འཕགས་པ་སྒྱ་མ་མཁན་བཟང་པ་ལང་བསྟན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.10
The Prophecy for Bhadra the Illusionist intro.10
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intro.10
Such magical illusion is often referred to in early Buddhist sources as a metaphor for the illusory or insubstantial and momentary nature of phenomena. Phenomena are described as being like illusions, which initially appear to be solid and real but under close scrutiny and examination are impermanent, dependent, and transient. From the perspective of the Mahāyāna, they lack an inherent nature (Skt. niḥsvabhāva, Tib. rang bzhin med pa). Like magical illusions, phenomena lack any substantiality beyond the spectacle. Within the Mahāyāna, “illusion” was regularly included in conventional lists of eight or ten similes for how phenomena lack an inherent nature.