(V) Body, Touch, and the Body Element: All Three Are Absent （五）身、触、身界，三处都无
Writings of Master Yuanyin | 2018-06-10 | Download | AI assisted translation
| “阿难，又汝所明：身触为缘，生于身识。此识为复因身所生，以身为界？因触所生，以触为界？” |
“Ānanda, as you have understood: bodily contact serves as a condition, giving rise to body consciousness. Does this consciousness arise from the body, taking the body as its boundary? Or does it arise from contact, taking contact as its boundary?” |
| “身触为缘，生于身识。 |
“Bodily contact serves as a condition, giving rise to body consciousness.” |
| 此识为复因身所生，以身为界？因触所生，以触为界？”由身体与外缘的接触，生出身识，那么这个身识是从身体生出来，以身体为界呢？还是从触生出来，以触为界呢？这个句子与前面一样，就是身体生出来的东西应该属于身体，对身体以外就不知道了。 |
“Does this consciousness arise from the body, taking the body as its boundary? Or does it arise from contact, taking contact as its boundary?” Through the contact between the body and external conditions, body consciousness arises. Does this body consciousness arise from the body, taking the body as its boundary, or does it arise from contact, taking contact as its boundary? This sentence is the same as the preceding ones: what arises from the body should belong to the body, and know nothing beyond the body. |
| 同样，由触生出来的东西应该属于触，对触之外就没有知觉了。现在问你是以触为界，还是以身为界？你看这个身识是从哪一面生的呢？ |
Likewise, what arises from contact should belong to contact and have no awareness beyond contact. Now he asks whether you take contact or the body as the boundary. From which side do you think this body consciousness arises? |
| “阿难，若因身生，必无合离二觉观缘，身何所识？” |
“Ānanda, if it arises from the body, then without the conditions of the two perceptions of contact and separation, what could the body be conscious of?” |
| “若因身生，必无合离二觉观缘。”假如这个身识是由身根所生，那么就一定不需要合与离二种觉观，才能成触。觉观就是识别，有东西碰在我身上叫合，碰的东西离开了叫离，由身体与物体的合离而生出觉观。 |
“If it arises from the body, then without the conditions of the two perceptions of contact and separation...” If this body consciousness arose from the body faculty, then it would necessarily not require the two perceptions of contact and separation in order for contact to occur. Perception here means discernment. When something touches my body, this is called contact; when the object touching it moves away, this is called separation. From the contact and separation of the body and an object arise discernment. |
| 别的东西碰在我的身体上，我感觉到了，这样就成为触觉。假如没有东西碰在我身上，怎么会有触觉呢？所以这个触觉不能离开合与离。假如身识是身根生出来的，身体自己能生这个触觉，那么就不需要合与离这两种觉观。 |
When something else touches my body and I feel it, this becomes tactile sensation. If nothing touches my body, how could there be tactile sensation? Therefore, this tactile sensation cannot be apart from contact and separation. If body consciousness arose from the body faculty, and the body itself could produce this tactile sensation, then it would not require these two perceptions of contact and separation. |
| 可是离开合与离这两种觉观之外，身何所识呢？没有外面物体的接触，离开了合与离，身根就没有知觉，你怎么能有触觉呢？触觉不能离开触尘，一定要有东西碰上去，由物体的合与离才知道是触，一直离开固然不能成触，一直合着也不能成触。 |
But apart from these two perceptions of contact and separation, what could the body be conscious of? Without the contact of an external object, and apart from contact and separation, the body faculty has no awareness. How, then, could you have tactile sensation? Tactile sensation cannot be apart from tactile objects; something must touch the body. Only through the contact and separation of an object do we know that there is touch. Constant separation certainly cannot constitute contact, nor can constant contact constitute it. |
| 假如离开触尘的离与合这两种缘，你就没有觉观，如果没有知觉了，你的身识又去识个什么呢？因而证明这个触并不是身根所生。 |
If you are apart from the two conditions of separation and contact with tactile objects, you have no discernment. If there is no awareness, what could your body consciousness be conscious of? This proves that contact does not arise from the body faculty. |
| “若因触生，必无汝身，谁有非身，知合离者？” |
“If it arises from contact, then without your body, who could, apart from the body, know contact and separation?” |
