廬山蓮宗寶鑑 10

English (machine translation) 10

Language: English

10.1

Discourse on the Correct Treatise on Buddhānusmṛti

Those who uphold the teaching and practice buddhānusmṛti enjoy the legacy of Dharma leaders and serve as emissaries of the Tathāgata. They must take it upon themselves to crush the heterodox and manifest the orthodox, to stimulate the turbid and extol the clear, serving as a divinatory guide for later students and as the ears and eyes for living beings. If one is unable to do so and merely remains silent in self-preservation, then one is a mere sinecurist filling a post within the Buddhist gate. Even if one gives lectures and teachings, of what use are they? Have you not heard that only by means of the fish trap does one catch the fish, and only by embodying the teaching does one engage in practice? If the conventional teachings are not corrected, how can one proceed with practice? Hence, one cannot fail to offer this treatise. For this reason, when Zhongni governed, he corrected what was unrighteous; the testamentary admonition of the Nirvāṇa[-sūtra] was urgent in censuring faults. I have observed that when our Lord, the World-Honoured Buddha, ruled the Western realm of India, he manifested forms of the formless, and spoke words of the wordless, so as to restore the true nature of all living beings. Thereupon, the sudden and gradual teachings, the Mahāyāna and the Hīnayāna, overflowed from the Dragon Palace and the ocean storehouses; they were none other than the purpose of crushing the heterodox and manifesting the orthodox, stimulating the turbid and extolling the clear. Can one even count the living mortals across the great earth who have followed his conversion and restored their true nature? Among these teachings, his particular praise of the West as the shortcut path of cultivation is because Amitābha Buddha possesses vast vow-power to gather the sentient beings of the Sahā world and return them to the pure realm, causing them to turn back from delusion and realize reality. Therefore, all Buddhas join in praising it, and bodhisattvas unite in complying with it. When the society of the Jin dynasty was first founded, its high standard was preserved across a thousand ages without falling; when Cizhao compiled the repentance liturgy, orthodox conversion was circulated throughout the ten directions. Great indeed is the Way of the Pure Land! As its essence, Amitābha is one's fundamental nature; as its doctrinal core, the pure realm is Mind-only; as its application, benevolence and forbearance mean extinguishing evil and giving rise to good. These three manifest retribution across the three periods of time. Harnessing practice to one-pointedness of mind and plumbing principle to emptiness and stillness, it causes those who reach principle to turn away from delusion, and those who have faith in phenomena to turn toward the good. Benefiting both high and low through this truly assists the teachings of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, and supports imperial transformation—it is supreme indeed. If one person can practice this Way and instruct his family with it, the family can guide the village, the village can reach the state, and this can extend without limit. Then the people of the world will immerse themselves in the Way and bathe in virtue, harmonizing their spirits with the real mark; they will stroll loftily in the realm of nothingness and reach the ultimate Buddha realm—how could it merely stop at making them good men and gentlemen? If it is like this, why worry that loyalty and filial piety will not be cultivated, or that propriety and yielding will not be manifest? Viewed from this perspective, are not the Way of the Munificent One and the Way of Zhongni the exterior and interior to each other in instructing the people? But through successive dynasties, as it was revered, its teaching was expanded, and those who practiced it in the semblance age were not the right men. When its teaching was expanded, abuses and opportunism arose; when the people were not the right men, simplicity and honesty perished. Consequently, they took high and grand Buddha halls as extravagant displays, and considered sound, profit, warmth, and repletion to be their proper business. Merely valuing quantity, those who destroyed the Way grew numerous; taking the bizarre to be beauty, those who confused listeners became manifold. Transmitting this from one to another, vulgar stinginess took shape; day after day the reddish-purple confused the vermilion, causing the ethos of purity, benevolence, and forbearance to dissipate, and from this, slanders about 'eating away like silkworms' and 'wasting like woodworms' flourished. This was the fault of those who revered and practiced it; it was not the blame of the teaching itself. Most people today do not examine where it originated; seeing unworthy