少室六門 1.90

1.90

Question: The sūtras state that by being mindful of the Buddha with the utmost mind, one will certainly attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. Through this one gate alone, one should accomplish buddhahood; why rely on contemplating the mind to seek vimokṣa? Answer: When mindful of the Buddha, one must have right mindfulness. Definitive meaning is right; non-definitive meaning is wrong. Right mindfulness will certainly attain rebirth; how could wrong mindfulness reach that place? 'Buddha' means 'awakening'—namely, examining body and mind so as not to allow evil to arise. 'Mindfulness' means 'recollection'—namely, recollecting and upholding the practice of the precepts without forgetting vigorous exertion. Understanding this meaning is called mindfulness. Therefore know that mindfulness is in the mind, not in words. Relying on the trap to seek fish, once the fish is caught, the trap is forgotten; relying on words to seek the meaning, once the meaning is grasped, the words are forgotten. Having spoken the name of mindfulness of the Buddha, one must know the path of mindfulness of the Buddha. If the mind has no reality while the mouth recites an empty name, with the three poisons gathering within and self and other filling the breast, using a mind of avidyā to seek the Buddha externally is merely wasted effort. Furthermore, as between reciting and mindfulness, their meanings are vastly different: what is on the mouth is called reciting; what is in the mind is called mindfulness. Therefore know that mindfulness arises from the mind and is called the gate of awakened practice, while reciting is in the mouth, which is merely the mark of sound. Clinging to the external to seek the principle is in the end without possibility. Therefore know that the mindfulness of the Buddha cultivated by all sages of the past was never about external speech, but only investigated the inner mind. The mind is the source of all good; the mind is the master of myriad virtues. The eternal bliss of nirvāṇa is born from the true mind; transmigration in the traidhātuka also arises from the mind. The mind is the doorway to world-transcendence; the mind is the checkpoint to vimokṣa. For one who knows the doorway, why worry about difficulty in entering? For one who recognizes the checkpoint, why fret over lack of passage?