金剛三昧經論 3.35

3.35

論曰：此是重顯。答中有二：先法、後喻。法中四句，前二句明本處無處、後二句顯從成因果。何以故者，舉疑發起。何者？若本無處，應無得入；若得入者，非無本處。為遣是疑，故引喻釋。手執彼空者，手執喻能入之行，虛空喻所入之本。不得者，虛空無形可握故。非不得者，握內不無虛空故。本利亦爾，本來無本處，性故不可得。無本之本不無，故非不可得也。

The treatise says: This is the reiterative clarification. In the answer, there are two parts: first, the doctrine; afterwards, the metaphor. In the doctrine, there are four clauses: the first two clauses clarify that the original source has no place; the latter two clauses reveal the accomplishment of cause and fruition from it. "Why is this?" raises a doubt to launch the explanation. How so? If the origin had no place, there should be no attainment of entry; if there is attainment of entry, then it would not be without an original source. To dispel this doubt, he adduces a metaphor to explain it. "Grasping empty space with one's hand": grasping with the hand is a metaphor for the practice that can enter; empty space is a metaphor for the origin that is entered. "One does not obtain it" because empty space has no form that can be gripped. "Yet one does not fail to obtain it" because inside the grip there is no absence of empty space. The original benefit is also like this: originally it has no original source, for its nature cannot be obtained. Yet the origin that is without origin is not nonexistent; hence it is not that it cannot be obtained.