廬山蓮宗寶鑑 6.28

6.28

Chan Master Yongming Yanshou's Record of Personal Practice states: 'With reverence I reflect that the ancient sages never boasted of their abilities; looking back upon former worthies, none advertised their own virtue. Yet the Buddhist scriptures contain the teaching of first practicing oneself and then transforming others, and the Confucian school highlights the text that one should not avoid recommending one's own kin. The Master often instructed his disciples, saying: "Because of examining the Hongming ji, [I found that] a former worthy had a gate of examining the three karmas, which stated: 'When the sentiment of self-reproach remains dim and the intention of careful scrutiny is not yet manifest, one should examine the mind through concrete actions. Knowing that in all one practices one falls short, trepidation and shame will increasingly grow. What is meant by examining? Examine this body of mine: from dawn to noon, from noon to dusk, from dusk to night, from night to dawn, and even in a single hour, a single quarter-hour, a single thought, a single instant—how many minds, how many deeds, how many virtues, and how many evils [have occurred]? How many minds sought to crush afflictions? How many minds sought to subdue the hostility of Māra? How many minds were mindful of the Three Jewels and the Four Noble Truths? How many minds realized suffering, emptiness, and impermanence? How many minds were mindful of repaying the compassionate kindness of parents? How many minds vowed to undergo suffering on behalf of sentient beings? How many minds gave rise to thoughts of the bodhisattva's path? How many minds wished to practice generosity and keep the precepts? How many minds wished to practice patience and vigor? How many minds wished for dhyāna to manifest wisdom? How many minds wished compassionately to deliver the five destinies? How many minds wished to encourage and practice what is difficult to practice? How many minds wished to transcend and accomplish what is difficult to accomplish? How many minds wished to endure suffering to establish the Buddha-Dharma? How many minds wished to become a Buddha to transform and deliver all beings? Having examined the mind above, next examine the mouth. In the periods of time mentioned above, since dawn, how many sentences of profound meaning have I been able to expound? How many scriptures have I been able to read and annotate? How many texts have I been able to recite with comprehension? How many times have I praised the Buddha's merit? How many times have I dedicated merit and made vows? Next examine the body: in the periods of time mentioned above, how many times have I bowed my body in prostration to the Buddha, and how many bows? How many times have I bowed my body in reverence to the Dharma and the Saṅgha? How many times have I labored to sweep a stūpa and plaster the ground? How many times have I burned incense, scattered flowers, and lit lamps? How many times have I swept away dust and dirt and properly arranged offerings? How many times have I hung banners on the stūpa pillar and joined my palms in offering? How many times have I circumambulated the Buddha with reverence, ten, a hundred, or a thousand circuits? Examining in this manner, those that accord with principle are exceedingly few, while those that violate the Way are extremely numerous. Pure white karma is barely worth mentioning, while heavy obstacles of affliction loom densely before one's eyes; dark hindrances progressively accumulate—by what means can one attain liberation? Examining as above, one has no merit even to save oneself; how could one have leisure to deliberate over the good and evil of others? Therefore, one must take the three karmas to discipline and reproach oneself, knowing how much good and how much evil one has done. Hence, if one does not first examine and reproach oneself, how can one transform and guide all capacities?' Therefore, for the sake of delivering sentient beings, the bodhisattva first practices himself. Thus the Vimalakīrti-sūtra says: 'With immeasurable wealth he gathers in the poor; with pure observance of precepts he gathers in those who violate prohibitions; with forbearance and disciplined practice he gathers in the wrathful; with great vigor he gathers in the indolent; with single-minded dhyāna he gathers in the distracted; with decisive wisdom he gathers in the unwise.' Furthermore, a sūtra states: 'One keeps the precepts oneself and encourages others to keep the precepts; one sits in meditation oneself and encourages others to sit in meditation.' The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'Our fundamental teacher Śākyamuni Buddha did not abandon the merit of threading a needle.' Patriarch Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva explained: 'It is like a hundred-year-old grandfather dancing. Why? For the sake of teaching his children and grandchildren.' How much more so when one has not yet abided in the ultimate stage: it is entirely the gate of self-benefit. From the initial mind of the ten faiths, progressing through the ten abodes, the ten practices, the ten dedications, and the ten grounds, up to equal enlightenment, the stage of Samantabhadra before buddhahood is still self-benefit. As for the gate of benefiting others, ascending to the stage of wondrous enlightenment up to Samantabhadra after buddhahood—only then is it the practice of benefiting others."' Because the master spoke this himself, two or three points have been compiled and recorded. Since the practice of antidotes is admirable, the gate of gathering and transforming will not fall away; the vehicle and the precepts are both urgent, and the expedient and the real are practiced in tandem. Substance and function encompass each other; principle and phenomena are unhindered. Now I cite the concluding verses of the Wanshan tonggui ji to reveal complete cultivation. The hymn says: