佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.59

1.59

Your subject has heard: The paths of the Three Vehicles are broad; the Dharma realm is boundless; the ocean of wisdom is calm and clear; the ten directions are secure and peaceful. Yet at times the armies of Māra contend and rise up, invading and disturbing the mind-ground. Once the six thieves grow strong, the mind-king is alarmed and agitated. A hundred monstrosities arise in the morning; a thousand perversities spring up in the evening, shaking and confusing suchness, exhausting the Dharma body. The path to bodhi is blocked and impassable; nirvāṇa is ruined; the Three Jewels are harmed and damaged. The jewels of the unconditioned are all stolen away; the Dharma riches of the great treasury are utterly plundered. Defilements blot out the sun; fires of desire reach across the heavens, tossing the Dharma city and burning the sacred realm. Seeing such violent turmoil, your subject feared the Buddhadharma could hardly endure. Thereupon, taking counsel with the six pāramitās, we joined together to exterminate them. We dispatched intrinsic emptiness as a secret scout to reconnoitre the armies of Māra, seeing them presently encamped within the mountains of the five aggregates, more than eighty-four thousand strong. Knowing their configuration, the plan was made in a kṣaṇa: we mustered the valiant soldiers of the eighteen realms and established 'Embodiment of Emptiness' as our password. Every person possesses unimpeded strength; each one cherishes courageous skill. The straight mind serves as the merit of seeing one's nature; a single rectitude banishes the disorder of a hundred evils. Donning the armour of firmness, grasping the lance of samādhi, with arrows of wisdom, bows of dhyāna, and swords of luminous prajñā, we trained within the gate of the Mahāyāna, pitched camp inside the mountains of quiescence, unfurled our banners upon the ridge of the three clear knowledges, and deployed along the path of the eightfold correctness. We sent forth Great Awakened Nature as the vanguard general to roam across the four directions, searching for the traces of delusive thoughts and intercepting the tracks of fundamental ignorance. Furthermore, we had the King of Compassion breach the stronghold of the three poisons, the Marshal of Forbearance strike the city of anger, the Army of Vigour eliminate the demons of arrogance, and the Knight of Joyous Renunciation capture the thieves of stinginess. In no time the army of Māra arose in full force, murderous qi piercing the heavens. Your subject led the mahā-forces and charged in all together. At that very moment, the eyes did not view forms, the ears did not listen to sounds, the nose did not smell scents, the tongue did not perceive tastes, the body did not receive contacts, and the mind did not grasp at conditions. With single-minded resolve we forged ahead, without retreating for a single thought. In an instant the army of Māra was utterly defeated; the six thieves lost completely. Countless were slain; they were swept clean away. We captured delusive thoughts alive and took fundamental ignorance prisoner, led them into the arena of nirvāṇa, and with the sword of wisdom sliced them into three pieces. The forest of afflictions was instantly shattered; the mountain of self and other turned to fine dust. The net of foolish craving was burned up by the fire of wisdom; the grove of heterodox views was dried out by the wind of wisdom. Because of this, the three clear knowledges shone brightly once more, the four wisdoms became complete again, internal and external are without blemish, vast and pure. The mind-king sits in the palace of joy; suchness ascends the tower of liberation; self-nature roams through the hall of non-obstruction; the three bodies occupy the seat of Dharma emptiness. Henceforth the Dharma realm is tranquil, forever cutting off noise and dust, crossing together the river of birth and death, arriving together at the shore of bodhi. The army of Māra having retreated, it is fitting to report and make this known.