安樂集 2.67

2.67

第一、勸託善知識者。依《法句經》，與眾生作善知識，有寶明菩薩白佛言：「世尊！云何名為善知識也？」佛言：「善知識者，能說深法，謂空、無相、無願，諸法平等，無業、無報，無因、無果，究竟如如，住於實際；然於畢竟空中，熾然建立一切諸法。是為善知識。善知識者，是汝父母，養育汝等菩提身故；善知識者，是汝眼目，能見一切善、惡道故；善知識者，是汝大船，運度汝等出生死海故；善知識者是汝絚繩，能挽拔汝等出生死故也。」

First, as for encouraging reliance on spiritual friends: according to the Fajü jing, on acting as a spiritual friend for sentient beings, Bodhisattva Baoming addressed the Buddha, saying: 'World-Honoured One! What is meant by a spiritual friend?' The Buddha said: 'A spiritual friend is one who can preach profound Dharma—namely, emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; the equality of all phenomena; no karma and no retribution, no cause and no fruit; ultimate thusness, abiding in the limit of reality; yet within ultimate emptiness, he vigorously establishes all phenomena. This is a spiritual friend. A spiritual friend is your father and mother, because he nurtures your body of bodhi. A spiritual friend is your eyes, because he enables you to see all good and evil paths. A spiritual friend is your great ship, because he ferries you across out of the ocean of saṃsāra. A spiritual friend is your stout rope, because he can pull and haul you out of saṃsāra.'