摩訶止觀 2.14

2.14

Regarding the exhortation to cultivate: praise the true merits to encourage the practitioner. The teaching of the dharmadhātu is the Buddha's true Dharma and the bodhisattva's seal. Hearing this Dharma without alarm or fear is due to having long planted roots of virtue in the presence of hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of Buddhas. It is like an elder who lost a maṇi jewel and later recovered it, his heart filled with great joy. When the four assemblies do not hear this Dharma, their minds are distressed; if they hear, believe, and understand it, their joy is likewise so. One should know that this person is seeing the Buddha and has already heard this Dharma from Mañjuśrī. Śāriputra said: 'Clearly understanding this meaning is called a bodhisattva mahāsattva.' Maitreya said: 'This person is near the Buddha's seat, because the Buddha was enlightened to this Dharma.' Therefore Mañjuśrī said: 'Hearing this Dharma without alarm is itself seeing the Buddha.' The Buddha said: 'He immediately abides on the non-retrogressing stage, fully possesses the six pāramitās, and fully possesses all Buddha-dharmas.' If one wishes to attain all Buddha-dharmas, the marks, characteristics, and majestic deportment, the voice of preaching the Dharma, and the ten powers and fearlessnesses, one should practice this one-practice samādhi; practicing diligently without remiss, one will be able to enter it. It is like polishing a maṇi jewel: as it is polished it shines, realizing inconceivable merit. If bodhisattvas can know this, they quickly attain bodhi; if monks and nuns hear it without alarm, they have truly left home following the Buddha; if laymen and laywomen hear it without alarm, they have truly taken refuge. Such praises derive from those two sūtras (and so forth).