Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (64)

The eye base is ultimately empty; neither its past limit nor its future limit can be attained

If the eye faculty were not empty, it would exist perpetually, with no arising and likewise no ceasing; it would be able to govern itself, and there would be no dharma capable of governing its arising and ceasing. But the eye faculty is exactly the opposite. If the eye faculty can be brought into birth, and can also cease involuntarily—ceasing as soon as it is no longer sustained—then it is empty and illusory. How is the eye faculty formed? The element of earth is added in, and the elements of water, fire, and wind are added in and mixed together; the seeds of the four great elements are arranged and combined in a certain proportion, and their aggregation forms the physical body of the eye faculty. When the karmic conditions disappear, the seeds of the four great elements disperse, and the eye faculty vanishes—coming emptily and going emptily, without any self-nature of its own, utterly unattainable.

We should not give rise to craving, attachment, or delight toward the eye faculty, saying it is good or bad; in reality there is no good or bad—it is all false and empty. Therefore the eye base is ultimately empty, and neither its past limit nor its future limit can be attained. The eye faculty of the previous life, the eye faculty of the next life, the eye faculty of the present and the eye faculty of the past, the eye faculty of today and the eye faculty of yesterday—all are unattainable. Yesterday, relative to today, is the past limit; tomorrow, relative to today, is the future limit; the very moment I am speaking is the present limit—before the words are spoken is the past limit, and after they are spoken is the future limit. Thus, linked together, the past limit and the future limit are utterly unattainable; both are empty.

The eye faculty of past lives is also unattainable—it simply cannot be brought forth, and no matter where you search, it cannot be found. If in the future another eye faculty is created, that eye faculty will likewise be unattainable; right now it certainly cannot be brought forth either, and a dharma that has not yet appeared is all the more false and illusory. The eye faculty of the present arises and ceases thought after thought, changing from instant to instant, and is likewise unattainable. The appearance of eye diseases such as myopia, presbyopia, and glaucoma shows that the eye faculty is changeable and unreliable—it cannot even maintain a healthy, normal state. Its self-nature is indeed utterly unattainable.