宗鏡錄 38.3

38.3

答。得而不得。始本之覺無差。不得而得。妙證之時玄會。如金剛三昧經云。佛言。善男子。五位一覺。從本利入。若化眾生。從其本處。舍利弗言。云何從其本處。佛言。本來無本處。於無處本際。入實。發菩提。而當成聖道。何以故。善男子。如手執彼空。不得非不得。論釋云。舉疑發起云。若本處。應得入。若得入。非無本處。為遣是疑。故引喻釋。手執彼空者。手執喻能入之行處。空喻所入之本。不得者。虛空無形可握故。非不得者。握內不無虛空故。本利亦爾。本來無本處性。故不可得。無本之本不無。故非不可得也。斯則悟本稱得。非向外求。若有所求即是失本。又若有所得。不得菩提。以無得故。出生菩提故。又無得之法。非在得外。要求一切法。方盡無得之原。如發菩提心論云。於無法中。說諸法相。於無得中。說有得法。如見之事。諸佛境界。然雖求一切法。以了無得故。即無所依。無所求中。吾故求之耳。故大寶積經云。佛問文殊。依何正修行。文殊曰。正修行者。為無所依。釋曰。凡有言教所詮。並證一心之義。若心外見法。是邪修行。則有所依故。若正修行。不依一物。所依既寂。能依亦亡。能所俱空。邪正雙泯。即正修行矣。無生義云。經言。法離眼耳鼻舌身意。是故六根不能取。故言學者無取。大智度論言。譬如𧉑𬟼蟲處處能集。唯不能集火中。眾生意識。亦復如是。預是可聞見法。悉皆能緣。而不能緣般若。故知般若性離。意不能取。又能取之人。性復自空。故不能取。若以眼取。如經言。眼性復空。若以耳取。耳性又空。若以手取。手性又空。若以意取。意性又空。人與法共是一如。如不能取得如也。空不能取得空。即是學者無取。故言無得。又一念心起。有二種覺。一約有心者。察一念纔起。後念不續。即不成過。所以禪門中云。不怕念起。唯慮覺遲。又云。瞥起是病。不續是藥。以心生即是罪生時故。是以初心攝念為先。是入道之階漸。如諸經要集云。攝心一處。便是功德叢林。散慮片時。即名煩惱羅剎。所以曇光釋子。降猛虎於膝前。螺髻仙人。宿巢禽於頂上。乃至森羅不能自觸。要須因倚諸根內想感發。何以知然。今有心感於內。事發於外。或緣於外。起染於內。故知內外相資。表裏遞用。君臣心識。不可備捨。故經云。心王若正。則六臣不邪。識意惛沈。則其主不明。今悔六臣。當各慚愧制禦六根。不令馳散也。法句經心意品云。昔佛在世時。有一道人。在河邊樹下學道。十二年中。貪想不除。走心散意。但念六欲目色耳聲。鼻香口味。身受心法。身靜意遊。曾無寧息。十二年中。不能得道。佛知可度。化作沙門。往至其所。樹下共宿。須臾月明。有龜從河中出。來至樹下。復有水狗飢行求食。與龜相逢。便欲噉龜。龜縮其頭尾。及其四脚。藏於甲中。不能得噉。水狗小遠。復出頭足。行步如故。不能奈何。遂便得脫。於是道人。問化沙門。此龜有護命之鎧。水狗不能得其便。化沙門答言。吾念世人。不如此龜。不知無常。放恣六情。外魔得便。形壞神去。生死無端。輪轉五道。苦惱百千。皆意所造。宜自勉勵求滅度安。於是化沙門即說偈言。藏六如龜。防意如城。慧與魔戰。勝則無患。是以意地若息。則六趣俱閑。一切境魔不能為便。如龜藏六。善護其命。起信論云。若後念覺知前念。此雖名覺。猶為不覺。故約有心說。以是初行凡夫故。二約無心者。知初起時即無初相。不待後念更滅。以正生一念之時。畢竟不可得故。如五十校計經云。菩薩問佛言。罪生復滅。何以故。我了不見。佛問諸菩薩。汝曹心寧轉不。諸菩薩報佛言。我心轉生。設我心不轉生。亦不能與佛共語。佛問諸菩薩言。若心生時。寧還自覺心生不。諸菩薩言。我但識見因緣時。不覺初起生時。佛言。如汝所說。尚不能知心初生時。何能無罪。故知不察最初一念因成之假。寧免後念相續成事之過乎。以一切生死煩惱。皆因不覺故。若智為先導。咎何由生。又若了心外無法。則情想不生。不用加功。直入不思議地。如清涼鈔云。經明十地法體。心言路絕。釋不思議。謂言語道斷。心行處滅。據法望情。名不思議。以其法外本無情故。其義云何。情相之興。原由妄想。妄想故。便有相生。以依相故。復起心想。隨名取實。即是覺觀。依此覺觀。便起言說。依言說已。復起妄心想。取所說法。此即言語。以之為道。心以為行。於是相想熾然不息。今契法實。滅除妄想。相即不生。相不生故。立名心滅。名心滅故。名即不生。名不生故。覺觀不起。覺不起故。言說隨亡。言說亡故。不復依言取於所說。不取說故。言語道斷。心行處滅。心行滅故。名不思議。以法出情。心言不及。故不思議。是知妄想心亡。境界緣滅。如灸病得穴。永斷病原。可謂覺寶之良醫矣。

Answer: Attaining and yet not attaining, the awakening of the initial and the original are without distinction. Not attaining and yet attaining, at the time of wondrous realization they are profoundly joined. As the Vajrasamādhi-sūtra states: 'The Buddha said: "Good sons, the five stages are a single awakening; one enters profitably from the source. If one transforms sentient beings, it is from their original place." Śāriputra asked: "What is meant by 'from their original place'?" The Buddha said: "Originally there is no original place. In the original limit of no place, entering reality, generating bodhi, one shall realize the noble path. Why is this? Good sons, it is like a hand grasping empty space: it neither grasps it nor does it not grasp it."' The commentary explains: 'Raising a doubt, the question arises: "If there is an original place, one should be able to enter it. If one can enter it, it is not without an original place." To dispel this doubt, an analogy is adduced and explained: "A hand grasping empty space"—the hand grasping is an analogy for the active practice of entering; empty space is an analogy for the source that is entered. "Neither grasps it" because empty space has no form that can be gripped. "Nor does it not grasp it" because within the grip empty space is not absent. The benefit of the source is also like this: originally there is no nature of an original place, hence it cannot be attained; yet the source of no source is not absent, hence it is not non-attainable.' Thus, realizing the source is termed 'attaining'; it is not seeking outward. If there is anything sought, that is losing the source. Furthermore, if there is anything attained, one does not attain bodhi, because it is through non-attainment that bodhi arises. Moreover, the dharma of non-attainment is not outside of attainment: one must seek all dharmas before completely exhausting the fountainhead of non-attainment. As the Bodhicittotpāda-śāstra states: 'Within the absence of dharmas, one explains the characteristics of dharmas; within non-attainment, one explains that there are attained dharmas. Matters as they are seen are the realm of the buddhas.' However, although one seeks all dharmas, because one understands non-attainment, there is no reliance. In that which is unsought, I therefore seek it. Hence the Mahāratnakūṭa-sūtra states: 'The Buddha asked Mañjuśrī: "Relying on what does one practice correctly?" Mañjuśrī replied: "One who practices correctly relies on nothing at all."' The explanation says: 'Whatever is expressed by verbal teachings all verifies the meaning of the one mind. If one sees dharmas outside of mind, this is false practice, because there is something relied upon. If it is correct practice, one relies on not a single