary on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (64)

The eye base is ultimately empty; its prior and later limits are both unattainable

If the eye faculty were not empty, it would exist perpetually, with no arising and likewise no ceasing; it would be able to govern itself, and there would be no dharma capable of governing its arising and ceasing. But the eye faculty is exactly the opposite of this. If the eye faculty can be brought into existence and can also cease involuntarily—ceasing as soon as it is no longer sustained—then it is empty and illusory. How is the eye faculty formed? The element of earth is added in, along with the elements of water, fire, and wind, mixed together; the seeds of the four great elements are arranged and combined in a certain proportion, and through their combination the physical body of the eye faculty is formed. When karmic conditions disappear, the seeds of the four great elements disperse, and the eye faculty vanishes—empty coming and empty going, without any self-nature, utterly unattainable.

We should not give rise to craving, attachment, or delight toward the eye faculty, saying it is good or bad; in reality there is no good or bad—it is all false and empty. Therefore the eye base is ultimately empty, and its prior and later limits are both unattainable. The eye faculty of the previous life, the eye faculty of the next life, the eye faculty of the present and the eye faculty of the past, the eye faculty of today and the eye faculty of yesterday—all are unattainable. Yesterday, relative to today, is the prior limit; tomorrow, relative to today, is the later limit; the present moment as I speak is the present limit—before speaking is the prior limit, and after finishing speaking is the later limit. The prior and later limits connected in this way—prior and later limits are utterly unattainable; all are empty.

The eye faculty of past lives is also unattainable—it simply cannot be brought out; search everywhere and it cannot be found. If in the future another eye faculty is created, that eye faculty will likewise be unattainable; at present it simply cannot be brought out, and a dharma that has not yet appeared is even more illusory. The eye faculty of the present moment arises and ceases thought after thought, changing in every instant, and is likewise unattainable. The appearance of eye ailments such as myopia, presbyopia, and glaucoma shows that the eye faculty is changeable and unreliable—it cannot even be kept in a healthy, normal state; its self-nature is indeed utterly unattainable.