宗鏡錄 89.45

89.45

答。雖發願度生。皆令倣此真修。究竟同此。指歸一念。所以先發誓度盡一切眾生。方成正覺。則念盡心澄。天真獨朗。即成佛義也。先佛已如是自度竟。然後轉示他人。即是真實之慈。離此興悲皆成妄想。如舍利弗問菴提遮女。何不轉女身。偈答言。自男生我女。徒生妄想悲。則是不了自是非男。錯認眾生之相。却乃執生他女。徒興彼我之情。於一真內而妄立自他。向同體中而強分愛見。如古師云。有二義門。俱無可度。一契空。如性空寂滅。故無可度。二契不空。同一法性。法性平等。故無可度。故金剛三昧經云。若化眾生。無生。於化。不生於化。其化大焉。又大虛空藏菩薩所問經偈云。猶如於幻師。害多幻化眾。實無有所害。所度生亦然。幻化及有情。諸佛法亦爾。若悟同一性。無自性為性。所以先德云。八地已上菩薩。得無生忍。恒河沙世界外。有眾生求救。菩薩都不起念。眾生自然見菩薩到其前。與其說法。四事供養。菩薩得如是智。由是無心之心量故。我說為心量。亦為無量之量耳。

Answer: Although vows are made to deliver sentient beings, they are all directed so that they emulate this true cultivation, ultimately harmonizing with this and pointing back to the one thought. Therefore, one first vows to deliver all sentient beings completely before attaining correct awakening; then, when thought is exhausted and the mind is clarified, nature's authenticity alone shines brightly—this is the meaning of attaining buddhahood. When past buddhas have already self-delivered in this manner, only then do they turn to demonstrate it to others; this is genuine compassion. Apart from this, giving rise to compassion is entirely false thinking. Just as Śāriputra asked the woman Āntrātī, "Why do you not transform your female body?" she replied in a verse: "Born of male, I produce female; / In vain one gives rise to the compassion of false thinking." This means that without realizing that one is fundamentally not male, one mistakenly grasps the characteristics of sentient beings, and then clings to the birth of another female, giving rise in vain to the sentiments of self and other. Within the single reality, one falsely establishes self and other; within the shared substance, one forcibly divides affection and view. As an ancient master said, there are two gates of meaning, both of which have nothing to be delivered: First, attuned to emptiness, as the nature is empty and quiescent, therefore there is nothing to be delivered. Second, attuned to non-emptiness, they are of one and the same dharmatā; since the dharmatā is equal, therefore there is nothing to be delivered. Thus the Vajrasamādhisūtra states: "If one transforms sentient beings, there is no birth in transformation. Not being born in transformation, its transformation is vast indeed." Furthermore, a verse in the Ākāśagarbhabodhisattvapṛcchāsūtra says: "Just as when an illusionist / Destroys many beings of illusory creation, / In truth nothing is destroyed, / The beings delivered are also like this. / Illusory creations as well as sentient beings, / And the dharmas of all buddhas are also thus. / If one awakens to the single nature, / Having no self-nature is the nature." Therefore past paragons said: For bodhisattvas above the eighth ground who have attained the anutpattikadharmakṣānti, though sentient beings outside worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges cry out for help, the bodhisattva gives rise to no thought at all; sentient beings naturally see the bodhisattva arrive before them, preach the Dharma to them, and offer the four requisites. The bodhisattva attains such wisdom because it is the measure of mind of no-mind; I call it the measure of mind, and it is also simply the measure of the immeasurable.