thing. When that which is relied upon is calmed, that which relies is also gone. Both subject and object are empty; the false and the correct are both extinguished—this is correct practice.' The Treatise on the Meaning of Non-arising states: 'The sūtra says: "Dharmas are free from eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and manas; therefore, the six sense faculties cannot grasp them." Hence it says that practitioners do not grasp. The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: "For example, a moth can congregate anywhere, but it cannot congregate in fire. The manovijñāna of sentient beings is also like this: whatever dharmas can be heard or seen, it can take them all as cognitive objects, but it cannot take prajñā as a cognitive object." Thus we know that the nature of prajñā is detached, and the manas cannot grasp it. Furthermore, the person who grasps is himself inherently empty by nature, and therefore cannot grasp. If one grasps with the eye, as the sūtra says, "The nature of the eye is also empty." If one grasps with the ear, the nature of the ear is also empty. If one grasps with the hand, the nature of the hand is also empty. If one grasps with the manas, the nature of the manas is also empty. Person and dharma are together one suchness; suchness cannot grasp suchness, and emptiness cannot grasp emptiness. This is the practitioner's non-grasping, and therefore it is called non-attainment.' Furthermore, when a single thought-moment arises in the mind, there are two kinds of awakening. First, in terms of having a mind: one observes that as soon as a single thought-moment arises, the subsequent thought-moment does not continue, and thus it does not constitute an error. Therefore, it is said in Chan: 'Fear not the arising of thoughts; only beware the delay of awakening.' It is also said: 'A fleeting arising is the illness; non-continuation is the medicine.' This is because the arising of mind is precisely when wrongdoing arises. Hence, for beginners, gathering thoughts is foremost, and is the gradual progression into the path. As the Collection of Essentials from Various Sūtras states: 'Gathering the mind in one place is a thicket of virtues; scattering thoughts for a single instant is a rākṣasa of kleśa.' Therefore, the Śākyan disciple Tanguang subdued a fierce tiger before his knees, and the sage with topknot of hair let birds nest on his crown. Even the manifold phenomena cannot touch themselves; they must depend upon the inner conceptions of the sense faculties to be stimulated and aroused. How do we know this is so? Now there is mind stimulated within and events manifested without; or taking external objects as conditions, defilement is stirred within. Thus we know that inner and outer support each other, and the manifest and the hidden function reciprocally. The sovereign and ministers of the mind and consciousness cannot both be abandoned. Hence the sūtra says: 'If the mind-king is upright, then the six ministers are not corrupt; if the consciousness-faculty is muddled, then its ruler is not bright.' Now, to repent regarding the six ministers, one should be ashamed and restrain the six sense faculties, not letting them run wild. The Mind Chapter of the Dharmapada states: 'Formerly, when the Buddha was in the world, there was a man of the Way practicing the path under a tree by a river. For twelve years, his greedy thoughts were not eliminated; his mind wandered and his intentions were scattered, only thinking of the six desires—visual forms of the eye, auditory sounds of the ear, olfactory fragrances of the nose, gustatory tastes of the tongue, tactile sensations of the body, and dharmas of the mind. While his body was still, his intention roamed, never finding peace. In twelve years, he could not attain the Way. The Buddha, knowing he could be delivered, transformed himself into a śramaṇa and went to his place to lodge together under the tree. Soon the moon grew bright, and a turtle came out of the river and came under the tree. There was also an otter roaming hungrily in search of food; encountering the turtle, it wished to devour it. The turtle withdrew its head, tail, and four legs, hiding them within its shell, so that it could not be devoured. When the otter moved slightly away, it stuck out its head and feet again and walked as before. The otter could do nothing, and the turtle thereupon escaped. Thereupon the man of the Way asked the transformed śramaṇa: "This turtle has an armor that protects its life, so the otter could not gain an advantage over it." The transformed śramaṇa answered: "I reflect