觀心論疏 3.12

3.12

Fifth, obtaining good spiritual friends: This is a great cause and condition, namely, transforming and guiding one so that one attains the sight of the Buddha. Ānanda said: 'Spiritual friendship is half the cause and condition for attaining the Way.' The Buddha said: 'It is not so; it is the complete and whole cause and condition.' There are three kinds of spiritual friends: first, external protectors; second, fellow practitioners; third, instructing teachers. If one is in deep mountains and secluded regions with nothing to depend upon, one does not rely on external protectors; if one cultivates the three kinds of samādhi, one should look to superior conditions. As for external protectors: without discriminating between lay and monastic, they need only provide what is necessary, not looking for faults, not irritating or disturbing, not praising or flattering, not puffing up sails to cause damage; like a mother nurturing a child, or a tiger holding its cub in its mouth, adjusting appropriately—only a long-practicing person of the Way can do this; this is called an external protector. Second, fellow practitioners: in practicing samādhi through following one's own intent and easy practice, a companion is not strictly necessary. But for the practice methods of the Vaipulya and Pratyutpanna samādhis, one definitely needs a good companion to spur each other on, remaining sleepless and undistracted, renewing oneself day by day, cutting and filing, polishing and grinding, of one mind and equal resolve, like riding in one boat, mutually revering each other as if seeing the World-Honoured One; this is called a fellow practitioner. Third, instructing teachers: able to explain prajñā, showing the path and what is not the path, internal and external expedient means, resolving all blockages, hindrances, and obstacles. A sūtra says: 'Complying with and learning from a good teacher, one attains the sight of Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges'; this is called an instructing teacher. As for spiritual friends in contemplation of mind: the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: 'Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats are good spiritual friends; the six pāramitās and thirty-seven factors of awakening are good spiritual friends; dharma-nature and the reality limit are good spiritual friends.' If the awe-inspiring brilliance of Buddhas and bodhisattvas covers and nurtures, that is the external protector; the six perfections and factors of the Way are the gates for entering the Way, which are the fellow practitioners; dharma-nature and the reality limit are the principle of truth, the master of all Buddhas, where the object can give rise to wisdom, which is the instructing teacher. Each one contains the three meanings, as explained at length in the Great Śamatha and Vipaśyanā, and so forth.