Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (69)

There Are No Dharmas Whatsoever in the True Mind

Originally, there are no dharmas whatsoever in our true mind. The Heart Sutra says: 无眼耳鼻舌身意，无色声香味触法，无眼界乃至无意识界；无五蕴、无十八界、无四圣谛、无十二因缘、无菩萨六度、无智也无得 — truly far removed from all dharmas, without any dharma whatsoever, quiescent and unconditioned. Yet our minds are filled with the five desires and the six sense objects, and what we pursue are the worldly dharmas of the three realms. Therefore our joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness never cease, and our suffering is endless.

The more worldly dharmas one possesses, the more suffering one experiences and the less one can attain liberation; we are thus bound by the suffering of birth and death. Delighting in form, one is bound by form, bound by the physical body, and cannot attain liberation; delighting in sounds, one is bound by sounds and cannot attain liberation; delighting in tastes, tangibles, and mental objects, one is bound by them and cannot attain liberation. Whether one likes or dislikes the objects of the six sense dusts, it is all affliction, all bondage, without liberation, and one will remain in the desire realm amid anguish, sorrow, and grief.

The true mind has neither love nor aversion toward any dharma; therefore it is not bound by any dharma, is forever liberated, and has no sorrow, grief, suffering, or distress of birth and death. Where there is delight, one must drift through the six paths of rebirth and undergo suffering; the true mind has no delight, does not dwell in the six paths, and does not dwell in the objects of the six sense dusts undergoing suffering. If there is a state to dwell in, one is bound and cannot be liberated; by not dwelling on any state, one departs from it and is liberated. Therefore, the goal of our study and cultivation is to become like the true mind, gradually able to depart from all dharmas, purifying and emptying the mind, and turning toward nirvāṇa.