顯密圓通成佛心要集 2.8

2.8

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?)