[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016) › 44.3.1 # 宗鏡錄 44.3.1 宗鏡錄 44.3.1 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [44.3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.44.3.1) 答。 夫論至教。 皆為未了之人。 從上稟承。 無不指示。 如忠國師臨終之時。 學人乞師一言。 師云。 教有明文。 依而行之。 即無累矣。 吾何言哉。 如斯殷勤真實付屬。 豈局已見。 生上慢心。 終不妄斥如來無上甘露。 不可思議大悲所熏。 金口所宣難思聖教。 如云依而行之者。 且依何旨趣。 不可是依文字語句而行。 不可是依義路道理而行。 直須親悟其宗。 不可輒生孟浪。 若決定信入者。 了了自知。 何須他說。 聞甚深法。 如清風屆耳。 今只為昧性徇文之者。 假以言詮方便開示。 直指出六根現用常住無生滅性。 與佛無異。 親證現知。 分明無惑。 免隨言語之所轉。 不逐境界之所流。 今於六根之中。 且指見聞二性。 最為顯現。 可驗初心。 疾入圓通。 同歸宗鏡。 且見性者。 當見之時。 即是自性。 以性遍一切處故。 不可以性更見於性。 分明顯露。 絲毫不隱。 古教云。 摩尼殿有四角。 一角常露。 祖師云。 眼門放光。 照破山河大地。 又歌云。 應眼時。 若千日。 萬像不能逃影質。 凡夫只是未曾觀。 何得自輕而退屈。 是知顏貌雖童耄。 見性未曾虧。 明暗自去來。 靈光終不昧。 則是現今生滅中。 指出不生滅性。 方知窮子衣中寶。 乃輪王髻裏珠。 貧女室中金。 是如來藏中物。 何假高推極聖。 自鄙下凡。 一向外求不能內省。 抂功多劫。 違背己靈。 空滯行門。 失本真性。 所以首楞嚴經云。 佛告阿難。 若汝見時。 是汝非我。 見性周遍。 非汝而誰。 云何自疑汝之真性。 性汝不真。 取我求實。 故知明暗差別。 是可還之法。 真如妙性。 乃不遷之門。 若隨物觀。 局大小之所在。 若約性見。 絕器量之方圓。 見性即成如來。 於一毛端。 建十方之寶剎。 徇物即為凡庶。 向真空裏。 現六趣之狴牢。 變易在人。 一性無異。 迷悟由己萬法不遷。 如經云。 波斯匿王起立白佛。 我昔未承諸佛誨勅。 見迦旃延毘羅胝子。 咸言。 此身死後斷滅。 名為涅槃。 我雖值佛。 今猶狐疑。 云何發揮。 證知此心不生滅地。 今此大眾。 諸有漏者。 咸皆願聞。 佛告大王。 汝身現存今復問汝。 汝此肉身。 為同金剛常住不朽。 為復變壞。 世尊。 我今此身。 終從變滅。 佛言。 大王。 汝未曾滅。 云何知滅。 世尊。 我此無常變壞之身。 雖未曾滅。 我觀現前。 念念遷謝。 新新不住。 如火成灰漸漸消殞殞亡不息。 決知此身。 當從滅盡。 佛言。 如是大王。 汝今生齡。 已從衰老。 顏貌何如童子之時。 世尊。 我昔孩孺。 膚腠潤澤。 年至長成。 血氣充滿。 而今頹齡。 迫於衰耄。 形色枯悴。 精神昏昧。 髮白面皺。 逮將不久。 如何見比充盛之時。 佛言。 大王。 汝之形容。 應不頓朽。 王言世尊。 變化密移。 我誠不覺。 寒暑遷流。 漸至於此。 何以故。 我年二十。 雖號年少。 顏貌已老初十年時。 三十之年。 又衰二十。 于今六十又過于二。 觀五十時。 宛然強壯。 世尊。 我見密移。 雖此殂落。 其間流易。 且限十年。 若復令我微細思惟。 其變寧唯一紀二紀。 實為年變。 豈唯年變。 亦兼月化。 何直月化。 兼又日遷。 沈思諦觀。 剎那剎那。 念念之間。 不得停住。 故知我身。 終從變滅。 佛言。 大王。 汝見變化。 遷改不停。 悟知汝滅。 亦於滅時。 知汝身中有不滅耶。 波斯匿王合掌白佛。 我實不知。 佛言。 我今示汝不生滅性。 大王。 汝年幾時見恒河水。 王言。 我生三歲。 慈母携我謁耆婆天。 經過此流。 爾時即知是恒河水。 佛言。 大王。 如汝所說。 二十之時。 衰於十歲。 乃至六十。 日月歲時。 > Answer: The ultimate teaching is entirely for those who have not yet understood. In the transmissions from above, none fail to point it out. For example, when National Preceptor Zhong was approaching death, a student begged him for a single word. The master said: ‘The scriptures have explicit text: act in accordance with them and you will be without entanglement. What need is there for me to speak?’ With such an earnest and genuine entrustment, how could one confine oneself to one’s own views, give rise to haughty pride, and rashly deprecate the Tathāgata’s unsurpassed ambrosia, the inconceivable holy teaching proclaimed from his golden mouth and perfumed by great compassion? As for what is called ‘acting in accordance with them’, to what purport should one accord? One cannot act in accordance with written words and phrases, nor can one act in accordance with intellectual pathways and rational principles; one must directly and personally awaken to that source and not give rise to recklessness. If one decisively believes and enters, one clearly knows for oneself—what need is there for another’s words? Hearing the profound Dharma is like a pure breeze reaching the ear. Now, solely for the sake of those who are blind to the nature and cling to the letter, provisional verbal explanations are used as expedient means to disclose it: pointing straight to the present functioning of the six sense faculties as the permanently abiding nature free from arising and ceasing, which is no different from the Buddha. Personally realized and immediately known, distinct and free from doubt, one avoids being turned by words and does not pursue the flow of sensory realms. Now, among the six sense faculties, we point out the two natures of seeing and hearing: they are the most manifest, can test a beginner’s mind, swiftly enter complete penetration, and return together to the mirror of the source. As for seeing nature: at the very moment of seeing, that is one’s own nature. Because the nature pervades all places, one cannot use the nature to see the nature again. Distinctly and clearly revealed, not a hairsbreadth is concealed. An ancient teaching says: ‘The maṇi palace has four corners; one corner is constantly exposed.’ An ancestral master says: ‘The eye-gate emits light, illuminating and shattering the mountains, rivers, and great earth.’ A song also says: ‘When meeting the eye, it is like a thousand suns; / Myriad forms cannot escape its shadow and substance. / Ordinary people simply have not yet observed it; / How can they belittle themselves and retreat in defeat?’ Thus we know that though one’s countenance may range from youth to decrepitude, the seeing-nature has never diminished. Light and dark come and go on their own, but the numinous radiance is never obscured. This is to point out the unarising and unceasing nature within the present arising and ceasing. Only then does one know that the jewel in the poor son’s robe is the pearl in the Wheel-Turning King’s topknot, and the gold in the poor woman’s room is an object within the tathāgatagarbha. Why rely on exalting the supreme sages while despising oneself as an inferior ordinary being, seeking solely outward and unable to introspect, wasting effort for many kalpas, turning one’s back on one’s own numinous nature, vainly stagnating at the gates of practice, and losing one’s original true nature? Therefore, the Śūraṅgama-sūtra says: ‘The Buddha told Ānanda: “When you see, it is you, not me. The seeing-nature is all-pervading; if not you, who is it? Why do you doubt your own true nature, take your nature to be untrue, and look to me seeking reality?”’ Thus we know that the distinctions between light and dark are phenomena that can be returned, while the wondrous nature of tathatā is the gate that does not shift. If one observes following things, one is confined to the location of large and small; if one sees from the perspective of the nature, it transcends the square and round of vessels. Seeing the nature, one instantly becomes a Tathāgata, erecting precious lands of the ten directions on the tip of a single hair; pursuing things, one becomes an ordinary person, manifesting the prisons of the six destinies within true emptiness. The transformation lies in the person, while the one nature does not differ; delusion and awakening depend on oneself, while the myriad dharmas do not shift. As the sūtra says: ‘King Prasenajit rose to his feet and said to the Buddha: “In the past, before I received the instructions and admonitions of the Buddhas, I met Kātyāyana and Vairāṭīputra, who both said: ‘After this body dies, it is annihilated; this is called nirvāṇa.’ Although I have now encountered the Buddha, I still harbor lingering doubts. How can it be demonstrated and certified that this mind is the ground free from arising and ceasing? In this great assembly, all those with outflows wish to hear.” The Buddha said to the great king: “Your body is now present, so I ask you again: is this physical body of yours permanently abiding and imperishable like a vajra, or does it change and decay?” “World-Honoured One, this body of mine will ultimately undergo change and extinction.” The Buddha said: “Great King, you have not yet perished; how do you know you will perish?” “World-Honoured One, although this impermanent, decaying body of mine has not yet perished, when I observe it at present, it changes and wanes thought by thought, never remaining new, like fire turning to ash, gradually dwindling and vanishing without cease. I know with certainty that this body must end in complete extinction.” The Buddha said: “So it is, Great King. Your age has now advanced into decline and old age. How does your countenance compare to when you were a child?” “World-Honoured One, when I was an infant, my skin and flesh were soft and glossy; when I reached maturity, my blood and qi were full. But now in my declining years, pressed by decrepitude and old age, my physical form is withered and haggard, my vitality dim and confused, my hair white and face wrinkled, and my time is nearly up. How could I compare to when I was in my prime?” The Buddha said: “Great King, your form should not have decayed all at once.” The king said: “World-Honoured One, the change moved secretly; I truly was unaware of it. Cold and heat shifted and flowed, gradually bringing me to this state. Why is this? When I was twenty, though called young, my countenance was already older than at ten. At thirty, I was more declined than at twenty. Now at sixty-two, when I look back to fifty, I was still robust. World-Honoured One, I see that this secret movement, though leading to this demise, had shifts during that period that I measured in ten-year spans. If you make me reflect finely, could its change be only in twelve- or twenty-four-year cycles? It truly changed by years! And how could it be only changing by years? It also altered with months. Why only alter with months? It further shifted with days. Contemplating deeply and observing closely, from kṣaṇa to kṣaṇa, between thought and thought, it never stops. Therefore I know that my body will ultimately undergo change and extinction.” The Buddha said: “Great King, you see change and alteration shifting without cease, and awakened to the knowledge that you will perish; but at the time of perishing, do you also know that within your body there is that which does not perish?” King Prasenajit pressed his palms together and said to the Buddha: “I truly do not know.” The Buddha said: “I will now show you the nature free from arising and ceasing. Great King, at what age did you see the water of the Gaṅgā River?” The king said: “When I was three years old, my compassionate mother took me to pay respects to the goddess Jīvā. We crossed this river, and at that time I already knew it was the Gaṅgā River.” The Buddha said: “Great King, as you have said, at twenty you were declined compared to ten, and so on up to sixty, through days, months, years, and seasons.’ > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 44.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.44.2) - [Next: 44.3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.44.3.2) - [Up: 44.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.44.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.44.3.1) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [明覺禪師語錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1996.1.22) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.44.3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.44.3.1) · Pramāṇa