起信論疏筆削記 7.29

7.29

Second, brief differentiation. Commentary: "Free from defilement of delusion": because within the essence of true reality, it fundamentally does not associate with the nine marks and six defilements, it is called empty; it is not that the true essence itself is empty. "The emptiness of true reality": true reality is the true nature, and emptiness is the absence of the defilement of delusion. "The emptiness of true reality" is a determinative compound (tatpuruṣa): just like saying a "jar is empty" simply because there are no things inside the jar, not meaning that the jar's substance itself is empty; the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra has this exact metaphor.