念佛鏡 2.3

2.3

Answer: "The reason the Prajñā[-sūtra] refutes [it, saying that] one does not see the Tathāgata, is that [regarding] grasping at marks and sounds, one solely seeks for person and self, and does not seek rebirth or unsurpassed bodhi; therefore one merely walks a false path and does not see the Tathāgata. In the Contemplation Sūtra, the Amitābha-sūtra, and so forth, one ought to give rise to mindful contemplation and exclusively recite the name, not seeking person or self, but solely seeking intending to be reborn in the pure land and swiftly realize unsurpassed bodhi; this is called the correct path, and one attains seeing the Tathāgata. If viewed in relation to the dharmakāya, formlessness is correct, while form, marks, and sounds, if grasped at, are false—this is addressed to bodhisattvas of the tenth ground and above. In the Contemplation Sūtra and the Amitābha-sūtra, contemplating a single mark or auspicious sign and hearing the name enables one to see the saṃbhogakāya Tathāgata—this is addressed to ordinary beings, the two vehicles, and minor bodhisattvas. If viewed in relation to the saṃbhogakāya, contemplating the Buddha and reciting the name are regarded as correct, while formlessness is false; if addressed to the dharmakāya, whatever there is, one discusses formlessness. Furthermore, when the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra was spoken, the World-Honoured One had previously gone to the Trāyastriṃśa heavens to teach the Dharma for his mother. At that time, when the World-Honoured One first came down from heaven to Jambudvīpa, Subhūti recollected the World-Honoured One, entered samādhi, and contemplated the Buddha, and so he was the very first to arrive. At that time there was a goddess who, not understanding the reason, was the first to see the World-Honoured One [with physical eyes]. Having seen the Buddha, the woman then asked the Buddha: 'Am I the very first to see the Buddha or not?' The World-Honoured One said: 'You see me later.' The goddess said: 'When I first arrived, not a single person had come to see the Buddha; why am I later?' The World-Honoured One spoke to her: 'Subhūti previously entered samādhi, eliminated person and self, and contemplated and saw the dharmakāya before you, goddess; therefore he was the first to see me.' Because the woman gave rise to a mind of person and self and contemplated my physical body, she was later to see me. In response to that goddess, the World-Honoured One spoke the verse: 'If one sees me by form, or seeks me by sound, this person walks a false path and cannot see the Tathāgata.' This verse was addressed to outsiders and was beneficial at that time; it does not obstruct matters of future eras, and is not the same as the Contemplation Sūtra. Furthermore, the Prajñā[-sūtra] was meant to refute the outsiders' reckoning that the four great elements and five aggregates are permanent, their reckoning form to be a self, and their reckoning sound to be a self; for this reason the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra refutes those outsiders, [saying they] do not see the Tathāgata. Now, relying on the Contemplation Sūtra and the like, we speak of the gate of revulsion, vowing to depart from birth and death, swiftly be reborn in the pure land, and quickly realize bodhi, without contemplating marks of a self, and thus one sees the Tathāgata; it is not the same as the Prajñā[-sūtra]."