宗鏡錄 66.2

66.2

夫既無我。亦無於人。乃至眾生壽者。十六知見等。如大涅槃經云。佛言。如說名色繫縛眾生。名色若滅。則無眾生。離名色已。無別眾生。離眾生已。無別名色。亦名名色繫縛眾生。亦名眾生繫縛名色。師子吼言。世尊。如眼不自見。指不自觸。刀不自割。愛不自受。云何如來說言。名色繫縛名色。何以故。言名色者。即是眾生。言眾生者。即是名色。若言名色繫縛眾生。即是名色繫縛名色。佛言。善男子。如二手合時。更無異法而來合也。名之與色。亦復如是。以是義故。我言名色繫縛眾生。若離名色。則得解脫。釋曰。如二手合時更無異法者。二手雖有相合。以但是一身之用。故無異法。雖非異法。若以一手。合義不成。如名色眾生。雖然不異。要因名色繫縛眾生。要離名色方得解脫。一切諸法離合縛脫。亦復如是。維摩經云。法無有人。前後際斷故。肇法師曰。天生萬物。以人為貴。始終不改謂之人。外道以人名神。謂始終不變。若法前後際斷。則新新不同。新新不同。則無不變之者。無不變之者。則無人矣。既前際無人。後際無壽者。中際無我無眾生。世。間凡所有法。皆是意言分別。立其名相。都無實義。眾生不了。妄有所得。沒在其中。不能出離。是以諸佛方便說人法二空。唯識正義。於虛誑名相中而能拔出。如大智度論云。須菩提白佛言。世尊。若一切法空無根本。如夢如幻等。眾生在何處住。而菩薩拔出。須菩提意。謂如人沒深泥而得拔出。佛答。眾生但住名相虛誑憶想分別中。佛意一切法中。無決定實者。但凡夫虛誑故著。如人暗中見似人物。謂是實人。而生畏怖。又如惡狗臨井。自吠其影。水中無狗。但有其相。而生惡心。投井而死。眾生亦如是。四大和合。故名為身。因緣生識和合。故動作言語。凡夫人於中起人相生愛生恚。起罪業。墮三惡道。菩薩行般若波羅蜜時。憐愍眾生。種種因緣教化。令知空法。而拔出之。作是言。是法皆畢竟空無所有。眾生顛倒虛妄。故見似有。如化。如幻。如乾闥婆城。無有實事。但誑惑人眼。乃至佛告須菩提。若諸法當實有如毫釐許。菩薩坐道場時。不能覺一切法。空無相無所有。得成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。亦不能以此法利益眾生等。又云。如人遠行。獨宿空亭。夜中有鬼。擔一死屍來著其前。復有一鬼從後而來。瞋罵前鬼。云。是我屍。何以擔來。前鬼復言。本是我物。我自擔來。二鬼各以一手爭之。前鬼語曰。可問此人。後鬼即問。是誰死人。誰擔將來。是人思惟。此之二鬼。皆有大力。實語虛語。皆不免死。我今不應妄語答鬼。便答後鬼。前鬼擔來。後鬼大瞋。拔其手足。出著地上。前鬼愧之。取屍補之。補之便著。臂手足等。舉身皆易。於是二鬼。共食所易活人之身。各各拭口。分首而去。其人思惟。父母生身。眼見食盡。我今此身。盡是他肉。為有身耶。為無身耶。如是思惟。心懷迷亂不知所措。猶如狂人。天既明矣。尋路而去。至前國土。見有佛塔。凡見眾僧。不論餘事。但問己身。為有為無。諸比丘問。汝何人耶。答曰。我亦不知是人非人。即為眾僧廣說上事。眾僧皆云。此人自知己身無我。易可化度。即語之言。汝身本來恒自無我。但以四大和合聚集。計為本身。如汝本身。與今無異。時諸比丘。度為沙門。斷煩惱盡。得阿羅漢。是故有時。於他人身亦計為我。已無我故。有時於我。謂為他人。故文殊問經云。有老人夜臥。手捉兩膝。而便問云。那得有此兩小兒耶。身若有我。云何不識。謂為小兒。故知橫計。皆無定實。又云。菩薩作是念。諸法空。無我。無眾生。而從因緣故。有四大六識。是十法。各各有力。能生能起。能有所作。如地生持。水能爛。火能消。風能迴轉。識能分別。是十法。各有所作。眾生顛倒故。謂是人作我作。如皮骨和合。故有語聲。惑者謂人語。如火燒乾竹林。出大音聲。此中無有作者。又如木人。幻人。化人。雖能動作。無有作者。此十法亦如是。廣百論云。若隨自覺執有我者。豈不但緣無常身等。虛妄分別。執為實我。所以者何。現見世間但緣身等。前後隨緣。分位差別。虛妄計度。我肥我瘦。我勝我劣。我明我暗。我苦我樂。身等無常。可有是事。常住實我。無此差別。由此比知。一切我見。皆無實我以為境界。唯緣虛妄身等為境。隨自妄想覺慧生故。如緣暗繩。顛倒蛇執。寶行王正論偈云。如人依淨鏡。得見自面影。此影但可見。一向不真實。我見亦如是。依陰得顯現。如實檢非有。猶如鏡面影。顯揚論問曰。若唯有蘊無別我者。誰見誰聞。誰能了別。乃至偈答云。如光能照用。離光無異體。是故於內外。空無我義成。論曰。現見世間。即於光體有能照用說為照者。離光體外。無別照者。如是眼等有見等用。說為見者。乃至了別者。無別見者等。是故內外諸法。等無有我。

Now, since there is no self, there is also no person, up to sentient being, soul, the sixteen views, and so forth. As the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "Just as it is said that name-and-form binds sentient beings, if name-and-form ceases, then there are no sentient beings. Apart from name-and-form, there are no separate sentient beings; apart from sentient beings, there is no separate name-and-form. It is both called name-and-form binding sentient beings, and called sentient beings binding name-and-form." Siṃhanāda said: "World-Honoured One, just as the eye does not see itself, a finger does not touch itself, a knife does not cut itself, and love does not receive itself, how can the Tathāgata say that name-and-form binds name-and-form? Why is this? What is called 'name-and-form' is precisely sentient beings; what is called 'sentient beings' is precisely name-and-form. If one says that name-and-form binds sentient beings, that is precisely name-and-form binding name-and-form." The Buddha said: "Good son, just as when two hands clap together, there is no other, different phenomenon that comes to join them; name and form are also like this. For this reason, I say that name-and-form binds sentient beings. If one is free from name-and-form, one attains liberation."' The commentary states: Regarding 'just as when two hands clap together, there is no other, different phenomenon': although the two hands join together, because it is merely the function of a single body, there is no other, different phenomenon. Although they are not different phenomena, if there were only one hand, the joining could not take place. Just so, although name-and-form and sentient beings are not different, sentient beings must be bound on account of name-and-form, and one must be free from name-and-form to attain liberation. The separation and conjunction, binding and liberation of all phenomena are also like this. The Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra says: 'Phenomena have no person, because the prior and subsequent limits are severed.' Dharma Master Zhao said: 'Heaven gives birth to the myriad things, and holds humans to be noble. That which does not change from beginning to end is called a "person". Non-Buddhists call the spirit a "person", taking it to be unchanging from beginning to end. If the prior and subsequent limits of phenomena are severed, then they are moment-by-moment renewed and different. If they are moment-by-moment renewed and different, then there is nothing that does not change. If there is nothing that does not change, then there is no person.' Since there is no person in the prior limit, no soul in the subsequent limit, and neither self nor sentient being in the intermediate limit, all worldly phenomena whatsoever are merely conceptual differentiations constructed in words of thought, establishing their names and characteristics, and entirely lack real meaning. Sentient beings do not understand; grasping at their false perceptions, they are submerged therein and unable to escape. Therefore, the Buddhas expediently taught the two kinds of emptiness—of person and of phenomena—the correct doctrine of consciousness-only, so that they can be pulled out from amid false and deceptive names and characteristics. As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'Subhūti said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, if all phenomena are empty and rootless, like a dream or a phantom, where do sentient beings abide such that the bodhisattva pulls them out?" Subhūti's meaning was like a person sinking in deep mud who is pulled out. The Buddha answered: "Sentient beings merely abide in names, characteristics, false memories, thoughts, and conceptual differentiations." The Buddha's meaning was that among all phenomena, there is nothing definitively real; ordinary persons merely cling to them out of falsehood and deception. It is like someone in the dark who sees something resembling a person and, believing it to be a real person, gives rise to fear. It is also like a vicious dog approaching a well, barking at its own reflection; there is no dog in the water, only its appearance, yet it gives rise to a vicious intention and leaps into the well to its death. Sentient beings are also like this: the four great elements come together, and so it is called a "body"; conditions give rise to consciousness and come together, and so there is motion and speech. Ordinary persons give rise to the notion of a person within this, generating attachment and aversion, creating sinful karma, and falling into the three evil destinies. When bodhisattvas practice the prajñāpāramitā, out of pity for sentient beings, through various causes and conditions they teach and transform them, leading them to know empty phenomena and pulling them out, speaking thus: "These phenomena are all ultimately empty and nonexistent. Because sentient beings are inverted and false, they see what resembles existence, like an apparition, like a phantom, like a city of the Gandharvas; there is no real actuality, they only deceive and mislead human eyes."' Up to: 'The Buddha told Subhūti: "If phenomena were truly existent even to the extent of a hair's breadth, when the bodhisattva sits at the seat of awakening, he would not be able to awaken to all phenomena as empty, without characteristic, and nonexistent, attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, nor be able to benefit sentient beings with this teaching."' It also says: 'It is like a traveller who spent the night alone in an empty pavilion. In the night, there was a ghost who carried a corpse and placed it before him. There was another ghost who came from behind, angrily scolding the first ghost, saying: "It is my corpse! Why did you carry it here?" The first ghost said again: "It was originally my thing; I carried it here myself." The two ghosts fought over it, each grasping it with one hand. The first ghost said: "We can ask this man." The second ghost then asked: "Whose dead person is this? Who carried it here?" The man thought: "Both of these two ghosts possess great strength. Whether I speak the truth or lie, in either case I cannot escape death. I should not answer the ghost with a lie now." He then answered the second ghost: "The first ghost carried it here." The second ghost was furious, ripped off his hands and feet, and cast them on the ground. The first ghost was ashamed of this, took the corpse's parts, and mended him with them; as soon as he mended him, they adhered. His arms, hands, feet, and so forth—his whole body was replaced. Thereupon the two ghosts together ate the body of the living person that had been replaced, each wiped its mouth, and they parted and went their ways. The man thought: "The body born of my parents, I saw eaten up with my own eyes. My present body is entirely another's flesh. Do I have a body, or do I have no body?" Thinking thus, his mind fell into confusion and he did not know what to do, like a madman. When dawn broke, he followed the road away, and arrived at a country ahead. Seeing