宗鏡錄 19.3

Answer: If one views with the eyes of sentient beings, one sees only that the realm of sentient beings is in surplus; if one views with the Buddha eye, one knows then that the realm of the buddhas leaves nothing outside. Thus we know that the delusive wind of avidyā easily stirs the ocean of citta, while the true nature of original enlightenment is in a long slumber, hard to awaken. Therefore the Śūraṅgamasūtra states: 'The spiritual faculty of your citta is completely clear and has never for a moment been dim; yet those who are deluded look directly at it and do not know it.' It is like fine jade submerged in mud, burying its own high value; or like pure gold mixed with gravel, vainly hiding its radiance. As the Lotus Sūtra says: 'Formerly, wishing to make you attain peace and bliss, indulging freely in the five desires, on a certain year, month, and day, I tied a priceless jewel inside your clothing. It is present even now, yet you did not know it, toiling in hardship, sorrow, and affliction to seek a livelihood—this is utter folly! You may now take this jewel to trade for whatever you need, and you may always have your wish fulfilled, lacking nothing.' Thus we know that original enlightenment is eternally accomplished, and the jewel in the clothing is never lost. Were it not for the complete and sudden teaching, how could one directly understand one's own citta? Therefore the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment says: 'Because enlightenment is accomplished, you should know that bodhisattvas are not bound by phenomena, nor do they seek liberation from phenomena; they do not detest saṃsāra, nor do they covet nirvāṇa; they do not revere keeping the precepts, nor do they loathe violating the prohibitions; they do not value long practice, nor do they belittle those who have not learned. Why is this? Because all is enlightenment.' From this we know that all sentient beings are accomplished in original enlightenment. Because of non-enlightenment, they identify with enlightenment that accords with defilement, see superior and inferior realms, and give rise to minds of attraction and revulsion, merely following delusion to transmigrate in saṃsāra, suddenly blind to true enlightenment. Yet it is due to enlightenment that there is non-enlightenment; if there were no truth, delusion would have nothing on which to rely—just as smoke does not rise without fire. Moreover, enlightenment depends on non-enlightenment, like gold that conforms to vessels, which still awaits the vessels to be revealed, because phenomena can reveal principle. Therefore, truth alone cannot stand, and delusion alone cannot be formed. That truth alone cannot stand is because the fruit of buddhahood is unproduced; that delusion alone cannot be formed is because it would have nothing on which to rely. As a former master's verse says: / 'The realm of all sentient beings is of golden color; / Pure, stainless, its wisdom indestructible. / The precious jewel is naturally inside the inner clothing, / Yet one merely wishes to remain forever impoverished outside the gate. / The pure precious vehicle halts at the crossroads; / Mañjuśrī guides, and Samantabhadra assists. / The plump white ox is exceedingly strong; / In a single thought it roams everywhere, without unfolding or rolling up. / Such a precious vehicle they refuse to enter, / Only taking pleasure in standing before the gate in bitter toil; / Unaware that their own bodies are always within it, / When sent up, they constantly say, "I fall short."' / A verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: / 'If one wishes to seek all-knowledge / And swiftly accomplish unsurpassed bodhi, / One should, with a pure and wondrous mind, / Cultivate and practice the conduct of bodhi.' / Another verse says: / 'Just as in a rich and fertile field, / What is planted must flourish and grow, / So it is with the pure mind-ground, / Which brings forth all buddha-dharmas.' / From this we know that among the buddhas of the ten directions, there is not a single buddha who did not attain buddhahood by having faith in this citta; among the twenty-eight patriarchs, there is not a single patriarch who did not become a patriarch by seeing this nature. Those who nowadays hear this yet do not become patriarchs or buddhas do so entirely because their faith falls short and their seeing is not definite. They merely learn their words and do not illuminate their citta; they