人天眼目 1.2

1.2

When I was travelling on pilgrimage, wherever I arrived I gave my utmost sincerity to inquire of and consult venerable elders regarding the essential guidelines of the Five Houses. Among these items, there were often things that were not yet known even to them. Thereupon I sighed and reflected: 'Having occupied the master's seat, if one still does not know the names of the lines and phrases of the cardinal principles of the lineages, how much less their essential keys! How will one guide later generations and peel away the film of doubt?' Therefore, my mind was set upon these essential guidelines for nearly twenty years. Some I saw in surviving records, some I obtained from broken stone tablets, some I heard venerable elders cite and bring forward, and some I acquired from old monks offering verses. Whenever there were essential guidelines of the Five Houses, I immediately wrote them down and preserved them. Although they grew into voluminous scrolls, I simply had not had the leisure to edit and settle them in detail. Late in life, upon reaching Wannianshan Temple on Mount Tiantai, I first fulfilled my aspiration, compiling and categorising them into the Five Houses, entitling it *The Eye of Humans and Gods*. Its expressions are entirely uniform, adhering to what earlier generations composed, without daring to add or subtract anything. However, as this collection consists of the activities deployed by the great elders of the past to benefit beings and is by no means the concoction of my own mind, in having it circulate in the world, what blame could there be? As for those who grasp the handle of the whisk and occupy the master's seat, outside of this they will have no means to discern and verify the false and the true. Those who possess discernment and broad learning will surely grant their seal of approval.