| 假如触觉不是从身根所生，而是从触尘生出来的，与你的身体没关系，那么就不需要你的身体，即使没有身体也可以有触觉。 |
If tactile sensation did not arise from the body faculty but instead arose from tactile objects, having nothing to do with your body, then it would not require your body; even without a body, tactile sensation could exist. |
| 但是“谁有非身，知合离者?”谁能够没有身体而知道离合呢？没有身体就没有身根，那么谁知道有东西碰过来了，谁又知道东西拿开去了？知道离合是因为有身体，没有身体就绝对不知道离合，如果没有身体，那么物体来来回回都碰到虚空去了，虚空又怎么知道是触呢？既然没有身根就没有触觉，这就证明触觉不是从触所生。 |
But who could know separation and contact without a body? Without a body there is no body faculty. Then who would know that something has touched the body, and who would know that the object has been removed? We know contact and separation because there is a body. Without a body, one absolutely could not know contact and separation. If there were no body, objects moving back and forth would merely touch empty space. How could empty space know touch? Since there can be no tactile sensation without the body faculty, this proves that tactile sensation does not arise from contact. |
| “阿难，物不触知，身知有触。” |
“An object does not know contact; the body knows that there is contact.” |
| 物不触知是倒装笔法，就是物不知触，物体不知道有触，而是身知有触。 |
“An object does not know contact” is an inverted construction; it means that the object does not know contact. The object does not know that there is contact; rather, the body knows that there is contact. |
| “知身即触，知触即身。” |
“To know the body is contact; to know contact is the body.” |
| 这里说明身与触相辅相成。“知身即触”，知道身体就是触，你必须能够感知身体，才能生起触觉，因为没有身体是不知道触的。“知触即身”，你能够知道触，当然是因为有身体了，没有身体即不能生出触觉。所以，身即是触，触即是身；离身则无触，离触亦无身。这是互生，说明触与身是相应而成。那么下面： |
This explains that body and contact support each other. “To know the body is contact” means that knowing the body is contact: you must be able to sense the body before tactile sensation can arise, for without a body one cannot know contact. “To know contact is the body” means that your ability to know contact naturally depends on having a body; without a body, tactile sensation cannot arise. Thus, body is contact and contact is body; apart from the body there is no contact, and apart from contact there is no body. They arise mutually, showing that contact and body come about in correspondence with one another. Then it continues: |
| “即触非身，即身非触。” |
“Contact is not the body; the body is not contact.” |
| 上面讲身即是触、触即是身。下面接着又说：“即触非身，即身非触。”触不是身，身不是触，前后意思是互相否定的。这是怎么回事呢？刚才讲的是互生，身与触互为所依。这里讲的是互夺，彼此夺掉对方存在的条件。 |
Above it was said that body is contact and contact is body. It then says, “Contact is not the body; the body is not contact.” Contact is not the body, and the body is not contact; the meanings before and after seem to negate one another. What does this mean? What was just explained was mutual arising: body and contact are mutually dependent. Here, however, it speaks of mutual negation: each removes the condition for the other’s existence. |
| 譬如一物不能有两名，只应该有一名。假如说是身体，就不应该说是触；假如说是触，就不应该说是身体。 |
For example, one thing cannot have two names; it should have only one name. If it is called the body, it should not be called contact; if it is called contact, it should not be called the body. |
| 刚才说身就是触，触就是身，一个东西变成有两个名字，两个名字讲的应该是两样事情，一个东西变成两样事情当然不对。互夺就是要互相夺去，那么夺去什么呢？就是证明两个东西根本没有。 |
Just now it was said that the body is contact and contact is the body, making one thing have two names. Yet two names should refer to two different things; it is surely wrong to make one thing into two things. Mutual negation means mutually taking away. What is taken away? It is to prove that the two things do not exist at all. |
| 不但佛经上在讲夺，禅宗更是喜欢用夺的方法来接引人，叫“驱耕夫之牛，夺饥人之食。 |
Not only do the Buddhist scriptures speak of taking away; the Chan school especially likes to use this method to guide people—driving away the farmer’s ox and snatching food from the hungry person’s hand. |
| ”农民种田要用牛来耕地，那么我就把你的牛赶走；你这个人饿得不得了，已经饥不择食，见什么东西都想吃，我就偏要抢走你手中的食物。为什么要这样呢？因为你平时着相惯了，假如不著东西你就不知该如何是好，那么我就要把你执著的东西都夺走，叫你在一物都没有的时候见到本性。禅宗接引人的手段就是这样活泼，这样绝妙。 |
