Grasping Illusory Dharmas: Illusion Within Illusion; Speaking of Dreams in a Dream: Dream Within a Dream.

The shadows cast by the six sense objects are like images in a mirror; everything we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think, and do is a shadow in the mirror. When we look at the shadows in the mirror, no matter what feelings or thoughts we have about them, no matter how we wish to act upon them, in any case a shadow is ultimately a shadow, not something real. We discriminate among those shadows in the mirror—this shadow is so good, that shadow is so evil—and we keep grasping and clinging to them in this way, yet no matter what, we never truly grasp anything at all; they are all shadows, with no real effect—the outcome and the process are both utterly empty. It is like the shadow of a tree in a river: however much one admires and clings to it, it is not truly real after all; and as for the moon in the river, no matter how the monkeys scoop at it, in the end they never scoop up even the slightest bit, because there is no real moon in the river at all.

It is the same with all the states we come into contact with: it seems as if we have enjoyed something within them, but in fact we have enjoyed nothing at all—we are merely dealing with shadows. The manas directs the six consciousnesses to engage in continual attention, continual contact, continual feeling, continual perception, continual grasping, yet in reality nothing is ever grasped—it is all dealing with shadows, and oneself is also one of those shadows. Illusory dharma facing illusory dharma—what reality is there to speak of? Yet we are unable to leap out of these illusory states, unable to know these true facts, because of meager merit (alpa-puṇya) and foolishness. The Buddhas, out of compassion for sentient beings, use all manner of words and analogies to teach beings to cultivate precepts, meditation, and wisdom, to remove the obstructions and recognize the facts: in this world there is truly not a single dharma to be attained. Rest the mind and eliminate deluded thoughts, and one will then see the true reality. Only by relying on the Buddha's words and cultivating genuinely can sentient beings see the shadows clearly, return to their self-nature, and attain liberation.