Selected Lectures on the Sutra of the Compendium of Father and Son (LXVI)

The six sense faculties include the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. These six faculties are like illusions, manifested by the Tathagatagarbha, hence called "illusory." Realms are like dreams—what the eyes perceive as form, the ears hear as sound, the nose smells as fragrance or foulness, the tongue tastes as sweet, sour, bitter, or spicy, the body senses as fatigue, lightness, softness, comfort, hunger, fullness, and so forth, and the mind encounters as the realm of mental objects (dharma-dhatu). These realms appear to exist, yet their existence is false and illusory, not real—just like the realms experienced in a dream. Everywhere, the Buddha reveals to us a truth: all dharmas are utterly empty and tranquil. This means that all phenomena are empty and still.