merely cling to their understandings and do not fathom their Dharma. Why is this? Because faith is itself the Way. A sūtra says: 'Faith is the source of the Way, the mother of merits.' Seeing is free of doubt; thus a sūtra says: 'When one sees the truth of suffering, the habit [of craving] is also eliminated'—how much more so for the active realms outside the mind! Only by entering the mirror of the source does one realize past errors; when the light of the citta penetrates, the remaining blemishes naturally disappear. The 'Manifestation' chapter of the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'O sons of the Buddha, bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know that in their own citta, in thought after thought, there is always a buddha accomplishing right enlightenment. Why is this? Because all buddha-tathāgatas accomplish right enlightenment without departing from this citta. Just as it is with their own citta, the citta of all sentient beings is also like this: in all of them there are tathāgatas accomplishing equal and right enlightenment, vast and pervasive, nowhere absent, not departing and uninterrupted, without cessation, entering the inconceivable Dharma-gate of skillful means.' An ancient commentary says: 'There are two aspects to attaining buddhahood without departing from this citta: First, the body and mind of sentient beings are themselves what is realized by the Buddha; therefore, the Buddha realizes the substance of sentient beings and uses the function of sentient beings. Second, it is completely identical to the nature of the Buddha's bodhi; the one nature is without difference. This means that the fruit of the other lies within my cause, because by means of my cause the fruit of the other is accomplished; hence it is called entering the inconceivable Dharma-gate of skillful means.' Therefore, those who do not grasp the meaning think in terms of 'sentient beings'—this is inadmissible; even if they think in terms of 'buddha', this is also inadmissible. Being identical is inadmissible, and not being identical is also inadmissible. One should purify the eye of wisdom and not grasp at any conceptual sentiments. The sūtra says: 'O sons of the Buddha, if you rely on this knowledge, nothing obscure will remain unfathomed.' The Nirvāṇasūtra says: 'That which has a self within the twenty-five states of existence is called the "self" by virtue of being naturally real, meaning that the substance of all dharmas is real. All sentient beings possess the tathāgatagarbha, which can serve as the cause of buddhahood; this is called possessing the buddha-nature. Just as among all forms there is the nature of emptiness, so it is not only sentient beings that possess the correct nature of the Tathāgata: among all dharmas there is the nature of peace and bliss.' Therefore it is said: 'If one views with the physical eye, there is no truth that is not conventional; if one views with the Dharma-eye, there is no conventionality that is not true.' It is also said: 'The dharmakāya transmigrating through the five destinies is called "sentient beings".' However, the dharmakāya is simply tathatā. Transmigrating through the five destinies is simply according with conditions. The name 'sentient beings' is the meaning of distinction. Furthermore, because according with conditions is itself unvarying, it eliminates distinctions to make the substance empty, and thus the branches are quieted; because the emptiness of substance is distinct, it eliminates the unvarying to make it accord with conditions, and thus the root is quieted. Since the whole root becomes the branches, the root then becomes hidden; since the whole of the branches becomes the root, the branches then vanish. Thus, when tathatā accords with conditions to become sentient beings, it never loses its true substance; hence it causes sentient beings to be not sentient beings. When sentient beings, empty in substance, are identical to the dharmakāya, sentient beings are never absent; hence it is not the dharmakāya. Therefore, both are mutually extinguished. Since both are mutually extinguished, truth and delusion are equal, without any difference. Therefore it is said: 'The dharmakāya, which is not existent in according with conditions, is eternally established without being different from phenomena; sentient beings, who are not non-existent in quiescence, are always manifested without being different from truth.'

