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I2 Judges the upside-down speculations to be wrong.

Sutra:

The falseness basically has no cause, but in your false thinking, you set up causes and conditions. But those who are confused about the principle of causes and conditions call it spontaneity. Even empty space is an illusory creation; how much the more so are causes and conditions and spontaneity, which are mere speculations made by the false minds of living beings.

Commentary:

This passage discusses the causes and conditions of our false thoughts. What is meant by "causes and conditions"? When a person does not understand the principle of causes and conditions, in his confusion he will regard it as spontaneity and thus fall among the externalists. Therefore the text says: The falseness basically has no cause. There is no basis for a source of false thinking. Without any basis, there is no substance to it.

Someone asked me, "What is false thinking?"

My reply was, "What you're asking right now about false thinking is just false thinking. Your question itself is false thinking." Where do you go to find false thoughts? They don't have any root. Once they pass, they are gone. Being false, they are without substance. To speak of false thinking as a "thing" is already inappropriate, because fundamentally, there isn't any "thing." But in your false thinking, you set up causes and conditions. In your false thinking, without any basis, you say that there are causes and conditions.

But those who are confused about the principle of causes and conditions call it spontaneity. If you understand causes and conditions, there's no problem. But those who are confused about the principle of causes and conditions do not have any understanding of it.

"Dharma master, ultimately, what are these causes and conditions you?ve been talking about?" you may ask. Causes and conditions were discussed at length earlier in the sutra. It is a dharma used for refuting the dharmas of external teachings. It is a dharma of the small vehicle, and thus is basically not a particularly deep doctrine. It basically says that whatever the cause, so will be the conditions. People who do not understand the doctrine of causes and conditions will call it spontaneity instead.

That's a case of "swallowing the date whole". What is meant by swallowing the date whole? Maybe you aren't familiar with dates. You could say it's "swallowing an apple whole," without biting or chewing it first. What does it taste like? You don't know. Those who are confused about the principle of causes and conditions, those who misunderstand it, call it spontaneity, which is a doctrine of external sects.

Even empty space is an illusory creation. Now this does not refer to causes and conditions or spontaneity. This refers to empty space. What is empty space? It comes from your false thinking. As the verse spoken earlier by Manjushri Bodhisattva says: "The space created within great enlightenment / Is like a single bubble in all the sea." The empty space in the nature of great enlightenment is just like a bubble in the ocean; it comes from false thinking.

How much the more so are causes and conditions and spontaneity, which are mere speculations made by the false minds of living beings. What are causes and conditions? What is spontaneity? Causes and conditions and spontaneity, these two theories, are just speculations dreamed up by the false-thinking minds ofliving beings. I don't know if my explanation is correct, but you can all think about it.

Sutra:

Ananda, if you perceive the arising of falseness, you can speak of the causes and conditions of that falseness. But if the falseness has no source, you will have to say that the causes and conditions of that falseness basically have no source. How much the more is this the case for those who fail to understand this and advocate spontaneity.

Commentary:

Ananda, if you perceive the arising of falseness, you can speak of the causes and conditions of that falseness. Do you know how false thinking comes into being? If you know where false thinking comes from, then you can talk about its causes and conditions. But if the falseness has no source, you will have to say that the causes and conditions of that falseness basically have no source. Since there is no falseness to begin with, what basis do you have for a discussion of the causes and conditions of false thinking? Since the falseness has no substance, it has no source. There is nothing at all. All dharmas are empty of characteristics.

There is no source or foundation for the falseness. How much the more is this the case for those who fail to Understand this and advocate spontaneity. If you don't even understand causes and conditions and you further advocate the principle of spontaneity, you will fail among the externalists. That won't do at all.