三論玄義 1.4

1.4

所言摧外道者，夫至妙虛通目之為道，心遊道外故名外道。外道多端，略陳其二：一天竺異執、二震旦眾師。總論西域九十六術，別序宗要則四執盛行：一計邪因邪果、二執無因有果、三立有因無果、四辨無因無果。問：云何名為邪因邪果？答：有外道云大自在天能生萬物，萬物若滅還歸本天，故云自在。天若瞋，四生皆苦；自在若喜，則六道咸樂。然天非物因、物非天果，蓋是邪心所畫，故名邪因邪果（自在既爾，七計例然）。難曰：夫善招樂報、惡感苦果，蓋是交謝之宅、報應之場，以不達義理故生斯謬。又夫人類生人、物類生物，人類生人則人還似人、物類生物物還似物，蓋是相生之道也。而謂一天之因產萬類之報，豈不謬哉。問：云何名為無因有果？答：復有外道窮推萬物無所由籍，故謂無因。而現覩諸法當知有果，例如莊周魍魎問影，影由形有，形因造化，造化則無所由。本既自有，即末不因他，是故無因而有果也。問：無因、自然，此有何異？答：無因據其因無，自然明乎果有。約義不同，猶是一執。難曰：夫因果相生猶長短相形，既其有果，何得無因？如其無因，何獨有果？若必無因而有果者，則善招地獄、惡感天堂。問曰：有人言自然有因、自然無因，萬化不同皆自然有，故無同前過。答曰：蓋未審察之故生斯謬。如其精究，理必不然。夫論自者，謂非他為義。必是因他，則非自矣。故自則不因、因則不自。遂言因而復自，則義成鉾楯。問：云何名為有因無果？答：斷見之流唯有現在更無後世，類如草木盡在一期。難曰：夫神道幽玄，惑人多昧，義經丘而未曉、理涉旦而猶昏，唯有佛宗乃盡其致。經云「如雀在瓶中，羅縠覆其口。縠穿雀飛去，形壞而神走。」匡山慧遠釋曰：「火之傳於薪，猶神之傳於形。火之傳異薪，猶神之傳異形。前薪非後薪，則知指窮之術妙。前形非後形，則悟情數之感深。不得見形朽於一生，便謂識神俱喪。火窮於一木，乃曰終期都盡矣。」後學稱黃帝之言曰：形雖糜而神不化，乘化至變無窮。雖未彰言三世，意已明未來不斷。問曰：云何名為無因無果？答：既撥無後世受果，亦無現在之因。故六師云：無有黑業、無有黑業報，無有白業、無有白業報。四邪之問，最為尤弊，現在斷善，後生惡趣。問：斯之紛謬，起自何時？答：釋迦未興，盛行天竺。能仁既出，殄斯謬計。佛滅度後柯條更繁，龍樹後興重加剪伐。