Therefore, one knows that kleśa is itself bodhi, and bodhi is itself kleśa. Hence the Suvikrāntavikramiparipṛcchā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra says: "The Buddha addressed King Suvikrānta, saying: 'Suppose there is a priceless wish-fulfilling jewel, adorned and polished, brilliant and delightful, its substance round and utterly pure, free from any taints or defilements. It falls into mire and stays there for a long time. Someone finds it, picks it up, and protects it so that it will not fall again. The Dharma-nature is just like this: although it is within kleśas, it is not defiled by them, and later it is revealed once more. Heavenly King, all buddha-tathāgatas fully know that sentient beings are naturally pure by nature; obscured by adventitious defilements, [these defilements] do not enter their self-nature. For this reason, when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva practices the prajñāpāramitā, he should think: "I should be valiant and diligently cultivate vigor to explain this profound prajñāpāramitā for the sake of all sentient beings and remove their kleśas. All sentient beings possess purity of nature; therefore, toward them one must not give rise to [thoughts of their being] inferior. One should respect them: they are my teachers, and I must revere them in accordance with the Dharma." When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives rise to such a mind, prajñā is immediately born.'" The Bodhisattvagarbhasūtra says: "The daughters of Māra, Brahmā, and Śakra all attained buddhahood in their present bodies without abandoning the body and without receiving a body." A verse states: / "The Dharma-nature is like the great ocean: / it does not speak of right and wrong. / Ordinary beings, sages, and noble ones / are equal, without high or low. / It depends only on the eradication of the mind's defilements; / realizing awakening is like turning over one's palm." / The Kuśalamūlasaṃparigraha-sūtra says: "The Buddha said: 'Dṛḍhamati, the realm of non-obstruction is the limitless realm. The limitless realm is the nature of all sentient beings. This is called the gateway of realms. Entering this gateway of realms, one can expound a thousand billion Dharma-treasuries. These Dharma-treasuries are non-treasuries. Dṛḍhamati, whatever dharmas the Tathāgata expounds among the multitude of Dharma-treasuries, they all expound this realm. Furthermore, there are the treasuries of form, and the treasuries of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. These treasuries are non-treasuries; they do not reside in their own treasury. These are called the various treasuries, entered through the gate of the syllable A.'" Explication: "The syllable A has the meaning of non-arising (anutpāda). If one understands that the mind is non-arising, then no dharma can be obtained. Awakening to this vijñapti-mātra is the preliminary gateway to entering the Path. Hence the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra says: 'There is not a single dharma that can be obtained; this is called a sentient being.' In speaking of a 'sentient being', it means the dharmakāya. As the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa says: 'Śāriputra, it is just this dharmakāya, entangled by boundless kleśas exceeding the sands of the Ganges, that from beginningless time conforms to the world, coming and going, arising and ceasing on the surging waves of saṃsāra, which is called a sentient being.' Thus one knows: to say that a sentient being is itself the dharmakāya is exceedingly difficult to understand. Therefore, a former worthy quoted the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, saying: 'If someone could hang Mount Sumeru from a lotus thread, would that be conceivable or not?' 'No, World-Honoured One.' The Buddha said: 'That a bodhisattva can evaluate saṃsāra in a single thought is inconceivable.' Now, making clear that this complete principle is difficult to comprehend, one merely has reverent faith in it. If, hearing that saṃsāra has an inconceivable principle, one merely has reverent faith in it and cannot [realize that] the one mind is itself the tathāgatagarbha, it is not the complete meaning." The Mañjuśrīparipṛcchā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra says: "The Buddha addressed Mañjuśrī: 'If someone asks you, "How many realms of sentient beings are there?", how would you answer?' Mañjuśrī said: 'The number of the realm of sentient beings is like the realm of the Tathāgata.' Question: 'What is the extent of the realm of sentient beings?' Answer: 'Like the extent of the Buddha's realm.' Question: 'To what realm are all sentient beings bound?' Answer: 'Just as the Tathāgata is bound, so too are sentient beings.' Question: 'Where does the realm of sentient beings abide?' Answer: 'It abides in the realm of nirvāṇa.' It also says: Mañjuśrī said: 'Just as space is countless, sentient beings are also countless. Space cannot be obtained; sentient beings also cannot be obtained. Therefore, within what cannot be obtained, designations are established in accordance with worldly conventions; what is expediently taught regarding the realms of ordinary beings and sages is an inconceivable, vast spiritual transformation.'" As the Mahāratnakūṭasūtra says: "Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva said: 'Furthermore, dharmas have no characteristic of emergence, yet expounding the dharma of renunciation—this is called spiritual transformation. Dharmas have no distinctions, yet distinguishing them with words—this is called spiritual transformation. Dharmas have no activity, yet expounding that there is cultivation—this is called spiritual transformation. Dharmas have no coming or going, yet expounding that there is coming and going—this is called spiritual transformation. Establishing various fruits upon the realization of the single path—this is called spiritual transformation. Distinguishing the triyāna within the dharma of single flavor—this is called spiritual transformation. All buddhas are only one buddha, yet expounding immeasurable buddhas—this is called spiritual transformation. All buddha-lands are only one buddha-land, yet expounding immeasurable lands—this is called spiritual transformation. Immeasurable sentient beings are just one sentient being, yet expounding immeasurable sentient beings—this is called spiritual transformation. All buddha-dharmas are only one buddha-dharma, yet expounding immeasurable dharmas—this is called spiritual transformation. Dharmas cannot be indicated, yet revealing all dharmas—this is called spiritual transformation. Dharmas cannot be obtained, yet cultivating and realizing them—this is called spiritual transformation.' … At that time, Elder Śāriputra addressed the devaputra Merchant Leader (Śreṣṭhin), saying: 'Hearing of this spiritual transformation, are you not frightened?' The devaputra answered, saying: 'I am myself spiritual transformation; why would I be frightened?' Śāriputra said: 'Devaputra, with what hidden intention do you make this statement?' The deva said: 'All dharmas, whether wholesome or unwholesome, moving without motion—this is called the great spiritual transformation. Therefore, Śāriputra, those who perform wholesome karma are born in the heavens and possess great majestic power; such wholesome karma is inconceivable. That all sentient beings come and go in saṃsāra is also inconceivable. What is inconceivable is called the great spiritual transformation. As the Buddha taught, four realms are inconceivable: first, the realm of karma is inconceivable; second, the realm of dragons (nāgas) is inconceivable; third, the realm of dhyāna is inconceivable; fourth, the realm of the Buddha is inconceivable. By this meaning, all dharmas are called the great spiritual transformation, and one should not be frightened.'"

