宗鏡錄 100.17

100.17

答。此是祕要之門。難信之法。轉深轉細。難解難知。悉抱疑情。盡居惑地。夫疑者。於諸諦理猶豫為性。能障善品為業故。疑有多種。略說具三。一疑自。謂己不能入理。二疑師。謂彼不能善教。三疑法。謂於所學。為令出離。為不出離。況如有病之人。疑自疑醫。疑藥。病終不愈。若具前三疑。終不能決定信入。今宗鏡所錄。皆是正直捨方便。但說無上道。隨聞一法。盡合圓宗。實可以斷深疑。成大信。如清涼記云。謂聞空莫疑斷。是即事之空。非斷滅故。聞有莫疑常。非定性有。從緣有故。聞雙是莫疑兩分。但雙照二諦。無二體故。聞雙非莫疑無據。以但遮過。令不著故。又聞空莫疑有。是即有之空故。聞有莫疑空。是即空之有故。聞雙是莫疑雙非。是即非有無。為有無故。聞雙非莫疑雙是。是即有無。方是非有無故。是知諦了一心。群疑頓斷。則有不能有。空不能空。凡不能凡。聖不能聖。豈世間言語是非之所惑哉。如佛藏經云。佛告舍利弗。須彌山王。為高大不。高大。世尊。舍利弗。四天下中。普雨大石。皆如須彌。有人以手承接此石。無有遺落如芥子者。於意云何。為希有不。希有。世尊。舍利弗。如來所說一切諸法。無生無滅。無相無為。令人信解。倍為希有。舍利弗。譬如有人。以一切眾生。置左手中。右手接舉三千世界。山河草木。皆能令是一切眾生。同心喜樂。其意不異。於意云何。為希有不。希有。世尊。舍利弗。如來所說一切諸法。無生無滅。無相無為。令人信解。倍為希有。此宗鏡文。所以前後廣引者。只為此心深奧故難信。祕密故難知。乃至菩薩大智。尚須佛力所加。豈況淺劣而能知者。如寶雨經云。佛言。云何菩薩深信如來意業祕密。若諸菩薩。聞於如來意之祕密。謂如來所有意樂法義。依止於心。依心而住。一切菩薩聲聞緣覺。及諸有情。無能知者。唯除如來之所加持。是以雖前引後證。文廣義繁。則語語內而利益根機。聞聞中而驚新耳目。何厭重說。起此慢心。所以本師云。行住坐臥。常說妙法。又云。我於得道夜。及涅槃夜。是二夜中間。常說般若。是以機多生熟。信有淺深。前聞熏而未堅。後聞熏而方入。如大智度論云。譬如搖樹取果。熟者前墮。若未熟者。更須後搖。又如捕魚。前網不盡。後網乃得。又云。復次是般若波羅蜜相。甚深難解難知。佛知眾生心。根有利鈍。鈍根者少智。為其重說。若利根者。一說二說便悟。不須種種說。譬如駃馬。下一鞭便走。駑馬多鞭乃去。如是等種種因緣故。經中重說無咎。

Answer: This is the gate of secret essentials, the Dharma that is difficult to believe. Becoming ever deeper and ever subtler, it is difficult to understand and difficult to know. All harbor doubtful thoughts; all dwell in the ground of delusion. Now, doubt has hesitation regarding the principles of the truths as its nature, and its function is the ability to obstruct wholesome factors. Therefore, there are many kinds of doubt, which briefly explained comprise three: first, doubting oneself, saying that one cannot enter the principle; second, doubting the teacher, saying that he cannot teach well; third, doubting the Dharma, saying of what one studies, 'Does it cause transcendence, or does it not cause transcendence?' Furthermore, it is like a sick person who doubts himself, doubts the doctor, and doubts the medicine: in the end, his sickness is not cured. If one possesses the former three doubts, one will ultimately never be able to enter with decisive faith. Now, what is recorded in this Mirror of the Source entirely consists of straightforwardly setting aside expedient means and speaking only of the unsurpassed path. Hearing any single dharma, it completely accords with the perfect source; it can truly sever deep doubts and accomplish great faith. As the Qingliang Commentary says: 'When hearing of emptiness, do not doubt it as annihilation; it is emptiness identical with phenomena, not an annihilating extinction. When hearing of existence, do not doubt it as permanence; it is not existence with a fixed nature, for it exists from conditions. When hearing of both being affirmed, do not doubt them as two parts; it merely illumines both truths simultaneously, for they lack two substances. When hearing of both being negated, do not doubt it as baseless; it merely wards off faults to make one unattached. Furthermore, when hearing of emptiness, do not doubt it as existence, for it is the emptiness that is identical with existence. When hearing of existence, do not doubt it as emptiness, for it is the existence that is identical with emptiness. When hearing of both being affirmed, do not doubt them as both being negated, for it is precisely non-existence and non-emptiness that constitute existence and emptiness. When hearing of both being negated, do not doubt them as both being affirmed, for it is precisely existence and emptiness that only then constitute non-existence and non-emptiness.' Therefore, know that when one clearly understands the one mind, the host of doubts is abruptly severed. Then existence cannot be existence, emptiness cannot be emptiness, the ordinary cannot be ordinary, and the noble cannot be noble. How could one ever be deluded by worldly words of right and wrong? As the Fo zang jing says: 'The Buddha addressed Śāriputra: "Is the king of mountains, Sumeru, high and great or not?" "High and great, World-Honoured One." "Śāriputra, if throughout the four continents it rained large stones everywhere, all like Sumeru, and someone caught these stones with their hand without dropping even one the size of a mustard seed, what do you think? Would that be rare or not?" "Rare, World-Honoured One." "Śāriputra, that the Tathāgata explains all dharmas as unarisen and unceasing, markless and unconditioned, and enables people to believe and understand them, is doubly rare. Śāriputra, suppose someone placed all sentient beings in his left hand and with his right hand lifted up the trichiliocosm with its mountains, rivers, grasses, and trees, and was able to make all these sentient beings rejoice with one mind, without their intentions differing: what do you think? Would that be rare or not?" "Rare, World-Honoured One." "Śāriputra, that the Tathāgata explains all dharmas as unarisen and unceasing, markless and unconditioned, and enables people to believe and understand them, is doubly rare." The reason why the text of this Mirror of the Source cites so broadly from beginning to end is simply that this mind is profound and abstruse, hence difficult to believe, and secret, hence difficult to know. Even the great wisdom of bodhisattvas still requires the reinforcement of the Buddha's power; how much less could the shallow and inferior be able to know it? As the Baoyu jing says: 'The Buddha said: "How do bodhisattvas deeply believe in the secrecy of the Tathāgata's mental karma? If bodhisattvas hear of the secrecy of the Tathāgata's mind—namely, that all the Dharma-meanings delightful to the Tathāgata's intention rely upon the mind and abide relying on the mind—none of all the bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, or sentient beings can know them, except through the empowerment of the Tathāgata."' Therefore, although citations precede and verifications follow, with extensive text and manifold meanings, within every word it benefits the faculties, and in every hearing it startles the ears and eyes anew. Why grow weary of repeating explanations and give rise to this arrogant mind? Thus our original teacher said: 'Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, I constantly speak the wondrous Dharma.' He also said: 'Between the night I attained the path and the night of nirvāṇa, during these two nights I constantly spoke prajñā.' Therefore, faculties have much ripeness and unripeness; faith has depths and shallows. What was not firm through previous hearing and perfuming is only entered through later hearing and perfuming. As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'It is like shaking a tree to gather fruit: the ripe ones fall first; if they are not yet ripe, one must shake it again later. It is also like catching fish: what the first net does not exhaust, the later net then catches.' It also says: 'Furthermore, the characteristic of this prajñāpāramitā is extremely deep, difficult to understand, and difficult to know. The Buddha knows the minds of sentient beings: their faculties have sharpness and dullness. Those of dull faculties have little wisdom; for their sake he explains it repeatedly. If they are of sharp faculties, with one or two explanations they awaken, and there is no need for varied explanations. It is like a swift horse that runs at a single whip, while a sluggish horse goes only after many whips. Due to such various causes and conditions, there is no fault in repeating explanations in the sūtras.'