宗鏡錄 57.9

57.9

Answer: Grasping at objects apart from the mind is illusory; to ward off the false mind, it is called 'consciousness-only.' Awakening to the selflessness of the mind frees one from sinking [in saṃsāra]; it is not termed 'object-only' with reference to the two conditions. Furthermore, whether there is an object or no object, both are one's own mind, and that mind arises in all cases: First, if the mind arises with reference to an existent object, that is precisely the nimittabhāga of one's own consciousness. All real objects do not depart from the mind that cognizes them; outside one's own consciousness, there is truly no object. Second, if the mind arises with reference to a nonexistent object, as when the solitary dispersed mental consciousness cognizes the past, the future, sky-flowers, rabbit horns, and all nonexistent dharmas, the mind also arises. As the Commentary on the Hundred Dharmas states: 'The ancient view that deliberation does not arise when taking nonexistence as an object is not correct.'