"Furthermore, Śāriputra, if the Tathāgata were to display such spiritual transformations, would the realm of space have fear?" He answered, "No." The devatā said, "If space does not fear, why ask, 'Are you not terrified?'" Śāriputra said, "Could you be the same as space?" The devatā said, "As the Buddha has taught, is internal emptiness or external emptiness space, or not?" He answered, "It is." The devatā said, "Therefore, all sentient beings have the nature of space." Thus we know that if all sentient and insentient beings equally share the nature of space, where could there be any difference between ordinary being and sage, or distinction between internal and external? Moreover, the nature of space has neither arising nor ceasing; why further ask whether one attains Buddhahood or does not attain Buddhahood? The *Sūtra on the Essential Nature of the Dharmadhātu* says: "The Buddha asked Mañjuśrī, 'Do you know the dharmadhātu?' 'So it is, World-Honoured One, I know the dharmadhātu; it is my own realm.' He asked again, 'Do you not delight in the dharmadhātu?' Mañjuśrī said, 'World-Honoured One, I do not see a single phenomenon that is not the dharmadhātu; what else is there to delight in?'" The *Lokadhāradharā-sūtra* says: "If worldly phenomena were different from supramundane phenomena, the Buddhas would not appear in the world. Why? Because awakening to the equality of all phenomena is called 'Buddha'." The *Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra* says: "If one can contemplate the realms of all sentient beings and the dharmadhātu equally without difference, / not giving rise to distinctions of one or two, / this is called the bodhisattva's seal of non-retrogression." It also says: "If there is a bodhisattva who, without departing from the ordinary person, can know the noble Dharma, and with the mind of an ordinary person contemplates the noble Dharma..." The *Ghanavyūha-sūtra* says: "The Tathāgata's dharmakāya abides within the bodies of all sentient beings, its light and reflections appearing externally like a maṇi jewel wrapped in pure silk, unimpeded in just the same way. Therefore one should know that the Tathāgata's dharmakāya pervades all sentient beings. As the Buddha has taught, it even enters dried trees and parched wood; one should not harm them, how much less other kinds of beings. Therefore one should not measure sentient beings; except for the Tathāgatas, none can know them." Hence the dharmakāya of all Buddhas pervades all places. Now, the dharmakāya is one's own citta; it is the body of the lineage of the Dharma, the nature of the multitude of existents. It encompasses the present and penetrates antiquity, pervades the realms and fills space. The empty space of the ten directions, within one's own citta, is still like the arising of a speck of cloud; the hundreds of thousands of great oceans, toward original awakening, are just like the uprising of a single drop of foam. How much less could the nominal 'ordinary person' and 'sage' not be my own citta? The Tiantai teachings state: "'Buddha' means awakening. As the *Ratnakaraṇḍaka-sūtra* says, 'The Buddha-realm and the realm of sentient beings are one realm; there is no other realm.' This is perfect wisdom, which perfectly awakens to all phenomena, pervading all places, with nothing not clearly understood. Even within the five [sins of] immediate retribution, thoughts of liberation arise; even in confusion, blindness, and inversion, this principle is preserved therein. This principle is luminous and constantly abides in the world. The presence of a Buddha cannot increase it, and the absence of a Buddha cannot diminish it; obtaining it is not high, and losing it is not low. Therefore it is said that sentient beings are identical with Buddha; this is the Buddha of principle." The *Huayan Treatise* says: "Everywhere is Mañjuśrī, everywhere is the Golden World, everywhere is the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom. Those of faith today should believe that their own citta's unsupported nature, wondrous