樂邦文類 4.76

4.76

I, Zhili, respectfully taking advantage of an interval between lectures and repentance rituals, write this letter based on the doctrine and contemplation of our school to reply to the Great Danapati, Director of the Palace Library. I prostratingly received your repeatedly bestowed authentic missive and your courteous grant of weighty words, bidding me, upon completing this repentance period, to remain longer to lecture and instruct. Reverently receiving your venerable intention, I ought properly to alter my former resolve. Yet because I have for so long devoted my sincere dedication toward this gate, my humble purpose cannot change course. Moreover, an opportune time is hard to encounter, and superior endeavors easily go awry; therefore, desiring for the present to fulfill my lifelong wish, I have not complied with your strict command. As for the task of transmitting the Dharma and the merit of benefiting others, I consider that what this body can achieve is indeed meager; once I reach the Pure Land and return, only then will such conversion flourish. When you say that I have penetrated the import of the threefold contemplation, that praises me excessively. You also say that the Land of Ultimate Bliss fundamentally originates from a provisional expedient display, and that one cultivating the Way must forget longing and aversion; truly these are accurate words. Yet my present longing for the Pure Land and singular aversion to this suffering body also have their reasons, which I venture to set forth below. As for the threefold contemplation in a single mind, though I have not penetrated it thoroughly, how would I dare not rely on it? For merely forty-odd years, I have searched out its fish-traps and snares and studied its practices and renunciations; yet since my spiritual faculties are dull, I have had no means to realize entry. However, regarding the doorways and chambers, and the times and seasons of practice, I have traversed them much and also know them roughly. Now, having received your request for a reply, it is hard to remain silent; thus I roughly set forth the general outline, hoping you will grant your judgment. The threefold contemplation means that a single thought is at once empty, provisional, and middle. Its grand propagation originated with the Tathāgata; its wondrous awakening was recently traced to Zhiyi. It arises entirely from the nature, and is truly not achieved through cultivation; therefore, in a single mind there are distinctly three functions: what is called 'empty' means that all is empty, which is to say that the threefold contemplation fully reveals the function of demolishing marks. What is called 'provisional' means that all is provisional, which is to say that the threefold contemplation fully clarifies the efficacy of establishing dharmas. What is called 'middle' means that all is middle, which is to say that the threefold contemplation is entirely the unconditioned essence. Thus, though demolishing marks all day long, all dharmas are fully established; though establishing dharmas all day long, the finest dust is utterly eliminated; though unconditioned all day long, the two truths blaze forth. Therefore, when the Prajñā[-pāramitā scriptures] speak of emptiness, eighty gates of the Dharma are made manifest; when Vimalakīrti establishes dharmas, views and attachment in the three realms are all forgotten; when the Lotus Sutra [reveals] the One Vehicle, the marks of the world abide constantly. These all result from the mutual identity of the threefold contemplation, bringing it about that not a single dharma is left out. Hence, three is non-three, and one is non-one; they are not entered successively, nor are they contemplated as combined or distinct; they cannot be sought through existence or non-existence, nor can they be grasped through middle or extremes. Therefore it is said: neither combined nor distinct, neither vertical nor horizontal. For the three and the one are perfectly fused, and practice and nature are merged and obliterated. How could the discriminating mind fathom it? How could words explain it? Thus it is merely forced into expression as the wondrous contemplation of the inconceivable. Preaching is non-preaching, and without preaching it is preached. Once one is able to know this, facing all objects, one illuminates them with this contemplation; establishing all practices, one guides and achieves them with this contemplation; managing all affairs, one accomplishes them with this contemplation; laying out all teachings, one articulates them with this contemplation. For one who cultivates this contemplation, subject and object must be forgotten, and grasping and discarding are obliterated; therefore tathatā is free of thought, and when facing it the mind is severed; preaching and explaining all day long is no different from having no words. If one abandons this, one is bound to be identical with the hosts of Māra; if one departs from this, one has not transcended the various non-Buddhists. Hence Nāgārjuna said: 'Except for the true mark of all dharmas, all else is the work of Māra.' Kāśyapa said: 'Prior to hearing the Mahāparinirvāṇa, all are wrong views.' How great it is—the wondrous purport of the threefold