六祖大師法寶壇經 1.14

1.14

Now the wondrous mind is not accomplished by cultivation, nor illuminated through verification; it is fundamentally accomplished, fundamentally luminous. Restoring illumination to what was darkened by delusion is why there is verification; restoring accomplishment to what had turned its back on it is why there is cultivation. Cultivating it with non-cultivation is therefore called correct cultivation; illuminating it with non-illumination is therefore called correct verification. The realized person is veiled, with no outward deportment visible, yet his accomplished virtues and acts are harmonious and abundant; the realized person is relaxed, as if holding to nothing, yet his Way is made manifest to the world. It is simply because he cultivates by means of correct cultivation and verifies by means of correct verification. Thereupon some say there is neither cultivation nor verification, neither cause nor fruit, contending in their discourse with forced and petty interpretations, misunderstanding the intent of the realized person. Alas! If one casts aside morality, meditation, and wisdom and insists on running toward chaotic emptiness, then I do not know what can be done. How severe it is that sentient beings drown their minds and float in consciousness; consciousness and karma take advantage of one another and follow after echoes without ever ceasing! Taking images and forms, humans and things are born together, teeming between heaven and earth—can they ever be counted? Those who obtain human form are indeed one in ten thousand myriad. Among humans, those able to awaken are exceedingly rare! Sages harbored this concern: though they brought it forth through manifold doctrines, there were still those in the world who remained unenlightened; sages sought to save them: though they treated them with manifold methods, there were still those in the world who remained unawakened. Worthy persons are confused by intellect; unworthy persons are obstructed by ignorance; mediocre persons are dimmed by neutrality. When their feelings are aroused upon encountering objects—in joy and anger, sorrow and delight—obscurations multiply into ten thousand dark paths, as if walking by night without knowing where to go. Receiving the words of sages, they calculate and debate them broadly, as if gazing into the distance through dense fog, asserting existence, asserting non-existence, asserting neither existence, asserting nor non-existence, asserting both existence, asserting and non-existence. Because they do not see and instead remain stubbornly obscured, their whole lives they fail to attain clear comprehension. The ocean is formed of water, yet fish and dragons live and die in the sea without seeing the water; the Way is rooted in the mind, yet people speak of the Way all day long without seeing the mind. How sorrowful! The mind is indeed subtle and profound, difficult to clarify and difficult to attain; it is truly like this.