宗鏡錄 26.9

26.9

答。雖有其事。如同夢中之事。設有其名。皆非得物之名。故知夢覺俱虛。名體雙寂。如淨名私記云。法相如是。豈可說乎。若說。則言有一法可得。存法作解。還是生死業。今時只欲令眾生除一切見。此中見無別義。亦無巧釋。如人夜夢。種種所見。比至覺時。總無一物。今亦爾。虛妄夢中。言有萬法。若悟其性。畢竟無一物可得。此中亦無能說能示。亦無能聞能得。是以異生非墮凡夫地。迷處全空。諸佛不證真如門。悟時無得。則不見有一法可斷。無生死所出之門。不見有一法可成。無菩提能入之路。思益經云。諸佛出世。不為令眾生出生死入涅槃。但為度生死涅槃之二見耳。現寶藏經云。文殊師利言。大德迦葉。如人熱病。是人種種妄有所說。是中寧有天鬼持耶。有大明醫。飲彼人酥。熱病即愈。止不妄說。是中頗有天鬼去不。答言。不也。乃至世間如是顛倒熱病。無我我想。住我想已。流轉生死。是故如來出現於世。隨彼形色應解法門。知解我想。斷於顛倒。為彼眾生而演說法。既聞法已。除一切想。無所執著。知解想已。越度諸流。到於彼岸。名為涅槃。是中頗有我及眾生。壽命養育。人及丈夫。可涅槃者不。答言。無也。文殊言。為是利故。如來出世。但為顯示平等相故。不為生。不為滅。但為解知煩惱不實。釋曰。如來出世。但為顯示平等相者。夫執妄苦而求離。望聖量而欲修。皆是妄我施為。情識分別。是以大雄垂跡。但示正宗。破妄我。而顯真我之門。斥情識。而歸淨識之道。真我淨識。即平等相。以淨識絕分別。真我無執情。絕分別故。差別自亡。無執情故。平等自現。首楞嚴經云。由汝無始心性狂亂。知見妄發。發妄不息。勞見發塵。如勞目睛。則有狂華。於湛精明無因亂起。一切世間山河大地。生死涅槃。皆即狂勞顛倒華相。大般若經云。佛言。善現。一切法皆以無起無作為趣。諸菩薩摩訶薩。於如是趣。不可超越。何以故。無起無作中。趣與非趣。不可得故。大集經云。佛言。若有菩薩。成就自然慧。方便。而求菩提。於此五陰中。為如實覺。故求於菩提。是菩薩知色無常。而行布施。乃至受想行識亦如是。知識無常。應行布施。知識苦。知識無我。知識鈍。知識無智。知識如幻。知識如野馬。知識如水中月。知識如夢。知識如影。知識如響。知識如旋火輪。知識無我。知識無眾生。知識無命。知識無人。知識無主。知識無養。知識如空。知識無相。知識無願。知識無作。知識無生。知識無起。知識無出。知識無形。知識寂靜。知識離。知識無終。知識無成。知識與虛空等。乃至知識如涅槃性。而行布施。菩薩如是行施時。以施離故知識亦離。以識離故。知施亦離。以識施離故。知願亦離。以願離故。知識施願亦離。以識施願離故。知菩提亦離。以菩提離故。知識施願離。而知一切法同菩提性。善男子。是為菩薩出世間檀波羅蜜。是知識空故。一切凡聖萬法皆空。以了此空故。方能行無上菩提。具足十波羅蜜。則悲智圓滿。二利無虧。具此悲智。何所為耶。佛種不斷故。佛種不斷。有何相耶。謂成三德。救護眾生。成就恩德。永斷煩惱。成於斷德。了知諸行。成於智德。是以入此宗鏡。動止唯心。更無一法而能破壞。如大虛空藏所問經云。譬如有情。於空中行。而彼虛空無有破壞。如是一切有情。於真如中行。而彼真如無有斷壞。菩薩如是。由以智故。於色於法。以真如印之。不於真如間斷破壞。是為菩薩以如來印。印於真如。不間斷善巧智故。

