Entering the Senses, Emerging Into Their Emptiness
A new samādhi crosses between each sense faculty and the very object it perceives: entering concentration in the eye and emerging in form, then reversing — entering in form and emerging in the eye — each direction of the crossing used to make a different point, first the object's own inconceivability, then the faculty's own utter absence of arising.
Six Faculties, Six Objects, Crossed in Both Directions
For each of the six sense faculties in turn — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — the bodhisattva enters concentration in the faculty and emerges in its object, revealing what is inconceivable about that object; then enters in the object and emerges in the faculty, declaring that the faculty itself has no arising, no origination, and nothing at all being done within it.
「於眼根中入正定，於色塵中從定出，
示現色性不思議，一切天人莫能知。
於色塵中入正定，於眼起定心不亂，
說眼無生無有起，性空寂滅無所作。
於耳根中入正定，於聲塵中從定出，
分別一切語言音，諸天世人莫能知。
於聲塵中入正定，於耳起定心不亂，
說耳無生無有起，性空寂滅無所作。
於鼻根中入正定，於香塵中從定出，
普得一切上妙香，諸天世人莫能知。
於香塵中入正定，於鼻起定心不亂，
說鼻無生無有起，性空寂滅無所作。
於舌根中入正定，於味塵中從定出，
普得一切諸上味，諸天世人莫能知。
於味塵中入正定，於舌起定心不亂，
說舌無生無有起，性空寂滅無所作。
於身根中入正定，於觸塵中從定出，
善能分別一切觸，諸天世人莫能知。
於觸塵中入正定，於身起定心不亂，
說身無生無有起，性空寂滅無所作。
於意根中入正定，於法塵中從定出，
分別一切諸法相，諸天世人莫能知。
於法塵中入正定，從意起定心不亂，
說意無生無有起，性空寂滅無所作。」
"He enters true concentration within the eye faculty, and emerges from concentration within the object of form, revealing that the nature of form is inconceivable — neither gods nor humans are able to know it.
He enters true concentration within the object of form, and rises from concentration within the eye, his mind unconfused, proclaiming that the eye has no arising and no origination at all, its nature empty, tranquil, and utterly still, without anything at all being done.
He enters true concentration within the ear faculty, and emerges from concentration within the object of sound, distinguishing every language and voice there is — neither gods nor the people of the world are able to know it.
He enters true concentration within the object of sound, and rises from concentration within the ear, his mind unconfused, proclaiming that the ear has no arising and no origination at all, its nature empty, tranquil, and utterly still, without anything at all being done.
He enters true concentration within the nose faculty, and emerges from concentration within the object of fragrance, universally obtaining every finest and most wondrous fragrance — neither gods nor the people of the world are able to know it.
He enters true concentration within the object of fragrance, and rises from concentration within the nose, his mind unconfused, proclaiming that the nose has no arising and no origination at all, its nature empty, tranquil, and utterly still, without anything at all being done.
He enters true concentration within the tongue faculty, and emerges from concentration within the object of taste, universally obtaining every finest flavor there is — neither gods nor the people of the world are able to know it.
He enters true concentration within the object of taste, and rises from concentration within the tongue, his mind unconfused, proclaiming that the tongue has no arising and no origination at all, its nature empty, tranquil, and utterly still, without anything at all being done.
He enters true concentration within the body faculty, and emerges from concentration within the object of touch, skillfully able to distinguish every touch there is — neither gods nor the people of the world are able to know it.
He enters true concentration within the object of touch, and rises from concentration within the body, his mind unconfused, proclaiming that the body has no arising and no origination at all, its nature empty, tranquil, and utterly still, without anything at all being done.
He enters true concentration within the mind faculty, and emerges from concentration within the object of dharma, distinguishing every mark of every dharma there is — neither gods nor the people of the world are able to know it.
He enters true concentration within the object of dharma, and rises from concentration within the mind, his mind unconfused, proclaiming that the mind has no arising and no origination at all, its nature empty, tranquil, and utterly still, without anything at all being done."
The crossing runs in both directions for a reason. Entering through the faculty and emerging through the object shows that ordinary perception's own inconceivable richness — every fragrance, every flavor, every voice — is itself already something a settled mind can hold without being scattered by it. Entering through the object and emerging through the faculty then turns the inquiry back onto the perceiver: if concentration can arise and pass entirely within a mere object, what does that say about the faculty that seemed to be doing the perceiving? The verse's own answer — that the faculty itself has "no arising, no origination... nothing at all being done" — extends the chapter's very first insight about karma without a doer to the six senses themselves: seeing happens, but there is, on examination, no fixed "seer" who does it.
Part 60 Complete
This closes Part 60. Foremost in Virtue's hymn continues in Part 61 with a further samādhi crossing between very different states of being entirely — a child's body and an elder's, a woman's body and a man's, a monastic and a layperson, even a single pore and every pore at once.