Black Box World (53)

The ear hearing sounds, the nose smelling scents, the tongue tasting flavors, and the body feeling touches follow the same principle. Therefore the Diamond Sutra says, "All marks are false and illusory." All the marks that we recognize, discriminate, and know are false appearances—shadows manifested for us by the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is like a mirror: when it contacts the outer six sense objects, it can produce shadows identical to the outer six sense objects, and these shadows are the inner six sense objects. Only when we truly realize and know that all marks are shadows, all false appearances, can the mind's grasping nature be lightened, afflictions become faint, and we will no longer be overly concerned with all gains and losses, benefits and harms; then the mind can settle into purity. Thus, when the six faculties again contact the six sense objects, the consciousness-mind will not give rise to defiled afflictions, and gradually the mind will attain purity. Therefore purity is the purity of the mind, not the purity of the faculties. The faculties have no discriminating nature, whereas consciousness has a discriminating nature; when consciousness discriminates, it carries with it mental activities that are either pure or impure.