宗鏡錄 85.23

85.23

Answer: It is solely because it has no substance and no nature that the myriad existents can be established. What is produced as the myriad existents is not separated from true emptiness. If one says they have a nature, not a single phenomenon could be established: then emptiness would not be empty of itself, so how could it accommodate form? If form is not form of itself, only then can it unite with emptiness. The *Mahāyānāvatāraśāstra* says: "All phenomena turn solely through citta and there are no other phenomena; such mental phenomena are also unobtainable." The *Laṅkāvatārasūtra* says: "The citta-measure of no-citta, I call citta-measure." By means of the statement that citta is unobtainable, the meaning of great emptiness is established. By means of the statement of the citta-measure of no-citta, the meaning of illusory distinctions is established. Through the meaning of great emptiness, all phenomena can be established; through the meaning of illusory distinctions, the principle of emptiness can be revealed.