華嚴經義海百門 1.10

1.10

四、觀無相者，如一小塵圓小之相，是自心變起，假立無實。今取不得，則知塵相虛無，從心所生，了無自性，名為無相。經云「諸法本性空，無有毫末相。」然相雖取不得，詮無之義非絕，以相無體，性法即立，以法為無相之佐。由不失法相故，相即非相、非相即相，相與無相實無差別也。此無相義，如繩上蛇，全言無蛇，當知繩是無蛇之依。今法是無相之法，全以法為無相之相也。

Fourth, contemplating animitta: The round and small mark of a single small dust mote is transformed and raised by one's own mind, nominally established without reality. Now, when it cannot be grasped, one knows that the mark of the dust mote is unreal and empty; born from the mind, it completely lacks intrinsic nature, which is called marklessness (animitta). A sūtra says: 'All phenomena are originally empty by nature; they do not possess the mark of even a fine tip of a hair.' Yet, although the mark cannot be grasped, the meaning of expressing nonexistence is not cut off; because the mark has no essence, the phenomenal dharma of nature is established, using phenomena as the support for marklessness. Because phenomenal marks are not lost, the mark is precisely non-mark, and non-mark is precisely mark; there is truly no difference between mark and marklessness. This meaning of marklessness is like the snake upon a rope: when one completely says there is no snake, one should know that the rope is the basis for the absence of the snake. Now, the phenomenon is the phenomenon of marklessness; it entirely takes phenomena as the marks of marklessness.