Eleven Verses on Space That Fire Cannot Burn
The eighth point, pervading every place, receives the chapter's most sustained single image yet: eleven consecutive verses building earth, water, wind, and space into a nested hierarchy of dependency, with the pure mind alone resting on nothing at all — untouched by the winds of false thought, the waters of karma, or the fires of old age, sickness, and death.
Fifteen Verses Across Three Times
自此已下，即依此三時，明如來法性遍至一切處。依染淨時不變不異，有十五偈，此等諸偈略說要義應知。偈言：
諸過客塵來， 性功德相應，
真法體不變， 如本後亦爾。
此偈明何義？偈言：
十一偈及二， 次第不淨時，
煩惱客塵過。 第十四十五，
於善淨時中， 過恒沙佛法，
不離脫思議， 佛自性功德。
本際中間際， 及以後際等，
如來真如性， 體不變不異。
From here on, in dependence on these three times, it is explained how the Tathāgata's own nature pervades every place. In dependence on the unchanging, undiffering nature within the times of defilement and purity, there are fifteen verses; the essential meaning of these verses should be briefly understood. A verse says:
Every fault comes as an adventitious guest; the qualities correspond to true nature;
the essence of the true dharma is unchanging, just as it was originally, so it remains afterward.
What meaning does this verse make clear? A verse says:
Eleven verses, and then two, in that order, concern the time of impurity, the fault of adventitious affliction;
and the fourteenth and fifteenth, within the time of complete purity, concern the buddha-dharmas surpassing the sands of the Ganges,
inseparable, unreleased, inconceivable, the qualities of the buddha's own nature.
From the very beginning, through the middle, and to the very end,
the Tathāgata's nature of true suchness has an essence that is unchanging, undiffering.
This roadmap verse divides the treatise's fifteen verses on immutability across three times into 11 + 2 + 2: eleven verses for the time of impurity (below), two opening verses each for the times of mixed purity and complete purity (Parts 14 and 16). "Adventitious guest" (客塵) is this treatise's recurring word for affliction throughout — arriving from outside, never a permanent resident of the mind it stains, exactly as the eleven verses that follow will argue at length through the simile of space.
Eleven Verses: The Pure Mind as Space
初依不淨時不變不異十一偈者：
如虛空遍至， 體細塵不染，
佛性遍眾生， 諸煩惱不染。
如一切世間， 依虛空生滅，
依於無漏界， 有諸根生滅。
火不燒虛空， 若燒無是處，
如是老病死， 不能燒佛性。
地依於水住， 水復依於風，
風依於虛空， 空不依地等。
如是陰界根， 住煩惱業中，
諸煩惱業等， 住不善思惟。
不善思惟行， 住清淨心中，
自性清淨心， 不住彼諸法。
陰入界如地， 煩惱業如水，
不正念如風， 淨心界如空。
依性起邪念， 念起煩惱業，
依因煩惱業， 能起陰入界。
依止於五陰， 界入等諸法，
有諸根生滅， 如世界成壞。
淨心如虛空， 無因復無緣，
及無和合義， 亦無生住滅。
如虛空淨心， 常明無轉變，
為虛妄分別， 客塵煩惱染。
First, as for the eleven verses on the unchanging, undiffering nature within the time of impurity:
Just as empty space pervades everywhere, its subtle essence untouched by dust,
buddha-nature pervades every being, untouched by any affliction.
Just as the whole world arises and ceases in dependence on empty space,
in dependence on the uncontaminated realm, the faculties arise and cease.
Fire cannot burn empty space; if it could, this would be impossible —
just so, old age, sickness, and death cannot burn buddha-nature.
The earth rests upon water, water in turn rests upon wind,
wind rests upon space — but space rests upon none of these.
Just so, the aggregates, elements, and faculties rest within karma and affliction;
karma and affliction rest within unwholesome thought.
Unwholesome thought and activity rest within the pure mind;
but the mind pure by its own nature rests within none of these dharmas.
The aggregates, sense-fields, and elements are like the earth; karma and affliction are like water;
improper mindfulness is like wind; the realm of the pure mind is like space.
In dependence on this nature, false thought arises; from thought, karma and affliction arise;
in dependence on the cause that is karma and affliction, the aggregates, sense-fields, and elements can arise.
Resting upon the five aggregates and the other dharmas of the elements and sense-fields,
the faculties arise and cease, just as the world comes into being and is destroyed.
The pure mind is like empty space: without cause, without condition,
without any meaning of coming-together, and without arising, abiding, or ceasing.
Like empty space, the pure mind is ever radiant, undergoing no transformation —
yet it is stained by false discrimination, by adventitious affliction.
The eleven verses build a strict chain of dependency running from the coarsest to the subtlest: the aggregates and sense-fields rest on karma and affliction, karma and affliction rest on improper thought, and improper thought rests on the pure mind — but the pure mind itself rests on nothing further, "without cause, without condition," the way space alone, among the four elements, requires no further foundation to stand on. What makes this more than a tidy hierarchy is the final verse's own turn: the pure mind, exactly like space, is "ever radiant, undergoing no transformation" — and yet is "stained by adventitious affliction" in the very same breath. The eleven verses spend ten lines establishing an image of total independence and stability, only to close by reaffirming, without contradiction, the paradox this whole chapter keeps circling back to: real stability and real defilement, asserted of the identical thing, in the identical moment.
