宗鏡錄 100.12

100.12

肇論注云。近而不可知者。其唯物性乎者。尚書云。天生萬物。唯人之靈。有情無情。為萬物也。靈是心之性。亦即萬物之性也。即物之性空。目擊而非遙。雖近而不可知也。故論云。遠不可見。如空中鳥跡。近不可見。如眼中之藥。遠喻三祇至道。近喻即真不見也。

The Commentary on the Zhaolun says: "That which is 'near yet unknowable—is it not solely the nature of things?' The Classic of History says: 'Heaven produces the myriad things; only humanity is spiritual.' Sentient and insentient constitute the myriad things. 'Spirituality' is the nature of citta, and it is also the nature of the myriad things. The nature of things being empty meets the eye and is not distant; though near, it cannot be known. Therefore the treatise says: 'What is distant cannot be seen, like the tracks of a bird in the sky; what is near cannot be seen, like medicine in one's own eye.' 'Distant' is an analogy for the ultimate path across three asaṃkhyeya kalpas; 'near' is an analogy for not seeing that which is identical to the true."