A farmer needs an ox to plow his fields, so I drive away your ox. You are desperately hungry, so hungry that you will eat anything you see, yet I deliberately snatch away the food in your hand. Why do this? Because you are habitually attached to appearances. If you do not cling to something, you do not know what to do; therefore, I take away everything to which you cling, so that when not a single thing remains, you may see your intrinsic nature. The Chan school’s means of guiding people are so lively and so marvelous. |
| 因为一物不能有两名，说触就不应说身，说身就不应说触，所以说“即触非身，即身非触。”身与触彼此互夺，说触就不是身，说身就不是触，如此一来就触也不可得，身也不可得，既然两面都不可得，所以： |
Because one thing cannot have two names, when one says contact one should not speak of the body, and when one says body one should not speak of contact. Thus it says, “Contact is not the body; the body is not contact.” Body and contact mutually negate one another: when one says contact, it is not the body; when one says body, it is not contact. In this way, contact cannot be obtained, nor can the body be obtained. Since neither side can be obtained, therefore: |
| “身触二相，元无处所。” |
“The two appearances of body and contact originally have no location.” |
| 由于身和触二者都不可得，因此说“身触二相，元无处所。”所以身也好，触也好，这二者都是妄相，根本没有地方，没有所在。 |
Since neither body nor contact can be obtained, it says, “The two appearances of body and contact originally have no location.” Thus, whether body or contact, both are delusive appearances; fundamentally, they have no place and no location. |
| “合身即为身自体性，离身即是虚空等相。内外不成，中云何立？中不复立，内外性空，即汝识生，从谁立界？” |
“When they join with the body, they become the body’s own nature; when they are apart from the body, they are equivalent to empty space. If inside and outside cannot be established, how can the middle be established? If the middle cannot be established, and the nature of inside and outside is empty, then when your consciousness arises, from what can it establish its boundary?” |
| 什么是“合身即为身自体性”呢？就是这个经上所说的：阿难，你自己以手摩头，那么在摩头的时候，手和头合为一体，就是能触与所触合为一体。既然合为一体了，哪里还有能触与所触呢？但是同一个东西又是无法成触的。 |
What does “when they join with the body, they become the body’s own nature” mean? It is what this sūtra says: Ānanda, when you touch your head with your own hand, hand and head become one when they meet—the toucher and the touched become one. Once they are one, where are the toucher and the touched? Yet one and the same thing cannot constitute contact. |
| 比如我要拍手，一只手拍不响，要两只手才拍得响。那么离身会怎么样呢？离身即是虚空等相。假设离开了我的头与手，离开了这个身体，根本没有东西，那么就是虚空了。 |
For example, if I want to clap, one hand alone cannot make a sound; two hands are needed. What happens when they are apart from the body? “When they are apart from the body, they are equivalent to empty space.” Suppose the head and hand, and indeed the body itself, are absent. There is simply nothing at all; that is empty space. |
| 如果是合身，能触与所触变为一体，一体之后就无能所；如果是离身，离身因为没有东西，就变成为虚空。 |
If they join with the body, the toucher and the touched become one, and once they are one there is no subject and object. If they are apart from the body, then because there is nothing, they become empty space. |
| 由于合与离都不可得，那么“内外不成，中云何立？”既无内里的身根，亦无外面的触尘，内外都没有，那么当中的这个触觉，这个身识从什么地方建立呢？所以接下来问：“中不复立，内外性空，即汝识生，从谁立界？”没有 |
Since neither contact nor separation can be obtained, “if inside and outside cannot be established, how can the middle be established?” If there is neither the inner body faculty nor the external tactile object, if there is neither inside nor outside, then from where can this tactile sensation, this body consciousness in the middle, be established? Therefore it next asks, “If the middle cannot be established, and the nature of inside and outside is empty, then when your consciousness arises, from what can it establish its boundary?” There is no |
| 当中自然就没有内外，既然内外都空了，那么你所生的身识，从什么地方立界限呢？这里的识属于身根之识，不属于耳根之识，耳根的识是听觉，身根的识是触觉。立界限一定要有内外方所，如果一定有里边的身根和外面的触尘，可以说生出了当中的身识，但是现在既没有两边，也没有当中，那么如何成这个界呢？因而证明这个界不可得。 |
