宗鏡錄 100.12

100.12

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."