contemplation in a single mind! Therefore, what I seek by being reborn in Peaceful Nurture and what I desire by dying through burning to ashes relies on this threefold contemplation to dispel those hundreds of negations. Regarding the statement that the realm of Ultimate Bliss is merely an expedient display by the King of Awakening: since the sutras and treatises take the teaching of the Pure Land as a superior expedient, this proves that it is the Tathāgata's skillful, provisional application. But the name 'provisional' is not narrow, and the true principle also permeates it; one must discriminate and distinguish before knowing what to reject and what to accept. Expedients outside the essence must be broken, while expedients within the essence must be cultivated. The principle apart from phenomena is coarse, but the real that is identical with the provisional is wondrous. Therefore the Hīnayāna has no talk of other buddhas, whereas the Great Teaching speaks of oceans of lands. For mind-nature is universally pervasive, and the dharmadhātu has nothing outside it; because the principle is ultimate, phenomena are broad; because the lotus is vast, one realizes the pond is deep. Lands are like the jewels of Indra's net, appearing in layered infinity, which only then reveals the principle of Quiescent Light; bodies are like heavenly food, whose retributions differ from one to another, which only then manifests the nature of Vairocana. How could Ultimate Bliss not be included in mind-only? Therefore, in the tathāgatagarbha nirvāṇa is fully complete; it manifests according to conditions and is known according to capacity. Since it can display hells and heavenly palaces, could it fail to create defiled realms and pure lands? Though fully complete in the original nature, it is brought to light by the mind. Amitābha, with unconditional compassion, takes the land of Ultimate Bliss. Śākyamuni, with the eloquence of delight in speech, displays the gate of rebirth. These are both skillful expedients to gather those sunken categories of beings, to cause those who fear retrogression not to retrogress, and to enable those who are not adept at contemplation to contemplate. The provisional marks of the Pure Land are many indeed; for now I will briefly discuss these two. Thus the Awakening of Faith says: 'Beginners learning the right faith of the Mahāyāna, because they do not constantly meet buddhas in this land, fear that their faith, lacking supportive conditions, may retrogress. They should know that the Tathāgata has a superior expedient to make them non-retrogressive: they need only single-mindedly be mindful of Amitābha Buddha's tathatā dharmakāya in the world of Ultimate Bliss, and they will surely be reborn in that land and abide in the definitely determined stage.' Is single-minded mindfulness of the tathatā dharmakāya any different from the right faith of the Mahāyāna? Because it relies on that Buddha as its object, it can draw one to be born in the pure realm. This is the Tathāgata's skillful expedient. Furthermore, the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Sutra says: 'The thoughts of ordinary beings are weak and inferior; not having attained the divine eye, they cannot see far. The Buddhas, Tathāgatas, have a distinctive expedient to enable them to see.' This is due to Śākyamuni's spiritual power and Amitābha's vow-mind; if one contemplates attentively, one will surely be able to see. This is also a distinct, wondrous expedient of the King of Awakening. Since this skillful expedient is discussed from the standpoint of the perfect [teaching], it is not two and not different from the subtly wondrous expedients of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, even if gods and humans, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas of phenomenal perfections, and gradually cultivating great beings filled the world in numbers equal to the sands of the Ganges, exhausting all thought and measurement they could not know or perceive it; only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom it to the end. Only with perfect faith and perfect understanding can one undertake its cultivation. Though of dull faculties, having improperly received the perfect teaching, without departing from the present thought I vow to reach that realm, hoping that directly as an ordinary being of the lowest rank, I may at once ascend to non-retrogression. Furthermore, I have heard that those who formed conditions in the era of Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū Buddha have already passed dust-mote kalpas and still dwell in the stage of śrāvakas; all because they retrogressed from the Mahāyāna, they traversed such a long time. Śāriputra, while on the sixth mind-stage, retrogressed and fell into the five destinies; how much more so with ordinary students of the Buddha? It is because this land encounters many conditions for retrogression that it is said: 'Fish eggs, āmra flowers, and bodhisattvas when first generating the mind: these three things are numerous in their causal stage, but when it comes to bearing fruit, they are few.' If one seeks rebirth in Peaceful Nurture, then directly from the stage of an ordinary mortal one can rely on superior conditions, and