middle, and naturally there is no inside or outside. Since inside and outside are both empty, from where can the body consciousness that arises establish a boundary? The consciousness here belongs to the body faculty, not to the ear faculty. The consciousness of the ear faculty is hearing, while the consciousness of the body faculty is tactile sensation. To establish a boundary, there must be inner and outer locations. If there were necessarily an inner body faculty and an external tactile object, one could say that body consciousness arose in between. But now there are neither two sides nor a middle. How, then, could this boundary be formed? This proves that such a boundary cannot be obtained. |
| “是故当知，身触为缘，生身识界，三处都无。则身与触及身界三，本非因缘、非自然性。” |
“Therefore, you should know that bodily contact serves as a condition, giving rise to the realm of body consciousness, yet all three locations do not exist. Thus body, contact, and the realm of body consciousness are originally neither causes and conditions nor self-arising in nature.” |
| 所以你应该知道，以身根与触尘为因缘，生出这个身识界，因为这三处都没有，所以是不可能的。既然都没有，所以说身根、触尘及你的身识这三样东西，都非因缘，也非自然，因缘与自然都不可得。 |
Therefore, you should know that the body faculty and tactile objects serve as causes and conditions giving rise to this realm of body consciousness. Since these three locations do not exist, this is impossible. Since they all do not exist, the body faculty, tactile objects, and your body consciousness—these three things—are neither causes and conditions nor self-arising; neither causes and conditions nor self-arising can be obtained. |
| 因为都不可得，所以都是空；因为都是空，所以这个六识都是虚妄；再因为都是虚妄，所以就证明它是真如佛性，在你的真如佛性之外是没有东西的。 |
Since none can be obtained, all are empty. Since all are empty, these six consciousnesses are all delusive. Since they are delusive, this proves that they are suchness, Buddha-nature; outside your suchness, Buddha-nature, there is nothing. |
| 所以你不要迷惑，不要着相，不要执著你的身体，执著你的触识，这个身体与识都不可得。人都是执著有我，有这个身体，所以这个我执顶厉害。死去的人为什么有中阴身呢？就是因为这个我执太坚固了。 |
Therefore, do not be deluded, do not cling to appearances, and do not cling to your body or to your tactile consciousness. This body and consciousness cannot be obtained. People all cling to the existence of a self, to this body, and so attachment to self is exceedingly powerful. Why do the dead have an intermediate-state body? It is because this attachment to self is so deeply entrenched. |
| 死掉这个身体之后，还坚持认为一定有个我，一定有我的身体，所以现出一个中阴身。中阴身属于色身，与鬼魂一样，都是有形质的，只是非常淡薄，不像我们现在这个色身那样浓重。 |
After this body dies, they still insist that there must be a self and that they must have a body; therefore, an intermediate-state body appears. The intermediate-state body is a material body. Like a ghost, it has form and substance, but it is extremely subtle, unlike our present material bodies, which are so dense and substantial. |
| 因为他们的形体非常清淡，不是每个人都能看得见，功夫做得好的人能看见，也有个别普通人看得见。这个执著真的很厉害，你活在这个世界上时执著的东西，在死了以后现出中阴身的时候，还会接着去执著。 |
Because their forms are extremely subtle and light, not everyone can see them. Those whose practice is well developed can see them, and a few ordinary people can as well. This attachment is truly powerful. Whatever you cling to while living in this world, you will continue to cling to after death, when the intermediate-state body appears. |
| 发愿生西方极乐世界的人，必须把一切放下才能往生，如果放不下就绝对不能去，根本生不了。 |
Those who aspire to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss must let go of everything before they can attain rebirth. If they cannot let go, they absolutely cannot go there; fundamentally, they cannot be reborn there. |
| 假如你现在心粘着得不得了，那么到中阴阶段还是粘着得不得了，心里空不掉怎么能往生呢？所以你要空就得现在空，要放就得现在放。现在如果不肯空、不肯放，到中阴阶段就更加放不下了。我不是在吓唬你们。 |
If your mind is now clinging desperately, it will still be clinging desperately in the intermediate state. If the mind cannot empty itself, how can one attain rebirth? Therefore, if you are to empty yourself, you must do so now; if you are to let go, you must do so now. If you are unwilling to empty yourself or let go now, you will be even less able to let go in the intermediate state. I am not trying to frighten you. |