disciples, they shift their anger onto good people and the Dharma. How is this any different from blaming Yao because of Danzhu, censuring Shun on account of Shangjun, attributing the blame to Shennong when taking medicine without moderation, or conversely resenting the Fire-Maker when letting a fire loose leads to a conflagration? I am foolish and untalented, but I have studied the Way of the Buddha for years. Having grasped its general purport and harboring some desire to prop up the falling, I dare not keep it private to myself, but wish to make it public to all, so as to rescue them from these abuses. I have often said that there are four harms to the doctrinal school: first, the master's instruction is unclear, so heterodox teachings blaze forth and lose its truth; second, the monastic precepts are not practiced, so social norms and regular principles fall into chaos and their prohibitions are violated; third, the doctrinal principles are not illuminated, so erroneous talk of what is unrighteous deludes the masses; fourth, practice and vows are not cultivated, so people become confused, enter heterodox branches, and fall into the demonic. Because of this, names are disordered and practices altered; later students are blinded and deafened in more than one way—how lamentable! From then on, presumptuous impostors transmitted it, one to ten, ten to a hundred, a hundred to thousands and myriads; the poison spread across the country as swift as relay couriers. How do we know this to be so? Orthodox explanations are difficult to practice, while heterodox winds are easily contracted; this is an inevitable principle. Alas! The ancestral Way has not been transmitted for a long time, and it is hard to keep people from doubt. Though I am dull, I am truly grieved by it. I wished to analyze the articles and dissect the principles to broadly encompass what was previously heard, to sever falsehood and continue the truth so as to open the minds of these later students, yet I regret that I have no wise eloquence and merely look at things through a tube. For this reason, with a purified body and single mind, I devoted myself wholeheartedly to the Three Jewels, inquired into the great teachings, consulted the profound texts, definitively established the orthodox lineage, and refuted various divergent views, bringing them together into this 'Orthodox Treatise on Buddhānusmṛti'. Dissecting and verifying the maxims of the Buddhas and patriarchs, I proclaim them everywhere to all regions so that all may ascend the path of awakening, in the hope that the sacred teaching, having been obscured, may be illuminated once more, and that sentient beings, having sinned, may return to blessing. A guest came and questioned me, saying: 'Cultivation is meant to resolve one's own birth and death; why must you discuss the strengths and weaknesses of others?' I answered him, saying: 'The principle is not so. Have you not heard that when the Tathāgata appeared in the world, not a single dharma failed to benefit living beings? When bodhisattvas cultivate practice, would they ever do even a hair's breadth for themselves? Sons of the Buddha display forms identical to non-Buddhists to convert their heterodox minds by expedient means. The ten kinds of demonic beings in the Śūraṅgama[-sūtra] all arise from mistaken understanding; the ten kinds of demonic karma in the Avataṃsaka[-sūtra] show their orthodox return. Alas for the heterodox practice of vicious intelligence, willingly resting content with dangerous paths! Encountering such circumstances, how could one remain silent? Thinking of their foolishness, how could one tolerate sitting idly by? Furthermore, the World-Honoured One with a compassionate heart gave his entrustment, leaving vast vows to universally ferry across the deluded ford; bodhisattvas cultivate practice in accord with the teaching, manifesting identity of actions to transform and cause them to become Buddhas. This is their fundamental conduct; what further doubt could there be? If one sees someone lost on the road and does not point out the correct path, where is compassion? If one witnesses someone drowning and does not think of rescuing them, where do expedient means abide? Overcoming Māra by complying with the true Dharma is the work of unsurpassed great wisdom; taming sentient beings to enter the Way is that which all Buddhas uphold. I vow to sacrifice my life to establish the true lineage; in the end I will not forget the Buddha's entrustment for my own sake. When sentient beings are exhausted, my compassionate mind will be all the firmer; when empty space perishes, my vows will be endless. If I should meet worthy individuals of understanding, they will surely be able to assist in propagating this Way. It can be said that offering this profound mind to the dust-mote lands is called repaying the Buddha's kindness.'

