肇論新疏 3.50

3.50

“I once ventured to say: As for nirvāṇa as the Dao, it is tranquil, empty, and vast, impossible to grasp by form or name; subtle and animitta, impossible to know with a discursive mind. Transcending all conditioned existents, it ascends into obscurity; commensurate with great space, it is eternal. Following it, one cannot find its tracks; greeting it, one cannot see its head. The six destinies cannot encompass its birth; physical force cannot transform its essence. Boundless and elusive, as if present and as if departed, the five eyes cannot view its form, and the two ears cannot hear its sound. Murky and deep, who sees it, who understands it? Encompassing all, there is nowhere it is not present, yet alone it emerges beyond the realms of being and non-being.