The Falsity of the Tongue Faculty and the Object of Taste as Expounded in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Original text: Ananda, you often go for alms at two times of the day among the assembly, carrying your bowl. During this, you may encounter ghee, curd, and butter, which are called the finest flavors. What do you think? Is this flavor born from space, born from the tongue, or born from the food? Ananda, if this flavor is born from your tongue, in your mouth, there is only one tongue. At that time, the tongue has already become the flavor of ghee. When encountering black rock sugar, it should not change. If it does not change, it cannot be said to know flavors. If it changes, the tongue is not multiple; how can one tongue perceive many tastes?

Explanation: Ananda, you often go for alms at two times each day among the assembly, carrying your bowl. During alms, you may encounter ghee, curd, and butter, the best flavor among foods. What do you think? Is this flavor born from space, born from the tongue, or born from the food? Ananda, if this flavor is born from your tongue, in your mouth, there is only one tongue. The tongue produces the flavor of ghee. When encountering black rock sugar again, it should still be the flavor of ghee, and not the flavor of black rock sugar. If the flavor on the tongue does not change, it cannot be said that the tongue can taste and know flavors. If the flavor on the tongue can change, then the tongue is only one per person, not multiple; why can one tongue taste many flavors?

Original text: If it is born from food, food has no consciousness; how can it know itself? Moreover, if food knows itself, it is like another's food; what has it to do with you? How can it be called your knowing of flavor? If it is born from space, if you taste space, what flavor would it be? Suppose space has a flavor; if it is salty, it would make your tongue salty, and also your face salty. Then people in this world would be like sea fish. Since they constantly experience saltiness, they would not know blandness. If they do not know blandness, they also cannot perceive saltiness; they would know nothing. How can it be called tasting flavor? Therefore, you should know that the taste object, the tongue, and the tasting consciousness have no fixed location. That is, tasting and the taste object are both illusory; they are originally not of conditioned nature, not of self-nature.

Explanation: If the delicious flavor of ghee, curd, and butter is born from food, food has no tongue consciousness; how can it taste its own taste object? Moreover, if food knows the flavor itself, it is like knowledge outside your tongue; it is not that your tongue tastes the food, so the act of eating has nothing to do with you; how can you know the flavor of ghee, curd, and butter?

If the flavor is born from space, if you taste space, what flavor would you taste? If space is salty, then tasting space would not only make your tongue salty but also your face salty. Then people in this world would be like sea fish. Since people constantly experience saltiness, they would no longer know blandness. If people cannot know blandness, they also cannot perceive saltiness; they would know nothing. In that case, how can they taste and know flavors? Therefore, you should know that the taste object, the tongue, and the tasting consciousness have no fixed location. That is, tasting and the taste object are both illusory; they are originally not of conditioned nature, not of self-nature, but the nature of Tathagatagarbha.