大般涅槃經集解 28.18

28.18

Sengliang states: Grasping the intent of the Buddha's non-reply, he contemplates consciousness seeking a self, but again it cannot be found. Contemplating whether inhalation and exhalation might be the self: if there is breath, there is life; if there is no breath, there is death. Contemplating it, it is simply of the nature of wind, and also not the self. Breath consists primarily of wind, and wind is composed of the four great elements; neither is a single nature the self, nor does a self exist in their combination. 'He further reflects that there is entirely no self': attaining the emptiness of no-self and seeing the ultimate truth, he then sees the conventional truth. Sengzong states: 'Perhaps the breath is the self': the sixth is the contemplation of the application of mindfulness to the mind. One merely sees arising and perishing flowing away thought by thought; how could there be an eternal spirit that does not perish? Where could there be one who undergoes revilement and insult? This clarifies the absence of self. Merely seeing the multitude of dharmas, the idea of a self spontaneously ceases. Baoliang states: Fourth, clarifying the contemplation of the application of mindfulness to feeling.