宗鏡錄 61.45

61.45

答。如世病者。近醫。而有差不差。機亦如是。如有熟不熟。則應有遠有近。明機感不同者。但眾生根性百千。諸佛巧應無量。隨其種種。得度不同。故經云。名色各異。種類若干。如上中下。根莖葉等。隨其種性。各得生長。即是機應不同意也。今略言為四。一者冥應。二者冥機。三者顯機顯應。四者顯機冥應。其相云何。若修三業。現在未運身口。藉往善力。此名為冥機也。雖不相見靈應。而密為法身所益。不見不聞。而覺而知。是為冥益也。二冥機顯益者。過去殖善。而冥機已成。便得值佛聞法。現前獲利。是為顯益。如佛最初得度之人。現在何嘗修善。諸佛照其宿機。自往度之。即其義也。三顯機顯應者。現在身口精勤不懈。而能感降。如須達長跪。佛往祇洹。月蓋曲躬。聖居門閫。如即行人道場禮懺。能感靈瑞。即是顯機顯應也。四者顯機冥應者。如雖一世勤苦。現善濃積。而不顯感。冥有其利。此是顯機冥益。若解四意。一切低頭舉手。福不虛棄。終日無感。終日無悔。若見喜殺壽長。好施貧乏。不生邪見。若不解此者。謂其徒功喪計。憂悔失理。釋論云。今我病苦皆過去。今生修福。報在當來。正念無僻。得此四意也。

Answer: Like the sick in the world who approach a physician, yet some are cured and some are not; capacity is also like this. As there are the ripe and the unripe, so there are responses that are distant and near. In clarifying the differences in capacity and stimulus: it is simply that the capacities of sentient beings are hundreds of thousands, while the skillful responses of all buddhas are immeasurable; in accord with their diversity, their attainments of deliverance differ. Hence the sūtra says: 'Name and form are each distinct, kinds and varieties are numerous, like superior, middling, and inferior, roots, stems, leaves, and so on; in accordance with their seed-nature, each attains growth.' This is the meaning of the difference in capacity and response. Now to state them briefly as four: first, unseen response; second, unseen capacity; third, apparent capacity and apparent response; fourth, apparent capacity and unseen response. What are their characteristics? If one cultivates the three karmas, but in the present has not yet activated body and speech, relying on the power of past good, this is called unseen capacity. Although one does not see a miraculous response, one is secretly benefited by the dharmakāya; without seeing or hearing, one nevertheless perceives and knows—this is unseen benefit. Second, unseen capacity and apparent benefit: having planted good in the past, the unseen capacity is already formed; one then encounters the Buddha and hears the Dharma, obtaining benefit in the present; this is apparent benefit. As with those whom the Buddha delivered first: when did they ever cultivate good in the present? All buddhas illuminate their past capacities and go of their own accord to deliver them; that is its meaning. Third, apparent capacity and apparent response: being diligent and unflagging with body and speech in the present, one is able to stimulate a descent; as when Sudatta knelt long and the Buddha went to the Jetavana, or when Candrakānta bent his body and the Sage stayed at his threshold; like a practitioner in the place of practice doing prostrations and repentance, being able to stimulate miraculous omens—this is apparent capacity and apparent response. Fourth, apparent capacity and unseen response: although one undergoes hardship throughout a single lifetime, accumulating present good densely, without an apparent stimulus, there is an unseen benefit; this is apparent capacity and unseen benefit. If one understands these four meanings, every lowering of the head and raising of the hand is merit not spent in vain. Though there is no stimulus all day, there is no regret all day. If one sees those fond of killing living long, and those fond of giving being poor, one will not give rise to wrong views. If one does not understand this, one will say that their efforts are in vain and their plans lost, falling into sorrow, regret, and loss of principle. A treatise says: 'Now my illnesses and sufferings are all from the past; the merit cultivated in this life will have its retribution in the future.' With right mindfulness without deviance, one grasps these four meanings.