a stupa, whenever he saw monks, without discussing any other matters, he only asked whether his own body existed or did not exist. The monks asked: "What sort of person are you?" He answered: "I do not know whether I am a person or not a person either." He then related the above event to the monks in detail. The monks all said: "This man knows for himself that his own body has no self; he can easily be converted." They then said to him: "Your body from the beginning has always naturally lacked a self; it was merely due to the aggregation and gathering of the four great elements that you reckoned it to be your own body. What was your own body is no different from the present one." At that time, the monks ordained him as a śramaṇa. Cutting off afflictions completely, he attained arhatship.' For this reason, there are times when one also reckons another's body to be oneself, because there is already no self; and there are times when, regarding oneself, one takes it to be another person. Thus the Mañjuśrīparipṛcchāsūtra says: 'An old man was lying down at night, holding his two knees in his hands, and then asked: "Where did these two small children come from?" If the body had a self, how could he fail to recognize it and take them to be small children? Therefore we know that arbitrary reckonings all lack definitive reality.' It also says: 'The bodhisattva reflects thus: "Phenomena are empty, without self, and without sentient beings, yet on account of causes and conditions, there are the four great elements and the six consciousnesses. These ten phenomena each have capacity; they can generate, can initiate, and can perform actions. Just as earth generates and sustains, water can dissolve, fire can consume, wind can move and turn, and consciousness can differentiate—these ten phenomena each have their own functions. Sentient beings, being inverted, take them to be done by a person or done by a self. Just as the coming together of skin and bone gives rise to the sound of speech, the deluded call it human speech; just as when fire burns a dry bamboo grove it produces a great sound, yet herein there is no agent. Again, just as wooden puppets, phantom persons, and apparitional persons, although capable of movement, have no agent, these ten phenomena are also like this."' The Guang bai lun says: 'If one grasps that there is a self in accordance with one's own perception, is it not merely that by taking the impermanent body and so forth as conditions, one makes false differentiations and grasps them as a real self? Why is this? It is manifestly seen in the world that merely taking the body and so forth as conditions, varying in states according to conditions over time, one falsely calculates: "I am fat, I am thin; I am superior, I am inferior; I am bright, I am dull; I am suffering, I am happy." For the impermanent body and so forth, such things are possible; a permanent, real self has no such distinctions. By this inference we know that all views of self lack a real self as their objective domain; they only take the false body and so forth as their object, arising in accordance with one's own false thoughts and discerning intellect. It is like taking a rope in the dark as an object and erroneously grasping it as a snake.' A verse in the Ratnāvalī says: / 'Just as a person, relying on a clean mirror, / Is able to see the reflection of their own face; / This reflection can only be seen, / But is completely unreal. / The view of self is also like this: / It appears in reliance upon the aggregates; / When examined as it truly is, it does not exist, / Just like the face's reflection in the mirror.' / The Xianyang lun poses the question: 'If there are only aggregates and no separate self, who sees, who hears, and who can discern?' Up to the verse in reply, which says: / 'Just as light has the function of illuminating, / And apart from the light there is no different substance, / Therefore, internally and externally, / The meaning of being empty and without self is established.' / The treatise says: 'It is manifestly seen in the world that precisely regarding the substance of light, having the function of illuminating, it is called "the illuminator"; apart from the substance of light, there is no separate illuminator. In this way, the eye and so forth having the function of seeing and so on are called "the seer", up to "the discerner"; there is no separate seer and so forth. Therefore, internal and external phenomena alike have no self.'