宗鏡錄 64.17

64.17

Answer: If sentient beings see the Buddha, this is an objective form (nimittabhāga) transformed by defiled evolving consciousness, subsumed under form of common outflow (niṣyanda-rūpa). If the Buddha takes sentient beings as object, it is transformed by undefiled wisdom, subsumed under form produced by meditative absorption. Although consciousness and wisdom differ, neither departs from the objects of their own minds; both, by the power of the sovereign condition, cause the other's mind to manifest. As the Yitian chao says: "Relying on the Mahāyāna school, it is generally stated with respect to other bodies and insentient phenomena: when one takes another's body as object with one's own mind, one does not directly take that other as object; one only takes the nimittabhāga transformed by one's own consciousness as the direct object of perception. Although this form that is the nimittabhāga arises by relying on the other's body as the substantive basis, it does not arise depending on that other's consciousness; because it arises from the seeds within one's own consciousness, this nimittabhāga is subsumed under form of common outflow, as it belongs to the same category as the forms of the five sense data. Relying on the other as the substantive basis, it then transforms the reflected image—this is the sovereign condition. That this transformed nimittabhāga arises from one's own seeds is the meaning of the cause condition. This demonstrates that one's own mind takes the other's body as object and possesses it relying on the locus of current activities; this is the establishment of current activity with respect to the other's body. Because it arises from the seeds of one's own mind, it is also established in dependence on seeds; in terms of attainment, this is the establishment of seeds. By this principle, when sentient beings see the Buddha's physical body, the Buddha's body taken as object is only transformed by defiled consciousness of one's own; because it arises from one's own seeds, it is subsumed under form of common outflow. Taking the pure land transformed by the Buddha as object is also like this. When the Buddha takes the physical bodies of sentient beings to be transformed and defiled lands as objects, the transformed nimittabhāga are all undefiled, lacking the functions of real sentient beings such as abandoning defilement. Like an image in a mirror, it is entirely the clear mirror; it is subsumed under undefiled form produced by meditative absorption and is also included under form of common outflow. This is because it belongs to the same category as the external five sense data, because it is transformed by the Buddha's consciousness, and because it arises from pure seeds within the immaculate consciousness."