四明十義書 1.2

1.2

圓宗觀道曠遠深絕，必須稟宗匠之開決，更自精揀，方善得通達焉。設或不然，名衲老宿尚失正路，況初學後進不入邪徑殆希矣。昔者慈光恩師兼講《華嚴》，不深本教、濫用他宗，輒定一念為真，從是今宗境觀大壞亂矣。遂使圓談法性錯為直顯心性，而廢光明玄之廣本也。於是四明尊者惜乎正教慜於來蒙，勉與梵天昭師問答往復各及五回。今之十義書者，撮彼五回之文而集大成者也。一披此書，非惟往復始終灼然可觀，亦夫定境修觀、託事附法、妙解妙行、唯色唯心，凡觀道之晦于時者燦然明矣。嗚呼！因山外之邪說，觀心正義翻顯昭代，其猶猪揩金山風益求羅耳。幸此書嘗流至此邦，而尚不弘於世，人無知其為至珍也。至吾立和尚屢屢講演稱讚，四方學人普識照觀道之光明幢也。當今之時苟欲曉天台荊溪之宗教，必須依憑四明指南；欲解四明之文，先當精練十義指要。兩訓不精，於斯今宗觀道明者不也。然現行義書寫誤不尠，子注文字相逼難見，讀者病焉。今為訂正重上梨棗，更揭忠師科於文上，以代學人合寫之勞。後學精讀此書勤勤綣綣，則能解釋宗教通達觀道自在無礙。譬如破竹，初節既破，餘節皆去不難也。學者於斯不可忽之也。

The path of contemplation of the Perfect Teaching is vast, far-reaching, profound, and transcendent; one must receive the elucidations and determinations of the masters of the lineage and furthermore engage in refined discernment oneself before one can attain thorough penetration of it. If it were otherwise, even renowned monks and senior elders would still lose the right road, not to mention that beginners and later entrants would scarcely avoid entering errant paths. Formerly, Master Ciguang En concurrently lectured on the Avataṃsaka; not plumbing the depths of our own teaching, he indiscriminately applied another school's, rashly defining a single thought-moment as true. From this, our lineage's object and contemplation were greatly corrupted and thrown into chaos. Consequently, he mistook the round exposition of dharmatā for directly revealing mind-nature, and abolished the expanded edition of the Guangming xuan. Thereupon the Venerable Siming, cherishing the orthodox teaching and taking pity on future students, exerted himself in five rounds of mutual question and answer with Master Fantian Zhao. The present Letter on Ten Points is the great compilation that summarizes the texts of those five rounds. Opening this book, not only are the exchanges from beginning to end clearly visible, but also determining the object and cultivating contemplation, entrusting to phenomena and appending to teachings, wondrous understanding and wondrous practice, and whether it is only matter or only mind—all aspects of the path of contemplation that were obscured at the time become brilliantly clear. Alas! Due to the perverse theories of the Shanwai, the correct meaning of contemplating the mind was conversely made manifest in a glorious age, just like a boar rubbing against a mountain of gold or the wind increasing the speed of a garuḍa. Fortunately, this book once reached this land, yet it had not yet been widely propagated in the world, and people did not know it was an utmost treasure. It was not until our Reverend Ritsu repeatedly lectured on and praised it that students from all directions universally recognized this radiant banner illuminating the path of contemplation. In the present age, if one wishes to understand the ancestral teaching of Tiantai and Jingxi, one must rely on Siming's compass; if one wishes to understand Siming's texts, one must first thoroughly master the essentials of the Ten Points. If one is not well versed in both instructions, one will fail to clarify the path of contemplation of this our lineage. However, in the circulating copies of this treatise, copyists' errors are not few; the interlinear notes and main text crowd one another and are hard to read, which has distressed readers. Now, having made corrections, it is newly put to the printing blocks, and Master Zhong's outline has furthermore been set above the text, sparing students the labor of collating and copying it together. If later students carefully and assiduously read this book, they will be able to interpret the ancestral teaching and attain unobstructed freedom in penetrating the path of contemplation. It is like splitting bamboo: once the first joint is split, the remaining joints split without difficulty. Scholars must not neglect it in this regard.