English
" This faculty, then, which we, and all the twelve species of creatures possess, and which we call sight — this is the same as the cataract on the eye — it is the imperfection of true sight ; but that true and original power of vision which has become thus perverted, and is in its nature without imperfection — that cannot properly be called, what we mean when we say, sight. 81. " If, then, we are only able to banish and destroy all these influences which have blended and intermixed with the True, so that they shall no longer so intermingle, then once more we may put an end to the causes of life and death, and arrive at the perfection of Bodhi — obtain the deathless Nature, the Ever Pure and composed heart, the true and unchangeable condition of accomplished Wisdom. 82. " Ananda ! although you have previously allowed and understood that the pure and ever-glorious state of Buddha's original Being is in its nature totally disconnected from any causal concatenation, and also from any self-caused influences, yet your thoughts on the subject are still not entirely clear ; you must, therefore, understand further that this Nature is not dependent on harmony or union (with other things), and is not the result of any such supposed harmony or union. 83. "Ananda ! I now again refer to the objects of sense which 330 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST like dust surround us, and ask you, You still regard all these different illusory theories which exist in the world, touching harmony and union, causal concatenation, and so on, as having a real Nature, and so you create doubts in yourself about the character of the State of Perfect Know^ledge, as if this also were the result of harmony and union ? I ask you, therefore, if it is so, with respect to the True and essential power of sight you possess, does this power depend on its harmony with the light, or its harmony with the darkness, or its harmony with that which is penetrable, or its harmony with that which is impene- trable ? 85. " If you say that this excellent gift of sight is the result of a union either with light or darkness or space or matter — if with light, then in darkness how can there be such a thing as seeing the darkness ; and so on for the rest. 86. " Ananda addressed Buddha and said : World-honoured one ! as I grasp the subject, I conceive that this excellent and original state of wisdom has no harmony with, or union with, the associations of sense or the confused thoughts of the mind. 87. " Buddha said : You say now again that this state of wisdom is not the result of harmony or union (with external associations). I ask you, therefore, with respect to this excel- lent power of sight which is not the result of such harmony or union, is the negation of which you speak attributable to the light, or the darkness, etc. ; — if this negation is owing to an absence of harmony existing in the light, then there must be a distinct line of division between this light and the power of sight. Consider, then, where is the local habitation of the light, and where the habitation of your sight ; if they both occupy one place, how can there be opposition betwixt them. Ananda ! if the light occupies an independent space, then in that space there can be no seeing ; for there can be no connection there between the sight and light, and tlicrefore there can be no knowledge of the place where this light dwells ; how, then, can there be any settled division between the two ? 88. " Again, this excellent power of sight depending on no harmony or union, is it the negation of light-union, or darkness- union, etc. ; if it is the negation of light-union, then light and sight, regarded as distinct natures, are at cross purposes and un- fit for one another, like the car and light, there can be no mutual SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 331 fitness for connection ; but if the sight cannot apprehend the distinct place of the h'ght, then how can there be any distinct arrangement for the admission of light, say, on the part of the potter (who makes his vessels semi-lucid) ; and so on for the rest. 89. " Ananda ! You still, perhaps, misunderstand the truth that all the vanishing appearances around us, and all the flitting, unreal conditions of being, of which we speak, have, nevertheless, a distinct place of origin, and also disappear according to a fixed order ; for those so-called vanishing qualities are really part and parcel of the substance of the excellent Body of Wisdom — even down to the five skandhas, and the six ayatanas, and the twelve upasthanas, and the eighteen dhatus — all these, and the ideas of cavisal concatenation, etc.^ — all have a distinct origin, and because of the cessation of these causal influences they are said to dis- appear ; but to ascertain the precise point when they come and when they go is not possible : we must look for that in the Supreme Nature of the First Cause, and beyond that we can ascertain nothing. 90. " Ananda said : How can these five skandhas be ever part of the excellent Nature of Tathagata. 91 . " Ananda ! it is just as if there were a man who, with perfect sight, beheld the pure void of space, but fixed his eyes ou one particular spot, beyond which he did not look or move his eyes, staring until his sight was fatigued— the consequence of which would be that he would soon behold in the sky a fanciful flower -shaped apparition, which would give rise to every confused sort of false appearance. So it is also in the question before us about the fanciful terms of skandha, etc. 92. " Ananda ! These flower-shaped fancies do not come from the space, nor are they born from the eye; for if they come from space, then having come from space, they should return to it and enter it again ; and if there be such a thing as coming from and re-entering that which we call space, it is plain it is not space; and if space be not space, then how can we find a place for the origin and disappearance of these flower fancies ? for this would be just as though the substance of Ananda, could not tolerate or find room for Ananda himself. 93. " If these appearances proceed from the eye, then, having gone forth from the eye, they should also be able to enter the eye 332 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST as their place of origin ; and then, as these fanciful appearances take their origin from the eye, they ought to be one with the power of sight if they have this character, then on returning they should see the eye ; but if these fanciful appearances partake not of the power of sight, having gone out of the eye, they must be of the nature of obstacles or screens in space ; and then, on returning, they ought to screen or cover the eye; but there ought to be bo screen before the eye when these things are seen, because the hypothesis demands that the unclouded eye is looking into unde- filed space. 94. " Know, therefore, that these empty qualities of matter, which we call Skandhas, are neither owing to casual concatena- tion or of spontaneous origin. 95. " Ananda ! to use a comparison, it is as if there were a man whose hand or foot, by excessive rest, had become so numbed that suddenly he has the sensation of a new feeling which renders the limb of dubious character, neither obedient to the will nor yet disobedient, this man would not on that account suppose that he had two hands. Just so with the subject we are considering. 97. " Ananda ! it is just as if a man were to be talking or dis- cussing about sour fruit (plum), his mouth would begin to water ; or if a man were to think about going down some dreadfully pre- cipitous and dangerous mountain pass, his heart and feet would o-ive way and shew their sympathy with his thoughts — so is it in the case before us. 98. " In the case of the sour fruit, the origin of the mouth- waterinp- is not to be found in the fruit ; for, if it proceeded from the fruit, why does the effect follow only on the talking and not before ; or, if it proceeds from something entering the mouth, then, as the union taking place depends on the hearing the mention of sour fruit, why does not the watering take place in the ear instead of the mouth ; we gather then that all such phenomena as these depend on no casual concatenation, nor are they of a self- caused nature. 104. " Ananda !