顯密圓通成佛心要集 1.8

1.8

二真如絕相觀者，（即當理法界觀）於中安心復有三門：一者常觀遍法界，唯是一味清淨真如，本無差別事相，此能觀智亦是一味真如。《華嚴經》云：「一切法無生，一切法無滅，若能如是解，諸佛常現前。」又七祖禪師云：「無念念者，即念真如。」六祖釋無念云：「無者無諸相，念者念真如。」此乃想念諸法全是真如。雖然想念，本無想念之相，故《起信論》云：「雖念，無有能念可念。」（此中所想真如，即是前頓教中所說絕待真心也。此門行者常想一切諸法，唯是一味清淨真如本無生滅，是名真如三昧，亦名一行三昧，亦名無生三昧。）二者若念起時但起覺心。故七祖云：「念起即覺，覺之即無，修行妙門唯在於此。」即此覺心便名為觀。此亦雖起覺心，本無起覺之相。（此門行者一切時中，心念若起，但起覺心，便是修行要妙之門。）三者擬心即差、動念便乖，但棲心無寄，理自玄會。故《華嚴經》云：「法性本空寂，無取亦無見，性空即是佛，不可得思量。」又古德云：「實相言思斷，真如絕見聞，此是安心處，異學徒云云。」此但任其本性自照，更不起新生慧解故。《圓覺經》云：「但諸菩薩及末世眾生，居一切時不起妄念，於諸妄心亦不息滅，住妄想境不加了知，於無了知不辯真實。」又賢首云：「若起心作凡行聖行，非是真行，不作一切行行心無寄，是名大行。」此門即以本性自照名觀。（此門行者一切時中心無所寄，是名真修，雖然備修萬行，於萬行中心無所寄。又禪宗東夏七代祖師，所傳心要而有三門，攝盡無遺：一、見性門，先須了悟絕待真心，一切妄相本無、真心本淨，即心是佛，非假外求，即前頓教一心是也。二、安心門，如上所說想念真如等三門是也。三、發行門，須備修菩薩六度萬行。具依三門即是正禪，隨闕一門便成偏見。達磨云：「我法以心傳心，不立文字。」此心是一切眾生清淨本覺，亦名佛性，欲求佛道須悟此心，即是見性門。又云：「如是安心，所謂壁觀。」令修道人心住真理，寂然無為，喻似牆壁不起分別，即是安心門。又云：「如是發行，所謂四行：一、報怨行，謂修道人若受苦時，當自念言：『我從往昔無數劫中，棄本逐末流浪諸趣，多起怨憎違害無限。今雖無犯，是我宿怨惡業果熟，非天非人所能見與。』甘心忍受都無怨訴。經云：『逢苦不憂，何以故？識達故。』二、隨緣行，謂修道人若得勝報榮譽等事，當自念言：『一切諸法皆從緣生，是我過去修因所感，今方得之緣盡還無，何喜之有？』得失隨緣，心無增減，喜風不動、嗔風不生。三、無所求行，世人長迷處處貪著，名之為求；智者悟真理將俗反，三界九居猶如火宅，有身皆苦誰得而安，於三界內無所願樂。經云：『有求皆苦無求乃樂。』四、稱法行，謂性淨真理目之為法，而此理性本無慳等一切萬惡，應稱理性修布施等一切萬善。」斯之四行即是發行門。又草堂禪師《圓覺疏》中亦有三門，大同於此，一、先悟圓覺性，謂一味清淨真心；二、次發菩提心，謂大悲大智大願；三、後修菩薩行，謂六度萬行等法。斯之三門，禪學之者甚為切要，若不圓修三門，無由離諸邪見，謂古來禪宗諸家語錄，多分但應當時根宜，或唯說見性，或但言安心，或只談發行，又於安心發行中復各有多途，或但明一途等云云。今此諸門心若通達，然後披覽諸家禪教，乃各知其旨歸。）

