宗鏡錄 40.11

40.11

答。假名字畢竟離。是眾生相。如是相。則無變異。乃至如虛空無變異相。一切諸法亦無變異相。云何無變異。以無二故。亦無無二。方成真智。但云無有二。非是有無二。如華嚴經頌云。常於諸法不作二。亦復不作於不二。於二不二並皆離。知其悉是語言道。是知一切言語。皆從覺觀而生。纔有覺觀。便形紋綵。發萠芽於境上。起兆朕於心中。心境對治。便為質礙。若入宗鏡。自絕言思。妙旨潛通。了無所得。又若一切修行趣佛乘人。但先得旨之後。方可以佛知見。治諸餘習。以正定水。瑩。淨禪支。用多聞慧。助生觀力。乃至習誦熏修。萬行嚴飾。若未入宗鏡。不了自心。縱多聞習誦。俱不成就。如善星受持讀誦十二部經。獲得四禪。不達無生。返墮地獄。又如阿難多聞。不明實相。遭婬席所縛。為文殊所訶。應須先入正宗。後修福智。如瑠璃之含寶月。似摩尼之置高幢。方得通透無瑕。能雨眾寶。自他兼利。豈虛搆哉。又此絕待無作真心。非是斷空但空。若眾生一切妄心。世間一切幻法。以情識分別不及。故。目之為空。如洞山和尚偈云。世間塵事亂如毛。不向空門何處消。若待境緣除蕩盡。古人那得喻芭蕉。龐居士偈云。識樂眾生樂。緣繩妄走作。智樂菩薩樂。無繩亦無縛。若有發心者。直須學無作。莫道怕落空。得空亦不惡。見礦不識金。入爐始知錯。黃蘗和尚云。無人敢入此門。恐畏落空。盡望涯而退。證道歌云。嗟末法。惡時代。眾生薄福難調制。去聖遠兮邪見深。魔強法弱多冤害。聞說如來頓教門。恨不滅除令瓦碎。作在心殃在身。不須怨訴更尤人。欲得不招無間業。莫謗如來正法輪。

[He] replied: "To be utterly free from provisional names: this is the characteristic of sentient beings. Such a characteristic is without variation. And just as empty space is without the characteristic of variation, all dharmas are likewise without the characteristic of variation. Why is it without variation? Because it is non-dual. Nor is there non-duality—only then is true wisdom accomplished. One merely says there is no duality, not that there is non-duality. As a verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says:
'Always regarding all dharmas, one does not make duality,
Nor does one make non-duality.
One departs from both duality and non-duality,
Knowing that they are all the path of words.'
Thus one knows that all words and speech arise from vitarka and vicāra. As soon as there are vitarka and vicāra, patterns and designs take form: sprouts burgeon upon the objective realm, and omens arise within the citta. When citta and realm oppose each other, obstruction ensues. If one enters the mirror of the source, speech and thought naturally cease; the wondrous purport is subtly penetrated, and completely nothing is attained.

Furthermore, for all people cultivating practice who aspire toward the Buddha-vehicle, only after first attaining the purport can they use the Buddha's vision and knowledge to cure their residual habituations, use the water of right concentration to polish and purify the factors of dhyāna, and use the wisdom of broad learning to aid the arising of the power of contemplation, even to reciting, training, and perfuming practice, adorning the myriad practices. If one has not yet entered the mirror of the source and does not understand one's own citta, even with much learning and recitation, none of it will succeed. It is like Sunakṣatra, who upheld, read, and recited the twelve divisions of scriptures and attained the four dhyānas, yet, failing to understand non-arising, fell back into hell. Or like Ānanda, who had broad learning but did not clearly understand the true mark, was bound by the courtesan's mat, and was rebuked by Mañjuśrī. One must first enter the correct source and afterwards cultivate merit and wisdom, like lapis lazuli containing the precious moon, or a mani-jewel placed on a high banner. Only then does one achieve clear, flawless translucence and the ability to rain down manifold treasures, benefiting both oneself and others. How could this be an empty contrivance?

Moreover, this non-relative, unconditioned true citta is not an annihilating emptiness or mere emptiness. If all deluded cittas of sentient beings and all illusory dharmas of the mundane world cannot be reached by the discrimination of emotional consciousness, they are therefore designated as 'empty.' As the verse by Venerable Dongshan says:
'The mundane dust-affairs are as tangled as hair;
If not directed to the empty gate, where can they be dissolved?
If one waits until realms and conditions are swept completely away,
How could the ancients have used the plantain as a metaphor?'
Layman Pang's verse says:
'Consciousness-delight is sentient beings' delight:
Bound by conditions' rope, they run about in vain.
Wisdom-delight is bodhisattvas' delight:
There is no rope and no bond.
If there are those who bring forth the mind [for bodhi],
They must directly learn the unconditioned.
Do not say you fear falling into emptiness;
To attain emptiness is not bad either.
Seeing the ore, one does not recognize the gold;
Only upon entering the furnace does one know one's mistake.'
Venerable Huangbo said: 'No one dares enter this gate, fearing that they will fall into emptiness; they all look at the precipice and retreat.' The Song of Enlightenment says:
'Alas! In the degenerate age, the evil era,
Sentient beings have little merit and are hard to tame.
Far from the sages, their wrong views are deep;
Demons are strong, the Dharma is weak, and many are the harms and grievances.
Hearing spoken the Tathāgata's sudden teaching gate,
They hate that they cannot obliterate it, smashing it like tiles.
What is made in the mind brings calamity to the body;
There is no need to complain or blame others.
If you wish not to incur the karma of the Avīci [hell],
Do not slander the Tathāgata's wheel of the true Dharma.'"