The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume III: The Nose Faculty as the Wondrous True Suchness Nature of the Tathāgatagarbha

Original text: Ānanda, it is like a person who repeatedly twitches his nose. After prolonged twitching, it creates a phantom sensation in the nose, causing him to perceive a cool touch within it. Due to this touch, he distinguishes between openness and blockage, emptiness and solidity. Similarly, when the nose contacts all fragrant and foul odors, it perceives the sensation of touch. Both the nose and these phantom sensations of touch are phantom manifestations arising from the fundamental awareness (bodhi). Due to the two illusory dust-like phenomena of openness and blockage, the olfactory awareness arises within. This awareness perceives these dust-like phenomena, called the olfactory nature. This olfactory awareness, apart from the two dust-like phenomena of openness and blockage, ultimately has no inherent substance.

Explanation: Ānanda, it is like a person who repeatedly twitches his nose. After prolonged twitching, a phantom sensation arises in the nose, causing him to feel a cool touch within it. Because the nose contacts this cool phenomenon, he knows whether it is open or blocked, empty or solid. Similarly, when the nasal faculty contacts all fragrant and foul odors, the nose perceives the sensation of touch. Both the nasal faculty and these phantom sensations of touch are phantom manifestations manifested from the fundamental awareness (bodhi). Due to the illusory dust-like phenomena of knowing emptiness/openness and blockage, the olfactory awareness arises within. This olfactory awareness perceives these dust-like phenomena, manifesting various scent-objects, and is called the olfactory nature. This olfactory nature, separated from the two dust-like phenomena of emptiness/openness and blockage, ultimately has no inherent substance of its own.

Original text: You should know that this olfactory awareness does not come from openness or blockage, does not arise from the root faculty, and does not come from emptiness. Why? If it came from openness, it would cease when there is blockage. How then could one know blockage? If it existed because of blockage, it would not be present when there is openness. How then could it perceive touches like fragrance and foulness? If it arose from the root faculty, it would inherently lack openness and blockage. Such an olfactory mechanism would then have no inherent nature. If it came from emptiness, this awareness would then turn back to smell your own nose. If emptiness itself had awareness, what would it have to do with your faculty (āyatana)? Therefore, you should know that the nasal consciousness is illusory. It is fundamentally not of conditioned arising, nor is it of spontaneous nature.

Explanation: Ānanda, you should know that this olfactory awareness does not come from emptiness/openness or blockage, does not arise from the nasal faculty, and does not come from emptiness. Why is this said? If the olfactory awareness came from openness, it would disappear when blocked—how then could one know the nose is blocked? If the olfactory awareness came from blockage, it would disappear when open—how then could it distinguish touches like fragrance and foulness? If the olfactory awareness arose from the nasal faculty, it would follow the faculty's attribute, inherently lacking the dust-like phenomena of openness and blockage, and would not know openness or blockage. What inherent nature would such an olfactory awareness have then? If the olfactory awareness came from emptiness, this awareness should then turn back to smell your own nose. If emptiness itself had olfactory awareness, what connection would it have with your nasal faculty (āyatana)? Therefore, you should know that the olfactory awareness is illusory. It is fundamentally not of conditioned arising, nor is it of spontaneous nature; it is the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha.