Quote by Xuanzang: “The dharma has no fixed form; it takes the shape of the mind that holds it.”

Religious or philosophical truth isn't a rigid object you can pick up and carry unchanged. It changes according to the understanding, intentions, and consciousness of the person engaging with it. The teaching and the teacher's inner state are inseparable.

Xuanzang returned to the Tang dynasty capital of Chang'an in 645 CE after nearly two decades traveling through Central Asia, Persia, and India. The Tang court was at the height of its cosmopolitan power, and his return was a major cultural event. Emperor Taizong personally invited him to translate the texts he had brought back.

Seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar who undertook a seventeen-year journey to India to collect and translate Buddhist scriptures. His account of the journey, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is a major historical source for the early medieval period across Central and South Asia. He translated seventy-four texts into Chinese upon his return.