宗鏡錄 36.50

36.50

The answer is: If you seek wisdom through conditions, knowing is not knowing. Why? The *Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā* says: 'Not producing consciousness conditioned by form is called not seeing form.' It also says: 'Because the five aggregates are pure, prajñā is pure.' Prajñā is the knowing subject; the five aggregates are the known object; the known object is the condition. Knowing and the known exist mutually and are non-existent mutually. Because they are non-existent mutually, no thing possesses them; because they exist mutually, no thing lacks them. Because no thing lacks them, they arise due to conditions; because no thing possesses them, conditions cannot produce them. Because conditions cannot produce them, the illumination of conditions is not knowing; because they arise due to conditions, knowing and conditions arise relying on each other. Therefore, knowing and not knowing arise from what is known. Why? Knowing grasps marks through what is known, hence it is called knowing. The ultimate truth is itself without marks; on what basis could true wisdom know it? The reason is this: What is known is not an intrinsically known object; what is known is born of knowing. Since what is known gives rise to knowing, knowing also gives rise to what is known. Since they mutually produce each other, mutual production is conditioned phenomena. Conditioned phenomena are therefore not real; not being real, they are not the ultimate truth. Hence the *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā* states: 'Things exist through causes and conditions, therefore they are not real; not existing through causes and conditions, therefore they are real.' Now, the ultimate truth is called true; what is true is not conditioned. Since the true is not conditioned, no thing arises from conditions. Hence the sūtra says: 'I see no phenomenon arising without conditions.' When this true wisdom of the mind contemplates the ultimate truth, it has never grasped what is known. If wisdom does not grasp what is known, on what basis could this wisdom know? Yet wisdom is not without knowledge; it is merely that because the ultimate truth is not an object of knowledge, true wisdom is also not knowing. Yet you wish to seek wisdom through conditions and therefore take wisdom to be knowing. Conditions are themselves not conditions; where would you seek knowing?