having once attained rebirth, one will never retrogress. Hearing of such benefit, how could one not long for and seek it? Thus I take the threefold contemplation in a single mind as my ship, and use the five repentances at the six periods of the day as my oars, seeking rebirth in the mind-only Pure Land and wishing to see the Amitābha of my original nature. Thereafter, I will exercise the great compassion of identical essence to deliver the sentient beings of the dharmadhātu, complying with the Buddha's skillful expedients to seek rebirth in the Land of Bliss. This is roughly the intention. As for what was said—that if longing and aversion remain, then love and hate arise; and once the mind of grasping and discarding sprouts, the view of subject and object is born—the marks of generating faults are truly as you have said. The conditions for establishing virtue shall now be briefly explained. Longing and aversion, grasping and discarding, can skillfully generate faults and achieve success; hence Aśvaghoṣa established them as the foundation of initial awakening, and Zhiyi called them the gradual step to the Pure Land. Vimalakīrti took views and attachment as attendants, and Mañjuśrī took greed and anger as functional qualities. All these depend on the person using them, and there is a method for mounting them. Furthermore, sentient beings have dwelt in this Sahā world for vast kalpas, greedy for coarse and wretched sights and sounds, attached to inferior circumstantial and primary rewards; having no thought of revulsion and detachment, they only increase conditions of bondage; even if they engage in perfuming cultivation, rare are those who succeed. Because the dharmas of this land have many obstacles, conduct along the Way is difficult to accomplish. Therefore the Nirvāṇa Sutra says: 'Those who obtain a human body are like the soil on a fingernail; those who lose a human body are like the soil of the great earth.' For this reason, the Buddhas pitied these sentient beings, and through the merit of their vows and practices took a pure land, causing beings to generate yearning as the cause of receiving birth; with bitter and earnest words they spoke of defiled marks, causing them to feel disgust to form the mind of renunciation. Without this mind, initial practice cannot be accomplished. Therefore, without revulsion and detachment, how could one abandon this path? Without generating longing and seeking, one has no share in being born there. The dharma of receiving birth takes desire as its condition. Beginning from the initial mind down to the equal awakening, before transformative [birth and death] are exhausted, longing and aversion cannot be forgotten; how much less so for a beginner in practice? Now, seeking the Pure Land is not for the sake of the body experiencing pleasures or the mind being defiled by wondrous dusts; it is to rely on those pure conditions to rapidly increase the superior Way. For in that land, lifespan is endless, circumstantial rewards are spontaneous, and there are no women or defective sense faculties. Although sages and ordinary beings dwell together, there is not even the name of the evil destinies. Although śrāvakas are boundless, they are free from the view of grasping reality. Amitābha is the fine guide, Avalokiteśvara is the superior companion, those destined to attain buddhahood in one lifetime are exceedingly numerous, and the sages of the ten stages are countless. The wind chanting through jeweled leaves and the waves surging in golden canals all bring forth wondrous sounds, fully expressing the ultimate principle. Having neither agreeable nor disagreeable circumstances, greed and anger are eternally quelled. Whatever is seen or heard entirely assists quiescent illumination. That they all abide in the definitely determined stage—the merit lies herein. If one still seeks admission to the gardens of ordinary men, how could one not wish to be born in that jeweled realm? One need only know that the Pure Land is mind-only, and the defiled realm is identical with the nature: then within aversion there is non-aversion, and within longing there is non-longing. In this way, primary and auxiliary practices are cultivated together, and understanding and practice are operated in tandem, in accordance with the Buddha's right teaching and not one's own biased feelings. Moreover, the Contemplation Sutra states that the cause for the highest grade of rebirth requires wondrous understanding of the Mahāyāna, additional cultivation of the six perfections, and advising sentient beings as well. Therefore, I now use the threefold contemplation to apply to the mind and the five repentances to assist the Way; still fearing that pure causes are not complete, I set an agreement with myself to end my life, hoping to rely on this final strong condition to make it a determinate karma for rebirth. Furthermore: 'If one does not burn one's body, arm, or finger, one is not an ordained bodhisattva'—the admonition of the Fanwang [Sutra] is clear. 