Answer: Although these matters exist, they are like events within a dream; even if these names exist, none of them are names that obtain actual entities. Thus we know that both dream and waking are empty, and both name and substance are tranquil. As the Private Notes on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa says: "Characteristics of phenomena being as such, how could they be spoken of? If spoken of, then it is said that there is a dharma that can be attained; retaining dharmas and forming interpretations is still the karma of birth and death. Now it is only intended that sentient beings eliminate all views. In this, 'view' has no other meaning, nor is there any ingenious explanation. Just as when a person dreams at night of all kinds of things seen, by the time they awake, there is not a single thing at all. It is the same now: within the false dream, it is said that the ten thousand dharmas exist; if one awakens to their nature, ultimately not a single thing can be attained. In this, there is also neither one who can speak and show, nor one who can hear and attain." For this reason, ordinary beings do not fall onto the stage of ordinary beings—the place of delusion is entirely empty; the Buddhas do not realize the gate of tathatā—at the time of awakening there is nothing attained. Thus one does not see a single dharma that can be severed, and there is no gate from which birth and death are exited; one does not see a single dharma that can be accomplished, and there is no road on which bodhi can be entered. The Viśeṣacintabrahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra says: "The Buddhas appear in the world not to cause sentient beings to exit birth and death and enter nirvāṇa, but merely to deliver them from the two views of birth and death and nirvāṇa." The Ratnakaraṇḍaka-sūtra says: "Mañjuśrī said: 'Venerable Kāśyapa, just as when a person has a fever, this person speaks all kinds of false utterances: is there any heavenly demon or ghost possessing them?' 'There is a great, clear physician who gives that person ghee to drink, and the fever is cured, and they cease to speak falsely: does any heavenly demon or ghost depart from them?' Kāśyapa replied: 'No.' '...and so forth, up to: In this way, the fever of worldly inversions has the notion of a self where there is no self; having abided in the notion of self, one transmigrates in birth and death. Therefore the Tathāgata appears in the world, and in accordance with their forms and colors and the Dharma gates they should understand, knowing and understanding the notion of self, severing inversions, expounds the Dharma for those sentient beings. Having heard the Dharma, they eliminate all notions and have no clinging; having known and understood notions, they cross over the currents and arrive at the other shore, which is called nirvāṇa. In this, is there any self, sentient being, life, nourished one, person, or human being that can be brought to nirvāṇa?' Kāśyapa replied: 'No.' Mañjuśrī said: 'For this benefit, the Tathāgata appears in the world only to reveal the characteristic of equality, not for arising, not for ceasing, but only for knowing and understanding that kleśas are not real.'" Explanation: As for the Tathāgata appearing in the world only to reveal the characteristic of equality: grasping at false suffering and seeking to be free from it, looking up to the measure of the sage and wishing to cultivate it—these are all the actions of a false self and the discriminations of emotional consciousness. Therefore, the Great Hero leaves his traces only to point to the correct source, breaking the false self to reveal the gate of the true self, and censuring emotional consciousness to return to the path of pure consciousness. The true self and pure consciousness are the very characteristic of equality. Because pure consciousness cuts off discrimination, the true self has no grasping sentiment. Because discrimination is cut off, distinctions naturally vanish; because there is no grasping sentiment, equality naturally manifests. The Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "Due to the wild confusion of your mind-nature from beginningless time, knowledge and views falsely arise; this arising of falsity does not cease, and fatigued seeing gives rise to defilements—just as when the eyeballs are fatigued, there appear illusory flowers, which arise confusedly from the pure, clear essence without a cause. All the world's mountains, rivers, and great earth, birth and death, and nirvāṇa, are all nothing but the inverted floral characteristics of wild fatigue." The Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: "The Buddha said: 'Subhūti, all dharmas have non-arising and non-action as their destination. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas cannot surpass such a destination. Why? Because within non-arising and non-action, destination and non-destination cannot be obtained.'" The Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: "The Buddha said: 'If there is a bodhisattva who accomplishes natural wisdom and skillful means and seeks bodhi, within these five aggregates, for the sake of truly awakening, they seek bodhi. This bodhisattva knows that form is impermanent and practices giving, and so forth up to feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Knowing that consciousness is impermanent, one should practice giving; knowing consciousness is suffering, knowing consciousness is non-self, knowing consciousness is dull, knowing consciousness is without wisdom, knowing consciousness is like an illusion, knowing consciousness is like a mirage, knowing consciousness is like the moon in the water, knowing consciousness is like a dream, knowing consciousness is like a shadow, knowing consciousness is like an echo, knowing consciousness is like a whirling firebrand, knowing consciousness is without self, knowing consciousness is without sentient beings, knowing consciousness is without life, knowing consciousness is without a person, knowing consciousness is without a master, knowing consciousness is without a nourished one, knowing consciousness is like space, knowing consciousness is without characteristics, knowing consciousness is without wish, knowing consciousness is without action, knowing consciousness is without birth, knowing consciousness is without arising, knowing consciousness is without departure, knowing consciousness is without form, knowing consciousness is quiescent, knowing consciousness is detached, knowing consciousness is without end, knowing consciousness is without accomplishment, knowing consciousness is equal to empty space, and so forth up to knowing consciousness is like the nature of nirvāṇa, one practices giving. When the bodhisattva practices giving in this way, because giving is detached, they know consciousness is also detached. Because consciousness is detached, they know giving is also detached. Because consciousness and giving are detached, they know vows are also detached. Because vows are detached, they know consciousness, giving, and vows are also detached. Because consciousness, giving, and vows are detached, they know bodhi is also detached. Because bodhi is detached, knowing consciousness, giving, and vows are detached, they know that all dharmas share the nature of bodhi. Good son, this is the bodhisattva's supramundane dānapāramitā.'" It is because consciousness is empty that all the ten thousand dharmas of the ordinary and sage are empty. By understanding this emptiness, one is only then able to practice unsurpassed bodhi and fully equip the ten pāramitās; then compassion and wisdom are perfected, and the two benefits are without defect. Being equipped with this compassion and wisdom, what is accomplished? Because the Buddha-seed is not severed. When the Buddha-seed is not severed, what are its characteristics? It refers to accomplishing the three virtues: rescuing and protecting sentient beings accomplishes the virtue of grace; eternally severing kleśas accomplishes the virtue of abandonment; and fully knowing all formations accomplishes the virtue of wisdom. For this reason, entering this Mirror of the Source, movement and rest are citta alone; there is not a single dharma that can be destroyed. As the Ākāśagarbhabodhisattvapṛcchā-sūtra says: "For example, it is like sentient beings moving through the sky, and that sky is not destroyed; in this way, all sentient beings move within tathatā, and that tathatā is not broken or destroyed. The bodhisattva is like this: through wisdom, with regard to form and phenomena, they seal them with tathatā, not causing interruption or destruction within tathatā. This is the bodhisattva using the Tathāgata's seal to seal tathatā, due to uninterrupted skillful wisdom."