prajñā, and liberation are their own Mañjuśrī. In the citta's lack of support, the wondrous principle of naturelessness has sovereign discrimination, and because no nature can be moved, it is called the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom. Principle and wisdom are non-dual, and their wondrous function is sovereign; therefore he is named Bodhisattva Wondrous Virtue (Mañjuśrī). Therefore, all Buddhas are born from this faith; hence Mañjuśrī is named the mother of all Buddhas of the ten directions. He is also named Mañjuśrī the Youthful Bodhisattva, because all take faith as their initial birth. When faith is perfected, one then seals it with the power of the contemplative wisdom of samādhi and prajñā; tallying with it in a single thought-moment is called the initial mind of the ten abodes, and one immediately achieves right awakening. Taken from the aspect of being able to practice, he is named Samantabhadra; taken from the aspect of wondrous prajñā being unsupported, he is named Wondrous Virtue; taken from the aspect of wisdom skillfully discriminating and knowing the faculties, he is named the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom. One's own tallying and accord is called right awakening. Moreover, that which is able to believe is named faith; one's own tallying and accord is named the abiding mind, because one abides in the characteristics of wondrous prajñā and liberation in which the Buddhas abide, exhausting the unproduced phenomena. If there is a Buddha outside the mind, this is not called faith; one is named a person of wrong views. All Buddhas are identical with one's own citta; all sentient beings are identical with one's own nature. Because the nature has no support, its substance has no difference. Wisdom is of one single nature; one should know it in this way. Using this wondrous prajñā of identical substance, one knows the mind of the Buddhas and the mind of sentient beings; one should believe and understand in this way, and not deceive oneself. Therefore, the essential purport of this sūtra sets forth such a teaching for sentient beings of great aspiration. It is the vehicle traversed by the Buddhas themselves, the wondrous scripture of the One Vehicle, the principle of the dharmadhātu, causing sentient beings of great aspiration to enter the Buddha's root, the great wisdom of the Buddha-fruit. Because in a single thought-moment one accords with the real, principle and wisdom manifest together, and one is immediately a Buddha. Because in the principle of the dharmadhātu, when seen, there is no beginning, middle, or end. Therefore, worldly people only believe that the realm of the Buddhas is inconceivable, but do not know that the realm of sentient beings is also inconceivable, because the realm of sentient beings is identical with the realm of the Buddhas. As the treatise says, 'Everywhere is the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom'—now, the word 'everywhere' leaves no place unpervaded; how could it be limited to the realm of sentient beings? Therefore the *Private Notes on the Huayan* says: 'Now many people who study can all become equal to Śākyamuni, and also equal to Mañjuśrī; in a single thought-moment they are equal. If you do not believe it, try for just a short while to make an effort, quietly reflecting and seeing.' Thus we know that in a single thought-moment there is equality, and principle and phenomenon are without difference. Just quietly reflect and concentrate the spirit, turning the light back to illuminate within; what different phenomenon could create an obstruction? It is only that conceptions arise from one's own citta, falsely differentiating higher and lower. Master Qingliang's commentary says: 'As for Buddha and sentient beings, if spoken of in terms of purity of nature, they are presently equal, yet this does not obstruct the distinction between delusion and awakening. Therefore the three vehicles also have differences and have no differences. Thus, defiled and pure, all phenomena of the three periods of time...'

