宗鏡錄 44.3.4

44.3.4

阿難。 聲消無響。 汝說無聞。 若實無聞。 聞性已滅。 同于枯木。 鐘聲更擊。 汝云何知。 知有知無。 自是聲塵。 或無或有。 豈彼聞性。 為汝有無。 聞實云無。 誰知無者。 是故阿難。 聲於聞中。 自有生滅。 非為汝聞。 聲生聲滅。 令汝聞性。 為有為無。 汝尚顛倒或聲為聞。 何怪昏迷。 以常為斷。 終不應言。 離諸動靜閉塞開通說聞無性。 如重睡人。 眠熟床枕。 其家有人。 於彼睡時擣練舂米。 其人夢中聞舂擣聲。 別作他物。 或為擊鼓。 或復撞鐘。 即於夢時。 自怪其鐘為石木響。 於時忽寤。 遄知杵音。 自告家人。 我正夢時。 惑此舂音。 將為鼓響。 阿難。 是人夢中。 豈憶靜搖開閉通塞。 其形雖寐。 聞性不昏。 縱汝形消。 命光遷謝。 此性云何為汝消滅。 楞嚴疏云。 擊鐘以辯真妄者。 即聞性而可真。 舉聲塵而辯妄。 若因聲有聞。 此聞不離聲。 若離聲有聞。 此是真聞。 汝今但執隨聲之聞。 此聞不離於聲。 只合是聲。 不合是聲。 若真聞性。 如水。 不滅聲塵。 如風。 鼓水成波。 故有聞相。 聲塵不起。 聞相即無。 而聞性不滅。 以性不滅。 聲塵若來。 還有聞相。 如水不滅。 若風動時。 即有波相。 如色真性。 遍十方界。 隨心感現。 則有色相。 此之聞性。 亦復如是。 故知不認自體恒常之聞性。 却徇聲塵生滅之聞相。 遂乃聞讚而生喜。 聞毀而起瞋。 以迷本聞故。 隨聲流轉故。 文殊云。 眾生迷本聞。 循聲故流轉。 阿難。 縱強記。 不免落邪思。 豈非隨所淪。 旋流獲無妄。 又云。 旋汝倒聞機。 返聞聞自性。 性成無上道。 圓通實如是。 如今以聲為聞。 背心循境。 豈不是倒聞之機。 若能旋聲塵之有流。 復本聞之無妄。 則是返聞自性。 得本歸原。 內滅翳根。 外消塵境。 能所既脫。 本覺道成。 寂照圓通。 真實如是。 所以佛告阿難。 以諸眾生。 從無始來。 循諸色聲。 逐念流轉。 曾不開悟性淨妙常。 不循所常。 逐諸生滅。 由是生生。 雜染流轉。 若棄生滅。 守於真常。 常光現前。 根塵識心。 應時消落。 想相為塵。 識情為垢。 二俱遠離。 則汝法眼。 應時清明。 云何不成無上知覺。 是以若了聞性。 即成正覺。 於是心境雙融。 動靜。 俱泯。 如觀音言。 彼佛教我。 從聞思修入三摩地。 初於聞中。 入流亡所。 所入既寂。 動靜二相。 了然不生。 如是漸增。 聞所聞盡。 盡聞不住。 覺所覺空。 空覺極圓。 空所空滅。 生滅既滅。 寂滅現前。 忽然超越。 世出世間。 十方圓明。 獲二殊勝。 一者。 上合十方諸佛本妙覺心。 與佛如來。 同一慈力。 二者。 下合十方一切六道眾生。 與諸眾生。 同一悲仰。 是以初從聞性入時。 先亡動靜聲塵之境。 次亡能聞所聞之心。 既心境俱亡。 又不住無心境。 及能覺所覺之智。 則覺智俱空。 此空亦空。 方成圓覺。 故云空覺極圓。 空所空滅。 始盡生滅之原。 到寂滅本妙覺心之地。 如起信論云。 一切諸法。 皆由妄念而有差別。 若離妄念。 則無境界差別之相。 故知妄念空而根境謝。 識想消而塵垢沈。 則法眼應時清明。 常光了然頓現。 見聞本性既爾。 諸根所現亦然。 故經云。 六自在王。 常清淨故。 又首楞嚴經偈云。 一根既返原。 六根成解脫。 見聞如幻翳。 三界若空華。 聞復翳根除。 塵消覺圓淨。 淨極光通達。 寂照含虛空。 却來觀世間。 猶如夢中事。 但以未覺悟。 前於染淨中。 有一毫見聞取捨之處。 皆在三界無明長夜生死夢中。 纔得見性。 便同覺後。 自覺覺他。 故名為佛。 又此自心之性。 遍一切處。 隨處得入。 非獨見聞。

"Ānanda, when sounds cease and there is no echo, you say there is no hearing. If there were truly no hearing, the nature of hearing would already have perished, identical to withered wood. When the bell is struck once more, how do you know it? Knowing there is [sound] and knowing there is no [sound] naturally belongs to the sense-data of sound, which may be absent or present. How could that nature of hearing be present or absent for you? If hearing were truly absent, who would know that it is absent? Therefore, Ānanda, sound naturally arises and ceases within hearing; it is not that your hearing arises and ceases with the sound, causing your nature of hearing to be present or absent. You are still so inverted as to confuse sound with hearing; what wonder is it that, in your stupor, you take the permanent to be severed? Under no circumstances should you say that apart from movement and stillness, obstruction and opening, hearing has no nature. Consider a deeply sleeping person asleep on their pillow: while they are sleeping, someone in the house pounds cloth and husks rice. In their dream, the person hears the sound of pounding and husking, but takes it for something else, either as the beating of a drum or the striking of a bell; and right in the dream, they wonder why the bell sounds like stone or wood. Suddenly waking up, they immediately recognize the sound of the pestle, and tell their family: 'Just when I was dreaming, I confused this pounding sound and took it to be the sound of a drum.' Ānanda, did this person in their dream recall stillness, movement, opening, obstruction, penetration, or blockage? Though their bodily form was asleep, the nature of hearing was not dimmed. Even if your form were to perish and the light of your life to pass away, how could this nature perish for you?" The commentary on the Śūraṅgamasūtra states: "Striking the bell to distinguish the true from the false: it is by means of the nature of hearing that the true can be recognized, and by adducing the sense-data of sound that the false is distinguished. If hearing