宗鏡錄 65.23

65.23

It answers: "In mindless absorption and the like, although consciousness is temporarily absent, it will definitely arise again before long; because consciousness does not abandon the body, the times with consciousness are many, and the times without consciousness are few. Therefore they are called characteristics of consciousness. Just as when a person goes out, one cannot say his house has no master. Suffering, pleasure, hate, love, exertion, and the like are associated with citta; sharing an object and following citta, their operations exist because citta exists, and do not exist because citta is absent. Therefore these are characteristics of consciousness, not characteristics of a self." It also says: "Furthermore, the four great elements and derived matter (upādāyarūpa) enclose empty space; thus it is named a body. Within this, the causes and conditions of the internal and external bases (āyatana) come together, producing seeds of consciousness. When the body obtains these seeds and they come together, they perform various activities—speaking, sitting, rising, going, and coming. In the combination of the six elements, it is arbitrarily named a man or arbitrarily named a woman. If the six elements were a man, there should be six men; one cannot make one into six, or six into one. Since in the element of earth there is no characteristic of male or female, up to the element of consciousness there is also no characteristic of male or female. If it does not exist in each separately, it also does not exist in their combination. Just as six dogs individually cannot produce a lion, when combined they also cannot produce one, because they lack the nature."