釋門歸敬儀 1.50

1.50

Fearing that eager seekers need to receive the authentic teaching, I therefore set forth one or two points to propagate the Way. The Way values clarity and openness; its meaning does not brook obstruction. One must still recognize one's lot to examine oneself. There is no room for brazenly presuming oneself to be extraordinarily superior; with future retribution obscure, who knows the level ground from the peril? If there are such persons, they will drown themselves in the sea of suffering, and who can rescue them? Now, taking two conditions, I establish the rites to display practice. Although there are many gates to enter the Way, they do not exceed principle and phenomena. "Principle" refers to the underlying truth, penetrating the far-reaching aspirations of the noble mind; "phenomena" refers to specific situations, restricting the capacities of ordinary sentiments. The noble are not inherently noble; they ultimately rely on guidance to gradually become clear. The ordinary are not permanently ordinary; they also attain understanding through being opened up. Hence we know that the depth or shallowness of ignorance and wisdom, and the stages of the worthy and the noble, are due to the distance traversed in understanding and practice, resulting in the disparity between the sharp and the dull. Therefore a treatise says: "Non-conceptual wisdom is itself the bodhisattva; the bodhisattva is itself non-conceptual wisdom." When bodhisattvas are categorized by stages, they are listed in more than fifty levels. Thus we know that in non-conceptual wisdom, thought after thought contains the sharp and the dull; these words have deep intent. Thus, letting dull persons rely on phenomena draws upon the joys of local lands to temporarily settle their bodies, for once the body is settled, the Way follows. Letting sharp persons practice principle directly establishes correct mindfulness and cleanses their spiritual nature, using it to purify the mind, for once the mind is purified, they transcend existence. Yet the sharp and the dull have a thousand differences, and darkness and brightness have many ranks. Understanding the essential outlines a little, one establishes control over spiritual realization. Therefore, traversing the various chapters, this single principle runs through them, so that those who open [this book] will not be blinded as to the path, and practitioners will not falter at their first step.