宗鏡錄 75.15

75.15

Answer: The nature of consciousness is subtle and inconceivable. Because it follows karma, beauty and ugliness suddenly divide; because it is formless, small and large are all equal. The Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness says: 'The Buddha said: Mahauṣadha, just as the wind element has no substance and no form, abiding in secluded valleys or in crevices, yet when it emerges violently, it may topple Mount Sumeru and smash it to dust—the wind element is subtle, devoid of substance and form; consciousness is also like this: subtly devoid of form and color, it can fully sustain both large and small bodies, whether receiving the body of a mosquito or receiving the body of an elephant. Furthermore, it is like the seed of a nyagrodha tree: an extremely tiny seed gives rise to a tree that spreads out vast and wide, with hundreds of thousands of branches. What do you think: are the seed and the tree similar in size?' Mahauṣadha said: 'World-Honored One, the seed and the tree are as vastly different in size as a pore in a lotus fiber compared to the expanse of space.' 'Just so, Mahauṣadha. The tree sought within the seed cannot be found; yet if not for the seed, the tree would not grow. A tiny nyagrodha seed can produce a great tree; a tiny consciousness can produce a large body. Seeking the body within consciousness, the body cannot be found; yet apart from consciousness, the body does not exist.' Furthermore, the Vyāsa-paripṛcchā-sūtra (Poyesuo wen jing) says: 'The Buddha said: Furthermore, Great Ṛṣi, this consciousness is subtle, without color and without substance, and is not visible. Consciousness is not material, nor does it have blue or other colors. There are no faculties within form; yet if consciousness is separated from the faculties, there are no cognitive spheres. If someone feels agitation, alarm, and terror in their mind, or doubts and deliberates, all such things are the power of consciousness.'