念佛三昧寶王論 3.29

3.29

I replied: "When an emperor travels in state, with ten thousand carriages and a thousand officials, down to the foot soldiers, all bear the character 'Imperial'; anyone who offends the imperial guard faces instant death. But when the imperial carriage returns to the palace and the foot soldiers are dismissed, returning to their villages, if one of them should claim the character 'Imperial', he likewise faces instant death. The foot soldiers are the same, yet life and death differ; it is because of the distinction in dependent origination that there is such favor or disgrace. Previously, if flowers, canopies, incense, and lamps had not encountered the imperial guard of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra's royal decree, their retribution would indeed have been in the heavenly palaces. But now, encountering the Jewel King of Samādhi, they serve as its royal escort, and even presenting a single flower ensures that all have already realized the Buddha Way. This is because the buddha-seed arises from conditions; principle and teaching make it so! It is also like birds flying toward Sumeru, which all take on the same color, or waters flowing to the great ocean, having no further distinct names. Therefore, in the 'Assembly of Mañjuśrī’s Universal Gate' of the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, when gods, dragons, and the eight classes, along with those in hell, animals, forms, sounds, scents, and all the myriad phenomena are gathered, all are samādhi; this is like a hair tip containing the great ocean, or a mustard seed admitting Mount Sumeru—is it the spiritual power of the hair or the mustard seed? Rather, it is the spirit that spiritualizes them. Thus we know that understanding is like the eyes, while practice is like the feet: when understanding is correct, practice is correct; when understanding is false, practice is false. The shallow and deep of māra and buddha both depend on understanding. Therefore the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] says: 'One who is lax in precepts is not called lax; one who is lax in the vehicle is called lax.' 'Vehicle' is the name for wisdom and understanding. If one practice is like this, the myriad practices are all the same. The Lotus samādhi is none other than the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi. For this reason the Tathāgata named this superior concentration the Jewel King of Samādhi, the Storehouse of Light, the Pearl of Eradication of Transgressions, the Lamp for False Views, the Guide for Those Lost on the Road, the Golden Seal of the Prince, the Treasure Trove of the Poor Man, the Samādhi of Emptiness, the Noble Samādhi, the True Contemplation of Dhāraṇī, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel of the Supreme Contemplation, Buddha-Nature, Dharma-Nature, Saṅgha-Nature, the Superior Expedient of the Inexhaustible Treasury, the Light of Great Wisdom, the Samādhi of Contemplating Dharmas to Extinguish Evil, and so on. Thus we know that teaching, principle, practice, and fruit—the eighty-four thousand pāramitā gates—are all alternative names for the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi. When it is thus, presenting a single flower universally serves the dust-mote lands of the three times, and being mindful of a single Buddha-essence pervades the heroes of future worlds. It is like using the great earth as a shooting target—how could an arrow be released without hitting the mark? If it were not so, one would incur the rebuke in the Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchā Sūtra of fearing emptiness while abandoning emptiness, and practicing emptiness while seeking emptiness."