The Gatha on the Transmission of the Dharma by the 24th Patriarch, Venerable Siṃha

Original Text: When speaking of knowledge and perception, knowledge and perception are entirely of the mind; when the mind is knowledge and perception, knowledge and perception are precisely the present.

Explanation: When we articulate views of knowledge and perception, these expressions of knowledge and perception all flow forth from the intrinsic mind, manifesting as virtuous functions and applications of the intrinsic mind. In their entirety, they are the intrinsic mind itself—neither separate from nor identical to it. At the very moment knowledge and perception arise, a portion of the latent functions of seeds within the intrinsic mind transforms into the discriminating functions of knowing and perceiving. This is akin to gold being fashioned into a ring: while the ring does not lose the intrinsic nature of gold, it acquires the function of a ring. Similarly, the intrinsic mind transmigrates into knowledge and perception without losing its fundamental essence. Just as a ring is wholly made of gold, yet not all gold is made into rings, so too is knowledge and perception wholly the intrinsic nature of mind, yet not all of the intrinsic mind transmigrates into knowledge and perception.