宗鏡錄 68.29

68.29

Answer: An image in a mirror, the moon in the water, a gandharva city, dream objects, magical illusions, a second moon, and the like are clearly visible; are they truly existent? What is seen in the world is entirely unreal; how can one take present direct perception to prove that dharmas are true? Everything seen when awake is not true, being the object of consciousness, just like what is seen in a dream. What is seen by the dreaming mind is definitely not true, being the object of a disordered consciousness, like a second moon. Thus, although they lack a real substance of dharmas, they can serve as objects to generate a mind of direct seeing; due to this, recollection successively arises, and both before and after take as objects an object that is not truly existent. Therefore, one cannot use the arising of recollection to prove that dharmas are true. Since dharmas are not true, how could time be real?