六妙法門 1.43

1.43

Furthermore, what is called the bodhisattva's characteristic of counting the breath? The practitioner seeks sarvajñatā, the Buddha's wisdom, spontaneous wisdom, teacherless wisdom, the Tathāgata's knowledge and vision, powers, and fearlessnesses, and with compassionate concern for bringing peace and happiness to immeasurable sentient beings, cultivates counting the breath, wishing by means of this dharma gate to enter sarvākārajñatā. Why is this? As a sūtra states: 'Ānāpāna is the initial gate for all Buddhas of the three periods of time to enter the path.' Therefore, a bodhisattva of initial resolve who wishes to seek the Buddha path should first regulate the mind and count the breath. When counting the breath, one knows that the breath is not the breath, being like an illusion and a transformation; therefore, the breath is neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa. At that time, within counting the breath, there is no saṃsāra to be severed and no nirvāṇa to be entered, and therefore one does not abide in saṃsāra. Since there are no bondages of the twenty-five states of existence, and one does not realize nirvāṇa, one does not fall into the stages of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. With equal, great wisdom, free from a mind of grasping or discarding, one enters the middle way of the breath, which is called seeing the Buddha nature, attains the tolerance of the unarisen, and abides in the permanence, bliss, self, and purity of great nirvāṇa. Thus a sūtra states: 'Just as a great flood can sweep away everything except willows, because of their flexibility, the great flood of saṃsāra is also like this: it can submerge all ordinary persons, except bodhisattvas who abide in the Great Vehicle and the great parinirvāṇa, because their minds are flexible.' This is called the practitioner of the Great Vehicle entering the bodhisattva stage within counting the breath.