宗鏡錄 31.2.1

31.2.1

夫諸佛境界。 唯趣不思議一心解脫之門。 何謂不思議解脫。 以一切法非有而有。 有而非有。 非定量之所知故。 稱不思議。 既以非有而有。 即不住於無。 有而非有。 即不住於有。 有無不住。 即於諸法悉皆解脫。 以一切法不出有無故。 是知一心解脫之中。 無有文字。 則無生死。 無煩惱。 無陰界。 無眾生。 無憂喜。 無苦樂。 無繫縛。 無往來。 無是無非。 無得無失。 乃至無菩提。 無涅槃。 無真如。 無解脫。 以要言之。 一切世出世間諸法。 悉皆無有。 如首楞嚴經云。 知見立知。 即無明本。 知見無見。 斯即涅槃。 無漏真淨。 云何是中更容他物。 如上所說。 世間生死。 出世涅槃等。 無量差別之名。 皆從知見文字所立。 若無知見文字。 名體本空。 於妙明心中。 更有何物。 如六祖偈云。 菩提亦非樹。 明鏡亦非臺。 本來無一物。 何用拂塵埃。 融大師云。 至理無詮。 非解非纏。 靈通應物。 常存目前。 目前無物。 無物宛然。 不用人致。 體自虛玄。 又云。 無物即天真。 天真即大道。 寒山子詩云。 寒山居一窟。 窟中無一物。 淨潔空堂堂。 皎皎明如日。 糲食資微軀。 布裘遮幻質。 任汝千聖現。 我有天真佛。 所以大涅槃經中。 佛說一百句解脫況百斤金。 即諸佛無上之珍。 涅槃祕密之寶。 是以句句皆云真解脫者。 即是如來。 夫如來者。 即一心真如自性中來。 故云如來。 又如者。 不變不異。 不失自性。 故名為如。 來者。 即真如不守自性。 隨緣顯現。 故名為來。 斯乃是不來之來。 以真如性遍一切處。 實無去來。 從心所感。 無出沒故。 又經云。 如來者。 即是法也。 故起信論云。 所言法者。 即眾生心。 所以古德云。 心本清淨。 亦無淨相。 方見我心。 故知一百句解脫中。 句句明心。 心心解脫。 未有一文一字不是宗鏡之指南。 如經云。 爾時迦葉菩薩復白佛言。 世尊。 唯願哀愍。 重垂廣說。 大涅槃行。 解脫之義。 佛讚迦葉。 善哉善哉。 善男子。 真解脫者。 名曰遠離一切繫縛。 若真解脫離諸繫縛。 則無有生。 亦無和合。 譬如父母和合生子。 真解脫者。 則不如是。 是故解脫。 名曰不生。 迦葉。 譬如醍醐。 其性清淨。 如來亦爾。 非因父母和合而生。 其性清淨。 所以示現有父母者。 為欲化度諸眾生故。 真解脫者。 即是如來。 如來解脫。 無二無別。 譬如春月下諸豆子。 得煖氣已。 尋便出生。 真解脫者。 則不如是。 又解脫者。 名曰虛無。 虛無即是解脫。 解脫即是如來。 如來即是虛無。 非作所作。 凡是作者。 猶如城郭樓觀却敵。 真解脫者。 則不如是。 是故解脫即是如來。 又解脫者。 即無為法。 譬如陶師。 作已還破。 解脫不爾。 真。 解脫者。 不生不滅。 是故解脫即是如來。 如來亦爾。 不生不滅。 不老不死。 不破不壞。 非有為法。 以是義故。 名曰如來。 入大涅槃。 不老不死。 有何等義。 老者。 為遷變。 髮白面皺。 死者。 身壞命終。 如是等法。 解脫中無。 以無是事。 故名解脫。 如來亦無髮白面皺有為之法。 是故如來無有老也。 無有老故。 則無有死。 又解脫者。 名曰無病。 所謂病者。 四百四病。 及餘外來侵損身者。 是處無故。 故名解脫。 無疾病者。 即真解脫。 真解脫者。 即是如來。 如來無病。 是故法身亦無有病。 如是無病。 即是如來。 死者。 名曰身壞命終。 是處無死。 即是甘露。 是甘露者。 即真解脫。 真解脫者。 即是如來。 如來成就如是功德。 云何當言如來無常。 若言無常。 無有是處。 是金剛身。 云何無常。 是故如來不名命終。

Now, the realm of all buddhas is reached only through the gate of liberation of the inconceivable one mind. Why is it called "inconceivable liberation"? Because all phenomena are not existing yet exist, exist yet do not exist, and because it is not known by inferential cognition, it is termed "inconceivable." Since they are not existing yet exist, one does not abide in non-existence. Since they exist yet do not exist, one does not abide in existence. Abiding neither in existence nor in non-existence, one is thereupon liberated from all phenomena, because all phenomena do not go beyond existence and non-existence. Thus one knows that within the liberation of the one mind, there are no words or letters; hence there is no saṃsāra, no kleśa, no skandhas or dhātus, no sentient beings, no sorrow or joy, no suffering or pleasure, no bandhana, no going or coming, no right or wrong, no gain or loss, and even no bodhi, no nirvāṇa, no tathatā, and no liberation. In short, all mundane and supramundane phenomena are completely non-existent. As the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "To establish knowledge upon seeing and knowing is the very root of avidyā; seeing and knowing devoid of [subjective] views is itself nirvāṇa, the uncontaminated, true purity." How could anything else be accommodated within this? As stated above, worldly saṃsāra, supramundane nirvāṇa, and all such immeasurable distinct names are all established from seeing, knowing, words, and letters. If there are no seeing, knowing, words, or letters, names and substances are fundamentally empty. In the wonderful, luminous citta, what else could there be? As the Sixth Patriarch's verse says: / "Bodhi is not a tree at all, / Nor is the bright mirror a stand. / Fundamentally not a single thing exists; / Where could dust and dirt be wiped away?" / Master Rong says: "The ultimate principle cannot be explicated; / It is neither liberated nor bound. / Spiritual and penetrating, responding to things, / It is ever-present before one's eyes. / Before one's eyes there is no thing; / 'No thing' is vividly present. / It does not require human effort to bring about; / Its substance is naturally subtle and profound." / He also says: "No thing is the inherently authentic; / The inherently authentic is the Great Way." / The poem of Master Hanshan says: / "Cold Mountain dwells in a single cave; / Inside the cave there is not a single thing. / Pure, clean, vast and empty, / Bright and luminous as the sun. / Coarse grain nourishes this frail body; / A cloth quilt covers the illusory form. / Let a thousand sages appear as they will; / I possess the inherently authentic Buddha." / Therefore, in the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, the Buddha spoke of the one hundred phrases of liberation, comparing them to a hundred pounds of gold: they are the supreme treasure of all buddhas, the secret treasure of nirvāṇa. Hence, phrase after phrase, it states that true liberation is just the tathāgata. Now, the tathāgata comes from the intrinsic nature of the tathatā of the one mind; hence he is called "Tathāgata" [the Thus-Come]. Furthermore, "tathā" [thus] means unchanging, unvarying, and not losing its intrinsic nature; hence it is called "tathā." "Āgata" [come] means that tathatā does not remain in its intrinsic nature, but manifests in accord with conditions; hence it is called "come." This is indeed a coming that is non-coming, because the nature of tathatā pervades all places, truly having no going or coming; responding according to the mind, it has neither appearance nor disappearance. Furthermore, the sūtra states: "The Tathāgata is none other than the Dharma." Hence the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith says: "What is called 'Dharma' is the mind of sentient beings." Therefore, an ancient master of virtue said: "The mind is fundamentally pure, yet there is also no mark of purity; only then do you see my mind." Thus we know that among the one hundred phrases of liberation, each phrase illumines the mind, and every mind is liberated; not a single word or letter fails to serve as a compass for the Mirror of the Source. As the sūtra states: "At that time Bodhisattva Kāśyapa addressed the Buddha once again, saying: 'World-Honoured One, we only pray that out of pity you will deign to explain extensively once more the practice of great nirvāṇa and the meaning of liberation.' The Buddha praised Kāśyapa: 'Excellent, excellent! Good son, true liberation is called being far removed from all bandhana. If true liberation is free from all bandhana, then there is no birth and also no coming together. Just as father and mother come together to give birth to a child, true liberation is not like this. For this reason, liberation is called 'unborn.' Kāśyapa, just as ghee is pure in nature, the Tathāgata is also like this: he is not born from the coming together of father and mother; his nature is pure. The reason he manifests having parents is because he wishes to convert and save all sentient beings. True liberation is just the Tathāgata. The Tathāgata and liberation are not two and not distinct. Just as when various beans are planted in the spring months, having received warmth, they immediately sprout and grow, true liberation is not like this. Furthermore, liberation is called 'emptiness and non-being.' Emptiness and non-being are just liberation; liberation is just the Tathāgata; the Tathāgata is just emptiness and non-being. It is neither acting nor what is made. Whatever is made is like city walls, towers, and ramparts. True liberation is not like this. For this reason, liberation is just the Tathāgata. Furthermore, liberation is an unconditioned phenomenon. Just as a potter makes [pots] and then breaks them again, liberation is not like this. True liberation is neither produced nor destroyed. For this reason, liberation is just the Tathāgata. The Tathāgata is also like this: neither produced nor destroyed, neither aging nor dying, neither broken nor destroyed, not a conditioned phenomenon. By this meaning, he is called 'the Tathāgata entering great nirvāṇa.' What is the meaning of neither aging nor dying? 'Aging' means shifting and changing, with white hair and wrinkled face. 'Dying' means the destruction of the body and the end of life. Such phenomena do not exist in liberation. Because these things are absent, it is called 'liberation.' The Tathāgata also has no conditioned phenomena of white hair and wrinkled face; for this reason the Tathāgata has no aging. Because he has no aging, he has no dying. Furthermore, liberation is called 'free from illness.' What is called 'illness' refers to the four hundred and four illnesses, as well as other external damages that harm the body; because these do not exist in this state, it is called 'liberation.' Being free from illness is true liberation. True liberation is just the Tathāgata. The Tathāgata has no illness; therefore the dharmakāya also has no illness. Such absence of illness is just the Tathāgata. 'Dying' is called the destruction of the body and the end of life; having no death in this state is amṛta. This amṛta is true liberation. True liberation is just the Tathāgata. The Tathāgata has accomplished such merits; how could one say that the Tathāgata is impermanent? If one says he is impermanent, there is no such possibility. This is a vajra-body; how could it be impermanent? For this reason, the Tathāgata is not said to have an end of life.'"