宗鏡錄 89.37

89.37

答。只為眾生不了唯心。妄生外境。以不實故。所以諸佛出世。若有一法是實。則諸佛終不出世。所說方便教門。不為知者說。但為未知者破執除疑。似形言教。若執喪疑消。則無道可得。無法可說。思益經云。佛言。我坐道場時。唯得顛倒所起煩惱。畢竟空性。以無所得故得。以無所知故知。又思益梵天問文殊師利。得何法故。名為得道。文殊師利言。若法不自生。不彼生。亦不眾緣生。從本已來常無有生。得是法故。說名得道。又問。若法不生。為何所得。答言。若知法不生。即名為得。是故佛說。若見諸有為法不生相。即入正位。又問。云何名為正位。答言。我及涅槃等不作二。是名正位。夫正位者。即自真心。入此位中。諸見自泯。入佛境界經云。如來不應以色見。不應以法見。不應以相見。不應以好見。不應以法性見。大集經云。爾時眾中。有一天子。名曰勝意。語不可說菩薩言。善男子。若一切法不可說者。眾生云何而得言說。不可說言。善男子。汝寧知響有言說不。勝意言。善男子。響者。皆從因緣而有。善男子。是響之因。為定在內。為定在外。天子言。善男子。如是因者。不定在內。不定在外。天子。一切眾生強作二想。而有所說。諸法之性。實不可說。天子言。善男子。若不可說。云何如來宣說八萬四千法聚。令諸聲聞受持讀誦。天子。如來世尊。實無所說。無所說者。即是如來。天子。汝知何等為如來耶。將不謂色受想行識是如來乎。將不說佛是去來現在。有為無為。陰界諸入。三界所攝。是因是果。是和合耶。或想非想。亦想非想。非想非非想耶。不也。善男子。天子。若如是等非如來者。云何可說。若不可說。如何而言如來世尊。演說八萬四千法聚。是故八萬四千法聚。實不可說。聲聞受者。亦不可說。不可說者。即是正義。若無說。即是真實。楞伽經云。我唯說無始虛偽妄想習氣。種種諸惡。三有之因。不能覺知自心現量。而生妄想。攀緣外性。斯則但了自心。外境無性。以不覺心量故。妄取外緣。若知心即是道。心即是法。豈於心外有法可說耶。所以華嚴經頌云。諸佛不說法。佛於何有說。但隨其自心。為說如是法。廣百論云。諸有行願。隨順世俗。所見所聞。強假施設。勝義理中。二俱不許。一切分別戲論絕故。非諸如來有法可說。亦無有法少有所得。

Answer: It is only because sentient beings do not understand mind-only and falsely generate external objects; because they are unreal, the buddhas appear in the world. If a single dharma were real, then the buddhas would never appear in the world. The expedient teachings they expound are not spoken for those who know, but are merely to break attachments and eliminate doubts for those who do not yet know, taking the form of verbal teachings. If attachments are destroyed and doubts dissolved, then there is no Way to be attained and no Dharma to be expounded. The Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchāsūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "When I sat at the place of awakening, I only attained the ultimate emptiness of the afflictions arising from inversion. By having nothing to attain, I attained; by having nothing to know, I knew."' Again, Brahma Viśeṣacinti asked Mañjuśrī: 'By attaining what dharma is it called attaining the Way?' Mañjuśrī said: 'If a dharma is not born of itself, not born of another, nor born of a combination of conditions, and from the beginning has always been unborn—by attaining this dharma, it is called attaining the Way.' He asked again: 'If dharmas are unborn, what is attained?' He answered: 'If one knows dharmas are unborn, that is called attainment. Therefore the Buddha said: "If one sees the unborn characteristic of all conditioned dharmas, one enters the correct status."' He asked again: 'What is called the correct status?' He answered: 'I and nirvāṇa are equal, not two; this is called the correct status.' Now, the correct status is one's own true mind; entering this status, all views naturally vanish. The Tathāgatagocarasūtra says: 'The Tathāgata should not be seen through form, should not be seen through dharmas, should not be seen through characteristics, should not be seen through auspicious marks, and should not be seen through Dharma-nature.' The Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: 'At that time, there was a devaputra in the assembly named Uttaramati, who spoke to the Bodhisattva Anabhilāpya: "Good man, if all dharmas are ineffable, how can sentient beings have speech?" Anabhilāpya said: "Good man, do you know whether an echo has speech or not?" Uttaramati said: "Good man, an echo exists from causes and conditions." "Good man, is the cause of this echo definitely inside or definitely outside?" The devaputra said: "Good man, such a cause is not definitely inside, nor definitely outside." "Devaputra, all sentient beings forcibly make dual thoughts and thus have speech. The nature of all dharmas is truly ineffable." The devaputra said: "Good man, if they are ineffable, why does the Tathāgata expound the eighty-four thousand aggregates of dharmas, causing the śrāvakas to uphold, read, and recite them?" "Devaputra, the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, truly has nothing expounded. That which has nothing expounded is precisely the Tathāgata. Devaputra, do you know what the Tathāgata is? Would you say that form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are the Tathāgata? Would you say the Buddha is past, future, or present; conditioned or unconditioned; the aggregates, elements, and sense bases; contained within the three realms; a cause, an effect, or an aggregation? Or perception, non-perception, both perception and non-perception, or neither perception nor non-perception?" "No, good man." "Devaputra, if these are not the Tathāgata, how can he be spoken of? If he cannot be spoken of, how can it be said that the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, expounds the eighty-four thousand aggregates of dharmas? Therefore, the eighty-four thousand aggregates of dharmas are truly ineffable. The śrāvakas who receive them are also ineffable. That which is ineffable is the correct meaning. If there is no speaking, that is the real truth." The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "I speak only of the beginningless false conceptualization and habit-energy, the various evils, the causes of the three existences. Unable to awaken to and know the direct perception of one's own mind, one gives rise to false conceptualization and grasps at external natures." Thus, one merely understands one's own mind; external objects have no nature. Because one is not awake to the measure of mind, one falsely grasps at external conditions. If one knows that mind is itself the Way and mind is itself the Dharma, how could there be any dharma outside mind to be expounded? Therefore, a verse of the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'The buddhas do not expound the Dharma; / where would the Buddha speak? / Merely following their own minds, / he expounds such dharmas for them.' The Śataśāstravaipulya says: 'All vows and practices comply with worldly convention; what is seen and heard is forcibly and provisionally designated. In the principle of ultimate truth, neither is admitted, because all discrimination and conceptual proliferation have ceased. It is not that the Tathāgatas have a dharma to expound, nor is there any dharma in the least to be attained.'