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But if you still say so, only qualifying your assertion by excluding the ideas of 'coming out' and ' entering,' then you must suppose that the earth and the emptiness are in some way mixed and confused, so as to be ' one,' so that in their essence and origin they do not differ, and, therefore, are the same ; but if so, then, when you see the earth dug out of the hole, why does not the emptiness come out also ? " But if you say that the emptiness results from the act of ex- cavation, it must proceed from the instrument used ; and if so, why has not the instrument the power of producing a hole with- out taking the earth out. But if you say it is not from the instru- ment, then certainly, as the instrument is the cause of the exca- vation, tell me why, when the earth is removed by it, you see emptiness in the place of the earth removed by the instrument ? That is, Akasa, the fourth element. •L 2 310 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST You must confess then, on further examination, that these several factors, viz., your hand, the instrument, the earth, and the empty hole, are each independent and disconnected, and therefore there is no ' harmonious union' of which you spoke. 109. " But if you say that this ' emptiness' is of its nature complete and everywhei'e diffused in its essence, incapable of motion or agitation, you should know that this, equally with the former four, viz., water, fire, wind, and earth, is one of the ele- ments : they are all equally diflPused in Nature, and all, as in the mysterious Being of Tathagata, incapable of Birth or Death. 110. " Ananda ! if your heart is so heavy and dull that you cannot understand the original condition of these four elements as being part of the mysterious Being of Tathagata, then you should censider space in the cases we have just considered as en- tering in and going out, and not entering in and going out. 111. " But it is because you do not perfectly undei'stand that in this mysterious Being of Tathagata the state of wisdom (Bodhi) is the same as his substantial void, and the state of emptiness the same as his substantial wisdom, ever pure and un- conditioned, universally diffused, but manifested in one place by the power of Karma, as one well is manifested in one place, but might be under equal circumstances manifested everywhere, it is because of this ignorance that you mistake. 112. [As before.] 113. "Ananda! As by recognising the fact of Supreme wisdom, ignorance becomes known ; so, by the presence of matter, we be- come acquainted with space. 114. " Take again your own case, as you are at present : sup- pose yourself dwelling in the Jetavana ; in the morning light there is brightness ; in the evening there is darkness ; and if you continue to occupy the dwelling through the night, then on the nights of the bright moon it is light, and on the nights of the dark moon it is dark ; but this idea of light and dark is only the result of your eye-sight ; let me ask, then, whether your power of sight, when considered in connection with the phenomena of lightness and darkness, and the existence of the great aeiy vault of space, is one substantial existence or not one, whether it is different or not different ? 115. " Ananda ! if this power of sight, considered in connec- tion with tlie light and gloom and the vault of space, is originally SCRIPTUKES FROM THE CHINESE. 341 one substance, then the qualities by which light and gloom are distinguished are false, viz., the absence of light in the darkness, and the absence of darkness in the light. If the power of sio-ht and the darkness be one substance, then at the time when the eye perceives the light, and so the darkness disappears, then the sight ought to disappear ; and so also if we suppose it to be one with light, then in perceiving the dark as the light disappears, so the sight should disappear. But if you say that, although light and darkness be essentially different, yet the nature of sight re- mains unaffected by birth or death ; at any rate, according to this theory, there can be no reality in the theory of union or unity of the three. 116. "But if darkness, light, and sight be separate and inde- pendent one of the other, then surely if you remove light and darkness and have nothing left but void space, there can be no reality in the common idea of sight ; for there can be no charac- teristics by which it can be known ; and if again you remove the ideas both of light, darkness, and space, then sight is only as the hair of the tortoise or the horn of the hare ; if, then, these three things be all different in their substance, on what can you build your idea of sight ? 107. " The nature of light and darkness being opposite, why attempt to assimilate them ? but if they differ essentially, then, as sight is impossible, why attempt to separate them ? If sight and space be separated, then there is no distinct office for sight, vphy, then, are they not considered as one ? If seeing the dark- ness and seeing the light be not a separate power of sight, what, then, is the meaning of the phrase ' not unlike' ? 108. " You should, therefore, still consider and carefully weigh that each of these several powers and media have their distinct provinces, and that there can be no such thing as the ' harmonious union' of which you speak. 109. "This knowledge, derived from perception, is also a 23art of the universally diffased and mysterious Being of Tathagata. 110. "You should understand, therefore, that in this mysterious Being of Tathagata the power of sight is the same as the bright- ness, and the brightness as the power of sight, etc. 112. "So also, Ananda, your discriminating faculty is of its nature unoriginated ; but is called forth by the six kinds of external objects that occupy the attention of the six subjective powei's or senses. 342 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST 113. " Thus, for example, looking round on the eminent per- sonages composing this august assembly, exerting your power of promiscuous sight, you see all these persons as it were in a mirror, but when you begin to exercise discrimination, then you point to each one and observe — this is Manjusri, this Pourna, this Mogalan, this Subhuti, this Sariputra ; now this power of discrimination, is it produced by the power of sight or by the external characteris- tics of the person observed, or is it produced in space, or is it in- dependent of all causes, and produced from the depths of your own consciousness ? 114. "Ananda! if you say that this discriminating K"ature which you possess is produced by the power of sight, then, in case there is neither light or darkness, matter or space, as it must have been originally, then in such a case knowledge of this kind, by which you would know that there are no such things, would be impossible. 115. "And so also, if you say that this discriminating power is produced by the qualities or attributes of things, then, in the absence of these attributes, the powers must cease to exist. 116. " If the power is born in space, then also it must be in- dependent of the existence of external phgenomena, or of sight itself, and here there is no basis left for argument. 117. "And if the external phasnomena and sight be extinct, space also is nothing, for space, we say, is the opposite of matter, but if there is no matter how can there be space ? 118. "If this knowledge springs from the depths of conscious- ness, and is without cause, how is it that in the sunshine we can- not distinguish the moonlight ? 119. " Consider, therefore, that as it is impossible for you to perfect an act of vision without external phssnomena, what is it that enables you to perfect an act of discrimination ? 120. " Discriminating knowledge, then, depends on change and variety, but sight (as a power) is quiet and unmoved : there can be no harmonious union, then, in these particulars either. And so also with respect to hearing and listening, intellect and knowledge — it cannot be said that the discriminating knowledge resulting from these powers is self-generated or evolved from one's own consciousness. 121. "This knowledge, then, like the other six powers, is a part of the mysterious Being of Tathiigata. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 343 122. " Ananda ! because you have not uuderstood this, the question about one and different, alike or dissimilar has arisen. 123.