念佛三昧寶王論 3.19

3.19

對曰：「子謂念佛三昧無上妙禪，非心行中求者。不然也！為子明之。夫心之為行者，行於三境也：一、行善境，即念佛三昧，善中之善，天中之天；二、行不善境，謂貪、瞋、癡等諸惡境界；三、行無記境，謂其心不住，善、惡不緣。若論夫理性，理遍前三，語其順理，唯留善境，經云：『所謂取我是垢，不取我是淨』者，謂不了法性體無慳貪，違於法性而不行施，縱施住施，不能捨施，非垢如何？若能了知隨順法性，行檀波羅蜜，無慳施相，善順於理，非淨如何？不善、無記，乖於法性，不可與善聯鍍也。故勝天王問佛：『云何菩薩，通達禪波羅蜜？』佛告大王：『菩薩摩訶薩學般若波羅蜜，行禪波羅蜜，當觀此心行於何境，若善、不善、無記境界。若行善境則勤修習，譬如蓮華不停水滴，一不善海不得暫住。』據斯金口，豈有不善、無記而不擯之哉？是則順理，善心行於善境，熾然念佛解脫在心行中。若謂念佛心行，而非解脫者，不善、無記二種心行，豈得有哉？如斯解脫，迷之則滯於浩劫，悟之則證如反掌，習禪明鏡，允茲、在茲。如來世雄，考彼群定，以念佛三昧為禪中王；諸餘三昧，有待有對者，皆匹夫之定耳。然寶王三昧，不住尊相，不住卑相，邪相、正相，生死相、涅槃相，煩惱相、菩提相，靜相、亂相，成正覺相、度眾生相、坐道場相，無所得相，如是等相皆悉不住，猶如夢覺，廓無來去。故《大品》云：『無去、無來是佛。』夫如是則尚遣乎中道，豈住於邊徼哉？如《諸海無行經》偈云：

I reply: "You say that the supreme, wondrous dhyāna of buddhānusmṛti-samādhi is not sought within mental activity. That is not so! Let me clarify this for you. The mind's activity acts in three spheres: first, acting in wholesome spheres, which is the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi, the best of the wholesome, the heaven among heavens; second, acting in unwholesome spheres, which refers to all evil spheres such as greed, anger, and delusion; third, acting in neutral spheres, meaning that the mind does not abide and does not condition the wholesome or the unwholesome. If one speaks of the nature of principle, principle pervades the preceding three; but speaking of according with principle, only the wholesome sphere is retained. The sūtra says: 'What is called grasping at a self is defilement; not grasping at a self is purity.' This means that failing to comprehend that the substance of dharma-nature is free from stinginess and greed, one acts contrary to dharma-nature and does not practice giving; or even if giving, one abides in giving and cannot relinquish giving—how is this not defilement? If one can comprehend and accord with dharma-nature, practicing the perfection of giving without the marks of stinginess or giving, perfectly according with principle—how is this not purity? The unwholesome and the neutral conflict with dharma-nature and cannot be joined together with the wholesome. Therefore King Viśeṣacinti asked the Buddha: 'How does a bodhisattva penetrate the perfection of dhyāna?' The Buddha told the great king: 'When a bodhisattva mahāsattva learns the perfection of prajñā and practices the perfection of dhyāna, he should observe what sphere this mind acts in: whether in wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral spheres. If it acts in wholesome spheres, he diligently cultivates it, just as a lotus flower does not retain water droplets, and he does not abide for a moment in the sea of unwholesome ones.' According to these golden words, how could one fail to reject the unwholesome and the neutral? Thus, according with principle, the wholesome mind acts in wholesome spheres, and through blazing buddha-mindfulness, liberation is found within mental activity. If one says that the mental activity of buddha-mindfulness is not liberation, how could the two kinds of mental activity—unwholesome and neutral—ever possess it? Regarding such liberation: if deluded about it, one is stranded for vast kalpas; if awakened to it, one realizes it as easily as turning over one's palm. The clear mirror for practicing dhyāna is truly right here. The Tathāgata, Hero of the World, examined those various samādhis and took the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi to be the king among dhyānas; all other samādhis that rely on conditions or have counterparts are merely the samādhis of common fellows. However, the Jewel King Samādhi does not abide in the mark of superiority nor in the mark of inferiority; the mark of wrong or right, the mark of saṃsāra or nirvāṇa, the mark of defilement or bodhi, the mark of stillness or disturbance, the mark of attaining perfect enlightenment, the mark of delivering sentient beings, the mark of sitting at the bodhimaṇḍa, or the mark of non-attainment—in all such marks, it does not abide at all, just like waking from a dream, entirely without coming or going. Therefore the *Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra* says: 'Neither going nor coming is the Buddha.' When it is thus, even the Middle Way is set aside; how could it abide in the extremes? As the verse in the *Sūtra on the Inaction of All Seas* says: