廬山蓮宗寶鑑 10.26

10.26

In tracing the origin of how the Great King of the Dharma established his teachings: he gathered and guided all classes of beings, each having its assigned role. The lesser vinaya is comparable to the expedient power of ritual and penal law; the Great Vehicle is like the responsibility of holding the balance of state. Accumulating merit is like supervising water transport; composing discourses is like managing the sovereign's edicts. Just as in a state all the hundred officials are cultivated, so in our teaching the various traditions contend in exposition. If one truly understands this principle, how could one cling to divergent extremes? One should measure one's own capabilities and propagate according to one's power: when successful, benefiting all together is good; when limited, specializing in one gate is appropriate. Although each spreads its sectarian principles, all abide in compassionate succor, together returning to the ocean of harmony and together sitting upon the seat of liberation. If it is like this, it is a compass for the lost and a wooden bell for the gates of the teaching. Alas, as the source grows distant and the streams diverge, the Great Way deteriorates. Those fond of vermilion despise plain white; those who love sweetness detest pungency. Failing to accord with the perfect tradition, each clings to the expedient upon which they rely. How could they know that sentient beings and the Buddha are originally one, and that ordinary people and sages are equal in nature? That they cannot restore themselves is due to being deluded regarding body and mind, resulting in being caged within birth and death. Thus we know: the faults and evils of the body cannot be restrained without the precepts; the confusion and distraction of the mind cannot be harmonized without samādhi and wisdom. Even when restraining and harmonizing them, one still worries that the Way will not be clear and the nature will not be restored; how much worse when buried in heterodox byways and arguing right and wrong with one another! Some say: "I study the Lesser Vehicle," yet do not know that morality, giving, ritual, and recitation are methods of gradual cultivation. Others say: "I study the Supreme Vehicle," yet do not understand the purport of Amitābha of one's own nature and the Mind-only Pure Land. Not clinging to phenomenal forms, they then fall into sheer emptiness, very much like a person born blind deep in the grass of a remote village, sitting in one corner without knowing north, south, east, or west, falsely generating distinctions of right and wrong, wrong and right. This is what is called "grasping the dead snake's head and cultivating on the wrong path." In defilement and evil, they make no discrimination; in practice and understanding, they see nothing to be feared, so that accumulated habit becomes second nature and destroys their own bodies. Beginning their studies by aspiring to the superior sages, they end up sinking into the lowest evils. Such as these are truly lamentable! Chan Master Yongming Shou said: "Like the garden sparrow, how could it match the aspiration of the great swan? Like the frog in the well, how could it measure the breadth of the boundless ocean? If one follows external pursuits, it is like drilling ice in search of fire; if one merely relies on one's own limited understanding, it is like churning milk to produce butter. Take care not to erect the banner of arrogance, spread the net of wrong views, treat earlier enlightened ones with contempt, and mislead later generations." How supreme are these words! Brightly, the sun in heaven is above; vastly, the Buddhas and patriarchs are efficacious. How can those who receive the teachings not be in awe? If only one can recite [the name of] Amitābha with faith, one can avoid such faults.