The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume III: The Falseness of Manas and Dharmas

Original text: Ananda, in your mind, the dharmas of the three natures—good, evil, and neutral—that you constantly apprehend and that generate the principles, is this dharma born from the mind, or does it exist separately from the mind in another location? Ananda, if it is the mind itself, then the dharma is not an object of sense (dust). It is not an object apprehended by the mind. How then can it constitute a location (for contact)? If it exists separately from the mind in another location, then does the intrinsic nature of this dharma possess awareness or not? If it possesses awareness, it is called a mind. Different from you (the mind), it is not a sense-object. It is the same as the mental capacity of another mind. Then it is you, and it is also a mind. How then can your mind be two separate entities apart from you?

Explanation: Ananda, you constantly apprehend the dharmas of the three natures—good, evil, and neutral—within the mind of the mental faculty (manas), generating principles. Is the dharma-dhātu (object of the mental faculty) born within the mental faculty, or does it have a separate location apart from the mental faculty? Ananda, if the dharma-dhātu is produced within the mental faculty, then it is not a sense-object (dust), and the mental faculty cannot apprehend it. How then can the mental faculty become the location where faculty and object contact? If the dharma-dhātu exists apart from the mental faculty, having a separate location of origin, then does the intrinsic nature of this dharma-dhātu possess awareness or not? If the dharma-dhātu possesses awareness, it is called a mind. A mind outside the mental faculty is not the mental faculty itself, nor is it the dharma-dhātu; it is another mind, possessing the same nature as the mental faculty. [With] two minds, one is you, Ananda, and one is a mind. Why then are there two [minds] for your mind, Ananda?

Original text: If it does not possess awareness, then this dharma-dhātu is not the objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, contact, separation, union, cold, heat, nor the characteristic of empty space. Where then should it reside? Now, regarding form and emptiness, it has no manifestation at all. It should not be that within the human realm there exists something beyond emptiness. The mind is not the object apprehended. From whom then is the location established? Therefore, you should know that the dharma-dhātu and the mind both lack any location. Thus, both the mental faculty and the dharma-dhātu are fundamentally illusory. They are originally not of the nature of conditioned arising, nor are they of a spontaneous nature.

Explanation: If the dharma-dhātu does not possess awareness, it is not mind but an object. However, this dharma-dhātu is not the objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch; it lacks the characteristics of the five sense-objects like separation, union, cold, heat, nor does it have the characteristic of empty space. Where is this dharma-dhātu, which is neither form nor emptiness? It cannot be represented by form, nor can it be represented by emptiness. Within the human realm, there should not exist a dharma-dhātu beyond emptiness; there is nothing beyond emptiness. The dharma-dhātu apart from the mental faculty cannot be apprehended by the mental faculty, so a location cannot be established for it. The mental faculty is not the location of the dharma-dhātu, nor is the dharma-dhātu the location of the mental faculty. Therefore, it is said that the dharma-dhātu and the mind of the mental faculty both lack any location. Thus, both the mental faculty and the dharma-dhātu are fundamentally illusory. They are originally not of the nature of conditioned arising, nor are they of a spontaneous nature; they are both of the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha.

The mental faculty contacts the dharma-dhātu, giving rise to mental consciousness. The dharma-dhātu includes the dharma-dhātu on the five sense-objects and the realm of mere images (pratyātmika). Its nature consists of the three dharmas: good, evil, and neutral. For example, when someone is performing the good deed of giving, the Tathāgatagarbha manifests this dharma-dhātu and transmits it to the mental faculty. When the mental faculty contacts the dharma-dhātu, it apprehends it. If interested, it gives rise to the five sense-accompanying consciousnesses to further discern this dharma-dhātu. If not interested, the five sense-accompanying consciousnesses do not arise. The Tathāgatagarbha manifests the event of yesterday's fight and transmits it to the mental faculty here. When the mental faculty contacts this realm of mere images, if interested, it gives rise to solitary mental consciousness to discern and contemplate this dharma-dhātu of mere images. Therefore, the mental faculty must be together with the dharma-dhātu, in the same location; they cannot be separated. Otherwise, there would be no dharma-dhātu, and the mental faculty would have nothing to apprehend.