Second is the contemplation of tathatā free of signs (which corresponds to the contemplation of the dharmadhātu of principle). Within this, settling the mind again has three approaches: First, one constantly contemplates that throughout the entire dharmadhātu there is only the single flavor of pure tathatā, originally without any differentiated phenomenal characteristics; this contemplative wisdom itself is also the single flavor of tathatā. The *Avataṃsaka-sūtra* says: "All dharmas are unborn; / all dharmas do not perish. / If one can understand in this way, / the buddhas will constantly appear before one." Furthermore, the Seventh Patriarch Dhyāna Master said: "To be mindful of no-thought is precisely to be mindful of tathatā." The Sixth Patriarch explained no-thought, saying: "'No' means being without any signs; 'thought' means being mindful of tathatā." This refers to conceiving of all dharmas as entirely tathatā. Although one conceives [of them], fundamentally there is no sign of conceiving. Therefore the *Treatise on the Awakening of Faith* says: "Although one is mindful, there is neither a subject that is mindful nor an object of mindfulness." (The tathatā conceived here is precisely the absolute true mind explained earlier in the sudden teaching. Practitioners of this approach constantly conceive of all dharmas as only the single flavor of pure tathatā, fundamentally without arising or ceasing; this is called the tathatā samādhi, also called the one-practice samādhi, and also called the unborn samādhi.) Second, when a thought arises, one simply arouses an aware mind. Therefore the Seventh Patriarch said: "As soon as a thought arises, become aware of it; upon being aware of it, it is gone. The marvelous gateway of practice lies solely in this." This very aware mind is then called contemplation. Here, too, although an aware mind is aroused, fundamentally there is no sign of arousing awareness. (For practitioners of this approach, at all times, whenever a mental thought arises, merely arousing the aware mind is the essential, marvelous gateway of practice.) Third, to frame a thought is already to err; to stir a thought is at once to go astray. Simply resting the mind with nowhere to alight, the principle will spontaneously and profoundly accord. Therefore the *Avataṃsaka-sūtra* says: "Dharma-nature is fundamentally empty and tranquil, / without grasping and without viewing. / The emptiness of nature is itself the Buddha; / it cannot be conceived." Moreover, an ancient virtuous one said: "The true mark cuts off speech and thought; / tathatā transcends seeing and hearing. / This is the place to settle the mind; / divergent schools talk in vain." This is simply leaving its original nature to illuminate itself, without arousing any newly generated intellectual understanding. The *Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment* says: "Only when bodhisattvas and sentient beings of the final age at all times do not arouse delusive thoughts, nor extinguish delusive minds, abide in realms of delusive thoughts without applying discerning knowledge, and regarding the absence of discerning knowledge do not distinguish what is true and real." Furthermore, Xianshou said: "If one arouses the mind to perform ordinary practices or sacred practices, these are not true practices. Performing no practice at all, with the practicing mind having nowhere to alight—this is called the great practice." This approach takes the self-illumination of original nature as contemplation. (For practitioners of this approach, having the mind alight nowhere at all times is called true cultivation; although fully cultivating the ten thousand practices, within the ten thousand practices the mind has nowhere to alight. Furthermore, the essential mind transmitted by the seven generations of Chan patriarchs in the Eastern Land has three approaches, which encompass everything without remainder: 1. The approach of seeing the nature: one must first understand and awaken to the absolute true mind—that all delusive signs are fundamentally absent, the true mind is fundamentally pure, this mind itself is the Buddha, and one need not seek externally; this is the one mind of the sudden teaching mentioned earlier. 2. The approach of settling the mind: as explained above, the three approaches of conceiving tathatā and so forth are this. 3. The approach of initiating practice: one must fully cultivate the bodhisattva's six perfections and ten thousand practices. Fully relying on these three approaches is genuine Chan; lacking any one of them turns into a biased view. Bodhidharma said: 'My Dharma is a transmission from mind to mind, not established upon words and letters.' This mind is the pure, original enlightenment of all sentient beings, also called the buddhadhātu. Wishing to seek the Buddha-path, one must awaken to this mind; this is the approach of seeing the nature. He also said: 'Settle the mind in this way, which is called wall-contemplation.' This leads practitioners of the Path to abide their minds in the true principle, tranquil and non-active, analogous to a wall, not giving rise to discrimination; this is the approach of settling the mind. He also said: 'Initiate practice in this way, which is called the four practices: 1. The practice of requiting enmity: when practitioners of the Path suffer pain, they should reflect: "Throughout countless kalpas in the past, I abandoned the root to pursue the branches, wandering through various destinies, arousing much enmity and hatred and causing boundless harm. Although I commit no offense now, this is the ripening of the bad karma from my past enmities; it is not bestowed by gods or humans." One accepts it willingly and patiently, entirely without grievance. A sūtra says: "Encountering suffering, one does not sorrow. Why? Because one's awareness is thorough." 2. The practice of according with conditions: when practitioners of the Path receive excellent rewards, honor, and such things, they should reflect: "All dharmas are born from conditions. They were induced by the causes I cultivated in the past. Only now do I obtain them; when the conditions are exhausted, they will be gone again. What joy is there in this?" Accord with conditions in gain and loss, with no increase or decrease in the mind; the wind of joy does not move it, and the wind of anger does not arise. 3. The practice of seeking nothing: worldly people are perpetually deluded, clinging with greed everywhere, which is called seeking. The wise awaken to the true principle and turn against the mundane; the three realms and nine abodes are like a burning house. Wherever there is a body, all is suffering; who could attain peace? Within the three realms, they have no desires or pleasures. A sūtra says: "Wherever there is seeking, all is suffering; seeking nothing is bliss." 4. The practice of according with the Dharma: the true principle of nature's purity is termed Dharma. Since this rational principle is fundamentally free from all ten thousand evils such as stinginess, one should accord with the rational principle to cultivate all ten thousand virtues such as giving.' These four practices are the approach of initiating practice. In addition, in Dhyāna Master Caotang's *Commentary on the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment*, there are also three approaches, broadly similar to this: 1. First awaken to the nature of perfect enlightenment, which is the single flavor of the pure true mind; 2. next arouse the bodhicitta, which is great compassion, great wisdom, and great vows; 3. afterward cultivate bodhisattva practices, which are dharmas such as the six perfections and ten thousand practices. These three approaches are extremely crucial for students of Chan. If one does not cultivate the three approaches perfectly, there is no way to be free of various wrong views. That is to say, recorded sayings of various Chan houses since ancient times mostly only addressed the capacities and inclinations of their times: some only spoke of seeing the nature, some only talked about settling the mind, or some merely spoke of initiating practice; furthermore, within settling the mind and initiating practice there are multiple paths, or they only clarified a single path, and so forth. If one thoroughly penetrates these approaches in one's mind now, and afterward peruses the Chan teachings of the various houses, one will then understand where each of them aims.)