The Dhāraṇīśvararāja Bodhisattva Sūtra: Only Space Needs No Foundation
此虛空譬喻偈示現何義？明如來性依不淨時法體不變。偈言：
不正思惟風， 諸業煩惱水，
自性心虛空， 不為彼二生。
自性清淨心， 其相如虛空，
邪念思惟風， 所不能散壞，
諸業煩惱水， 所不能濕爛，
老病死熾火， 所不能燒燃。
此偈明何義？如依邪念風輪起業煩惱水聚，依業煩惱水聚生陰界入世間，而自性心虛空不生不起。偈言：不正思惟風，諸業煩惱水，自性心虛空，不為彼二生故。如是依邪念風災、業行煩惱水災、老病死等火災，吹浸燒壞陰入界世間，而自性清淨心虛空常住不壞。如是於不淨時中器世間相似相對法，諸煩惱染、業染、生染有集有滅，諸佛如來無為之性猶如虛空不生不滅，常不變易示現法體。此自性清淨法門虛空譬喻，如《陀羅尼自在王菩薩修多羅》中廣說應知。彼經中言：諸善男子！煩惱本無體，真性本明淨；一切煩惱羸薄，毘婆舍那有大勢力；一切煩惱客塵，自性清淨心根本；一切諸煩惱虛妄分別，自性清淨心如實不分別。諸佛子！譬如大地依水而住，水依風住，風依空住，而彼虛空無依住處。諸善男子！如是四大地大水大風大空大，此四大中唯虛空大以為最勝、以為大力、以為堅固、以為不動、以為不作、以為不散，不生不滅自然而住。諸善男子！彼三種大生滅相應，無實體性剎那不住。諸佛子！此三種大變異無常。諸佛子！而虛空界常不變異。諸佛子！如是陰界入依業煩惱住，諸煩惱業依不正思惟住，不正思惟依於佛性自性清淨心住。以是義故，經中說言：自性清淨心，客塵煩惱染。諸善男子！所有邪念、所有煩惱業、所有陰界入，如是諸法從於因緣和合而生，以諸因緣壞散而滅。諸善男子！彼自性清淨心無因無緣故無和合，不生不滅。諸善男子！如虛空界，自性清淨心亦復如是。如風大界，不正思惟亦復如是。如水大界，諸業煩惱亦復如是。如地大界，陰界入等亦復如是。是故說言：一切諸法皆無根本、皆無堅實。無住無住本，根本清淨，無根本故。
What meaning do these verses of the space simile reveal? They clarify that the Tathāgata's own nature, within the time of impurity, remains unchanged in its own essence. A verse says:
The wind of improper thought, the water of karma and affliction —
the space of the mind that is pure by its own nature is never produced by either of these two.
The mind pure by its own nature, its own mark like empty space,
cannot be scattered or destroyed by the wind of false thought and reflection;
cannot be soaked or rotted by the water of karma and affliction;
cannot be burned or consumed by the blazing fire of old age, sickness, and death.
What meaning do these verses make clear? Just as, in dependence on the wheel of false thought as wind, the mass of water that is karma and affliction arises, and in dependence on that mass of water, the world of aggregates, elements, and sense-fields is produced — the space of the mind pure by its own nature is never itself produced or arisen. Just so, the disaster of wind that is false thought, the disaster of water that is karmic affliction, and the disaster of fire that is old age, sickness, and death, blow, soak, and burn away the world of aggregates, sense-fields, and elements — yet the space of the mind pure by its own nature abides forever, undestroyed. Just so, within the time of impurity, resembling the container-world, the defilement of affliction, the defilement of karma, and the defilement of rebirth accumulate and cease — yet the unconditioned nature of every buddha, every tathāgata, is like empty space, neither arising nor ceasing, ever unchanging, manifesting its own essence. This dharma-gate of the mind pure by its own nature, the simile of space, should be understood as explained at length in the Dhāraṇīśvararāja Bodhisattva Sūtra. That sūtra says: "Good sons! Affliction has, at root, no substance; true nature is, at root, bright and pure. Every affliction is weak and feeble; insight has great power. Every affliction is adventitious; the mind pure by its own nature is the very root. Every affliction is false discrimination; the mind pure by its own nature truly does not discriminate. Sons of the Buddha! It is like how the great earth rests upon water, water rests upon wind, wind rests upon space — yet that space rests upon no abode at all. Good sons! Of these four great elements — earth, water, wind, and space — only the great element of space is supreme, of great power, firm, unmoving, unmade, undispersed, unborn and unceasing, abiding spontaneously. Good sons, those other three great elements are subject to arising and ceasing, without any real, substantial nature, not remaining even for an instant. Sons of the Buddha! These three great elements change and are impermanent. Sons of the Buddha! But the realm of space is ever unchanging. Sons of the Buddha! Just so, the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields rest upon karma and affliction; karma and affliction rest upon improper thought; improper thought rests upon buddha-nature, the mind pure by its own nature. For this reason, the sūtra says: the mind pure by its own nature is stained by adventitious affliction. Good sons! Whatever false thought there is, whatever karma and affliction there is, whatever aggregates, elements, and sense-fields there is — all such dharmas arise from the coming-together of causes and conditions, and cease when those causes and conditions disperse and dissolve. Good sons! That mind pure by its own nature has no cause and no condition, and therefore no coming-together — it is unborn and unceasing. Good sons, just as with the element of empty space, the mind pure by its own nature is likewise so. Just as with the element of wind, improper thought is likewise so. Just as with the element of water, karma and affliction are likewise so. Just as with the element of earth, the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields are likewise so. For this reason it is said: all dharmas are without any root, without any solidity — without abode, without any basis for an abode, their very root being pure, since they have no root at all."
