起信論疏筆削記 20.7

20.7

Under "Non-self," the Śāstra says: "Faint and indistinct like a dream": reflecting on past dharmas as faint and indistinct, seeming to exist yet absent, as if present yet perished, in vain there is talk of them, but they are truly unattainable; hence it is said to be "like a dream." Not only the past, but the present is also like this. Thus the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa says: "This body is like a dream, a delusive view." The Commentary says: "Difficult to pursue" does not mean that there is a substance that is difficult to seek, hence called difficult to pursue; rather, because its entire substance is of itself empty and there are only words, it is said to have no substance. The Śāstra says: "Like a flash of lightning": one should reflect that dharmas earlier belong to the past and later belong to the future; between the two there is no substance that can abide, and in the end they cannot be grasped; hence it is said to be "like lightning." Thus the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa says: "This body is like lightning, not abiding from thought to thought." The Commentary says: "Kṣaṇa" is the limit of time. "Not abiding": the sūtra says: "No sooner is it born than it ceases; this is not taught to fools." Another sūtra says: "Kṣaṇa by kṣaṇa, from thought to thought, it cannot stay still." The Śāstra says: "Like clouds, etc.": clouds arise in a clear sky, but when did they ever have a root? Dharmas arise in the realm of reality, but can one see whence they come? Because at the time of arising there is no place from which they come, so at the time of ceasing there is also no place to which they go. The Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa says: "This body is like a cloud, transforming and perishing in an instant." The Commentary says: "The gathering of conditions, etc.": moreover, the conditions capable of gathering also have no place of origin, all being identical to clouds. However, this passage is precisely the contemplation of emptiness; now the heading calls it "non-self" because it must specifically refute the four inversions of permanence and the rest. Since the three periods of time are empty, there are no dharmas; when dharmas are already unattainable, how could a self still exist? Hence it is called "non-self."