Regarding what is meant by 'smashing the tīrthikas': the most wondrous, open, and penetrating is referred to as the path; because their minds wander outside the path, they are called 'tīrthikas' (outsiders to the path). Tīrthikas are of many kinds, but two are briefly set forth: first, the divergent attachments of India; second, the various masters of China. Discussing the ninety-six heterodox arts of the Western Regions in general, but specifically setting forth the cardinal tenets, four attachments prevail: first, positing erroneous cause and erroneous effect; second, clinging to absence of cause and presence of effect; third, establishing presence of cause and absence of effect; fourth, discerning absence of cause and absence of effect. Question: What is meant by 'erroneous cause and erroneous effect'? Answer: A tīrthika says that Maheśvara is capable of producing the myriad things, and when the myriad things are extinguished, they return to the original god; hence he is called 'Sovereign' (Maheśvara). If the god is angry, the four modes of birth all suffer; if Maheśvara is pleased, then all six destinies rejoice. However, the god is not the cause of things, and things are not the effect of the god; this is merely a projection of an erroneous mind, and hence is called 'erroneous cause and erroneous effect'. (Maheśvara being like this, the other seven doctrines are likewise so.) Objection: Wholesome actions bring forth pleasant retribution, and unwholesome actions invite painful effects; this is indeed the dwelling place of alternation and the sphere of karmic retribution. Because they do not comprehend this principle, they give rise to such fallacies. Moreover, the human species generates humans, and kinds of things generate things; when the human species generates humans, humans resemble humans, and when kinds of things generate things, things resemble things. This is the way of mutual generation. Yet to claim that the cause of a single god produces the retribution of a myriad species—how could this not be a fallacy? Question: What is meant by 'absence of cause and presence of effect'? Answer: There are also tīrthikas who exhaustively investigate the myriad things and find no basis or reliance; hence they claim there is no cause. Yet seeing phenomena at present, one must know there are effects. This is like Zhuang Zhou's shadow being questioned by the penumbra: the shadow exists because of the form, the form is caused by the Creator, and the Creator has no source. Since the root originally exists of itself, the branches do not depend on anything else; therefore, there is an absence of cause and a presence of effect. Question: What difference is there between 'absence of cause' and 'svabhāva' (spontaneity)? Answer: 'Absence of cause' is based on the non-existence of its cause; 'svabhāva' clarifies the existence of its effect. Viewed in terms of meaning they differ, yet they are still one single attachment. Objection: Cause and effect mutually generate each other, just as long and short give form to each other. Since there is an effect, how could there be no cause? If there is no cause, how could there alone be an effect? If there were definitely effects without causes, then wholesome actions would invite hell, and unwholesome actions would evoke heaven. Question: Someone says that svabhāva has a cause, or that svabhāva has no cause, and that the myriad transformations are diverse yet all exist by svabhāva; thus they do not incur the previous flaw. Answer: It is because of not scrutinizing carefully that such a fallacy arises. If one investigates thoroughly, the principle is certainly not so. When discussing 'self' (sva-), its meaning is 'not other'. If it necessarily depends on other, then it is not 'self'. Therefore, if it is 'self', it is not dependent; if it is dependent, it is not 'self'. If one then claims that it is dependent and yet self-existent, the meaning becomes a contradiction. Question: What is meant by 'presence of cause and absence of effect'? Answer: The school of ucchedadṛṣṭi holds that there is only the present and no future life, like plants and trees being exhausted in a single period. Objection: The spiritual way is dark and mysterious; deluded people are mostly ignorant of it. Its principle was not made clear through the Classics of Confucius, and its meaning remained obscure through the works of the Duke of Zhou; only the Buddhist doctrine fully reaches its purport. A sutra says: 'Like a sparrow in a jar whose opening is covered with thin silk; when the silk is pierced the sparrow flies away, the form perishing while the spirit departs.' Huiyuan of Mount Lu explained: 'The transmission of fire from firewood is like the transmission of the spirit from physical form. The transmission of fire to different firewood is like the transmission of the spirit to a different form. The former firewood is not the latter firewood; thus we know the subtlety of the art of exhausting the fuel. The former form is not the latter form; thus we awaken to the depth of the resonance of mental states. One cannot see that the form decays in a single lifetime and thereupon say that consciousness and spirit are both lost, just as when the fire is exhausted in a single piece of wood, one should not say that the ultimate end is completely extinguished.' Later scholars praised the words of the Yellow Emperor, saying: 'Though the form decomposes, the spirit does not transform; riding transformation it reaches boundless metamorphosis.' Although this does not overtly speak of the three times, the intent has already clarified that the future is uninterrupted. Question: What is meant by 'absence of cause and absence of effect'? Answer: It rejects future fruitional effects, and also denies present causes. Thus the six teachers said: 'There is no dark karma, and no retribution of dark karma; there is no bright karma, and no retribution of bright karma.' Among the four erroneous views, this is the most harmful; in the present it severs wholesome roots, and in the next life one is born into the evil destinies. Question: When did these tangled fallacies begin? Answer: Before Śākyamuni arose, they were widely prevalent in India. When the Muni appeared, he eliminated these erroneous opinions. After the Buddha passed into extinction, the branches and twigs grew even more abundant; Nāgārjuna later arose and pruned them once again.