that worldly people are not equal to this turtle: they do not know impermanence, indulge the six passions, and external māras gain the advantage over them; their forms decay and their spirits depart, endless in birth and death, revolving in the five destinies with hundreds of thousands of sufferings—all produced by the mind. One should exert oneself to seek the peace of extinguishing and crossing over." Thereupon the transformed śramaṇa spoke a verse: "Conceal the six like a turtle, / guard the mind like a citadel. / Let wisdom do battle with Māra; / victorious, there is no peril."' Therefore, if the ground of the mind is stilled, then the six destinies are all at peace; all māras of the objective realm cannot gain an advantage, like the turtle concealing its six limbs, well protecting its life. The Awakening of Faith says: 'If a subsequent thought becomes aware of a prior thought, although this is called awakening, it is still non-awakening.' This is spoken in terms of having a mind, because it refers to ordinary people at the initial stage of practice. Second, in terms of having no mind: one knows that at the very moment of initial arising, there is no initial characteristic; one does not wait for a subsequent thought to extinguish it further, because at the exact moment a single thought arises, it is ultimately unattainable. As the Sūtra of Fifty Calculations states: 'A bodhisattva asked the Buddha: "Wrongdoing arises and then ceases. Why is it that I do not see it at all?" The Buddha asked the bodhisattvas: "Do your minds turn and arise, or not?" The bodhisattvas answered the Buddha: "Our minds turn and arise. If our minds did not turn and arise, we could not converse with the Buddha." The Buddha asked the bodhisattvas: "When a thought arises, are you yourselves aware of the thought arising, or not?" The bodhisattvas said: "We only perceive when conditions are met; we are not aware of the moment of its initial arising." The Buddha said: "As you have said, you cannot even know when a thought first arises; how could you be free of wrongdoing?"' Thus we know that if one does not examine the provisionality of the causal formation of the initial thought-moment, how can one avoid the fault of subsequent thoughts continuing and becoming concrete events? For all birth-and-death and kleśas are due to non-awakening. If wisdom acts as the guide, whence could error arise? Furthermore, if one understands that there are no dharmas outside the mind, then emotions and thoughts do not arise; without needing extra effort, one directly enters the inconceivable ground. As the Qingliang Commentary says: 'The sūtra clarifies that the dharma-substance of the ten grounds cuts off the paths of mind and speech, and explains the inconceivable as the cutting off of the path of words and language, and the extinction of the sphere of mental activity. Viewing emotions in terms of dharmas, it is called inconceivable, because outside these dharmas there are originally no emotions. What is its meaning? The arising of emotional characteristics originates from false conceptualization. Because of false conceptualization, characteristics arise. Relying on characteristics, mental thoughts arise again; grasping realities according to names is vitarka and vicāra. Relying on this vitarka and vicāra, speech arises. After speech arises, false mental thoughts arise again, grasping the dharmas that were spoken. This is words and language acting as the path, and the mind acting as the activity. Thereupon characteristics and thoughts blaze incessantly. Now, accord with the reality of dharmas and extinguish false conceptualization: characteristics will not arise. Because characteristics do not arise, the mind that establishes names is extinguished. Because the mind of names is extinguished, names do not arise. Because names do not arise, vitarka and vicāra do not occur. Because vitarka does not occur, speech perishes accordingly. Because speech perishes, one no longer grasps what is spoken based on words. Because one does not grasp what is spoken, the path of words and language is cut off, and the sphere of mental activity is extinguished. Because mental activity is extinguished, it is called inconceivable. Because dharmas transcend emotions and are beyond the reach of mind and speech, it is inconceivable.' Thus we know that when the mind of false conceptualization perishes, the conditions of the objective realm are extinguished. It is like moxibustion hitting the acupoint, severing the source of the disease forever; this can be called the fine physician of the jewel of awakening.