འཕགས་པ་སྲད་པ་འཕ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 4

4

is known as death. The arising of the first consciousness is known as birth. Great king, the moment the final consciousness ceases, it does not go anywhere. The moment the first consciousness pertaining to birth arises, it also does not come from anywhere. Why is that? It is because they⁴⁰ are devoid of essential nature.

“Great king, the final consciousness is empty of final consciousness, transmigration after death is empty of transmigration after death,⁴¹ action is empty of action,⁴² the first consciousness is empty of the first consciousness, and birth is empty of birth, yet actions manifest without being lost.

“Great king, no sooner does the first consciousness pertaining to birth cease than there arises, without any interruption, the mindstream in which the experiences of karmic fruition manifest.”⁴³

Thus spoke the Blessed One. The Sugata having spoken, the Teacher further declared:⁴⁴ ⁴⁵

“All of these are mere names—
They abide only as notions.
Set apart from their verbal designations,
What is designated does not exist. {1}

“By whatever names
Any phenomena are designated,
They do not exist therein.
This is the very nature of phenomena. {2}

“The nature of name is empty of name.
A name does not exist as a name.
All nameless phenomena
Have been designated by name. {3}

“These phenomena do not exist;
They originate from conceptual thought.
The conceptual thought that conceptualizes them as empty
Also does not exist. {4}

“ ‘The eye sees form’
Is said by one who observes correctly.
To the world with its perverse arrogance,⁴⁶
This was taught as the relative truth. {5}

“What the Guide has made known—
That seeing comes from a conjunction⁴⁷—
The wise speak of
As the grounds for designating ultimate truth. {6}

“The eye does not see form
And the mind does not know phenomena.
That is the supreme truth;
The world does not fathom⁴⁸ it.” {7}