| 从前上海有个徐蔚如先生，是修净土宗的大居士，帮着印光法师一起弘法，鼎鼎大名，当时的人都知道他。后来他圆寂了，大家想，这样一位大居士总该生西方极乐世界了。为了验证他往生了没有，就做法来看一看。 |
In the past, there was a Mr. Xu Weiru in Shanghai, a prominent lay practitioner of the Pure Land school. He helped Dharma Master Yinguang propagate the Dharma and was extremely well known; everyone at the time knew of him. Later, he passed away. Everyone thought that such a great lay practitioner surely must have been reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. In order to verify whether he had attained rebirth, they performed a ritual to investigate. |
| 怎么验证呢？就是试试他有没有中阴身，因为生西方极乐世界的人没有中阴身，没有往生的人才有中阴身。 |
How did they verify it? They tested whether he had an intermediate-state body, because those reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss have no intermediate-state body; only those who have not attained rebirth have one. |
| 要想知道有没有中阴身有很多法门，其中有种勾召法厉害得很，只要使用这个法，非但中阴身，连生人的魂也能勾召得来，这个可是真的，不是假的。 |
There are many dharma gates for determining whether someone has an intermediate-state body. Among them is a particularly powerful method of summoning. As soon as this method is used, it can summon not only an intermediate-state body, but even the soul of a living person. This is real, not false. |
| 大家用这个法一试，没招来，于是大家就想，看来他的功夫不错，已经往生西方极乐世界了。 |
When everyone tried this method, they could not summon him. So they thought, “It appears that his practice was quite accomplished; he has already been reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.” |
| 可是再仔细一想，这个徐蔚如居士以前是银行经理，他的保险箱里藏着许多宝贝，包括金条、宝石、地契、股票等等，很多很多，他的心会不会粘在这个地方呀？那就再找找看，结果一召，果然没错，原来在保险箱里变成了个守财鬼，他不但没能生到西方极乐世界，反而落到鬼道里去了。 |
But then, on further reflection, they recalled that Lay Practitioner Xu Weiru had formerly been a bank manager. His safe contained many valuables—gold bars, jewels, land deeds, stocks, and much else besides. Might his mind still be clinging to those things? They searched again, and when they summoned him, it was indeed just as they suspected: he had become a wealth-guarding ghost in his safe. Not only had he failed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, but he had instead fallen into the realm of ghosts. |
| 所以说往生净土并不是一件简单事，你要放得下才能走得了，如果放不下就走不了。有人说我就这样马马虎虎念佛，只要能往生就行，所以用不着什么一心不乱。 |
Thus, rebirth in the Pure Land is not a simple matter. You must be able to let go before you can depart; if you cannot let go, you cannot depart. Some people say, “I will simply recite the Buddha’s name casually. As long as I can attain rebirth, that is enough, so there is no need for one-pointedness of mind without distraction.” |
| 假如你真能够死心塌地念佛，心里一点也不粘着这个世界，不管能不能达到一心不乱，一直勇往直前地念下去，这样做当然很好。念佛有理一心，有事一心。 |
If you can truly recite the Buddha’s name with wholehearted resolve, without the slightest attachment in your mind to this world, and continue courageously to recite it without concern for whether you attain one-pointedness of mind without distraction, then that is certainly very good. Buddha-recitation has one-pointedness in principle and one-pointedness in phenomena. |
| 理一心的境界很高，我们并不要求一定要做到理一心，只要能做到事一心就行。 |
The state of one-pointedness in principle is very lofty. We do not require that one must attain one-pointedness in principle; it is enough to attain one-pointedness in phenomena. |
| 那什么是事一心呢？就是只有一个忆佛念佛的心，没有其他二心，除了忆佛念佛之外，不再挂念妻子儿女，不再想着金银财宝、房屋田产，你如果一门心思只想着佛，心就不会乱了，这就叫一心不乱，我们只要这样念，就能生到西方。 |
What, then, is one-pointedness in phenomena? It means having only the mind that remembers the Buddha and recites the Buddha’s name, with no other divided mind. Apart from remembering the Buddha and reciting the Buddha’s name, one no longer worries about one’s wife and children, nor thinks about gold and silver, wealth and treasures, houses and property. If you direct your mind single-mindedly toward the Buddha alone, your mind will not become distracted. This is called one-pointedness of mind without distraction. If we recite in this way, we can be reborn in the West. |