The cited sūtra's own claim that "insight has great power" against afflictions that are, by contrast, "weak and feeble" (毘婆舍那有大勢力... 一切煩惱羸薄) is a small but significant rebalancing of the fear this whole doctrine could otherwise provoke: if affliction has "no substance" at all, then the practitioner's task is not to defeat something formidable, but to stop mistaking a fundamentally insubstantial thing for something solid. The four-element hierarchy — earth on water, water on wind, wind on space, space on nothing — gives this claim a vivid physical form: everything conditioned ultimately traces back to something unconditioned that requires no further ground, and it is exactly this ultimate ground, on the treatise's own reading, that a being's own pure mind already is.
Three Fires, and the Śrīmālā Sūtra on Why the Tathāgatagarbha Cannot Age or Die
已說不淨時中依無分別相自性清淨心虛空界相似相對法，已說依彼起不正念風界相似相對法，已說依不正念諸業煩惱因相水界相似相對法，已說依彼生陰界入果相轉變地相似相對法，未說彼焚燒死病老等諸過患相火相似相對法，是故次說偈言：
有三火次第， 劫燒人地獄，
能作種種苦， 能熟諸行根。
此偈明何義？明此三法老、病、死火，於不淨時中不能變異彼如來藏。是故《聖者勝鬘經》言：世尊！生死者，依世諦故說有生死。世尊！死者諸根壞。世尊！生者新諸根起。世尊！而如來藏不生不死不老不變。何以故？世尊！如來藏者，離有為相境界。世尊！如來藏者，常恒清涼不變故。已說依不淨時不變不異。
Thus far, within the time of impurity, the mind pure by its own nature, without discrimination, resembling the element of space, has been explained; the arising, in dependence on it, of improper thought, resembling the element of wind, has been explained; karma and affliction, arising in dependence on improper thought as their causal mark, resembling the element of water, has been explained; and the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, arising as their resultant, transforming mark, resembling the element of earth, has been explained. What has not yet been explained is the mark of the faults of burning — death, sickness, old age, and the rest — resembling the element of fire. Hence the verse continues:
There are, in order, three fires — the fire that burns at the kalpa's end, the fire of hell, and the fire within a person —
able to produce every kind of suffering, able to ripen the root of every conditioned activity.
What meaning does this verse make clear? It clarifies that these three dharmas — the fires of old age, sickness, and death — are, within the time of impurity, unable to alter or change that tathāgatagarbha. Hence the Noble Śrīmālā Sūtra says: "World-Honored One! Birth-and-death is spoken of as existing only in dependence on worldly, conventional truth. World-Honored One! Death means the faculties decay. World-Honored One! Birth means new faculties arise. World-Honored One! But the tathāgatagarbha is neither born nor dies, neither ages nor changes. Why is this? World-Honored One! The tathāgatagarbha is apart from the domain of conditioned marks. World-Honored One! The tathāgatagarbha is ever-constant, cool and tranquil, and unchanging." Thus far the unchanging, undiffering nature within the time of impurity has been explained.
This Śrīmālā citation matches this site's own translation of the identical passage closely, and the treatise's own gloss on birth and death is worth sitting with: "death means the faculties decay; birth means new faculties arise" is a strikingly deflationary definition, describing birth-and-death entirely in terms of the arising and ceasing of faculties, with nothing further implied about any self that is born or dies. This is precisely why the tathāgatagarbha, "apart from the domain of conditioned marks," is untouched by any of it — not because it survives death the way a soul is imagined to, but because birth-and-death, properly analyzed, was never describing anything that could touch it in the first place.
Part 13 Complete
This closes the treatise's account of pervading every place within the time of impurity. Part 14 turns to the time of mixed purity and impurity — the bodhisattva stage — with one of this literature's most memorable parables, from the Sāgaramati Bodhisattva Sūtra: a wealthy man's son who plunges into a cesspit to rescue another child, unafraid, because he has already claimed that child as his own.
Continue to Part 14 — The Cesspit: A Bodhisattva's Rescue →