10.3

Exposition on Amitābha of the Western Direction

10.4

The Buddha taught that in the western direction there is the world of Sukhāvatī, and in that land there is a Buddha named Amitābha. As recorded in the sūtras, there are both principle and traces. Discussing its principle: the West is none other than one's own nature. This nature is without form and without marks, unaltering and indestructible, firm through kalpas like refined gold. In the hexagrams of the Yijing, it is Dui; because it is quiet and tranquil, it is called the West. Gold is luminous in colour, and its substance is white and pure; it is adduced to illustrate the Dharma-nature. Now, the people of the world are deluded by worldly sensory realms; their false thoughts never cease, stirring in commotion. In the hexagrams of the Yijing, this is Zhen; hence it is called the East. If people can turn back from falsehood and return to truth, recovering their original stillness and seeing their own nature, this is termed abandoning the defiled land of clinging in the East and ascending to the pure and luminous golden ground of the Western region. With regard to directions, it is directionless; by Dharma and metaphor, its essential principle is expressed. When the Huayan helun states that Mañjuśrī came from the East, it is because Mañjuśrī is fundamental unmoving wisdom. The East is where the myriad things sprout and emerge. That which stirs and shakes is the land of initial illumination. From this wisdom faith is born; hence the Avataṃsaka takes the station of faith as the initial birth into the household of the Buddha. The time between the hours of chou and yin is the clear morning, when the sun of wisdom first shines forth, symbolising Mañjuśrī inspiring ordinary mortals to enter faith and see the Way, because the gateway of wisdom gradually expands. Xun is wind, which is transformation through teaching; wind can remove defilement and select purity. Between chen and si, above, it corresponds to the Horn mansion; it represents monks and Daoists, fasting and purification, and the gate of myriad goods, symbolizing the stations of progressive practice. Reaching wu is the middle way; in the hexagrams of the Yijing it is Li, which is the south, uprightness, the sun, and illumination. Being attached and hollow in the middle, it is bright, symbolizing the emptiness of all phenomena; then the sun of wisdom is at high noon, shining universally throughout the world. The dragon girl of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka attaining Buddhahood in the south conveys this meaning. The southwest is Kun, representing earth, quietude, compliance, the mother, and nurturing. Due west is Dui, the place where metal flourishes and the sun sets. Fire dies at you; it represents austerity, stillness, and harvesting. The northwest is Qian, representing heaven, the father, metal, and firmness and vigor. The north is Kan, representing water, the sovereign, and the teacher, benefiting life and succouring beings, handing down teachings for proper governance. Water is used to subdue fire; the sovereign is paired with ministers, so that ministers are enlightened and the sovereign is upright. Furthermore, excessive water brings overflow. The northeast is Gen, representing mountains and stopping. Below represents dhyāna-concentration and humility; above represents contemplative illumination, wisdom, and the realm of space. Just as the sun, moon, and three luminaries abide in space, shining down upon the myriad things. In the sūtra, other directions are not raised, and only the West is singled out; this is to contrast purity against defilement, to gather delusion into awakening, to set stillness against motion, and to match result with cause. Passing beyond one hundred thousand koṭis of lands means transcending the limits of the four corners, above, below, and the ten directions; surpassing the ten unwholesome karmas of the four wretched destinies; surpassing the realm of the ten virtues of humans and gods; and not being bound by any phenomena. That 'there is a world' means the true-suchness realm of ultimate reality, which is the West of one's own nature. That it is 'Sukhāvatī' (Ultimate Bliss) means that this nature is free from sorrow and distress. How is this known to be so? Those who have seen the nature are not deluded by sensory realms; they fully know that all phenomena are empty, their minds are ever tranquil and calm, without thoughts, without contrivance, without thinking or deliberating. Abiding peacefully in the ground of great extinction, thought after thought they constantly produce wisdom, and phenomenon after phenomenon is as it is. 'I am the King of the Dharma, at ease regarding phenomena'—hence it is named Ultimate Bliss. Discussing its traces: then indeed this world truly exists. The Buddha repeatedly and meticulously spoke of it—how could it be empty talk? What 'exists' is not the existence of a spatial territory or location; it is the existence of non-existence, which is precisely true emptiness and marvelous existence. True emptiness is the real mark. Marvelous existence is the eye-dazzling array of phenomena interpenetrating in the dharmadhātu—how could there be any distinction of East and West? The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment says: 'The glorious abiding of all Tathāgatas is the pure ground of awakening of all sentient beings, equally and fundamentally complete throughout the ten directions. By non-dual compliance, various pure lands are manifested in the non-dual realm.' Amitābha is Sanskrit; here it means Measureless Life. 'Buddha' means awakened; it is the nature of vast and perfect enlightenment and the Buddha of the pure dharmakāya on one's own part. This nature is neither born nor extinguished, spanning ancient times and the present; from the Buddhas and bodhisattvas above down to sentient beings of the six destinies below, each and every one possesses this nature of awakening, and therefore they share the same name and title. Alas! Worldly people have been benighted to it for long, falsely grasping at form and marks, pursuing them in inverted ways, willingly sinking into delusion. Our Buddha appeared in the world to open the gate of expedients, praising and speaking of the Pure Land to cause them to believe and admire it. If one can truly consent and believe for oneself, only then will one awaken that firm luminosity is the West, and all directions are entirely the West; when the fire of delusion is extinguished, all lands are pure. Then one knows that the worlds of the ten directions are everywhere Amitābha; whatever meets the eye or is encountered in circumstance is nothing but Sukhāvatī. Hundreds of thousands of samādhis appear before one in response to thought; immeasurable Dharma gates are revealed following the mind. Towering and thorough vision is the multi-storied pavilions; embracing and benefiting sentient beings is named the palaces; guarding against wrongs and protecting goods is named the balustrades; being pure and undefiled is the lotus blossoms; being thoroughly clear is called the ponds; adapting to the square and following the round is called the water; benevolence, compassion, relief, and benefit are called the jewels; being perfumed with precepts, concentration, and wisdom is called the fragrance. The seven bodhi trees cast dense, multi-layered shade; the eightfold noble paths are walked with utter ease. The adornment of myriad virtues blooms in lush clusters; the accomplishment of myriad virtues is fully rounded in fruit. Nirmitas of birds expound the sounds of the Dharma; trees in the wind convey the wings to awakening. Arriving at such a ground, one must all the more preserve and nourish it, until the end of life never backsliding, sloughing it all away—only then is the matter concluded. If this is not yet so, one must never abandon the mountain to recognise an anthill, or cast away jewels to gather firewood, falsely regarding the physical body as ultimate. Believing and knowing that birth and death is a great matter, do not treat it lightly. Seek out true knowledge to discern the essentials of the mind, earnestly practice buddhānusmṛti to seek awakening to the Great Vehicle, clearly see the Amitābha of one's own nature, and directly reach the Mind-only Pure Land. It may indeed be said: 'Though it has always been one's old pavilion and leisure grounds, only when won once does one finally rest.'