| 但是假如你说：“不需要！不需要！我就这么马马虎虎地随便念念。 |
But suppose you say, “No need, no need. I will just recite casually and carelessly.” |
| 只要相信有西方极乐世界，相信阿弥陀佛迟早要接引我们，只需把早晚功课一做，其他事情不用再管，其他佛法不用再修，尽管去做你的世法，临终的时候就能生西方极乐世界。”你要这样想就错了。 |
You may think that as long as you believe in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, believe that Amitābha Buddha will sooner or later come to guide you, and perform the morning and evening services, there is no need to concern yourself with anything else or cultivate any other Buddhist practices. You may simply go on engaging in worldly dharmas and be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss at the time of death. If you think this way, you are mistaken. |
| 你看徐蔚如大居士，他帮助印光法师弘扬净土法门，做过很多善事，写过很多文章，就因为留恋保险箱里的财宝，结果做了守财鬼，没有生到西方，后来还要再用密法来超度他。 |
Look at the great lay practitioner Xu Weiru. He assisted Dharma Master Yinguang in propagating the Pure Land Dharma gate, performed many good deeds, and wrote many articles. Yet because he remained attached to the treasures in his safe, he became a wealth-guarding ghost rather than being reborn in the West. Later, Esoteric Buddhist practices still had to be used to liberate him. |
| 所以说大家修法不要贪图便宜，以为马马虎虎不要紧。我郑重相告：马马虎虎是绝对不行的！你的心一定要放下，你这里如果放不下，那里就肯定去不了。 |
Therefore, when you cultivate a practice, do not seek an easy bargain by thinking that being casual and careless does not matter. I tell you solemnly: being casual and careless is absolutely unacceptable. You must let go in your mind. If you cannot let go here, you definitely cannot go there. |
| 佛菩萨为什么对我们众生反复讲：没有啊！没有啊！你们不要执著啊！不要执著啊！告诉我们一切东西都是没有的，都是空的，就是要我们把一切放下，只有放下了才能往生啊！所以你们不要总是粘着在这个世界上面，一点都不肯放，不肯放就不能走。 |
Why do the Buddhas and bodhisattvas repeatedly tell us sentient beings, “There is nothing! There is nothing! Do not cling! Do not cling!”? They tell us that all things are nonexistent, that all are empty, precisely so that we will let go of everything. Only by letting go can we attain rebirth. Therefore, do not remain constantly attached to this world, unwilling to let go in the slightest. If you do not let go, you cannot depart. |
| 大家都知道六波罗蜜中以布施为第一，施就是舍，让你布施就是叫你学会能舍，要舍得掉才行。你如果总粘着在妻财子禄、名利得失上，这样修法是绝对不行的！ |
Everyone knows that giving is the first of the six pāramitās. To give is to relinquish; being asked to give is meant to teach you to relinquish. You must be able to let things go. If you are always attached to wife, wealth, children, position, fame, profit, gain, and loss, then it is absolutely impossible to cultivate the practice in this way. |
| 下面要讲意识了，我们现在已经讲到十八界当中最后一个，也就是意识界。十八界就是六根、六尘加六识，三六等于十八。讲这个十八界是为了破界，要破界就得破识，因为有识之故才有界。 |
Next, we shall discuss consciousness. We have now reached the last of the eighteen realms, namely the realm of consciousness. The eighteen realms are the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses: three sets of six make eighteen. We discuss these eighteen realms in order to break through the realms. To break through the realms, one must break through consciousness, for it is because there is consciousness that there are realms. |
| 识就是妄心，因为妄心一来之后，六根就不能互用，所以有了界限。比如眼睛只能看，不能听；耳朵只能听，不能看。假如把界限打破，六根就能互用，因为这六根本来是一精明，都是同一真心所起的作用。我们破这个界，就是要明白根本没有界，这个界限是我们的妄心执著出来的。经上现在要告诉我们，应该怎样破这个意识界： |
Consciousness is the deluded mind. Once the deluded mind arises, the six sense faculties cannot function interchangeably, and thus boundaries arise. For example, the eyes can only see and cannot hear; the ears can only hear and cannot see. If these boundaries are broken down, the six sense faculties can function interchangeably, because they are originally a single luminous essence, all functions arising from the same true mind. To break through these realms is to understand that there are fundamentally no realms; these boundaries are produced by the attachments of our deluded minds. The sūtra will now tell us how the realm of consciousness should be broken through: |