There is nothing that is not equal, how much more so when they reciprocally encompass one another according with their nature! One who understands thus is called 'well-abiding on the stage of all-knowledge.' Just as what the earth can bring forth ultimately returns to the earth, so the myriad phenomena rely upon the Buddha's wisdom and ultimately return to all-knowledge. A verse in the Ratnagotravibhāga says: / 'Just as in the house of a poor man, / There is a treasury of precious gems in the earth, / But that man cannot know it, / Nor can the jewels speak; / Sentient beings are also like this: / Within the house of their own citta, / There is an inconceivable, / Inexhaustible treasury of Dharma-jewels. / Although they possess this precious treasury, / They cannot self-consciously know it; / Because they do not consciously know it, / They endure the poverty and suffering of saṃsāra. / Just as the precious treasury / Lies in that poor man's dwelling, / The man does not say, "I am poor," / And the treasure does not say, "I am here"; / In this way the treasury of Dharma-jewels / Lies within the citta of sentient beings. / Sentient beings are like the poor man; / Buddha-nature is like the precious treasury. / For the sake of wishing to cause sentient beings / To attain these precious gems, / Those Buddhas, Tathāgatas, / Appear in the world.' / The Meaning of Non-Arising says: 'The Great Master constantly cited the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra, which says: "Within the bodies of sentient beings are the thirty-two marks and eighty minor signs of a Buddha, seated on a jeweled lotus flower, not different from a Buddha. But because they are covered by kleśas, they have not yet been able to attain their function. This is having the root-nature of the Buddha's vision and knowledge, but not yet having the function of that vision and knowledge; at that very time they are still foolish. It is even like a young child possessing the six sense faculties of an adult, not different from an adult, within his body, yet not yet capable of having the functions of an adult; when he gradually grows up and must furthermore study and learn, he only then has the power and function of an adult's vision and knowledge." If the root-nature exists, how could the function be absent? Just as a seed originally sweet does not bear bitter fruit, one only fears not knowing it exists and conceiving oneself to be an ordinary person. The true nature is ever clearly evident and has never been concealed even for a moment.' As the Buddha said: 'The Tathāgata truly has no secret treasury. Why is this? Like the full autumn moon dwelling in the sky, revealed, pure, and without obscuration, which all people see.' Also an ancestral master said: 'The five aggregates are originally empty; when has the lion ever been in a den?' Thus we know it is only that sentient beings do not understand and personally call it a secret. Yet although there is no secret treasury, there are secret words. Secret words are difficult to understand; only wisdom can know them. As Master Baizhang said: 'Just present speech clearly mirroring and illuminating, while seeking its form and appearance is unattainable—this is the secret word.' Therefore the light of the Mirror of the Source shines at all times and constantly attends daily activities; the deluded do not know it and thus have nothing to hope for. A sūtra verse says: / 'The realm of sentient beings is entirely equal, / Level as the realm of empty space; / One who can understand this equality / Finds attaining the Buddha Path not difficult.' / Another verse says: / 'One who is without that which has characteristics / Thinks of nothing at all; / With no-mind and nothing arisen, / The Buddha Path is not difficult to attain.' / The Candragarbha-sūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "Therefore, contemplate and observe with equality toward phenomena: there are no phenomena apart from sentient beings; there are no sentient beings apart from phenomena. Just as the substantial nature of sentient beings is my own substantial nature, so my own substantial nature is the substantial nature of all phenomena; as the substantial nature of all phenomena is the substantial nature of the Buddha-dharma. When one thus observes the equality of all phenomena, sentient beings identical to the aggregates cannot be apprehended, and apart from the aggregates they cannot be apprehended; in combination they cannot be apprehended, and apart from combination they likewise cannot be apprehended. They are neither phenomena nor non-phenomena. When a person is thus able to abide in the signless, this is called the equality of phenomena."' Thus we know that all phenomena constantly realize right awakening; there is no time when they do not realize right awakening. As a sūtra says: 'All real phenomena do not abandon their own characteristic to take on another characteristic. If abandoning non-right-awakening one realized equal, right awakening, then it would not be real. Right awakening has never had a time when it did not realize right awakening.' Thus we know that all sentient beings all abide on the stage of awakening; it is not that they abandon unawakening to take up right awakening. Thus one awakening is all awakening; they constantly realize right awakening, and there is no time of unawakening. It is like empty space, serene and clear, without creation or destruction. If one clings to there being realization or non-realization, this belongs to emotional views. If illuminated by wisdom, what direction is not real? In thought after thought one constantly sees the dharmakāya; in dust-mote after