肇論 1.25

1.25

I reply: Seeking wisdom through conditions, wisdom is not knowing. Why is this? The Fangguang jing says: 'Not giving rise to consciousness conditioned on rūpa is called not seeing rūpa.' It also says: 'Because the pañca-skandhas are pure, prajñā is pure.' Prajñā is the apprehending subject, and the pañca-skandhas are the apprehended objects. The apprehended object is the condition. Knowing and the known exist in mutual relation and are non-existent in mutual relation. Being non-existent in mutual relation, no thing exists; existing in mutual relation, no thing is non-existent. Because no thing is non-existent, they arise through conditions; because no thing exists, conditions cannot produce them. Because conditions cannot produce them, illuminating conditions is not knowing; because they arise through conditions, knowing and conditions arise dependent on one another. Therefore, knowing and unknowing arise from the known object. Why is this? Wisdom knows the known object, and because it grasps marks it is called knowing. Paramārtha-satya is inherently without marks; how could true wisdom know it? The reason for this is that the known object is not inherently a known object; the known object arises from knowing. Since the known object gives rise to knowing, knowing also gives rise to the known object. Since the known and the knowing give rise to each other, mutual arising is conditioned dharmas; conditioned dharmas are therefore not real. Being not real, they are not paramārtha-satya. Hence Madhyamaka says: 'Things exist through causes and conditions, and therefore are not real. Not existing through causes and conditions, they are real.' Now, paramārtha-satya is called 'real', and what is real is not conditioned. What is real is not conditioned, so no thing arises from conditions. Hence the sūtra says: 'I do not see any dharma arising without conditions.' Therefore, when true wisdom contemplates paramārtha-satya, it never grasps a known object. Since wisdom does not grasp a known object, how could this wisdom be knowing? However, wisdom is not non-knowing; it is simply that paramārtha-satya is not a known object, so true wisdom is also not knowing. Yet you wish to seek wisdom through conditions, and therefore regard wisdom as knowing. If conditions themselves are not conditions, where can you seek knowing?