AKB, Ch. 1, V. 36: Dhatus that cut and are cut etc.

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Queequeg
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AKB, Ch. 1, V. 36: Dhatus that cut and are cut etc.

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We continue to delve into the Sarvastivadin experience of phenomena.

Four external dhatus - visible objects, odors, tastes and tactile objects - are capable of cutting and being cut. The following examples are given - When these four dhatus are combined by the designation axe, they cut. When the are combined as wood, they can be cut. To be cut is to be able to be divided and still have the same qualities - for instance a ball of clay is divided and the clay in the two pieces still has the qualities by which it is designated clay.

Sound is not divisible.

The five sense organs are also not divisible. If you cut off your nose, the bit of cartilage and skin is not capable of smelling anymore and so loses its quality as a nose.

These four external dhatus can also be burned and weighed.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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