顯密圓通成佛心要集 2.8

2.8

四、凡所求事皆不思議門者，謂《觀自在儀軌經》、《文殊師利儀軌經》、《一字頂輪》等十餘本經皆說：「真言行人求成就時，用四種物：一者弓箭鉞斧鉤輪杵鏡，或數珠瓶鉢袈裟等，僧家所用種種之物；二者雄黃雌黃等種種藥物；三者取河岸上土和泥，作師子象馬牛駝，或鷄鵝孔雀金翅鳥等種種禽獸之形；四者或塑畫雕刻種種佛菩薩明王等形像。隨心所樂科作一事，依法成已而置壇中，如法誦呪，若得火焰出時，或手執或塗身或乘之，與助伴知識飛騰虛空。或有人見成就者，或成就者見彼人等，總得騰空遊諸世界，供養諸佛菩薩皆壽命一劫，獲初地百法明門。若煙出時依前用之，得諸仙中為王，住壽萬萬歲。若煖氣出時，得一切人天敬愛所求如意。此是上中下三品成就相也。」（若火光出上品，煙出中品，煖氣出下品也。又云：「若火光現，得一切呪神常來擁護，八部之眾皆常恭敬，一切神呪用之皆得最勝靈驗。若煙相現，隨所去處而無障難，所求遂心。若煖氣現，得一切諸人并鬼神等同心敬愛。」）西方有一人，得上品成就，引五百人昇空，如此方淮南王藥就，鷄犬舐鼎皆得昇空，故昔人云：「淮南成道，犬吠雲中；王喬得仙，劍飛天上。」藥力尚爾，況佛不思議呪耶？《神變疏》云：「人手執仙方，未曾和合服用，却謗白日昇空者，以為虛談，全成不可。」又《大教王》等諸陀羅尼經說，或令人追龍女為妻、降藥叉作奴、執羂索入修羅宮、呪死屍令開伏藏，或說成於聖藥，或說勅於財寶等云云，顯教之中此事罕聞，故先德云：「三乘教外別有持明是也。」問曰：「諸佛本意令斷貪嗔等，何却令人起貪心求世事名利等耶？」答云：「諸佛有不思議度生方便，謂有眾生不肯直求菩提，且隨其所樂令持呪求之，由神呪不思議力，所求之事盡得遂心，一切罪業亦得消滅，自然超凡入聖。如小兒有病不肯服藥，被有智醫人塗在母乳，其小兒本食母乳，不覺服著良藥除却病苦。故《羂索心呪經》云：『若有眾生設以諂曲為求富貴名利等，得聞此呪，彼諸眾生生生處處，成就智慧福聚之香。』《神變疏》云：『真言境界，十地菩薩尚非其境，況生死中人乎。』」（有人云：陀羅尼多令人有所希求，反損陷眾生者，此是離求外別取無求，全同斷見外道。今佛教說：終日求之不見求相，是真無求，非同木石全不希求也。故《觀音鈔》云：「雖念念求，而無能求所求之相。」又況諸佛大慈大悲，豈可故意損害眾生？）

