四明尊者教行錄 4.65

4.65

Answer: The hundred realms and thousand thusnesses, inherent goodness and inherent evil, are all wondrous Dharma-gates and pure merits inherently possessed by the essence. They are precisely the pure merits surpassing the sands of the Ganges in the Awakening of Faith, which are not separated and not severed, because they are all suchness. If all worldly afflictions and defiled falsities of birth-and-death are cultivated evil, although arising entirely from nature, they oppose nature, and therefore must be eternally extinguished. If cultivated in accord with the principle, the merits of the myriad practices are all cultivated goodness; they also arise entirely from nature and accord with nature, thus identical with the permanently abiding. Therefore it is said: 'Because the image is real, it is inherently existent in accord with the principle; because it is empty space, delusion turns and becomes the nature.' Consequently, at the time of realization, although cultivated evil is exhausted, inherent evil permanently remains. Regarding the meaning of stimulus and response explained by various schools, because they do not understand the Dharma-gate of inherent evil, when they manifest bodies of the evil destinies after attaining the fruit, they must always transform and manifest them through supernormal power; therefore our school censures this as identical to non-Buddhist divine transformations. Thus it is said: 'Realizing the fundamental, true source, one still allows sentient beings' transformed consciousness to manifest.' If one does not discuss the inherent possession of the ten realms by the essence, that is also the meaning of the Distinct Teaching. If one grasps this meaning, the tenets of our school are like seeing [something] in one's palm, and are not in the least different from the various sūtras and treatises.