Likewise,
O Illustrious One. They access the dharmadhātu by using their faculties. The twenty-two faculties are: the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, mind faculty, female faculty, male faculty, life force faculty, the faculty of happiness, faculty of suffering, faculty of pleasure, faculty of displeasure, faculty of neutrality, faculty of faith, faculty of diligence, faculty of attention, faculty of concentration, faculty of intelligence, the faculty of making the unknown known, the faculty of full knowing, and the faculty of possessing full knowledge.
Regarding these, the eye faculty can’t ever be determined throughout the three times. Not being determinable throughout the three times, there is no such eye faculty. The eye faculty being non-existent, how can there be a conventionally designated eye faculty? It is similar to a hollow fist; a falsehood, inauthentic, there is nothing there.1
It may be nominally indicated, but ultimately neither hollow nor fist can be ascertained. The eye faculty is just like a hollow fist; a falsehood, nothing there, something inauthentic. A feigned, deceptive phenomenon that can fool a child. There is nothing there, it is inauthentic. It may, in the same way, be nominally indicated, but ultimately neither an eye nor a faculty can be observed.
The Illustrious One gained the wisdom of omniscience and used the designation eye faculty in order to communicate with the many beings who remain perverted, but ultimately there is no such thing. The faculty is without inherent existence; it is devoid of facultyness. The eye does not exist as eyeness; the faculty does not exist as facultyness. How so? The eye does not have an eye nature; and a phenomenon that has no nature is not an existent thing. Not being an existent thing it is not established. It is unproduced and unceasing. It cannot be designated as something past or future.
Illustrious One, it is just like someone having a dream where he is laughing, joyous and playing, who remembers this when waking up. Even though he is able to bring it to mind, it is not something that can be ascertained. How is that so? These things can’t even be found in the dream, not to mention when waking up – they are nowhere. The faculties are just like this dream; one cannot determine an essence to any phenomenon whatsoever. Hence they are said to be inexpressible.2
The aggregates, elements, sense fields, interdependence and so forth are all explained to be like the faculties. How could these ever then have any inherent nature? The proponents of consciousness who haven’t properly explored the intent of the Teacher’s words are therefore unable to apply their intelligence to good ends, and will surely be defeated.
Title
Chapter 1: Pramuditā
