འཕགས་པ་ནམ་མཁའ་སྙང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 38

38

Pratyekabuddhas and bodhisattva mahāsattvas will appear in the world. Tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddhas will appear in the world.

“Son of noble family, what do you think: does space abide in the eye?”

“Bhagavān, it does not,” Ākāśagarbha replied.

“Does it abide in the eye consciousness?”

“Bhagavān, it does not.”

“Does it abide in that which is apprehended by the eye?”

“Bhagavān, it does not.”

“Does space abide anywhere inside, in the arising of the three feelings⁴⁴ caused by the eye apprehending an object?”

“Bhagavān, it does not.”

“The same is to be said about the ears, the nose, the tongue, and the body as well. Son of noble family, what do you think: does space abide in the mind, or anywhere else up to the arising of the three feelings caused by the mind apprehending an object?”

“Bhagavān, it does not.”

“Son of noble family, what do you think: do sentient beings abide in space?”

“Bhagavān, they do not.”

“What do you think, son of noble family: does space abide in sentient beings?”

“Bhagavān, it does not.”

Thus did the bodhisattva mahāsattva Ākāśagarbha reply to the Bhagavan’s questions. He continued, “Bhagavān, they do not depend on each other. One is not the other’s object. Bhagavān, all phenomena are to be understood in this particular way: they are devoid of concepts, they are empty, devoid of superimposition; they are the final reality and suchness. Bhagavān, with regard to the essence of space, it is thus. Its particular characteristic is that it is not differentiated; it is nonconceptual, completely nonconceptual, unmoving, and lacking in substance. It is devoid of sprout, seed, fruit, and ripening, devoid of words, and of mental fixation. Bhagavān,