宗鏡錄 89.43

89.43

答。即此真心。是佛悲願。謂同體大悲及自體無障礙願等。即性起大用也。又眾生者。即是諸雜。雜心識念念起滅。故號眾生。經云。佛告比丘。汝等日夜常生無量百千眾生。若能智照。不起相續之念。即是度眾生。又了念即空。無有起處。即是度盡無量百千眾生。不見有一眾生而得滅度者。台教云。無明為父。貪愛為母。六根為男。六塵為女。識為媒嫁。出生無量煩惱為子孫。故經云。有念即生死。無念即尼洹。

Answer: This very true mind is the Buddha's compassionate vows, meaning the great compassion of identical substance and the unimpeded vows of one's own substance, which is the great function arising from the nature. Furthermore, "sentient beings" (zhong sheng) means "manifold arisings" (zhong za); because the manifold thoughts of consciousness arise and cease from moment to moment, they are called sentient beings. The sūtra says: 'The Buddha told the monks: "Day and night, you constantly give birth to measureless hundreds of thousands of sentient beings. If you can illuminate with wisdom and not give rise to continuous thoughts, that is delivering sentient beings."' Furthermore, comprehending that thoughts are empty and have no place of origin is delivering all measureless hundreds of thousands of sentient beings, without seeing a single sentient being who has attained extinction. The Tiantai teaching says: 'Ignorance is the father, craving is the mother, the six sense organs are the sons, the six sense objects are the daughters, consciousness is the matchmaker, and the boundless afflictions born are the descendants.' Hence the sūtra says: 'Having thought is saṃsāra; having no thought is nirvāṇa.'