大慧普覺禪師語錄 13.3.3

13.3.3

Although retributions are experienced delusively, they also have no real substantial entity. Therefore it is said: 'If the nature of sin had a substantial entity, the entire realm of empty space would not be able to contain it.' Why so? Because ordinary mortals who commit sins are numerous. Now Senior Monk Dao arouses a single thought of the mind, desiring to attain directly the unexcelled buddha-fruit of bodhi. Once this mind is aroused, the sins one has committed are like dried grass piled high as Mount Sumeru, and the mind aroused is like a fire the size of a mustard seed—it can burn them completely away without anything remaining. Can you still believe in this fully? Once this single thought of the mind is aroused, buddhahood is accomplished right then and there, and throughout the bounds of the future it will never regress and be lost. What serves as proof? Have you not seen in the teachings that Śakra, Lord of the Gods, addressed Bodhisattva Dharmamati, saying: 'Son of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva first arouses the mind of bodhi, how great is the measure of merit attained?' Bodhisattva Dharmamati said: 'This meaning is extremely profound, difficult to speak of, difficult to know, difficult to distinguish, difficult to believe and understand, difficult to realize, difficult to practice, difficult to comprehend, difficult to think about, difficult to measure, and difficult to enter into. Nevertheless, relying on the supernatural power of the Buddha, I shall speak of it for you. Suppose someone, with all instruments of pleasure, were to make offerings to all sentient beings in asaṃkhyeya worlds of the eastern direction throughout an entire kalpa, and afterward teach them to fully uphold the five precepts; and likewise in the south, west, north, four intermediate directions, above, and below. What do you think? Would this person's merit be much?' Śakra, Lord of the Gods, said: 'This person's merit only a buddha could know; of all others, none can measure it.' Dharmamati said: 'Compared with the merit of a bodhisattva's initial arousing of the mind, this person's merit does not equal one hundredth part, nor one thousandth part, nor one hundred-thousandth part, and so on up to a hundred-millionth part, a ten-billionth part, a trillionth part, a hundred-trillionth part, and even an asaṃkhyeya part, an incalculable, immeasurable, boundless, ineffable part, an ineffably ineffable part—it does not equal even one part.' Then, progressively adducing the differences in sentient beings' capacities at the limits of desires and pleasures—from ten to a hundred, from a hundred to a thousand, from a thousand to ten thousand, from ten thousand to a hundred million, from a hundred million to ineffably ineffable asaṃkhyeya numbers of sentient beings—causing them all to uphold the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds; and furthermore, up to a second person who doubles the number of the previous person, multiplying progressively up to a hundred people, each person doubling the number of the previous person, causing them all to realize the fruits of srotāpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, arhat, and pratyekabuddha; yet the merit attained, compared with the merit of a bodhisattva's initial arousing of the mind, does not equal one hundredth part, and so on, even ineffable reckoning, numbers, and metaphors cannot reach it; exhausting all metaphors, there is no basis for comparison. Why so? Because this single thought of the mind is equal to the buddhas of the three times, without difference, without distinction. In Sanskrit, kṣamā is here called 'repenting of faults', meaning severing the continuing mind: once repented, it is never committed again. Once this mind is aroused, it is never regressed and lost. If one can directly go into no-mind, the merit of first arousing the mind, compared with the merit of no-mind, does not equal one hundredth part, one thousandth part, one hundred-thousandth part, one hundred-thousand-millionth part, and so on, even reckoning, numbers, metaphors, and ineffably ineffable asaṃkhyeya parts do not equal one part. Why so? Because when the mind is first aroused, it is equal to the buddhas of the three times. When even this mind does not exist, where can the buddhas of the three times grope for it? Therefore the merit of a single thought of no-mind again has no basis for comparison. If so, then there is also no birth and no death, no sage and no ordinary mortal, no person and no self, no buddha and no dharma. If one can see it like this, this is true repentance. Since Senior Monk Dao possesses the fortitude of a great man and is determined to investigate Chan, just investigate like this! One must break open in awakening and directly enter no-mind; only then will one attain peace and ease. If one does not awaken, but merely mouths a few phrases of 'no, no' and further adduces places where the ancients spoke of 'nothingness', mistaking them as proofs and then saying, 'I have attained rest'—let me ask you: Have you actually rested yet? This is merely using the mind to be without mind. If you take the mind to make no-mind, the mind instead turns into existence; how could you rigidly force it into non-existence? The ancient sages reproved such as non-Buddhists who fall into empty voidness, dead people whose spirits have not dispersed, slandering great prajñā beyond repentance; although it is a wholesome cause, it brings about an evil fruition. Such views, even if you were to beat to death hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of them like rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, what sin would there be? People like this are sure to have a whole belly full of doubt remaining. Only if one is personally free of doubt does one have the skillful means to resolve doubts for others; if one personally has doubts, how could one eliminate doubts for others? Intending to eliminate another's doubt, one adds yet another layer of doubt to him—as it is said: 'My eyes were originally correct, but because of the master became distorted.' Do you people want to know the one who is personally without doubt and able to eliminate doubts for others? Formerly, when the World-Honoured One was preaching the Dharma at the assembly on Vulture Peak, there were five hundred monks who had attained the four dhyānas and possessed the five supernatural faculties, yet had not attained the tolerance of dharmas. Through the supernatural faculty of knowing past lives, each saw that in past lives they had killed their fathers, harmed their mothers, and committed various heavy sins; in their own minds they each harbored doubts, and could not enter into the realization of the profound Dharma. At that time, Mañjuśrī, knowing the assembly's doubt and fear, relied on the Buddha's supernatural power, grasped a sharp sword in his hand, and advanced pressing upon the Tathāgata. The World-Honoured One then said to Mañjuśrī: 'Stop, stop! You should not commit treason; do not harm me! If I must be harmed, let it be well harmed. Mañjuśrī! From the beginning, you have had no self and no person; it is merely that with the inner mind you see self and person existing. When the inner mind arises, I must be harmed; that is what is called harming.' Thereupon, the five hundred monks awakened on their own to their fundamental mind as like a dream, like an illusion, wherein within the dream and illusion there is no self and no person, nor even parents who can give birth or are born. Thereupon the five hundred monks with one voice spoke a verse praising Mañjuśrī: 'Mañjuśrī, great man of wisdom, / profoundly penetrates to the bottom of the Dharma source. / With his own hand he grasps a sharp sword / and advances pressing upon the Tathāgata's body. / As with the sword, so it is with the Buddha: / one characteristic without duality. / Without characteristics, without that which is produced— / how could there be killing within this?' Great assembly! Although Mañjuśrī resolved doubts for the assembly, it cost him no small effort. Today Yunmen resolves doubts for Senior Monk Dao, and does not even use a sharp sword; there is only this: it is not mind, it is not buddha, it is not a thing. If you cast off the doubtful sentiment right here, you will stride freely across the world. If not, listen to a footnote: A single blade severs the path of birth and death; / the true eye of Maheśvara opens on the crown of the head; / boundless karmic hindrances all melt away. / In the end, how is it? / Hanshan and Shide are on Tiantai." Striking the meditation bed once with his fly-whisk, he gave a shout and descended from the seat.