宗鏡錄 80.3

80.3

答。以萬法無體。名相本空。無而忽有。名之曰化。如華嚴經十忍品云。佛子。云何為菩薩摩訶薩如化忍。佛子。此菩薩摩訶薩。知一切世間。皆悉如化。所謂一切眾生意業化。覺想所起故。一切世間諸行化。分別所起故。一切苦樂顛倒化。妄取所起故。一切世間不實法化。言說所現故。一切煩惱分別化。想念所起故。復有清淨調伏化。無分別所現故。於三世不轉化。無生平等故。菩薩願力化。廣大修行故。如來大悲化。方便示現故。轉法輪方便化。智慧無畏辯才所說故。菩薩如是了知世間出世間化。現證知。廣大知。無邊知。如事知。自在知。真實知。非虛妄見所能傾動。隨世所行。亦不失壞。譬如化不從心起。不從心法起。不從業起。不受果報。非世間生。非世間滅。不可隨逐。不可攬觸。非久住。非須臾住。非行世間。非離世間。不專繫一方。不普屬諸方。非有量。非無量。不厭不息。非不厭息。非凡非聖。非染非淨。非生非死。非智非愚。非見非不見。非依世間。非入法界。非黠慧。非遲鈍。非取非不取。非生死。非涅槃。非有非無。有菩薩如是善巧方便。行於世間。修菩薩道。了知世法。分身化往。不著世間。不取自身。於世於身。無所分別。不住世間。不離世間。不住於法。不離於法。以本願故。不棄捨一眾生界。不調伏少眾生界。不分別法。非不分別。知諸法性。無來無去。雖無所有。而滿足佛法。了法如化。非有非無。佛子。菩薩摩訶薩。如是安住如化忍時。悉能滿足一切諸佛菩提之道。利益眾生。是名菩薩摩訶薩第九如化忍。故知善不善法。從心化生。以無作之因。受忽有之果。故六祖云。思惡法。即化為地獄。思善法。化為天堂。毒害化為畜生。慈悲化為菩薩。乃至皆是自性變化。

Answer: Because the myriad phenomena lack substance and their names and characteristics are fundamentally empty, suddenly existing out of nothing, they are called 'transformations'. As the 'Chapter on the Ten Forbearances' in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: "Sons of the Buddha, what is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's forbearance of conforming to transformation? Sons of the Buddha, this bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all worlds are entirely like transformations. Namely: all sentient beings' mental karma is a transformation, arising from perception and thought. All worldly formations are transformations, arising from conceptual distinction. All pain, pleasure, and inversions are transformations, arising from false grasping. All worldly unreal phenomena are transformations, manifested by verbal discourse. All afflictions and conceptual distinctions are transformations, arising from mental recollections. Furthermore, there are transformations of purification and subduing, manifested by non-discrimination. Transformations that do not turn in the three times, because of non-arising and equality. Transformations of the bodhisattva's vow-power, because of vast cultivation. Transformations of the Tathāgata's great compassion, manifested expediently. Transformations of expedients in turning the wheel of the Dharma, spoken through wisdom, fearlessness, and eloquence. The bodhisattva thus understands worldly and world-transcending transformations: knowing them through immediate realization, knowing them vastly, knowing them boundlessly, knowing them according to facts, knowing them autonomously, knowing them truly, unable to be overturned by false views, and though acting according to the world, remaining undecayed. For example, a transformation does not arise from citta, does not arise from mental factors, does not arise from karma, and does not receive retribution; it is not born in the world, not extinguished in the world, cannot be pursued, cannot be grasped or touched; it does not abide for long, does not abide for an instant; it does not move in the world, does not depart from the world; it is not exclusively bound to one direction, does not universally belong to all directions; it is not finite, not infinite; it does not tire or cease, nor does it not tire or cease; it is neither ordinary nor noble, neither defiled nor pure, neither birth nor death, neither wise nor foolish, neither seen nor unseen; it does not rely on the world, does not enter the dharmadhātu; it is neither clever nor dull; it neither grasps nor does not grasp; it is neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa, neither existent nor non-existent. A bodhisattva possessing such skillful expedients acts in the world, cultivates the bodhisattva path, understands worldly phenomena, emanates bodies and travels transformed, does not attach to the world, does not grasp at their own body, makes no distinctions regarding the world or the body, does not abide in the world, does not depart from the world, does not abide in phenomena, does not depart from phenomena, and on account of their original vows, does not abandon a single realm of sentient beings, nor do they subdue only a few realms of sentient beings; they do not discriminate phenomena, yet do not fail to discriminate; they know the nature of all phenomena to have no coming and no going; though they possess nothing, they fulfill the Buddha Dharma; they understand phenomena to be like transformations, neither existent nor non-existent. Sons of the Buddha, when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the forbearance of conforming to transformation in this way, they are fully able to fulfill the bodhi path of all Buddhas and benefit sentient beings. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's ninth forbearance, the forbearance of conforming to transformation." Therefore, we know that good and unwholesome phenomena are transformatively produced from the mind: with causes that have no action, they experience results that suddenly appear. Hence the Sixth Patriarch said: "Thinking of evil phenomena, one transforms into the hells; thinking of good phenomena, one transforms into the heavenly realms. Harmful malice transforms into beasts; loving-kindness and compassion transform into bodhisattvas. All are transformations of one's own nature."