10.5

Treatise on the Fundamental Nature of True Suchness

10.6

The fundamental nature of true suchness is the one true, unfeigned substance before one's parents gave birth to one, termed one's original face. The Chan school calls it the treasury of the true Dharma eye; the Lotus School calls it the Amitābha of one's own nature; Confucius called it the principle of Heaven; the Great Changes calls it the Great Ultimate (taiji). Although the names differ, in truth they are the same fundamental nature of true suchness. This nature is empty yet luminous, tranquil yet marvelous, sharing the same root with Heaven and Earth, and the same origin with the myriad things; it does not decay through kalpas of dust, nor does it shift when worlds are destroyed. People are unable to let its self-so truth be free, but are bound to the substance formed by the combination of earth, water, fire, and wind. Just when taking form, it is already darkened in its originally pure substance by yin blood and turbid qi. When born, the delusion of the six dusts and five desires benights its originally existent natural truth. Therefore, the Buddha taught eighty-four thousand Dharma gates, all of which guide people to turn back from falsehood and return to truth. As for that which is a shortcut and easy to practice, there is only the single gate of buddhānusmṛti. Those who cultivate it find their minds undistracted, and samādhi manifests before them; this is to recover their fundamental nature. Today there is a class of people who do not investigate Buddhist principles, but instead usurp Daoist methods of self-cultivation and conflate them with the Lotus School, falsely saying that qi is the master, teaching people to circulate essence and transport qi, fatiguing their muscles and bones, fruitlessly expending body and mind, willingly suffering bitterness and hardship, ultimately with nothing accomplished. I have observed that Zhang Ziyang of the Daoist school said: 'Essence, qi, and spirit are the primordial essence, primordial qi, and primordial spirit that precede Heaven and Earth. Primordial essence is not the essence of lewdness; primordial qi is not the qi of respiration; primordial spirit is not the spirit of thoughts and deliberations.' Foolish people do not understand this meaning; mistaking an urn for a bell, their eyes are neither clear about the principle nor comprehending of correct guidance. They mislead those pure and faithful scholars into constantly contriving upon this stinking bag of skin, benighting the one true Buddha-nature, and falsely claiming that this is cultivation. How lamentable! I universally advise fellow practitioners that they must be extremely careful, investigating the mind through buddhānusmṛti to open awakening to the true source. If one sees it clearly and on one's own, with phenomenon after phenomenon manifesting before one, this is termed seeing the nature and achieving Buddhahood. If there is a single thought's deviation, the difference is like Heaven and Earth.

10.7

Distinguishing True and False Body and Mind

10.8

Now, as for the body, there is the dharmakāya and there is the physical body. A transmission states: 'When wisdom illumines the true realm, taking all phenomena as the body, it is called the dharmakāya. Being born from the conditions of parents, empty, illusory, and unreal, it is called the physical body.' As for the mind, there is the true mind and there is the false mind. Truly pure, bright, marvelous, vacuous, penetrating, and spiritually efficacious—hence it is called the true mind. Arising and ceasing along with objects, suddenly existing and suddenly absent—hence it is called the false mind. When the Patriarchs encouraged cultivating the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi, it was to let the phrase 'Amitābha Buddha' flow forth from one's own true mind, observing it thought after thought, perfectly penetrating phenomenon after phenomenon; this is what is called gathering in the six sense faculties and continuing pure mindfulness in succession, universally manifesting the samādhi of the physical body within a single thought. Nowadays there is a class of people who do not know the true from the false, mistakenly taking the physical body to be their self, taking false thoughts as ultimate, mostly doing respiratory exhalations and inhalations, massages, and striking postures. Hoping to achieve the Way in this manner—is it not erroneous? It can be called casting away true gold to pick up broken tiles and pebbles. In general, learning the Way requires distinguishing the true from the false. Hence the Zongjing [lu] states: 'Cultivating the Way takes the mind as the essential; its principle must be meticulously investigated. Regarding the realm of sentient beings, the true and the false seem distinct and must not be lumped together, lest there be an adulteration of perfect enlightenment. Only when gold and ore are heated together can the true and false be distinguished; when sand and rice are cooked together, the cooked and the raw are different. When the three vehicles aspire to the Way, their views have disparities. They mistakenly point to the false mind, taking it to be real. Taking the thief of delusion for a true son, their household treasures are plundered completely; gathering fish eyes to be black-dragon pearls, their eyes of wisdom are blinded in vain. Consequently, foolish sons fall into the heavy barriers of iron existence, and perverse, perilous people drown in the waves of consciousness of the river of views, playing amidst raging flames in a decaying mansion, forgetting suffering and fatigue; lying in a great dream during the long night, they are deluded in mind and nature. All this is due to clinging to this conditioning deliberation as their own body, and abandoning this true mind to dwell in other sounds and forms—these are the errors of ordinary mortals and outsiders. Or there may be those who practice the Chan school according to Dharma, yet cling to the Buddha's expedients, causing them to cast open the eight nets and respond to the four capacities, bypassing a single thought to gallop afar through three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, their efforts emptied over great kalpas; departing from the place of treasures to linger long in the conjured city, their tracks stranded on the long road. These are the errors of being deluded by following the false mind and failing to attain the true mind.' The Xinfu states: 'The nature is free from contrivance; the principle is truly fused. Those who understand it find stillness right within motion; those who are benighted about it mistake the west for the east. Even if one exhausts the oceans or moves mountains, this is not the power of non-action; even if one treads on emptiness or walks on water, these are all mundane superknowledges. To discern jade one must be true; to search for pearls one should be still. If one seeks the mind outside of objects, how can one know that the circular halo is right in the optical defect? Complying with the nature of the dharmadhātu and uniting with the mind of true suchness, one abruptly enters the Tathāgata's great ocean of compassion.' Compared to those who cling to marks and cultivate the bag of skin, how could they even be mentioned in the same breath?

