分別功德論 3.4

3.4

念法者，從欲至無欲、從欲至道、從漏至無漏、從有為至無為也。何以知其然？昔者世尊於憂填王國說法教化。時三十三天上為母摩耶說法，九十日而還，於迦尸城北下。時優鉢蓮華比丘尼，心念欲獨前見佛。時諸國王不見佛已九十日，皆有渴仰之情，並來雲集。「我為比丘尼，不宜在此眾閙之中。當作方儀令得在先。」即化作轉輪聖王，將從如聖王法。諸小國王見聖王，各自馳散。比丘尼即還服本形，見佛禮拜問訊。諸王各來見佛，不復見聖王，乃知比丘尼所化，謂比丘尼曰：「向者所見，誑如此耶？」時優鉢蓮華心念自謂最先見佛。佛告優鉢蓮華曰：「汝自呼最先見佛。復有先汝者。」「不審是誰？」佛言：「乃羅閱城東山中須菩提，在彼補衣。天語曰：『佛來下已。』須菩提曰：『我為弟子，法當往禮問。』覆自思惟：『佛為所在？若金色是佛耶？金復何限。佛言：「一切諸法空無所有。若解十二因空，非造非作、非人非士、無命非命者則為見法。見法無命，非命為見我。」即叉手起喚曰：「婆南。」正爾還坐補衣。』以是言之，須菩提為先汝見佛也。」佛者諸法之主，解了法空即是念法。念眾者，謂賢聖眾也。凡眾有若干種，外道九十五種亦各各有眾，或有和合者、或有不同者，亦以戒律自防。或行禪定、或以無想為盡妙，各信所事自以為真。但不得實聖八品道，是以不能至涅槃耳。雖復有五通住壽及無想延劫，皆不免於生死。唯有如來聖眾四雙八輩之士，不復為四駛所漂、九止所索耳。故經云：九十六種僧，佛僧最為真。如來四部眾皆同為釋種，喻若四恒水各別有五百支，皆合入大海以為一味。眾亦如是，或有剎帝利種、或婆羅門種、或長者種、或居士種，四姓中有出家學者，皆同釋種為一姓，無有若干別名。以是所包彌遠、其義彌深。眾僧者，乃含受於三乘，羅漢僧亦出於中、緣一覺亦在其中、大乘僧亦在其中，是故名為良祐福田。三界之中濟益眾生，無過此良美之地。如來雖復成正覺，常還向眾僧懺悔者，以僧地厚重。三世諸佛緣覺弟子，無不由僧而得滅度，猶梵摩達比丘，賴聖眾以全濟。

Mindfulness of the Dharma means [progressing] from desire to desirelessness, from desire to the path, from the contaminated (āsrava) to the uncontaminated (anāsrava), and from the conditioned to the unconditioned. How is this known to be so? Formerly, the World-Honoured One was teaching and transforming [beings] in the kingdom of King Udayana. At that time, he preached the Dharma above in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven for his mother Māyā, returning after ninety days and descending north of the city of Kāśī. At that time, the nun Utpalavarṇā thought in her heart that she wished to be the first to see the Buddha alone. At that time, the kings of various states had not seen the Buddha for ninety days; all harboured feelings of thirst and longing and assembled together like clouds. [The nun thought:] "I am a nun and should not be in the midst of this clamorous crowd. I must contrive a method to get ahead." Thereupon she magically transformed herself into a wheel-turning sage king (cakravartin), with an entourage conforming to the rules of a sage king. Seeing the sage king, the lesser kings all scattered and fled. The nun then returned to her original form, saw the Buddha, bowed down, and paid her respects. When the kings came to see the Buddha and no longer saw the sage king, they realised it was the nun's transformation and said to the nun, "Was what we saw just now a deception of this kind?" At that time, Utpalavarṇā thought in her heart, considering herself the very first to see the Buddha. The Buddha told Utpalavarṇā, "You claim yourself to be the first to see the Buddha, but there was someone who preceded you." "I wonder who it was?" The Buddha said, "It was Subhūti, in the eastern mountains of the city of Rājagṛha, mending his robes there. A deva told him, 'The Buddha has already descended.' Subhūti said, 'As a disciple, it is proper for me to go pay homage and ask after him.' But he reflected to himself: 'Where does the Buddha abide? Is the golden color the Buddha? But gold has no limits.' The Buddha has said: 'All phenomena are empty and non-existent. If one understands the twelve causes as empty—neither created nor made, neither person nor being, without life-principle and not a life-principle—that is seeing the Dharma. Seeing the Dharma as without life-principle, as not a life-principle, is seeing me.' Thereupon he pressed his palms together, rose, called out 'Vandāmi!', and right then sat back down to mend his robes. From this it is said that Subhūti preceded you in seeing the Buddha." The Buddha is the lord of all phenomena; to comprehend the emptiness of phenomena is mindfulness of the Dharma. Mindfulness of the Saṅgha refers to the assembly of noble sages. Ordinary assemblies are of several kinds; the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist traditions also each have their own assemblies, some harmonious and some divergent, and they also protect themselves with moral disciplines. Some practise meditative concentration (dhyāna), and some regard non-conceptualisation as the ultimate refinement, each trusting in what they serve and considering themselves true. Yet they do not attain the true noble eightfold path; therefore they cannot reach nirvāṇa. Although they may have the five supernormal knowledges, stay their lifespans, or prolong kalpas in non-conceptualisation, none escape birth and death. Only the noble Saṅgha of the Tathāgata, the persons of the four pairs and eight stages, are no longer swept away by the four torrents (ogha) or sought out by the nine abodes [of beings]. Therefore a sūtra says: "Among the ninety-six kinds of monastic assemblies, the Buddha's Saṅgha is the truest." The fourfold assembly of the Tathāgata are all equally of the Śākya clan, just as the four Gaṅgā rivers each have their five hundred tributaries, yet all merge into the great ocean to become of a single taste. The assembly is also like this: whether of kṣatriya clan, brāhmaṇa clan, gṛhapati clan, or householder clan, those among the four castes who leave the household life to learn [the Dharma] all equally become of the Śākya clan as one surname, without having various distinct names. Because of this, what it encompasses is ever more vast, and its meaning ever deeper. The monastic Saṅgha contains the Three Vehicles: the arhat Saṅgha arises from within it, the solitary awakened ones (pratyekabuddha) are also within it, and the Mahāyāna Saṅgha is also within it; therefore it is called a fine and auspicious field of merit. In aiding and benefiting sentient beings within the three realms, none surpasses this excellent, beautiful ground. Although the Tathāgata has attained complete awakening, he always turns to the monastic Saṅgha to repent, because the ground of the Saṅgha is weighty. None of the Buddhas and solitary awakened disciples of the three periods of time fail to attain extinction through the Saṅgha, just as the monk Brahmadatta relied upon the noble Saṅgha to be completely delivered.