'To abandon body, life, and wealth is the true Dharma-offering'—the text of the Lotus is brilliant. In the Śūraṅgama, burning a single stick of incense pays off past debts; the Cakravartin carving a thousand lamps into his body achieved the wondrous fruit. Thus we know that whether in the initial mind or the later stages, whether supreme sages or ordinary mortals below, all may comply with and cultivate this, and it is universally revealed in the ultimate teaching. As long as right understanding is maintained, one naturally avoids heterodox cultivation. Because one knows that the nature of fire is true emptiness, how could there be the mark of what can burn? What is burned is naturally forgotten. Moreover, knowing that the Buddha's essence is perfectly wondrous, how could the person who is offered to remain? Then the one who offers is also tranquil. When both layers of subject and object are obliterated, all merits are accomplished; this is called the Dharma-gate of ascetic practice. As for the so-called fire-light absorption: the pure realms of the four lands suddenly appear in this mind, and the bodhimaṇḍas of the Buddhas are all manifested here; merely following one's wish, rebirth will surely be fulfilled. Thus Zhiyi said: 'The mind in samādhi at the point of death is itself the Pure Land. The stirring of a thought is itself the time of rebirth in the Pure Land.' Discarding the defiled body like this, at the very boundary of defilement, what principle is not manifested? Grasping the Pure Land like this, at the very source of utmost purity, what delusion is not dispelled? For this reason, when Vaidehī longed for the place of pure karmic reward, she immediately realized non-arising; when the Bodhisattva [Mahāsattva] abandoned his body ridden with carbuncles, sores, and diseases, he said he was seeking eternal bliss. This grasping and discarding, and non-grasping and non-discarding, are not two in essence and are simultaneous in function; they are called the three kinds of Dharma-gates: the gate of grasping, the gate of discarding, and the gate of neither grasping nor discarding; they are also the Dharma-gates of the three poisons, fully containing all dharmas. Thus the Wuxing jing says: 'Greed is itself the Way; anger and delusion are also thus. Within these three dharmas, all virtues are complete.' Mañjuśrī said: 'I am the Śrī of greed, I am the Śrī of anger, I am the Śrī of delusion.' Thoroughly attaining this meaning, the threefold contemplation in a single mind then guides all practices and accomplishes all affairs. Because all dharmas are empty, discarding defilement is thorough; because all dharmas are provisional, grasping purity is comprehensive; because all dharmas are middle, there is neither grasping nor discarding. These three dharmas are verified together by all Tathāgatas and cultivated jointly by all bodhisattvas. Therefore, I now discard the defiled body and long to seek the Pure Land, venturing to reverently emulate them. Now then, the cultivation of the mind has myriad practices, and entry into the Way has many gates; following one's inclination and appropriateness, one cultivates and awakens accordingly. How would I dare use a narrow pipe to restrict the vast heavens? It is only that I have maintained this resolve since my youth, and now that I am decrepit and worn out and have experienced many affairs and conditions, this mind constantly appears before me, and facing objects it increases all the more; truly this is due to past vows, so how could I dare not reverently fulfill it? In recent years, an altar has been established, and the assembly of faithful have together provided the offerings; after three years, the requisites are roughly complete, and several monks happen to share the same vows and practice. On this occasion I met you, the Director of the Palace Library, who know my name and examine the course of events from beginning to end; I venture to request that you graciously serve as a danapati to turn the wheel of your power, so that this slight good may be accomplished and this pure vow fulfilled; thereafter, may you protect our school to let it spread far and wide, causing those who have not heard to hear, and those who have not awakened to awaken. Furthermore, I hope that after your achievements in aiding governance are completed, and when your predetermined retribution is fulfilled, you will seek rebirth in the world of Ultimate Bliss in accordance with your vows, hoping that we may meet together in one place, recount our past causes, together convert living beings, and together ascend to great awakening. I have always lacked literary talent and am originally a rustic monk; my words are coarse and superficial, and my exposition of principle is lax and disjointed. I respectfully read your former letter saying that the rules of rigorous repentance reach the fundamental purity, and your subsequent letter saying that the Pure Land is not empty and was verified by former Buddhas. Reverently considering that you, Director of the Palace Library, deeply penetrate ascetic practices and can plumb the source, and also know that the pure realm from its origin is identical with principle, it must be that you wished me to broadly cite authentic teachings to demonstrate this to those who have not heard. Therefore I have ventured to rely on our school to briefly state my foolish views. In profaning your venerable hearing, I cannot endure my trepidation. Respectfully concluded.