existed because of sound, this hearing could not be separate from sound. If hearing exists apart from sound, this is true hearing. Now, you merely grasp at the hearing that follows sound. This hearing is not separate from sound; it can only be sound, it cannot be hearing. The true nature of hearing is like water, which does not perish; the sense-data of sound are like the wind, which agitates the water to form waves, hence the characteristic of hearing appears. When the sense-data of sound do not arise, the characteristic of hearing is absent, yet the nature of hearing does not perish. Because the nature does not perish, if the sense-data of sound come, the characteristic of hearing appears once more. Just as water does not perish, and when the wind moves there is the characteristic of waves; and just as the true nature of form pervades the realms of the ten directions, manifesting according to the stimulus of the mind so that characteristics of form appear—this nature of hearing is also like this." Thus we know that by failing to recognize the inherently permanent nature of hearing, and instead following the arising and ceasing characteristics of hearing associated with the sense-data of sound, one consequently gives rise to joy upon hearing praise and conceives anger upon hearing disparagement. It is because one is deluded about original hearing that one drifts along with sound. Mañjuśrī said: "Sentient beings are deluded about original hearing; / following sound, they thus drift along. / Even if Ānanda has a powerful memory, / he cannot avoid falling into erroneous thoughts. / Is this not sinking along with the objects? / Turning the flow back, one attains the unfictitious." He also said: "Turn back your inverted organ of hearing, / turn hearing inward to hear the self-nature; / once the nature is perfected, it is the unsurpassed path: / complete penetration is truly like this." Nowadays, taking sound to be hearing, turning one's back on the mind to pursue objects—is this not an inverted organ of hearing? If one can reverse the flowing stream of the sense-data of sound and return to the unfictitiousness of original hearing, this is turning hearing inward to hear the self-nature, attaining the source and returning to the origin. Internally, the cataract-afflicted sense-faculties are eradicated; externally, the dust-realms of sense-objects vanish. Subject and object having dropped away, the path of original awakening is accomplished, silent and illuminating, completely penetrating; it is truly like this. Therefore the Buddha said to Ānanda: "Because all sentient beings, from beginningless time, have followed forms and sounds, drifting along with each thought, they have never awakened to the purity, wondrousness, and permanence of the nature. Not following what is permanent, they pursue arising and ceasing; because of this, life after life, they drift in defilement. If they abandon arising and ceasing and guard the true and permanent, the permanent light manifests before them, and the sense-faculties, sense-data, and consciousness-mind fall away at once. Conceptual characteristics become dust; conscious sentiments become grime. When both are far removed, your Dharma-eye will at once become pure and bright: how could you fail to accomplish unsurpassed awareness?" Therefore, if one realizes the nature of hearing, one immediately attains correct awakening. Thereupon mind and objects are both fused, and movement and stillness are both obliterated. As Avalokiteśvara said: "That Buddha taught me to enter samādhi through hearing, contemplation, and cultivation. Initially within hearing, I entered the flow and forgot the object. The object entered having become quiescent, the two characteristics of movement and stillness clearly did not arise. Gradually increasing in this way, hearing and what is heard were extinguished. Not abiding in the exhaustion of hearing, awareness and what is made aware of became empty. When the emptiness of awareness became completely round, emptiness and what is made empty were extinguished. Arising and ceasing having been extinguished, quiescent cessation manifested before me. Suddenly I transcended the worldly and the supramundane; the ten directions were completely luminous, and I obtained two extraordinary supremacies: First, above, I united with the original wondrously awakened mind of the Buddhas of the ten directions, having the same compassionate power as the Buddha-Tathāgatas. Second, below, I united with all sentient beings of the six destinies in the ten directions, having the same sorrowful yearning as all sentient beings." Therefore, when initially entering from the nature of hearing, one first eliminates the realm of the sense-data of sound, movement and stillness; next, one eliminates the mind of the subject and object of hearing. Mind and object having both been eliminated, one furthermore does not abide in the realm devoid of mind, nor in the wisdom of the subject and object of awareness; then awareness and wisdom are both empty, and this emptiness is also empty—only then is perfect awakening accomplished. Hence it is said: "When the emptiness of awareness became completely round, emptiness and what is made empty were extinguished." Only then does one exhaust the source of arising and ceasing, arriving at the ground of the original wondrously awakened mind of quiescent cessation. As the Awakening of Faith says: "All dharmas have distinctions entirely due to false thoughts; if one is free from false thoughts, there are no characteristics of distinction among objective realms." Thus we know that when false thoughts are emptied, sense-faculties and sense-objects pass away; when consciousness and conceptions dissolve, dust and defilement sink away; then the Dharma-eye at once becomes pure and bright, and the permanent light is clearly and suddenly revealed. Since the original nature of seeing and hearing is thus, what is manifested by all the sense-faculties is also like this. Hence the sūtra says: "Because the six sovereign kings are constantly pure." Furthermore, a verse in the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "Once one sense-faculty returns to the source, / all six sense-faculties attain liberation. / Seeing and hearing are like illusory cataracts; / the three realms are like flowers in the sky. / When hearing is restored, the cataract-faculty is removed; / when dust dissolves, awareness is completely pure. / When purity is utmost, the light penetrates unobstructed, / silently illuminating, encompassing empty space. / Looking back upon the world, / it is just like things in a dream." It is only because of not having awakened before that, within defilement and purity, wherever there is the slightest seeing, hearing, grasping, or rejecting, all of it lies within the long night of ignorance and the dream of birth and death in the three realms. The moment one attains the seeing of nature, one is identical to one who has awakened: awakening oneself and awakening others, one is therefore named a Buddha. Furthermore, this nature of one's own mind pervades all places and can be entered anywhere, not solely through seeing and hearing.