Commentary on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (191)

All dharmas are ultimately empty; saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are also empty

Original text: 如是了知。初识初识空。自业自业空。身识身识空。若灭灭空。若生生空。轮回轮回空。涅槃涅槃。皆自性空。无有作者。亦无受者。但随世俗。之所显示。非第一义。作是说也。

One should know in this way the emptiness of the initial consciousness and of the initial consciousness, know the emptiness of the karmic actions one has created and of those karmic actions, and know the emptiness of body consciousness and of body consciousness; in this way one should know that if all dharmas arise, their arising is empty, and if all dharmas cease, their ceasing is also empty; at the same time, one should also know saṃsāra and the emptiness of saṃsāra, and know nirvāṇa and the emptiness of nirvāṇa. In the creation and transmigration of karmic formations, there is no agent and no experiencer; all dharmas are merely manifested in accordance with worldly conventions. In terms of ultimate truth, one would not speak in this way.

The initial consciousness that arises on the material body of the next life is also empty, and the karmic actions that are created are also empty. Body consciousness is also empty. If I extinguish this dharma, that ceasing dharma itself is also empty—is there a real ceasing dharma, a principle by which dharmas cease? No, it is empty. As for the arising of consciousness in the next life, the dharma of that arising is also empty—is there any fixed, unchanging rule or principle of arising? No, it is empty; it is in this way that all dharmas come into being. When we transmigrate through the six realms, being human, being a deva, being an animal, or being a hungry ghost, that transmigration is also empty. If saṃsāra were not empty, we would transmigrate forever, unable to attain liberation, unable to become a Buddha, and cultivation would be useless. The fact that we can cut off saṃsāra and escape from it shows that saṃsāra is empty, that there is no real, unceasing dharma of saṃsāra. Even we ourselves are not real—is there any real dharma of saṃsāra? No, everything is empty, everything is illusory.