Xuanzang looked at the pool.
The red carp swam a circle just beneath the surface.
Then he raised his head to look at Golden Cicada Child, extended a hand, and asked, "Venerable one, are you asking whether there is a permanent, unified, autonomous essence dwelling within the heart, presiding over sight, hearing, perception, and awareness?"
Golden Cicada Child gave no answer either way.
He neither nodded nor shook his head.
Xuanzang lifted his hand and pointed toward the middle of the pool.
"This humble monk believes that what we call the knower is merely the functioning of dependent arising."
The red carp flicked its tail.
The surface stirred gently. The fish's reflection broke apart, then gathered again.
Xuanzang pointed at that reflection. "Just as this pool reflects the fish, and leaves rustle when the wind moves them."
"The water forms no thought of reflecting an image, and the leaves form no intention of making a sound."
"When the eye meets form, the ear meets sound, and the mind meets phenomena, faculties and sense objects make contact, and consciousness arises, clear and distinct."
He looked at Golden Cicada Child.
"There is no self hiding behind these thoughts, knowing of itself, 'I do not dwell; I do not cling.'"
"There is only the arising and ceasing of thoughts, without grasping at conditions, without reckoning, without seizing upon a self in their midst."
"Where, then, is this knower that stands apart from thoughts, dwelling alone within the heart?"
His gaze was clear as he looked directly at Golden Cicada Child and continued:
"Venerable one, you asked just now: if there is no self, who knows the ongoing flux?"
On the pool's surface, the red carp slowly turned gold, and ripples spread outward, one layer after another.
"When the eye encounters form, it sees;