西方合論 1.11

1.11

「自達摩西來，立此宗門，已云二百年後，明道者多，行道者少；說理者多，通理者少。今《傳燈錄》中，如麻似粟，同云人悟，其實逈別。至如般若緣深，靈根夙植；伽陵破邪，香象截流；或見根宗於片言，或顯威用於一喝，一聞千悟，得大總持；或有懷出世之心，具丈夫之志，舍彼塵情，究此大事，不怙小解，惟求實知，臥薪甞膽，飲氷吞檗，如此三十年、四十年後，或遇明師，痛與針劄，偷心死盡，心華始開。此後又須潛行密修，銷融餘習，法見尚捨，何況非法。若趙州除粥飯是雜用心；湧泉四十年，尚有走作；香林四十年，打成一片，兢兢業業，如護頭目，直至烟銷灰滅，自然一念不生業不能繫，生死之際隨意自在。詰其所證，恐亦未能超於上品上生之上。何以明之？龍樹菩薩，宗門之鼻祖也，得大智慧、具大辯才，住持佛法，故世尊數百年前，於楞伽會上遙為授記，然亦不過曰證初歡喜地，往生安樂國而已。而《觀經》中上品上生，生於彼間，一剎那頃亦證初地。今宗門諸大祖師，縱使見離蓋纏，語出窩臼，豈能即過龍樹？龍樹已悟無生無相之義，已具不墮階級之見，而生於安養，與上品上生所證之果正等，則禪門諸人所證，豈能獨過？良以上品上生，解第一義，還同禪門之悟；深信因果，還同禪門之修，止是念佛往生別耳。然吾以為禪門悟修之士，既不能取無餘涅槃同於如來，又不肯取有餘涅槃同於二乘，必入普賢行願之海。若不捨一身受一身，濟度眾生，則當從一剎至一剎，供養諸佛；既見諸佛，還同往生。究竟與上品上生，止在雁行伯仲之間，何以高視祖師，輕言淨侶？其或悟門已入，休歇太早，智不入微，道難勝習，一念不盡，即是生死之根，業風所牽，復入胞胎。如五祖戒出為東坡、青草堂再作魯公。隔陰之後，隨緣流轉，道有消而無長，業有加而無減。縱般若緣深不落三塗，而出房入房，亦太辛苦！還視中下往生之眾，已天地不足喻其否泰矣！

"Ever since Bodhidharma came from the west and established this ancestral school, it was already said that after two hundred years, those who understand the Way would be many, while those who practice the Way would be few; those who expound the principle would be many, while those who penetrate the principle would be few. Nowadays in the *Record of the Transmission of the Lamp*, [names] are as numerous as hemp seeds and millet grains, and all are said to be people of enlightenment, yet in truth they are worlds apart. As for those whose conditions with prajñā are deep and whose spiritual roots were planted long ago—like the kalaviṅka crushing heterodoxy, or the fragrant elephant cutting off the stream; who perceive the root source in a single word, or manifest majestic function in a single shout, gaining a thousand insights upon hearing one and obtaining the great dhāraṇī; or who cherish the intention to transcend the world and possess the resolve of a great hero, abandoning dusty defilements to investigate this Great Matter, not relying on minor understanding but seeking only genuine knowledge, sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, drinking ice and swallowing bitter bark—after thirty or forty years like this, they might meet an illumined master who pierces them deeply with a needle, their thieving mind dies completely, and the blossom of the mind first unfolds. After this, they must still practice covertly and cultivate in secret to melt away residual habits, relinquishing even views of the Dharma, not to mention what is not Dharma. Like Zhaozhou, for whom anything other than porridge and rice was a distracted use of mind; Yongquan, who after forty years still had strayings; Xianglin, who after forty years formed a seamless whole, cautious and vigilant as if protecting his head and eyes, until the smoke vanished and ashes cooled, and naturally, not a single thought arising, karma could not bind him, and he was at ease at the juncture of saṃsāra. Yet if we examine what he attained, I fear it may still not surpass the highest grade of the highest rebirth. How do we know this? Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna was the ancestral founder of the lineage school, possessing great wisdom and great eloquence to uphold the Buddha's Dharma; hence the World-Honoured One, hundreds of years before at the Laṅkā assembly, gave him a distant prediction, yet it was merely that he would realize the first stage of Joy and be reborn in the Land of Peace and Bliss. And in the *Guan Wuliangshou jing*, one who attains the highest grade of the highest rebirth, upon being born there, also realizes the first bhūmi in an instant. Now, even if the great ancestral masters of the lineage school have views free from coverings and bindings and words that escape conventional traps, how could they immediately surpass Nāgārjuna? Nāgārjuna had already awakened to the meaning of anutpāda and formlessness, and already possessed the view that does not fall into progressive stages, yet he was born in Anyang, equal to the fruit realized by the highest grade of the highest rebirth; how then could what the practitioners of the Chan school realize surpass him alone? Truly, because those of the highest grade of the highest rebirth understand the supreme truth, it corresponds to the awakening of the Chan school; their deep faith in cause and effect corresponds to the cultivation of the Chan school; the only difference is buddhānusmṛti and rebirth. Yet I maintain that an adept of awakening and cultivation in the Chan school, being unable to take the nirvāṇa without remainder like the Tathāgata, and unwilling to take the nirvāṇa with remainder like the two vehicles, must certainly enter the ocean of Samantabhadra's practices and vows. If he does not abandon one body to receive another to deliver sentient beings, then he must go from one kṣetra to another to make offerings to the Buddhas; and once he sees the Buddhas, it is just like rebirth. Ultimately, in comparison with the highest grade of the highest rebirth, they stand merely shoulder to shoulder as peers; why then look proudly upon the ancestral masters and speak lightly of the companions of the Pure Land? If one has entered the gate of awakening but rests too soon, his wisdom does not penetrate subtlety and his power in the Way cannot overcome habits; if a single thought remains unexhausted, it is the root of saṃsāra, and driven by the wind of karma, he will enter the womb again. Like Wuzu Jie returning as Dongpo, or Qingcaotang being reborn as Duke Lu. Once crossing into another life, drifting along with conditions, their Way diminished rather than grew, and their karma increased rather than decreased. Even if their conditions with prajñā were deep so that they did not fall into the three evil destinies, going out of one womb and into another is still far too bitter! Looking back at the multitude reborn in the middle and lower grades, heaven and earth are not enough to metaphorize their difference in fortune and misfortune!"