dust-mote all becomes Buddha-lands. It is only because one's own eye has a cataract that wondrous vision cannot penetrate, running counter to one's own spiritual [nature] and sinking into drowning one's home treasure. Although of the same single nature, it must be illuminated by wisdom: just as an instrument harbors exquisite notes, so when fingers are skilled, the gong and shang notes accord with the rhythm; people harbor awakening nature, and when wisdom is skillful, movement and function tally with the real. Gain and loss lie with the person; refinement and coarseness are left to oneself. Therefore when the Sugata pressed his finger, he radiated the light of the sāgaramudrā; when sentient beings stir their minds, they manifest the marks of toil and defilement. As ancient commentaries explained the Buddha-nature of sentient beings by analogy to a harp (konghou), which possesses five meanings: first, having the body of the harp; second, having the sound in the middle; third, having the strings and cords; fourth, having the person who plays the harp; fifth, having the melodies produced by the playing. These five are metaphors. Our five aggregates are like the harp; the tathatā Buddha-nature within the body is like the sound; the six pāramitās and myriad practices are like the strings and cords; skillful wisdom is like the person playing the harp. We cultivate the six pāramitās with skillful wisdom, and when we realize Buddhahood in the future, every dust mote and every hair will all pervade the dharmadhātu, like the melodies played. Thus Shen Xiuwen's 'Meaning of the Buddha's Knowledge Being Not Different from Sentient Beings' Knowledge' says: 'Therefore we know that an ordinary person's knowledge is not different from a Buddha's knowledge. Because the things known are different, the knowledge is not different.' Shen Yue's 'Meaning of the Six Destinies Being in Continuity and Becoming Buddha' says: 'Because continuity is not cut off, one is able to receive knowledge. If the merit of training and smelting in this life gradually accumulates, then the principle known in the future fruit turns ever more refined. When ever-more-refined knowledge comes in response, it reaches as far as Buddhahood without interruption or cessation. If there is avidyā in this life, then what is known in the future fruit turns ever darker; ever-darker knowledge also comes in response, reaching as far as the six destinies.' Thus we know that sentient beings' consciousness is in continuous succession without interruption, and it is merely on account of refinement or coarseness that its ascent or descent is distinguished. Furthermore, an ancient master posited: 'All Tathāgatas on the causal ground made the vow to deliver all sentient beings; as long as the realm of sentient beings is not exhausted, they will not take right awakening. Since we presently see sentient beings submerged in the nine realms of existence, we know that the Buddhas should not yet have achieved [Buddhahood]';

if they achieved it, they would violate their vow.' That answer is not correct. In the Huayan commentary, it is explained according to the meaning of true reality: All Buddhas have the two approaches of compassion and wisdom. By virtue of great compassion, they exhaust the limits of the future with no time of attaining Buddhahood; therefore bodhisattva icchantikas do not attain Buddhahood. By virtue of great wisdom, they quickly attain it thought-moment after thought-moment. Furthermore, wishing to transform all realms of sentient beings completely, they must themselves quickly attain it, and only then can they extensively transform them; they do not fear violating their past [vows], fully exhausting true words. Furthermore, they understand the original tathatā of sentient beings, and thus they transform without transforming. Thus they constantly achieve it and also constantly do not achieve it; they also constantly transform and constantly do not transform. Compassion and wisdom are unhindered; why cling to limitations? The above explanation is still in terms of both principle and phenomenon being mutually penetrating. If one clarifies it directly according to the source, as the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: 'When the Tathāgata first realized right awakening, within his own body he saw all sentient beings had already completed Buddhahood and were already in the realm of nirvāṇa.' Another sūtra also says: 'At that time the World-Honoured One, again relying on the marks of all Tathāgatas who sustain the treasury of Dharma, expounded prajñā for the bodhisattvas—the supreme treasury Dharma-gate of the profound principle that sustains and pervades all sentient beings: that is, all sentient beings are the tathāgatagarbha, because Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's own substance is pervasive; all sentient beings are the vajragarbha, because they are sprinkled by the vajragarbha; all sentient beings are the true-Dharma-garbha, because all rely on the turning of right speech; all sentient beings are the wondrous-karma-garbha, because all activities and applications rely upon it.' The Lotus Sūtra says: 'Śāriputra, you should know that originally I made a vow wishing to cause all living beings to be equal to me without difference. What I formerly vowed has now already been fulfilled: I transform all sentient beings and cause them all to enter the Buddha Path.' Thus attaining Buddhahood and delivering sentient beings, the great vow and the great transformation are completely fulfilled. If there are those who do not believe this explanation, they themselves have not yet achieved it; how could they deliver others?