成唯識論述記 1.11

1.11

Later, Dharmapāla and others, relying on the above sūtras and treatises, gathered their essential points and extensively explained the verses, calling it the Cheng weishi lun. Thus, it takes vijñapti-mātra as its central doctrine: consciousness exists and is not empty; external objects are non-existent and are not real—this is its central doctrine. Although it explains all dharmas in detail, none of them are separate from consciousness. As for explaining the substance (vastu) of the treatise: according to the explanation at the beginning of the eighty-first fascicle, the Section on the Gathering of Expositions (Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī), of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, the substance of a scripture is twofold: first, the text (vyañjana); second, the meaning (artha). The text is that upon which [the meaning] relies, and the meaning is that which relies [upon the text], because it is through the expressive text that the meaning is made manifest. Master Nāgasena, Asvabhāva, and others say: by the conditioning power of the Buddha's compassion and fundamental vow, there arise on the audient's own mental consciousness the appearances of text and meaning, resembling the exposition of the Tathāgata. Although these appearances of text and meaning directly arise depending on the power of one's own wholesome roots, yet in terms of their fundamental condition, they are called 'spoken by the Buddha'; in reality, the Buddha does not speak words. If one considers it in terms of the source, there is indeed no text or meaning, but only anāsrava great concentration, wisdom, and compassion.