念佛鏡 2.36

2.36

Answer: "In examining the mind in non-arising, [the mind] is not blue, not white, not red, not yellow; it is not that one does not speak of achieving or not achieving, but the mind has no marks, and moreover there is no achievement—is it not a vain expenditure of effort and useless labor to no avail? One may object: 'If by examining the mind one immediately attains buddhahood, then by looking at clothes one should obtain warmth, by looking at food one should obtain fullness, by looking at gold one should obtain precious use, and when examining the mind one should also attain the Way.' Looking at clothes without wearing them does not dispel the cold; when examining the mind, one also does not obtain the fruit. Furthermore, according to the Xiangfa jueyi jing: 'Sitting in meditation is not suitable for the Final Dharma age.' Why is that? That sūtra says: 'After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, during the five hundred years of the Correct Dharma, keeping the precepts will be steadfast; during the one thousand years of the Semblance Dharma, dhyāna-concentration will be steadfast; during the ten thousand years of the Final Dharma, buddhānusmṛti will be steadfast.' According to the Benji of the Dharmarāja: 'Having entered the Final Dharma for more than two hundred years, it is the time for buddhānusmṛti, not the time for sitting in meditation.' Therefore, during Preceptor Daxing's lifetime, several disciples of Chan masters received instruction from the Preceptor, and many turned their minds to buddhānusmṛti."