念佛三昧寶王論 1.36

1.36

對曰：「三教之理也，名未始異，理未始同。且夫子四絕中：一無我者，謙光之義，為無我也；道無我者，長而不宰，為無我也；佛無我者，觀五蘊空，為無我也。上二教門都不明五蘊，孰辨其四諦、六度萬行、賢聖階級？蔑然無聞，但和光同塵，保雌守靜，既慈且儉，不敢為天下先，各一聖也，安用商搉其淺深歟？三教無我明矣。擇善而從者，謂三性之理，理無不在，修心之士，擇善而從，蓋謂不善無益於至真，無記雙亡於善惡，妨亂佛理，何莫由斯？故聖人簡之而不取也，故《涅槃經》云：『一闡提者，心不攀緣一切善法，乃至不生一念之善。』是知，念佛三昧，善之最上，萬行元首，故曰三昧王焉。」

I reply: Regarding the principles of the three teachings, their names have never been different, yet their principles have never been identical. Moreover, among the Master's [Confucius's] four prohibitions, the first is 'freedom from self' (wuji), which refers to the virtue of modesty and radiance being free from self. The Daoist 'non-self' means 'nurturing without dominating', which constitutes their non-self. The Buddhist 'non-self' means contemplating the emptiness of the five aggregates, which constitutes non-self. The first two teachings do not explain the five aggregates at all; who among them distinguishes the Four Truths, the six perfections and myriad practices, and the stages of sages and worthies? They have heard nothing of these. They only 'harmonize the light and assimilate with the dust', 'preserve the feminine and abide in quietude', being 'both compassionate and frugal', and 'daring not to take the lead in the world'—each is a sage in his own right, so why bother assessing their depths and shallowness? Thus non-self in the three teachings is made clear. As for 'choosing the good and following it', this means the principle of the three natures is everywhere present. A practitioner cultivating the mind chooses the good and follows it because the unwholesome is of no benefit to the ultimate reality, and the indeterminate neglects both good and evil, hindering and disturbing the Buddha-principle—how could it not stem from this? Therefore, the Sage selects among them and does not accept [the unwholesome]. Thus the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'An icchantika's mind does not cling to any wholesome dharma, nor does it even give rise to a single thought of good.' From this we know that buddhānusmṛti-samādhi is the supreme good and the foremost among the myriad practices; hence it is called the King of Samādhis.