10.9

Clarifying the Three Jewels

10.10

The teaching says: 'The Bhagavans of the ten directions, / The consummate sūtras, / The Mahāyāna Bodhisattva-Saṅgha— / Their merit is inconceivable.' As for the Three Jewels, there are three kinds: First is called the Three Jewels of Identical Essence: the principle of True Suchness, with one's own nature awakening, is called the Buddha Jewel; its virtuous functions and regulatory norms, with one's own nature being upright and true, are called the Dharma Jewel; its movement free of dispute and conflict, with one's own nature being pure, is called the Saṅgha Jewel. Second is called the Supramundane Three Jewels: the dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya responding and appearing according to each kind [of being] are the Buddha Jewel; the expressed tenets of the six perfections and the conditioned arising of the four truths are called the Dharma Jewel; the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds, the four directions, and the five fruits are called the Saṅgha Jewel. Third is called the Worldly Three Jewels of Continuous Abiding: clay niches and sculpted images are called the Buddha Jewel; yellow scrolls and red rollers are called the Dharma Jewel; shaved heads and dyed robes are called the Saṅgha Jewel. Those who take refuge in them evoke the protection of the devas; those who make offerings to them obtain immeasurable fields of merit. Nowadays, there are heterodox fools who, lacking understanding, falsely fabricate the *Zhenzong miaoyi jing* and foolishly assert that essence is the Buddha Jewel, breath is the Dharma Jewel, and spirit is the Saṅgha Jewel. As this is handed down and practiced from one to another, it leads those who enter the gate of goodness to believe their heterodox teachings and fail to revere the Three Jewels; this is truly lamentable. If one does not revere the worldly Three Jewels, one darkens one's own mind; if one darkens one's own mind, one loses one's fundamental nature—how then could the Three Jewels of Identical Essence and the Supramundane Three Jewels ever be attained? To cheat oneself would still be one thing, but to cheat others as well can be described as branching off from the upright path of humans and devas, blinding the upright eyes of humans and devas, obscuring the true teaching of cause and effect, and corrupting the pure custom of concentration and wisdom—nothing could be worse than this. The Buddha said that if any sentient being does not take refuge in the Three Jewels, they will fall into the three wretched paths for eternal eons. How much more so when our Master Cizhao compiled the scriptures into a repentance ritual, enabling practitioners to rely on the profound and wondrous meaning of the Mahāyāna sūtras, so that from their present body until the Buddha-body, they take refuge on behalf of all sentient beings in the dharmadhātu in the Ever-Abiding Buddha, take refuge in the Ever-Abiding Dharma, and take refuge in the Ever-Abiding Saṅgha! Once good people of correct faith have heard this, and having heard it, recite and pay homage to it, they should certainly respect themselves and have faith in themselves. This very mind of reverence and faith is uprightly capable of drawing near to the Buddha Path. Whenever you see any Buddha image, give rise to the thought that it is the Tathāgata; whenever you see any holy teaching, give rise to the thought that it is difficult to encounter; whenever you see any monk, give rise to the thought that he is a patriarch. Bow to them and make offerings to them without slighting or deceiving them, adorning yourself with the Buddha's adornment. In this way, the Three Jewels of One Essence are fully complete in Mind-only. If one instead clings to base views, obscures the root, foolishly believes in heterodox teachings, and misleads later generations with doubts, bringing about one's own sinking and eternal drowning in the wretched destinies—whose fault is that?

10.11

Distinguishing Seeing, Hearing, Sensation, and Cognition

10.12

An ancient master of virtue said: 'In the womb it is the body; in the world it is called a human. In the eyes it is called seeing; in the ears it is called hearing. In the nose it smells fragrances; on the tongue it speaks; in the hands it grasps; on the feet it runs. Manifesting everywhere, it covers the sands of worlds; drawn together, it resides in a single speck of dust. Those who recognize it know it is the Buddha-nature; those who do not recognize it call it the spirit-soul.' Recently, there are fools who do not understand Buddhist principles and stealthily infiltrate our teaching, taking esoteric transmission as their sole doctrine, falsely preaching that the six gates see the nature, pointing to the four-element physical body as the Buddha-body, and fabricating thirty-six passes and seventy-two signs. Concocting bizarre matters, they deceive and confuse good people, falsely claiming that a twitch of flesh on this side means someone is coming, or an ache over there means something is about to happen, asserting that they have foreknowledge of good and bad fortune, calamity and blessing. When the foolish hear this, they assume it is the efficacious responsiveness of the Buddhadharma, whole-heartedly believing it, making donations and offerings, transmitting these heterodox words, and keeping them earnestly in mind without ever letting them go for a moment. Little do they know that the one true Buddha-nature is pure and serene; it is only because there is a false body that there is false consciousness, which covers over the original nature so that its radiance is not seen. When a single thought-moment of mind is empty, that is called awakening to the Path. Therefore, the *Śūraṅgama-sūtra* says: 'To establish cognition within knowing and seeing is the root of fundamental ignorance; when knowing and seeing are free from seeing, that is nirvāṇa.' For this reason, the patriarchs established the teaching taking solely the buddhānusmṛti-samādhi as the orthodox doctrine, never binding people with even the slightest hair of real phenomena. Who would have expected that these ignorant commoners, straying from the school and blind to its tenets, would abandon loyalty and filial piety instead of practicing them, turn their backs on benevolence and righteousness instead of cultivating them, and, under the guise of the Lotus School, practice disparate dharmas? Greedily seeking unseen responses and confusing people with the bizarre, heterodox demons and monstrous spirits possess their bodies, disturbing their correct faith so that they are entirely captured by māras. Is this not tragic! In general, those who cultivate pure karma must properly discern heterodoxy and orthodoxy as their primary duty, investigate the mind, firmly resolve in sincerity to remember the Buddha and practice buddhānusmṛti, and vow to be born in the Pure Land, taking care not to seek anything else. Dhyāna Master Zhijue Shou said: 'Do not pick at the branches and sprouts; you must seek out the ancestral root. Open wide, and fundamental ignorance will be instantly cleared; serene, and the dust of passions will wash itself away.' This can truly be called: 'Directly cutting through to the root is what the Buddhas seal; / picking leaves and seeking branches is not for me.'

10.13

Refuting False Assertions of Calamity and Blessing

10.14

The correct Dharma of the Buddhas and patriarchs takes the Amitābha of one's own nature as its substance, the faith and vows of buddhānusmṛti as its doctrine, and the practice of self-cultivation and transforming others as its function. This is the guiding maxim of the Buddhas and patriarchs, and a mirror for future generations. All things termed vocal Buddhist services or lighting candles in ritual sanctuaries are merely expedient gates used to guide the expedient back to the real. Recently, students have lost sight of the fundamental doctrine and greedily attached to phenomenal forms; disobeying the canonical scriptures, they act wildly outward. Their minds' eyes not being bright, they vie to call themselves masters—truly an abuse within the Dharma gate. Some search out ghost orifices like shamans; some claim that Maitreya has descended to be born; some say that devas possess their bodies; some see spirits and ghosts in the light of candles; or they determine good and bad fortune from incense smoke. Deceiving the three lights [of sun, moon, and stars], duping the worthy and defrauding the sages, they cheat the neighborhoods to seek gain and support. When asked about plain and solid practice and vows, they keep their mouths shut without a word, having no idea of the whereabouts of the Amitābha of their own nature; their frantic lifetime is entirely false and deceitful. Misleading others and misleading themselves—this is truly sorrowful. Therefore, the *Śūraṅgama-sūtra* says: 'Good son! When his mind loves distant omens, the heavenly demon then watches for an opening, dispatches a refined essence to possess the person, and his mouth speaks the scriptural teachings. Exposing human affairs without shrinking from criticism, his mouth loves to speak of future calamities and blessings, and when that time arrives, there is not the slightest error. This person, in foolish delusion, mistakes him for a bodhisattva, draws near to him and makes offerings, breaks the Buddha's monastic rules, and secretly pursues greedy desires. This is called a goblin of kalpas past. Powerful ghosts and spirits, grown old, become demons and torment this person; unaware of the demonic possession, he claims to have attained sagehood. When the demon's mind grows satiated, it departs from the person's body, and both master and disciple fall into trouble with the king's law. You should recognize this beforehand and not enter the cycle of rebirth; if you are deluded and unaware, you will fall into the Avīci Hell.' Alas, beginners of good intentions do not recognize the true from the false; believing those heterodox assertions, they do not apply themselves to preserving their minds and accumulating virtue, but delusively think of seeking blessings—how mistaken is this view! I have heard: 'A family that accumulates good will surely have an abundance of blessings; a family that accumulates evil will surely have an abundance of calamities.' Hence we know that good and bad fortune, calamity and blessing, are tied to the human mind; how could one flatter and beg for wealth and honor, or avoid calamity through mere luck? Dhyāna Master Yongming Shou said: 'Evil arises from the mind, like iron breeding rust which then destroys the iron's form; good follows from the feelings, like a pearl producing light which then illuminates the pearl's substance.' Therefore, I urge all good people: whenever you raise a thought or carry out an action, you must choose the Path to practice it, choose propriety to follow it, choose friends to associate with them, choose a neighborhood to dwell in it, and choose a master to serve him. Tremblingly preserve your mind, and cautiously guard your integrity, never darkening in thought after thought, so as not to fail in the Way of according with Heaven to uphold the Western teaching. As for watching candles and talking of calamity and blessing, take no part in it.

