四明尊者教行錄 5.56

5.56

He answered: At the time of burning the body, is there definitely a person who experiences the Ultimate Bliss? At the time of the kalpa-burning, is there definitely no person who experiences the Ultimate Bliss? Therefore the *Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra* says: 'Although karmas of good and evil are not lost, there is fundamentally no agent or receiver.' The *Saddharmapuṇḍarīka* says: 'When it is consumed by the kalpa-fire, this land of mine is secure and calm, constantly filled with gods and humans, adorned with parks and palaces.' Because the ascetic practitioner is precisely the fundamental person, he is free of the marks of existence and non-existence; because the fundamental person is precisely the ascetic practitioner, it is not a phenomenon of arising and ceasing. The entirety of cultivation resides in the nature; the entirety of the nature constitutes cultivation. At this time and at that time, there is neither increase nor decrease; it is truly inconceivable. The substance of this samādhi is the unsurpassable person and dharma; penetrating the three periods of time and extending across the ten directions, formation, persistence, destruction, and voidness cannot alter its nature, and the disasters of water, fire, and wind have never departed from its function. Because the entire gold is made into utensils, and there are no waves apart from water, how could it merely encompass the single principle? It also completely gathers everything into the present thought. Therefore, the ocean of lands in the ten directions and the comings and goings across the nine ages together tend toward the single mind; this is called the wondrous samādhi. Taking ascetic practice as primary was originally meant to cure phenomenal evils and aid in opening up the cultivation of principle, serving as the final application of mind in the hope of creating superior pure karma. Since the primary and the auxiliary operate together, cultivation and nature are as one, reaching the Ultimate Bliss without departing from this mind. The previous letter stated: 'Accomplishing all matters, achieve them by means of this contemplation.' It is found right here.