འཕགས་པ་གསར་འད་དམ་པ་མཆག་ཏ་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བའ་མད་སྡའ་རྒྱལ་པ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 5.18

5.18

“When they are manifested, there are those beings who are stupid and ignorant, who fail to analyze it, who do not realize the source of the illusions, and so when they see and hear them, they think, ‘The herds of elephants, horses, and so on that we can see and hear are real, and anything else is a lie!’ Therefore, they don’t subsequently examine or investigate them.

“Those who are intelligent are not like that. They know what the source of illusions is, so that when they see and hear them, they think, ‘The elephants, horses, and so on that I see do not exist, but they are an optical illusion from magic.’ As they think that they are not real, they do not think that the elephants and so on and the treasuries exist. They think, ‘These are nothing but names without any reality whatsoever.’ Therefore, whatever they see or hear, they do not believe that they are real,⁷³⁹ and subsequently, when they analyze and contemplate them, they know perfectly that they are not real.

“In that same way, the wise realize that all phenomena have no real essence. In terms of the relative, when in their minds they pay attention to the truthfulness of the things that manifest and are described according to whatever they see and whatever they hear, they know that they are not like that, because they reveal correct meanings that are just designations.⁷⁴⁰

“Brahmarāja, childlike, ordinary beings who have not attained the world-transcending wisdom eyes of the āryas do not know the inexpressible nature of phenomena. Therefore, when they see or hear composite or noncomposite phenomena, they think, ‘This is how it truly is,’ and develop attachment; they do not know that ultimately the nature of phenomena is inexpressible.