佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 10.36

10.36

The Diamond Sūtra says: "If it is despised and disparaged by others, the sinful karma of these persons from previous lives would have caused them to fall into the evil destinies. Because they are despised and disparaged by people in the present life, the sinful karma from their previous lives will be eliminated." If one only goes by ordinary lectures and investigations, this is a common doctrine in the sūtras. Xuedou brought it up to eulogize this meaning, intending to smash the livelihood inside the ghost cave of the doctrinal teachers. Crown Prince Zhaoming categorized this section as "Being Able to Purify Karmic Obstacles." The general import in the teachings says that this sūtra possesses numinous efficacy: such a person made hell karma in a previous life, but because the power of goodness was strong, they have not yet experienced it; because they are despised and disparaged by people in the present life, their sinful karma from previous lives is eliminated. This sūtra is therefore able to eliminate sinful karma from immeasurable kalpas, transforming the heavy to become light, and transforming the light so that it is not received, and further attaining the awakening of buddhahood. According to the doctrinal teachers, rolling through these twenty-odd sheets of sūtra text is called upholding the sūtra. What connection does that have? Some say that the sūtra inherently has numinous efficacy. If so, try taking a scroll and placing it in an idle spot to see if it has any miraculous response or not. Fayan said, "One who verifies the stage of Buddhahood is called one who upholds this sūtra." The sūtra says: "All Buddhas and all Buddhas' teachings of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi emerge from this sūtra." But tell me, what is called "this sūtra"? Could it be the yellow rolls and red rollers? Do not mistakenly recognize the zero-mark on the scale. "Diamond" is a metaphor for the solidity of the Dharma-body, so objects cannot destroy it; because its function is sharp, it can crush all objects. Aimed at a mountain, the mountain is crushed; aimed at a sea, the sea is dried up. Setting up the name from the metaphor, the Dharma is also like this. This prajñā has three types: first, real-mark prajñā; second, contemplative prajñā; third, textual prajñā. Real-mark prajñā is true wisdom: it is the one great matter under everyone's feet, glowing brightly throughout past and present, far cut off from knowledge and views, completely naked and utterly stripped. Contemplative prajñā is the true realm: throughout the twelve periods of the day, radiating light and shaking the earth, hearing sounds and seeing forms. Textual prajñā is the words and letters capable of expressing it: that is, the speakers and listeners right now. But tell me: is it prajñā or is it not prajñā? An ancient said, "Everyone has a scroll of the sūtra." He also said, "The hand does not hold the sūtra scroll, yet constantly revolves such a sūtra." If one goes by the numinous efficacy of this sūtra, it is not merely transforming the heavy to make it light, and transforming the light so it is not received: even if its merit equals that of the sages, it is still not extraordinary. Have you not seen Layman Pang listening to a lecture on the Diamond Sūtra? He asked the lecturing master, "A commoner ventures a minor question; may I ask?" The lecturer said, "If you have doubts, please ask." The Layman said, "There is no mark of self and no mark of person; since there are no marks of self and person, who is made to lecture, and who listens?" The lecturer had no reply; instead he said, "I rely on the text to explain the meaning, and do not understand this intent." The Layman then had a verse saying: / "There is no self and also no person: / how could there be distant and close? / I urge you to cease taking the high seat; / how could that compare to directly seeking the real? / The nature of the diamond prajñā / is cut off from a single fine speck of dust on the outside. / 'Thus have I heard' and 'believing and receiving' / are all merely provisional names." / This verse is best; it explains it all clearly at once. Guifeng divided the four-line verse as: "All that has marks is illusory; if one sees all marks as non-marks, one immediately sees the Tathāgata." The meaning of this four-line verse is completely identical with "one who verifies the stage of Buddhahood is called one who upholds this sūtra." It also says: "If one sees me by form, or seeks me by sound, this person walks a false path, and cannot see the Tathāgata." This too is a four-line verse, but in between it takes that whose meaning is complete. A monk asked Huitang, "What is the four-line verse?" Huitang said, "You don't even know when you've fallen into conversational error." Xuedou pointed out from this sūtra: if there is someone who upholds this sūtra, that is everyone's native scenery, the original face. If one acts according to the authentic ancestral imperative, even the native scenery and original face are slashed into three pieces; the Buddhas of the three periods and the twelve divisions of the teaching do not need a single pinch. Arriving here, even if one had ten thousand kinds of merit, they could not manage it. Nowadays people only concern themselves with chanting sūtras and don't know what kind of principle this is at all; they just say, "How much have I chanted in a day?" only recognizing yellow rolls and red rollers, running their fingers and counting the ink, not knowing at all that it arises entirely from their own original mind. This is only that little bit where it turns. Master Dazhu said: "Try piling several cases of sūtras in an empty room, and see whether they radiate light or not!" It is only the mind produced in one's own single thought that is merit. Why? The myriad dharmas all emerge from one's own mind. A single thought is numinous; since it is numinous, it penetrates; since it penetrates, it transforms. An ancient said: "The lush green bamboo is entirely the True Suchness; the dense yellow flowers are nothing other than prajñā." If you see through thoroughly, that is True Suchness; if you have not yet seen it, tell me, what do you call True Suchness? The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: "If a person wishes to fully understand all Buddhas of the three periods, they should contemplate the nature of the Dharmadhātu: everything is made by the mind alone." If you can recognize this, then facing circumstances and encountering conditions, you will be the host and the ancestor. If you have not yet been able to clarify it, then humbly listen to the disposition. Xuedou opened his eyes to eulogize the general outline, wishing to clarify the sūtra's numinous efficacy. The verse says: