宗鏡錄 75.13

75.13

Answer: The Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness says: 'The Buddha said: Bhadrapāla, form is of two kinds: internal and external. Internal refers to the eye consciousness; the eye is external. Up to the body consciousness being internal, and the body being external. Bhadrapāla, suppose a person blind from birth dreams of seeing beautiful forms, hands, feet, face, and eyes of exquisite beauty, and within the dream gives rise to great delight; but when awakened from sleep, all is dark and nothing is seen. Indeed, this person blind from birth had never seen an object: how could they see forms in a dream?' Bhadrapāla said to the Buddha: 'We only wish you to explain.' The Buddha told Bhadrapāla: 'That which sees in a dream is called the internal eye-sphere; it is discrimination by wisdom, not sight by the physical eye. As for the sphere of the physical eye, through the power of mindfulness, it momentarily appears in the dream of the blind person; and through the power of mindfulness, upon awakening they remember it. The internal form of consciousness is also like this. Therefore, what is seen is consciousness-only; hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are likewise so. To see an object is merely the discrimination of mindfulness and wisdom; if one is free from the discrimination of mindfulness and wisdom, there is definitely not even the finest hair of an external object.'