Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Fifty-Two)

The Mark of Emptiness Has No Place of Coming and No Place of Going

Original text:大王。譬如有人。于彼高原。穿凿池井。于意云何。是池井中。所有空相。从何所来。王曰。无所从来。

Explanation: Great King, suppose someone digs a well on high plateau land to draw water; as the earth is dug out, an empty space appears, and a void comes into being. What do you think—from where has the mark of emptiness in this well come? King Śuddhodana said: This mark of emptiness has no place of coming.

The mark of emptiness within the dug-out well—from where does it come? It has no place of coming. Each time a well is dug, a piece of empty space appears; where does the emptiness come from? It has no place of coming, because where there is no matter there is emptiness, and emptiness is not a truly existent dharma. If the earth is filled back in, the emptiness disappears—where has the emptiness gone? It has no place of going, and nowhere can an extra piece of empty space be produced; digging out the earth produces a piece of empty space, yet the empty space elsewhere has not diminished. The tathāgatagarbha is similar to empty space in this way—neither increasing nor decreasing—because He is without form and without mark, pervading all places and present everywhere.