廬山蓮宗寶鑑 10.28

10.28

《般若心經》云「是諸法空相，不生不滅、不垢不淨、不增不減，是故空中無色、無受想行識」等。又《維摩經》云「不善不生，善法不滅。」故知色相有去有來，佛性不生不滅。今有愚人，妄以不產後嗣為不生、不斷欲心為不滅，駭世怪言、惑人妖祟，密互邪婬作不淨行，斷佛種性悖亂人倫。故《楞嚴》云「善男子！愛極發狂熾然貪欲，則有欲魔入其心腑，一向說欲為菩提道，化諸白衣平等行欲，疑誤眾生入無間獄。」蓋以愚迷不知觸淨，不覺遭魔以致斯苦。諦觀天地肇分，有陰陽而有男女，有男女而有夫婦，有夫婦而有父子，有父子而有君臣，有君臣則有三綱五常之道。三綱統其人倫，五常正其教化，此聖人立世間之法也。吾祖遠公有云「在家者，厚身存生，我倒未忘，以情欲為苑囿、以聲色為遊觀，耽湎世樂不能特出，吾佛示化，令反本以求宗。在家奉法則是順化之民，不遺奉親敬君之禮，是故先導之五戒，不殺存乎仁、不盜存乎義、不婬存乎禮、不妄存乎信、不酒存乎智。身心既律，然後示之以出世之法，令修念佛三昧，以為西方之歸，達乎不生不滅之道。」是以王臣外護法流天下，千載猶一日也。其奈當斯之際，薰蕕共囿、菽麥同畦，未易分也。敢以衷赤之忱普告信士，但除却一心不亂繫念彌陀之外，凡所有相皆是邪解。切須子細真實修行，善則從之、惡則遠之，邪則遣之、正則守之。若乃立身行道之事、息心達本之旨，前篇備述明則典刑不為不多矣，遵而行之則吾門眷屬。違而作者魔之黨類，所以生遭王法、死墮阿鼻，殃及累世，莫言不道。何故聻？欲得不招無間業，莫謗如來正法輪。

The Heart of Prajñā Sūtra says: 'All dharmas are marked with emptiness: they are neither produced nor destroyed, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, sensation, perception, volition, or consciousness,' and so forth. Furthermore, the Vimalakīrti-sūtra says: 'Unwholesomeness is not produced, and wholesome dharmas are not destroyed.' Thus we know that form and appearances come and go, but the Buddha-nature is neither produced nor destroyed. Nowadays, there are foolish people who falsely take not bearing offspring as 'not produced' and not severing lustful desires as 'not destroyed'. With shocking, strange talk and deceptive demonic sorcery, they engage in mutual, clandestine illicit sex and practice impure conduct, severing the lineage of the Buddha and throwing human relations into disorder. Therefore, the Śūraṅgama says: 'Good sons, when lust reaches the extreme, one becomes raving mad and burns with rapacious desire; then a demon of lust enters their mind and entrails, and they persistently preach that lust is the path to bodhi, converting householders to engage equally in lust, and misleading sentient beings into entering the Avīci hell.' This is entirely because, in their foolish delusion, they do not understand what is contaminating and what is pure, and, unaware of falling prey to demons, they bring on this suffering. If one carefully contemplates the initial separation of heaven and earth, there is yin and yang, and hence men and women; there are men and women, and hence husbands and wives; there are husbands and wives, and hence fathers and sons; there are fathers and sons, and hence rulers and ministers; and with rulers and ministers, there is the way of the Three Bonds and Five Constants. The Three Bonds govern human relations, and the Five Constants rectify moral transformation—this is the worldly law established by the sages. Our patriarch, Master Yuan, said: 'Householders nourish their bodies and sustain their lives; their delusion of self is not yet forgotten. They take desires and passions as their garden, and sounds and forms as their spectacle; indulging in worldly pleasures, they cannot stand out from the crowd. Our Buddha revealed his transformation to cause them to return to the root and seek the ultimate. Householders who venerate the Dharma are people who accord with transformation and do not neglect the etiquette of serving parents and respecting rulers. Therefore, they are first guided with the five precepts: not killing embodies benevolence, not stealing embodies righteousness, not committing sexual misconduct embodies propriety, not lying embodies trustworthiness, and not drinking wine embodies wisdom. Once body and mind are regulated, they are then shown the world-transcending Dharma, instructed to cultivate the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi as their refuge in the West, and led to attain the path of neither production nor destruction.' Therefore, with kings and ministers as outer protectors, the Dharma flowed through the world, across a thousand years as if in a single day. How lamentable that at this time, fragrant and foul plants share the same garden, and beans and wheat share the same furrow—they are not easily distinguished! I venture, with sincere devotion, to proclaim universally to faithful men: aside from single-mindedly focusing without distraction on Amitābha, all appearances are false understandings. You must carefully and genuinely cultivate: follow what is wholesome and distance yourself from what is evil; dispel what is heterodox and maintain what is orthodox. As for establishing oneself and practicing the Way, and calming the mind to attain the root, these have been fully described in previous chapters, and the clear models and standards are not few. Those who comply and practice them are of our gate's family; those who violate them and act otherwise are of the devil's company. Thus they will suffer the king's law in life and fall into the Avīci hell at death, with disasters extending through successive lifetimes—let it not be said that you were not warned! Why is this? If you wish not to incur the karma of the Avīci hell, do not slander the Tathāgata's wheel of the true Dharma!