大慧普覺禪師語錄 23.15

23.15

A person of sharp roots and superior wisdom, whose body is in the midst of wealth and honor yet is not broken and oppressed by wealth and honor, who can in the midst of wealth and honor bring great benefit, profit, and joy to sentient beings—without the power of vows from past lives, cannot arrive at faith like this. Having arrived at faith, one should, in that place of having arrived at faith, ride the power of one's vows to respond to circumstances and apply it, and then naturally in every matter it will be clear, and in every thing it will be manifest. Formerly, when Samantabhadra Bodhisattva was in the Avataṃsaka Assembly, he entered the samādhi of the Tathāgatagarbha body of Vairocana, Buddha of All Buddhas; universally entering into the equality of all buddhas, he was able in the dharmadhātu to display manifestations vast and unhindered, revolving together with the ocean of the empty space of the dharmadhātu, without any into which he did not enter; giving rise to all samādhi dharmas, universally capable of containing the dharmadhātu of the ten directions; the ocean of the light of wisdom of all the buddhas of the three periods all arises from this; all the oceans of arrangements throughout the ten directions are fully able to be displayed; holding within it the wisdom of all bodhisattvas and all buddha-powers and liberations; capable of causing all the minute dust-motes of all lands to universally contain the boundless dharmadhātu; accomplishing all the oceans of buddha-merits, revealing all the oceans of the Tathāgata's great vows; circulating, guarding, and upholding all the dharma-wheels of all buddhas, causing them never to be broken off. In this world, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva entered this samādhi before the World-Honoured One; just as throughout the dharmadhātu and the realm of empty space, subtle, unhindered, vast, and bright throughout the ten directions and the three periods, seen by the buddha-eye, reached by the buddha-power, manifested by the buddha-body, in all lands and in all the minute dust-motes of these lands, within each dust-mote there are buddha-lands as numerous as the dust-motes of an ocean of worlds, and within each land there are buddhas as numerous as the dust-motes of an ocean of worlds, and before each buddha there are Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust-motes of an ocean of worlds, all also entering this samādhi of the Tathāgatagarbha body of Vairocana, Buddha of All Buddhas. When he arose from the samādhi, the assembly listening to the Dharma all obtained this samādhi, all obtained the power of this samādhi, and there was none who was not benefited by it. Layman Taixu, Deng Boshou, lives in wealth and honor, yet is different from ordinary people; daily attending upon the Most Venerable, what he hears and what he sees are all inconceivable things; how is this different from Samantabhadra Bodhisattva entering the samādhi of the Vairocana treasury body before the Tathāgata? But I fear that you might midway forget this intention, and during the twelve periods of the day fail to watch over the subtle streaming [of thoughts], relying on favor to mistreat and overbear others—that would not be fitting. When the buddhas appeared in the world and the Patriarch came from the West, there was not a single dharma that could be transmitted. Why is this? If there is transmission and reception, that is an ignorant dharma; it is a conditioned dharma, not a wisdom dharma, not an unconditioned dharma. Master Yantou said: 'If one binds people with real dharmas, even earth would be hard to digest.' Formerly in South India, the people of that country mostly believed in the karmic merit of blessings. The fourteenth patriarch, Nāgārjuna, went especially to transform them. They said, 'For a person to have karmic blessings is foremost in the world; to speak in vain of buddha-nature, who can see it?' Nāgārjuna said, 'If you wish to see buddha-nature, you must first eliminate your conceit.' They said, 'Is buddha-nature large or small?' Nāgārjuna said, 'It is neither large nor small, neither broad nor narrow; it has no blessings and no retribution, no death and no birth.' This was directly showing the mind's essential. That whole assembly, upon hearing it, all awakened to the correct principle. However, awakening lies in the person concerned; it is not obtained from others. What was said before about all the buddhas appearing in the world and the patriarchs transmitting to each other having no real dharma is just this principle. The Buddha Dharma does not amount to much; to sustain it long, a person is hard to find. Boshou is currently in the prime of life; in your daily life and response to circumstances, you can alert yourself, turning around the mind that engages in worldly evil karma, wishing to study the unexcelled buddha-fruit of bodhi; had you not in hundreds of kalpas and thousands of lifetimes served boundless buddhas and spiritual friends and cultivated the seeds of prajñā and omniscience, you would not be able to be so vigorous, so pure, so sovereign, and so upright, diligently and earnestly keeping this great matter of causes and conditions in mind. Since you have this mind, do not worry about when it will be attained. If you cannot get a handle on it all at once, just observe an ancient's huatou for entering the Way: A monk asked Zhaozhou, 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' Zhaozhou said, 'The cypress tree in the courtyard.' The monk said, 'Master, do not indicate it to people using an object.' Zhaozhou said, 'I am not indicating it to people using an object.' The monk said, 'Since you are not indicating it to people using an object, what then is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' Zhaozhou only said, 'The cypress tree in the courtyard.' That monk had a great awakening upon these words. Boshou, just in your daily walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, and in attending upon the Most Venerable, do not let thoughts be interrupted; constantly remind yourself and constantly alert yourself; suddenly, right upon the cypress tree, the breath of the mind, consciousness, and intellection will be cut off, and that will be the place of thorough penetration. As said before, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva entered the samādhi of the Tathāgatagarbha body of Vairocana before the World-Honoured One, and when he arose from the samādhi, all the bodhisattvas in the assembly obtained this benefit. May Boshou, before the Most Venerable, also constantly enter this samādhi, and suddenly arise from this samādhi, with benefit no different from that of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Strive on, and do not neglect this.