坐禪三昧經 2.86

2.86

Among these, the twelve links of dependent origination for all the world do not arise from the extreme of having no causes and conditions, nor from the extreme of gods, nor from the extreme of human beings, nor from the extreme of various erroneous conditions. When a bodhisattva contemplates the twelve links of dependent origination, they bind the mind without moving and do not let it wander externally; if it wanders externally toward various conditions, they gather it and bring it back. They contemplate the twelve links arising across the three periods of time: previous life, present life, and future life. If the bodhisattva attains mental stability, they should contemplate the twelve links as empty and devoid of a master: ignorance does not know 'I create formations', formations do not know 'I exist because of ignorance'; it is merely because ignorance is a condition that formations arise. Just as from the seed of grass or a tree a sprout comes forth, and the seed does not know 'I produce the sprout', nor does the sprout know 'I come forth from the seed', up to aging and death, it is also like this! Among these twelve links, one contemplates and knows each one to be without a master and without a self, just like external grass and trees having no master; it is only from inverted views that a self is falsely conceived.