宗鏡錄 40.7

40.7

答。未入茲門。觸途虛幻。待真立俗。對色明空。纔證斯宗。萬緣俱寂。如異色之鳥。投須彌而純變金光。猶三十三天。入雜林而更無分別。是以諸法無體。相待而成。皆無待而成待。若執有法。互相待成。則不成待。以有自體。各定。不假相待故。如中觀論偈云。若法有待成。未成云何待。若成已有待。成已何用待。若法因待成。是法先未成。未成則無。無則云何有因待。若是法先已成。已成何用因待。是二俱不相因待。是知未成已成。俱無有待。若悟入宗鏡之時。了知虛空尚是幻生。豈更有法可為對待。如首楞嚴經云。若一人反真歸原。此十方空一時消殞。菩薩瓔珞經云。佛告天子。如吾昔求道。從無數劫分別本末。未能究盡一法定意。云何為一法。所謂無念也。菩薩得無念者。觀一切法悉皆無形。天子。吾今成佛。由此一行。得成無上正真之道。既萬法無形。對何稱有。有既不有。曷得云常。空復何空。憑誰稱斷。若心外有法。即成斷常。若法外無心。孰言空有。所以傅大士云。君不見自心非斷亦非常。普在諸方不入方。亦復不依前後際。又復非圓非短長。寂然無生亦無滅。非黑非白與青黃。雖復念慮知諸法。而實不住念中央。眾生入而無所入。雖趣六境實無傷。智者分明了知此。是故號曰法中王。故思益經云。若有於法生見。則於其人。佛不出世。世尊。若有決定見涅槃者。是人不度生死。所以者何。涅槃名為除滅諸相。遠離一切動念戲論。是以若論成壞有空。皆徇世間名字。不出外道諸見。如狗逐塊。豈達自宗。則知名字如塊。真理如人。無明癡犬。逐名言塊。種智師子。得理亡名。故知。言語從覺觀生。息覺觀。則名言絕。言思絕。則待絕亡。中觀論疏云。盡不盡門者。若念念遷滅。滅無可成。若念念相續。續非始成。若念念遷滅。滅無始壞。若念念相續。續不可壞。故盡不盡。俱無成壞。又諸法日夜中。念念常滅盡。過去如水流不住。是則名盡。是事不可取。不可說。如野馬無決定性。云何可分別說有成。又念念生滅。常相續不斷。故名不盡。云何可分別說言。今是成時。是故盡亦無成。不盡亦無成。既無成。亦無壞。是以一切諸法。尚無有成。云何說斷。皆以實際為定量。則無有變異。

Answer: Before entering this gate, wherever one turns is unreal and illusory; the conventional is established relative to the true, and emptiness is clarified in contrast to form. As soon as one realizes this source, the ten thousand conditions are all silenced. It is like birds of different colors turning into pure golden light upon approaching Mount Sumeru, or like the thirty-three devas having no further distinctions upon entering the Mixed Forest. Therefore, phenomena have no substance of their own; they are established in mutual dependence—all are established in dependence without anything to depend upon. If one clings to phenomena as existing and depending on each other for their establishment, then dependence is not established; this is because, having intrinsic substances and being respectively fixed, they would not rely on mutual dependence. As a verse in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā says: "If a phenomenon is established through dependence, / When it is not yet established, how can it depend? / If it already has dependence when established, / Once established, what need is there for dependence?" If a phenomenon is established because of dependence, that phenomenon was previously unestablished; if not yet established, it does not exist; if it does not exist, how could there be a causal dependence? If this phenomenon was already established previously, once established, what need is there for causal dependence? In both cases neither depends on the other. Thus one knows that whether unestablished or already established, neither involves dependence. When one awakens and enters the mirror of the source, one comprehends that empty space is still an illusory production—how could there be any further phenomena to serve as its counterpart? As the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "If one person returns to the true and goes back to the origin, this space of the ten directions all at once dissolves." The Bodhisattva-keyūra-sūtra says: "The Buddha told the devaputra: When I formerly sought the Path, distinguishing root and branch across countless kalpas, I was unable to exhaustively fathom the definite absorption of the single phenomenon. What is the single phenomenon? It is what is called thoughtlessness. For a bodhisattva who attains thoughtlessness, when observing all phenomena, all are entirely formless. Devaputra, that I have now attained buddhahood is due to this single practice, whereby I attained the unsurpassable, correct, and true Path." Since the ten thousand phenomena are formless, relative to what could one speak of existence? Since existence does not exist, how could one speak of permanence? What emptiness is there again to be empty; on what basis could anyone speak of annihilation? If there are phenomena outside the mind, then annihilation and permanence are formed; if there is no mind outside phenomena, who could speak of emptiness and existence? For this reason, Mahāsattva Fu said: "Do you not see that your own mind is neither annihilated nor permanent? / Universally present in all directions, it enters no direction; / Nor does it depend on the limits of past or future, / Nor again is it round, short, or long. / Tranquil, it is without arising or cessation, / Neither black nor white, blue nor yellow. / Although with thoughts and reflections it knows all phenomena, / In truth it does not abide in the midst of thoughts. / Sentient beings enter it without anything to enter; / Though approaching the six spheres, in truth there is no injury. / The wise clearly and distinctly understand this, / And for this reason it is called the King amid Dharmas." Therefore the Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra says: "If someone gives rise to views regarding phenomena, then for that person, no buddha appears in the world. World-Honoured One, if someone has a fixed view of nirvāṇa, this person does not cross beyond saṃsāra. Why is this? Nirvāṇa is called the eradication of all marks, far removed from all movements of thought and conceptual proliferations." Therefore, if one discusses establishment, destruction, existence, and emptiness, all these comply with worldly names and words and do not go beyond the various views of the non-Buddhists. Like a dog chasing a clod of earth, how could they penetrate their own source? Thus one knows that names and words are like the clod, and true principle is like the person: the ignorant, foolish dog chases the clod of names and words; the lion of sarvākārajñatā attains the principle and forgets the names. Thus one knows that speech arises from vitarka and vicāra; when vitarka and vicāra cease, names and words are cut off; when speech and thought are cut off, relativity is completely extinguished. The Commentary on the Madhyamakaśāstra says: "Regarding the gate of exhaustion and non-exhaustion: if there is momentary passing away and cessation, in cessation there is nothing that can be established; if there is momentary continuation, continuation is not newly established. If there is momentary passing away and cessation, in cessation there is no beginning of destruction; if there is momentary continuation, continuation cannot be destroyed. Therefore, whether exhausted or non-exhausted, both are devoid of establishment and destruction. Furthermore, all phenomena in the day and night are constantly ceased and exhausted in every thought; the past does not abide, like flowing water, and this is called exhausted. This matter cannot be grasped and cannot be spoken of, just as a mirage has no fixed nature—how could one discriminate and say that there is establishment? Furthermore, with arising and cessation in every thought, they are constantly continuous and unbroken, and therefore this is called non-exhausted; how could one discriminate and say: 'Now is the time of establishment'? For this reason, in the exhausted there is no establishment, and in the non-exhausted there is also no establishment. Since there is no establishment, there is also no destruction. Therefore, when all phenomena do not even have establishment, how could one speak of annihilation? All take the limit of reality as their definitive standard, and thus there is no mutation."