廬山蓮宗寶鑑 1.75

1.75

Having yearned for the West, one should seek the definitive meaning. If there are jewels in the dark, without a lamp shining one will never know them oneself; if an ancient mirror is buried in dust, how could its radiance be displayed without wiping and polishing? Harmonize the three karmas, investigate the one mind, reverently receive the true texts, savor the holy meaning, penetrate deep to the bottom of the source of the Dharma, and thoroughly fathom the capacity of the buddhas: the path of principle will suddenly open through, and the flower of the mind will bloom. Have you not heard it said: the kudzu clinging to the pine towers upwards a thousand fathoms; only by relying on an excellent cause can one bring about vast benefit. For instance, when the cassia grows upon a high ridge, the falling dew can moisten its flowers; when the lotus emerges above the green waves, flying dust cannot soil its leaves. Although the lotus's nature is inherently pure and the cassia's substance is fundamentally upright, it is truly because what they rely upon is high that petty things cannot burden them, and what they depend upon is pure that defiled kinds cannot taint them. If insentient plants and trees still depend on goodness to achieve supreme goodness, how could human beings with consciousness fail to realize the buddha-mind by relying on the mind? Have you not heard that Zhiyi recited the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and saw that the assembly on Vulture Peak had not yet dispersed; Guifeng read the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment and his mind-ground suddenly opened up; with realization of the fundamental and feelings forgotten, Pu'an tallied with the purport of the Avataṃsaka; and with 'should produce a thought without abiding anywhere', the Sixth Patriarch awakened to the essential principle of prajñā? Looking upon the ancient worthies who may be followed, how could people of today not study them? It may be said that to cross the river one must use a raft, but upon reaching the shore one has no need of a boat.