歷歷現前認確實，一旦殘疾聲色失；
六識全滅靈明在，便悟六塵如幻存。

跋

一般以感官之覺受為確實，而執有實體之存在。人生無常，一旦遭遇殘疾，卻可能頓失聲色等之覺受。設想眼耳鼻舌身意之六識頓然全失，而靈明不昧，便易了悟色聲香味觸法之六塵，皆如幻現。

了解此理之另一途徑是：聲是多種因緣合和所現，緣遷即變，緣缺即逝，故其現如幻，雖歷歷而無自體。色、香、味、觸、法，亦復同理。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　二○○四年九月九日
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　養和齋　　　於加州

From Absence Realize Illusiveness

Yutang Lin

Whatever vividly sensed is recognized as solidly present.
Once some faculty impaired, sounds or sight may vanish.
If all sensual contents were lost but awareness remained,
One would awake to the illusive nature of all sensations.

Comment:

Usually impressions of our senses are taken as real, and thereupon grasped as indication of a solid existence. Life being impermanent, once some faculty became impaired one could suddenly lose sensation of sounds, colors, etc. Imagine that all sensations of the six senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking, were suddenly lost and yet one's awareness remained vivid, then such a state would make it easier for one to realize that all six kinds of sense objects, forms, sounds, scents, flavors, feelings and thoughts, have illusive presence.

Another way to understand this would be: for example, sounds present as the result of many concurrent causal conditions, and as the conditions change sounds alter, and as the conditions are insufficient sounds vanish. Hence occurrences of sounds are illusive, although vivid and yet without self-nature. Similarly, it holds for the cases of forms, scents, flavors, feelings and thoughts.

Written in Chinese on September 9, 2004
Translated on September 18, 2004
El Cerrito, California

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