10.15

Clarifying the View of Emptiness

10.16

Emptiness means demolishing all existing things. The Great Awakened World-Honoured One revealed the correct Dharma wishing to cause all people to recognize that the ten thousand worldly phenomena are all empty, and to awaken themselves to the true emptiness of their original nature. True emptiness is the Tathāgata's dharmadhātu and the original mind of sentient beings; it is empty and yet not empty, existing and yet not existing. Those who awaken to it draw out their own treasure house from non-existence; searching it, it is inexhaustible; using it, it is endless. This is called the wondrous Path of the ekayāna; it is not the emptiness of inert nihilism. Nowadays, there is a class of fools who speak solely of emptiness and wipe out cause and effect; with every step they walk in existence, yet with every breath their mouths speak of nothingness. They promptly declare that drinking wine and eating meat do not obstruct bodhi, and committing theft and sexual misconduct do not hinder prajñā. Acting unrestrained and wild, they run rampant in madness, slandering the Buddha and slandering the sūtras, slighting and reviling everything, babbling and confusing all order to represent the supreme vehicle, mocking the sages and worthies, and claiming to have attained the Path themselves. People like this are everywhere. What Yongjia called 'Sweeping emptiness that wipes out cause and effect / recklessly brings on calamity and disaster'—what else could it refer to but this sort of person? Furthermore, the *Śūraṅgama-sūtra* says: 'If the mind attaches to emptiness, a powerful demon of emptiness will enter his internal organs. The person does not know that he is possessed by a demon; his mouth speaks the scriptural teachings while he secretly pursues greedy desires, slighting and reviling sūtras and images. Deluding and confusing people, they all suffer heterodox downfall. When the demon's mind grows bored, it departs from the person's body, and both master and disciple fall into trouble with the king's law. At the end of life, they themselves become the retinue of the demon's household, and when their demonic karma is exhausted, they fall into the Avīci Hell.' Alas, we are far from the sage, his subtle words have ceased, heterodox doctrines arise, and the great meaning is violated: if one does not attach to existence, one dissipates into emptiness. Attaching to existence, one clings to names and marks, stagnates in the conditioned, hardens the divide between self and others, and gets bogged down in enmity and love; one is bound by the immediate teachings and loses the profound principle. Dissipating into emptiness, one confuses cause and effect, conflates good and evil, abandons the precepts, and betrays propriety and righteousness; this is simply not knowing that the Middle Way is the supreme good. Someone may ask: 'What is called the Middle Way?' The answer: 'Existing and yet not attached, nothingness and yet not empty; emptiness is not separate from existence, existence is not separate from emptiness; enmity and love are equalized, others and self are leveled, cause and effect are clarified, good and evil are distinguished, the precepts are applied, propriety and righteousness are cultivated, the immediate teachings are penetrated, and the profound principle is attained. How great is the Middle Way! Is it the name that makes all things wondrous? Is it that which praises the fundamental nature? If one penetrates this principle, one will not fall into one-sided extremes; this is called attaining the correct concentration of buddhānusmṛti-samādhi.'

10.17

Distinguishing the Integrated Aggregate

10.18

The Vajracchedikā-sūtra says: "When the Tathāgata speaks of an integrated composite, it is not an integrated composite; it is called an integrated composite." This is truly because the nature of worldly people is muddled and confused; joining with the dust-realms, it is not an integrated composite. The wise clearly see their own true mind; turning their backs on dust and uniting with awakening, their single thought of an awakened mind joins with the true-emptiness dharmadhātu of all the Buddhas of the ten directions—this is the principle of an integrated composite. Yongjia said, "My nature joins together with the Tathāgata." Yet ordinary people do not awaken to this principle; greedily attached to phenomenal forms, they cling to them obstinately in delusion, their affective mind and consciousness joining with mountains, rivers, the great earth, walls, tiles, and rubble. Obscuring the true emptiness of the nature of principle, it is [in truth] not so. The Sixth Patriarch said: "If the mind has attainments, it is not an integrated composite; if the mind is without attainments, it is an integrated composite." This is it. Nowadays, there are foolish people who do not understand the Buddha's teaching and, sitting within our tradition, falsely claim that husband and wife are an integrated composite. This is an error! For their passions arise and cut off wisdom; their thoughts change and their bodily forms differ; their karmic burdens and miseries are profound; they turn their backs on causes and are blind to effects; they pervert the sacred scriptures and defile the gate of the teachings. How could the orthodox lineage of pure karma tolerate such talk? True practitioners of the path should by all means firmly uphold right faith, exclusively recite [the name of] Amitābha, and in a single thought take hold of no characteristics. When the internal mind and external objects are clearly one and the same, they will naturally accord in secret with the true principle. Therefore, Chan Master Foguo Qin instructed the assembly: "During all twelve hours of the day, do not see Buddhas above, do not see sentient beings below; outside, do not see mountains, rivers, and the great earth; inside, do not see seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing. Forge the good, bad, long, and short into a single piece; bring forth each and every one, and there will be no divergent views whatsoever." With this, the principle of an integrated composite becomes vividly clear. It may be said: the sun may grow cold and the moon may grow hot, yet the hordes of Māra cannot destroy the true exposition. This is truly the thoroughfare for walking the path, the correct instruction for awakening to the school.

10.19

Clarifying Dual Cultivation

10.20

"Dual cultivation" means cultivating merit and cultivating wisdom. The teachings say: "Cultivating merit without cultivating wisdom, an elephant's body hangs with necklaces; cultivating wisdom without cultivating merit, an arhat's offerings are scant. Only with the dual adornments of merit and wisdom can one achieve right awakening." An ancient worthy said: "Merit must be cultivated; wisdom must be studied." Longshu said: "Although practitioners of the Pure Land exclusively take buddhānusmṛti as their practice gate, they must also cultivate both merit and wisdom concurrently, so that phenomena and principle may be completely harmonized. Internally, cultivate wisdom: thoroughly nurture it, penetrate deeply to its source, make the nature of wisdom increase until it broadly encompasses empty space, with nothing unknown and nothing unillumined. Externally, cultivate merit: with compassion and expedients, gentle and compliant, benefit and succor the world; seeing all people, respect them equally; expound the Dharma according to their capacities, and teach sentient beings to practice all goods." This is the dual cultivation of merit and wisdom. Nowadays, there is a class of foolish people who constantly practice heterodox teachings, falsely claiming to be disciples of the Lotus School, and mistakenly point to dual cultivation to secretly engage in defiling lust. Creating the karma of hell, they lead good people astray to sink into sensual desires, willing to fall into perilous pits. Is this not absurd? They are truly fox-spirits and demons, no different from the beasts. The Śūraṅgama-sūtra says: "If sentient beings have no lust in their minds, they will not follow along with birth and death. You cultivate samādhi originally to escape worldly toil; if lustful thoughts are not eliminated, worldly toil cannot be escaped. Even if one has great wisdom, one will certainly fall into the demonic paths: the superior rank become demon kings, the middle rank become demon subjects, and the inferior rank become demon women. All practitioners must first sever lustful thoughts—this is called the first definitive, pure, and clear instruction of the Tathāgatas and former World-Honoured Buddhas. If one cultivates bodhi without severing lust, it is like steaming sand and stones hoping to make rice; though hundreds of thousands of kalpas pass, it will never be called rice. If you seek the wondrous fruit of the Buddha with a lustful body, even if you attain wondrous awakening, it is entirely the root of lust; with the root made of lust, one transmigrates through the three wretched paths and will never escape. By what path could one cultivate and realize the Tathāgata's nirvāṇa? You must cause the mechanism of lust to be severed in both body and mind, until even the nature of severing is nonexistent; only then can one hope for the Buddha's bodhi. What accords with what I say is called the Buddha's preaching; what does not accord with what I say is the preaching of Pāpīmān." Now I exhort lay bodhisattvas to cultivate in accordance with the precepts, not to violate them with heterodox misdeeds, to purify the mind and lessen desires, and to cultivate both merit and wisdom, dedicating them toward the Western Direction. Longshu said: "Cultivate merit and also cultivate wisdom; with deep faith, recite [the name of] Amitābha. You shall be born in the highest of the high grades—of this there is definitively no doubt." If it is not so, wishing for rice while steaming sand is a mere waste of effort; carrying firewood into a fire will surely bring ruin to oneself.

10.21

Clarifying the Three Carts

10.22

The "Parable" chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra says: "If there are sentient beings who hear the Dharma from the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, accept it in faith, and diligently and vigorously seek all-knowledge, Buddha-knowledge, spontaneous knowledge, and unmastered knowledge, they are like those children who, to seek the ox-carts, came out of the burning house." Thus we know that sentient beings are likened to the children, the three realms are likened to the burning house, and the triyāna is likened to the three carts. The Tathāgata, seeing that sentient beings in the three realms could not escape, expounded the teachings of the triyāna to lead them away from suffering. This is like the children playing in the burning house, whom the elder led out by means of the three carts. There are some foolish people who falsely invent a dialogue where Mañjuśrī asks the Buddha, claiming that nature is the ox-cart, mind is the sheep-cart, and thought is the deer-cart. They also say that the ox-cart carries the wondrous Dharma, the sheep-cart carries the lotus flower, and the deer-cart carries the sūtras. What is called the supreme taste of clarified butter, cherished by the world, turns into poison when encountered by such people! Now, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra is the king of all dharmas, protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas; how could it be discussed so recklessly? Who would have thought that heterodox teachers with errant views would take the false as true and the true as false, proclaim the Dharma as non-Dharma and non-Dharma as the Dharma, deceiving people, slandering the Buddha, and defaming the Dharma? Do they not incur the great crime of the five heinous deeds? The sūtra says: "If anyone slanders this scripture, know that this person will enter the Avīci Hell for a full kalpa; when the kalpa ends, they will be reborn there again. Thus they will cycle on for countless kalpas; emerging from hell, they will fall into the animal realm. Such is the retribution incurred for slandering this scripture." Pondering this carefully, how deeply grievous it is! I dare to address my companions of the Way with sincere and earnest words: if you open, display, awaken to, and enter the Buddha's knowledge and vision within your own mind, this mind will be pure like a blossoming lotus flower—this is called the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-samādhi. Those who awaken to this principle ride the great white ox-cart out of the burning house of the three realms. Moreover, have you not seen Chan Master Fada presenting a verse upon seeing the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch: "I recited three thousand rolls of the sūtra, / But at Caoxi, a single phrase extinguished them all. / Not having understood the world-transcending aim, / How could the madness of repeated lives cease? / Sheep, deer, and oxen are provisionally set up; / The beginning, middle, and end are well proclaimed. / Who knew that within the burning house / It was originally the king among teachings?" Thereupon, the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch of Caoxi, spoke a verse to verify it, saying: "When the mind is deluded, it is turned by the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka; / When the mind is awakened, it turns the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. / Reciting it long without understanding oneself / Makes one an enemy of the meaning. / With no thought, thought is right; / With thought, thought becomes wrong. / If one can understand like this, / One constantly rides the white ox-cart." This is it. If there are those who cling to delusion and do not awaken, bringing about their own ruin, there is nothing I can do for them.

First 22 of 82 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

廬山蓮宗寶鑑 — Classical Chinese