[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [西方合論](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976) › 6.10 # 西方合論 6.10 西方合論 6.10 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [6.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976.6.10) 答曰：「《智度論》中，佛說：『此中言無佛者，破著佛想，不言取無佛相。』是故當知，言無眾生者，破眾生想，不言取無眾生相。如《淨名》言：『菩薩作是觀已自言：「我當為眾生，說如斯法。」即真實慈。』即知菩薩不取無眾生相；又則說是法者，真實利生，真實悲願，無別度眾生事也。又如《般若經》，菩薩深入大悲，如慈父見子為無所值物故死，父甚憐之，此兒但為虛誑故死。諸佛亦如是，知諸法空畢竟不可得，而眾生不知；眾生不知故，于空法中染著，著因緣故，墮大地獄，是故深入大悲。是則諸佛興慈運悲，正以眾生空故，眾生誑入生死故，豈有反息悲願之理。故知，菩薩種種度生者，是深達無眾生義。何故？若見有眾生故即有我，慈悲心劣，豈能行如是饒益之行？又先德云：『未居究竟位，全是自利門：從十信初心，歷十住、十行、十迴向、十地，直至等覺佛前普賢，猶是自利利他門者；登妙覺位佛後普賢，方是利他之行。』如佛告比丘：『功德果報甚深，無有如我知恩分者，我雖復盡其邊底，我本以欲心無厭足故得佛，是故今猶不息，雖更無功德可得，我欲心亦不休。』當知，行海無邊，非丈竿尺木所能探其底裏。如癡兒見人指門前竿云在天半，即計量言：『從地至天止兩竿許。』佛法戲論亦復如是。」 > The reply is: 'In the Dazhidu lun, the Buddha taught: "When it says here that there is no buddha, it breaks attachment to the conception of a buddha; it does not mean grasping the sign of no buddha." Therefore, one should know: to say there are no sentient beings breaks the conception of sentient beings; it does not mean grasping the sign of no sentient beings. As the Vimalakīrti says: "After making this contemplation, the bodhisattva says to himself: 'I shall expound such a Dharma for sentient beings'—this is true compassion." Thus we know that the bodhisattva does not grasp the sign of no sentient beings; furthermore, expounding this Dharma is truly benefiting sentient beings and a true compassionate vow, with no other separate task of delivering sentient beings. Furthermore, as in the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras, the bodhisattva deeply enters great compassion just as a loving father sees his son die for the sake of a worthless object: the father pities him intensely, for this child died merely on account of an illusion. All buddhas are also like this: they know that all dharmas are empty and ultimately unattainable, yet sentient beings do not know it; because sentient beings do not know it, they become defiled and attached within empty dharmas, and because of attached causes and conditions, they fall into the great hells; therefore, \[buddhas\] deeply enter great compassion. If so, all buddhas give rise to kindness and mobilize compassion precisely because sentient beings are empty, and because sentient beings enter saṃsāra under delusion; how could there be any reason to extinguish compassionate vows instead? Thus we know that the bodhisattva's various deliverances of sentient beings are a profound penetration into the meaning of no sentient beings. Why is this? If one perceives sentient beings to exist, there is a self, and the mind of compassion is inferior; how could one practice such acts of benefit? Moreover, former virtuous masters said: "Before abiding in the ultimate stage, it is entirely the gate of self-benefit: from the initial mind of the ten faiths, passing through the ten abidings, ten practices, ten dedications, and ten grounds, up to samyaksaṃbodhi, Samantabhadra before the Buddha is still the gate of self-benefit and benefiting others; only upon ascending to the stage of wondrous enlightenment is Samantabhadra after the Buddha the practice of benefiting others." As the Buddha told the bhikṣus: "The karmic retribution of merit is extremely deep; none knows the division of gratitude as I do. Although I have reached its very depths and bottom, because I originally possessed an insatiable mind of aspiration I became a buddha, and therefore even now I do not cease; though there is no further merit to be obtained, my mind of aspiration does not rest." One should know that the sea of practice is boundless; it cannot be plumbed to its bottom with a ten-foot pole or a one-foot stick. Just as a foolish child, seeing someone point to a pole before the gate and say it reaches halfway to heaven, reckons and says: "From earth to heaven is merely about two poles high"; the sophistry concerning the Buddha's Dharma is also like this.' > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 6.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976.6.9) - [Next: 6.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976.6.11) - [Up: 6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976.6) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976~en-mt.6.10) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976.6.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1976.6.10) · Pramāṇa