Fourth, the approach of all sought-after aims being inconceivable: More than ten sūtras, including the *Avalokiteśvara-kalpa-sūtra*, the *Mañjuśrī-kalpa-sūtra*, and the *Ekākṣaroṣṇīṣacakra-sūtra*, all state: "When a mantra practitioner seeks siddhi, they use four kinds of objects: first, bows and arrows, battle-axes, hooks, wheels, vajra-pestles, mirrors, or prayer beads, vases, alms bowls, kaṣāyas, and other various implements used by the saṅgha; second, various medicines such as realgar and orpiment; third, taking earth from riverbanks, kneading it into mud, and making the shapes of various birds and beasts, such as lions, elephants, horses, oxen, camels, or chickens, geese, peacocks, and garuḍas; fourth, or sculpting, painting, and carving various images of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and vidyārājas. According to what one delights in, one prepares one matter; after it is completed in accordance with the Dharma and placed in the mandala, one recites the mantra according to the Dharma. If flames burst forth, one either holds it in hand, smears it on the body, or rides it, soaring into empty space together with one's companions and spiritual friends. Or if someone sees the accomplished one, or the accomplished one sees those people, all can soar into empty space and travel to various worlds, making offerings to Buddhas and bodhisattvas, all with a lifespan of one kalpa, and attaining the hundred dharma illumination doors of the first bhūmi. If smoke emerges, one uses it as before, becoming a king among the immortals and living for tens of millions of years. If warmth emerges, one will gain the respect and affection of all humans and devas, and all that is sought will be as desired. These are the marks of the three grades of siddhi: upper, middle, and lower." (Flames emerging is the upper grade; smoke emerging is the middle grade; and warmth emerging is the lower grade. It also says: "If the light of fire appears, one will obtain the constant protection of all mantra deities, the eight classes of beings will always show respect, and whenever one uses any dhāraṇī-mantra, one will obtain the most supreme spiritual efficacy. If the sign of smoke appears, wherever one goes there will be no hindrances or difficulties, and all that one seeks will be fulfilled according to one's heart. If warmth appears, one will obtain the unanimous respect and love of all people, ghosts, and spirits.") In the western lands, there was a man who attained the upper grade of accomplishment and led five hundred people to ascend into the sky. This is like the King of Huainan in this land, who concocted an elixir such that the chickens and dogs that licked the cauldron were all able to ascend into the sky. Thus an ancient author said: "When Huainan achieved the Way, dogs barked amid the clouds; when Wang Qiao attained immortality, a sword flew in the sky." Even the power of medicine is like this; how much more so the inconceivable mantra of the Buddha? The *Commentary on the Vairocana-abhisambodhi* says: "If a person holds an immortal recipe in hand, but has never compounded or taken it, and yet slanders those who ascend into the sky in broad daylight as empty talk, this is entirely impermissible." Moreover, various dhāraṇī sūtras, such as the *Great King of Teachings*, state that one may summon a nāga woman to be one's wife, subdue a yakṣa to serve as a slave, hold a lasso to enter the asura palace, chant mantras over a corpse to open hidden treasures, or achieve holy elixirs, or command wealth and treasures, and so forth. In the exoteric teaching, such matters are rarely heard of. Therefore, former worthies said: "Outside the teachings of the Three Yānas, there are distinct vidyādharas." Question: "The original intention of the Buddhas is to cause beings to sever greed, hatred, and the like; why would they instead make people give rise to greedy minds and seek worldly affairs, fame, and profit?" Answer: "The Buddhas possess inconceivable expedient means for saving sentient beings. That is, if there are sentient beings who are unwilling to seek bodhi directly, the Buddhas temporarily accord with what they delight in, causing them to uphold mantras to seek it. Due to the inconceivable power of the dhāraṇī-mantras, everything they seek is fulfilled according to their heart, and all sinful karma is also extinguished, naturally leading them to transcend the ordinary and enter the noble. It is like a sick child who refuses to take medicine, so a wise physician applies it to the mother's breast; the child naturally feeds on the mother's milk, unknowingly ingesting the good medicine and eliminating the sickness and suffering. Thus the *Amoghapāśa-hṛdaya-sūtra* says: 'If there are sentient beings who, even out of flattery and deceit, seek wealth, nobility, fame, and profit, and get to hear this mantra, those sentient beings will, life after life and in every place, accomplish the fragrance of accumulated wisdom and merit.' The *Commentary on the Vairocana-abhisambodhi* says: 'The realm of mantras is not even the domain of tenth-bhūmi bodhisattvas; how much less so for people within saṃsāra!'" (Some say: "Dhāraṇīs mostly make people harbor desires, which conversely harms and traps sentient beings." This is to separate seeking from not-seeking and specifically seize upon non-seeking, which is completely identical to the nihilistic view of outsiders. Now the Buddhist teaching says: Seeking all day without seeing any sign of seeking is true non-seeking; it is not like wood and stone having entirely no desires. Thus the *Commentary on the Avalokiteśvara Chapter* says: "Although seeking thought after thought, there is no sign of one who seeks or that which is sought." Moreover, how could the Buddhas, with their great loving-kindness and great compassion, deliberately harm sentient beings?)