念佛三昧寶王論 3.13

3.13

對曰：「《楞伽經》云：『用楔出楔』；俗諺云：『使賊捉賊』。今則以念止念，有何不可？況念之熟也，不謀而自成，不用力矣！如劍容舞劍，忽揮之青雲，以鞘背承，未甞或失；庖丁解牛，投刃皆虛，音合桑林之舞。此念之熟也，不亦明焉？故《起信論》云：『若知雖說無有能說可說，雖念亦無能念可念，名為隨順；若離於念，名為得入。』得入者，真如三昧也！況乎無念之位，在於妙覺，蓋以了心初生之相也。而言知初相者，所謂無念，非菩薩十地所知。而今之人，尚未階十信，即不依馬鳴大士，從說入於無說，從念入於無念，實恐慕崇臺而輕累土，倒裳索領，其可得哉？《大佛頂諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經》云：『大勢至法王子，與其同倫五十二菩薩，即從座起，頂禮佛足，而白佛言：「我憶往昔恒河沙劫，有佛出世，名無量光，十二如來相繼一劫，其最後佛，名超日月光，彼佛教我念佛三昧。譬如有人，一專為憶，一人專念，如是二人，若逢不逢，或見非見。二人相憶，二憶念深，如是乃至從生至生，同於形影，不相乖異。十方如來，憐念眾生，如母憶子。若子逃逝，雖憶何為？子若憶母，如母憶時，母子歷生，不相違遠。若眾生心，憶佛念佛，現前當來，必定見佛！去佛不遠，不假方便，自得心開，如染香人身有香氣，此則名曰香光莊嚴。我本因地，以念佛心，入無生忍，今於此界，攝念佛人，歸於淨土。佛問圓通，我無選擇，都攝六根，淨念相繼，得三摩提，斯為第一。」』」

I reply: "The *Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra* says: 'Use a wedge to extract a wedge'; a common proverb says: 'Set a thief to catch a thief.' Now, in using mindfulness to stop mindfulness, what could be amiss? Moreover, when mindfulness becomes practiced and mature, it completes itself without deliberation and requires no effort! It is like the sword dancer who flourishes his sword, suddenly flinging it into the blue clouds and catching it on the back of his scabbard without ever missing; or Cook Ding dismembering an ox, where the movement of his blade found only emptiness, its sound harmonising with the Dance of the Mulberry Forest. Is this not a clear illustration of mindfulness when mature? Therefore the *Awakening of Faith* says: 'If one knows that although there is speaking, there is no one who can speak nor anything that can be spoken; and although there is mindfulness, there is no one who can be mindful nor anything that can be minded—this is termed "accordance." If one is free from mindfulness, this is termed "attaining entry."' 'Attaining entry' refers to the suchness samādhi! Furthermore, the stage of no-mindfulness resides in wondrous enlightenment, for it means thoroughly comprehending the characteristic of the mind's initial arising. Yet speaking of knowing this initial characteristic—the so-called 'no-mindfulness'—is not even known by bodhisattvas of the ten grounds. But people today have not yet stepped onto the ten faiths, yet they fail to rely on the Great Being Aśvaghoṣa to enter from speaking into non-speaking, and from mindfulness into no-mindfulness. Truly, one fears that admiring a towering terrace while scorning the accumulation of earth, or seeking the collar by turning the skirt upside down—how could that ever succeed? The *Sūtra of the Foremost Śūraṅgama of All Bodhisattvas' Myriad Practices Crowned by the Great Buddha* says: 'The Dharma Prince Mahāsthāmaprāpta, together with fifty-two bodhisattvas of his same order, immediately arose from their seats, bowed their heads at the Buddha’s feet, and addressed the Buddha, saying: "I recall that in the past, kalpas ago as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, there was a buddha who appeared in the world named Boundless Light. Twelve tathāgatas succeeded one another in a single kalpa; the final buddha was named Outshining the Light of Sun and Moon. That buddha taught me the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi. Suppose there are two persons: one focuses solely on remembering, while the other focuses solely on awaiting. If these two persons meet, it is as though they did not meet; if they see each other, it is as though they did not see each other. But if both remember each other, and their mutual remembering and mindfulness run deep, then even from life to life they will be like form and shadow, never straying apart. The tathāgatas of the ten directions are compassionate toward sentient beings and mindful of them just as a mother remembers her child. If the child runs away, though she remembers, what does it avail? If the child remembers the mother just as the mother remembers the child, mother and child across successive lives will not be separated or far apart. If the minds of sentient beings remember the Buddha and are mindful of the Buddha, in the present or in the future they will certainly see the Buddha! They will not be far from the Buddha; without relying on expedient means, their minds will naturally open, just as one scented with incense retains a fragrance on their body—this is named 'Adornment with Fragrance and Light.' In my original causal stage, with the mind of buddha-mindfulness I entered the forbearance of non-arising. Now in this realm, I gather practitioners of buddha-mindfulness and lead them to return to the Pure Land. The Buddha asks about complete penetration: having no preference, I gather in all six sense faculties, maintain pure mindfulness in unbroken succession, and attain samādhi—this is foremost."'"