金光明經文句 3.5

3.5

次明懺悔處者，《大經》闍王偈云「麁言及輭語，皆歸第一義。是故我今日，歸依於世尊。」又〈梵行品〉云「我昔與汝等，不見四真諦，是故久流轉，生死大苦海。若能見四諦，則得斷生死，生死既盡已，則不受諸有。」《法華》云「行處近處住忍辱地，亦不行不分別。」又云「寶處在近，汝可前進。即滅化城，即至寶所。」此經云「我當為是作歸依處」。歸依處者，即甚深無量法性也。法性秖是諦理，諦理秖是妙境。諸佛所師寂滅真如祕密之藏，十方眾聖安住其中。若得其本，本立則道生；不得其處，則平地顛墜。如盲人入棘林，動轉罣礙。為是義故，須識懺悔處也。故《普賢觀》云「端坐念實相，眾罪如霜露，慧日能消除。我心自空，罪福無主，是名大懺悔、是名莊嚴懺悔、是名無罪相懺悔。」無罪相者，此約空為處也。莊嚴懺悔者，約俗諦為處也。大懺悔者，約中道為處也。若三種差別者，此是歷別論處爾。即一而三即三而一者，此圓妙懺悔也，諸大菩薩修學佛法而懺悔也。若識此法而懺悔者，最妙最上懺悔處也。《大經》云「譬如有人在大海浴，當知是人已用一切諸河之水。」《大品》云「譬如負債人依投於王，債主反更供養，何敢就其覓物？」書云「如牆頭草，非其莖葉能高能長，所依得處也。」行人若依法性為懺悔處者，高出一切諸處所也。行人若識此意，先當求覓法性道理為懺悔處也。

Next, explaining the place of confession: in the Great Sūtra [Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra], King Ajātaśatru's verse says: / "Coarse speech as well as gentle words / All return to the ultimate truth. / Therefore, this very day, / I take refuge in the World-Honoured One." / Also, the "Chapter on Pure Conduct" says: / "In the past, I along with you / Did not see the four noble truths; / Therefore we drifted for long / In the great ocean of the suffering of birth and death. / If one can see the four truths, / One is able to sever birth and death; / When birth and death are already exhausted, / One does not undergo further existences." / The Lotus Sūtra says: "Dwelling in the sphere of action and sphere of intimacy, in the ground of patience, neither acting nor differentiating." It also says: "The jewel repository is near; you may proceed forward. Extinguish the illusory city and arrive at the jewel repository." This sūtra states, "I shall make a refuge for them." The refuge is precisely the profound and immeasurable dharmatā. Dharmatā is simply the principle of the truths, and the principle of the truths is simply the wondrous realm. It is the secret treasury of tranquil suchness that is the teacher of all Buddhas, wherein all the nobles of the ten directions dwell peacefully. If one attains its root, when the root is established the Way arises; if one does not attain its place, one falls down on level ground. It is like a blind person entering a briar patch, hindered at every movement. For this reason, one must recognise the place of confession. Therefore the Samantabhadra Contemplation Sūtra says: "Sitting upright, mindfulness of the true mark: all sins are like frost and dew; the sun of wisdom is able to eliminate them. My own mind is inherently empty, sins and blessings have no master; this is called the great confession, this is called the adorned confession, this is called the confession without the mark of sin." "Without the mark of sin" considers emptiness as the place. "The adorned confession" considers conventional truth as the place. "The great confession" considers the Middle Way as the place. If there are three kinds of distinctions, this is merely discussing the place distinctly. That one is three and three are one is this perfect and wondrous confession, which all great bodhisattvas practice and learn in the Buddha Dharma as they confess. If one recognises this dharma and confesses, it is the most wondrous and supreme place of confession. The Great Sūtra says: "For example, if someone bathes in the great ocean, one should know that this person has already used the waters of all rivers." The Larger Prajñāpāramitā says: "Just as a debtor relies upon a king, and the creditor instead makes offerings to him, how would he dare to seek possessions from him?" A non-Buddhist text says: "Like the grass on a wall, it is not that its stalks and leaves can be high and tall, but that what it relies upon has found a place." If a practitioner relies on dharmatā as the place of confession, it stands high above all places. If the practitioner recognises this meaning, they should first seek the principle of dharmatā as the place of confession.