Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (35)

The Water Element in the Form Body Cannot Be Clung To

The nature of the water element is utterly unattainable. If we wished to keep the water element within our form body, could we keep it? We could not. All dharmas within the form body are utterly unattainable; they are all empty. We cannot grasp them, nor can we cling to them. Therefore, when the four great elements dissolve at the time of death, the water element likewise dissolves. Even if we wished to cling to it and keep it within the form body, it cannot be retained. Both this water element and the nature of the water element are utterly unattainable; only the Buddha's wisdom can fully know them—the wisdom of us sentient beings is insufficient. Of all the dharmas the Buddha has spoken, we can only understand a small portion, and then expound that small portion to sentient beings. There are many dharmas spoken by the Buddha that we cannot yet fully understand and realize, let alone the dharmas the Buddha has not yet spoken. Thus our wisdom is separated from the Buddha's wisdom by an immense distance.