宗鏡錄 92.13

92.13

答。一切眾生。以此智故而生三界者。為智無性。不能自知是智非智。善惡苦樂等法。為智體無性。但隨緣現。如空中響。應物成音。無性之智。但應緣分別。以分別故。癡愛隨起。因癡愛故。即我所病生。有我所故。自他執業便起。因執取故。號曰末那。執取不斷。名之為識。因識種子。生死相續。以生死故。眾苦無量。以苦無量。方求不苦之道。迷不知苦者。不能發心。知苦求真者。還是本智。會苦緣故。方能知苦。不會苦緣。不能知苦。故知苦緣故。方能發心求無上道。有種性菩薩。以宿世先已知苦。發信解種強者。雖受人天樂果。亦能發心求無上道。是故因智隨迷。因智隨悟。是故如人因地而倒。因地而起。正隨迷時。名之為識。正隨悟之時。名之為智。在纏名識。在覺名智。識之與智。本無自名。但隨迷悟而立其名。故不可繫常繫斷也。此智之與識。但隨迷悟立名。若覓始終。如空中求迹。如影中求人。如身中求我。依住所在。終不可得也。故新長短處所之相也。如此無明及智。無有始終。若得菩提時。無明不滅。何以故。為本無故。更無有滅。若隨無明時。不動智亦不滅。為本無故。亦更無滅。但為隨色聲香所取緣。名為無明。但為知苦發心緣。名之為智。但隨緣名之為有。故體本無也。如空中響。思之可見。是以若入宗鏡。成佛義圓。昇降隨緣。知眾生無永沈之義。聖凡不隔。明諸佛有同體之文。

Answer: That all sentient beings are born into the three realms through this wisdom is because wisdom lacks an intrinsic nature, and cannot of itself know whether it is wisdom or non-wisdom, or dharmas such as good, evil, suffering, or pleasure. Because the substance of wisdom lacks an intrinsic nature, it merely manifests according to conditions, like an echo in the sky producing sound in response to an object. Wisdom devoid of intrinsic nature merely discriminates in response to conditions; because of discrimination, delusion and craving arise in succession. Because of delusion and craving, the illness of "mine" arises. Because there is "mine", the grasping karma of self and other immediately arises. Because of grasping, it is designated as manas; when grasping is uninterrupted, it is termed consciousness (vijñāna). Because of the seeds of consciousness, birth and death continue in succession. Because of birth and death, suffering is immeasurable. Because suffering is immeasurable, one only then seeks the path of non-suffering. Those who are deluded and do not know suffering cannot generate the resolve [for awakening]; those who know suffering and seek the truth are still none other than the fundamental wisdom. It is because it meets the conditions of suffering that it is able to know suffering; if it did not meet the conditions of suffering, it could not know suffering. Thus, because it knows the conditions of suffering, it can only then generate the resolve to seek the unsurpassed Path. Bodhisattvas of good lineage (gotra), having previously known suffering in past lives, have strong seeds of faith and understanding; even when experiencing the pleasurable retributions of humans and gods, they are still able to generate the resolve to seek the unsurpassed Path. Therefore, because of wisdom one follows delusion, and because of wisdom one follows awakening. Thus it is like a person who falls to the ground and rises by relying on the ground. At the very moment of following delusion, it is termed consciousness; at the very moment of following awakening, it is termed wisdom. In bondage it is called consciousness; in awakening it is called wisdom. Consciousness and wisdom fundamentally have no self-names; their names are merely established according to delusion and awakening. Therefore they cannot be bound to permanence or bound to annihilation. This wisdom and consciousness merely establish their names according to delusion and awakening; if one seeks their beginning and end, it is like seeking tracks in the sky, seeking a person in a shadow, or seeking a self in a body: their resting place is ultimately unobtainable. Therefore [they lack] characteristics of newly produced length, shortness, or location. Thus, this ignorance and wisdom have no beginning or end. When bodhi is attained, ignorance is not extinguished. Why is this? Because fundamentally it does not exist, there is no further extinguishing. When following ignorance, immovable wisdom is also not extinguished; because fundamentally it does not exist, it also has no extinguishing. It is merely termed ignorance due to conditions grasped in following forms, sounds, and scents; it is merely termed wisdom due to conditions of knowing suffering and generating the resolve [for awakening]. It is merely termed existent according to conditions; therefore its substance is fundamentally non-existent. Like an echo in the sky, upon reflection this can be seen. Consequently, if one enters the mirror of the source, the meaning of attaining Buddhahood is perfected: ascending and descending follow conditions, and one knows that sentient beings never permanently sink; noble and ordinary are not separated, clarifying that the Buddhas have scriptural statements of having the identical substance.