宗鏡錄 93.3.2

93.3.2

解於有為法。 若知二性同。 必為人中尊。 佛不見菩提。 亦不見佛法。 不著諸法故。 降魔成佛道。 若欲度眾生。 勿分別其性。 一切諸眾生。 皆同於涅槃。 若能如是見。 是則得成佛。 其心不閑靜。 而現閑靜相。 是於天人中。 則為是大賊。 是人無菩提。 亦無有佛法。 若作如是願。 我當得作佛。 如是之凡夫。 無明力所牽。 佛法湛清淨。 其喻如虛空。 此中無可取。 亦無有可捨。 佛不得佛道。 亦不度眾生。 凡夫強分別。 作佛度眾生。 是人於佛法。 則為甚大遠。 若見眾生苦。 則是受苦者。 眾生無眾生。 而說有眾生。 住眾生相中。 則無有菩提。 若人見眾生。 是畢竟解脫。 無有婬恚癡。 知是為世將。 若人見眾生。 不見非眾生。 不得佛法實。 佛同眾生性。 若能如是知。 則為世間將。 乃至說是諸偈法時。 三萬諸天子。 得無生法忍。 萬八千人。 漏盡解脫。 即時地裂。 勝意比丘。 墮大地獄。 以是業障罪因緣故。 百千億那由他劫。 於大地獄。 受諸苦毒。 從地獄出。 七十四萬世。 常被誹謗。 若干百千劫。 乃至不聞佛之名字。 自是已後。 還得值佛。 出家學道。 而無志樂。 於六十二萬世。 常返道入俗。 亦以業障餘罪故。 於若干百千世。 諸根闇鈍。 世尊。 爾時喜根法師。 於今東方過十萬億佛土。 有國名寶莊嚴。 於中得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 號曰勝光明威德王如來。 應供正遍知。 今現在彼。 其勝意比丘。 今我身是。 世尊。 我未入如是法相門時。 受。 如是苦。 分別苦。 顛倒苦。 是故若發菩薩心者。 若發小乘心者。 不欲起如是業障罪。 不欲受如是苦惱者。 不應拒逆佛法。 無有處所可生瞋癡。 佛告文殊師利。 汝聞是諸偈。 得何等利。 世尊。 我畢是業障罪已。 聞是偈因緣故。 所在生處。 利根智慧。 得深法忍。 巧說深法。 文殊師利。 為誰力故。 能憶如是無量阿僧祇劫罪業因緣。 世尊。 諸菩薩有所念。 有所說。 有所思惟。 皆是佛之神力。 所以者何。 一切諸法。 皆從佛出。 故知若不信宗鏡中所說實相之理。 則如勝意比丘。 沒魂受裂地之大苦。 若有信如是說。 則如文殊師利。 智慧演深法之妙辯。 信毀交報。 因果無差。 普勸後賢。 應深信受。 若信般若福。 廣具前文。 今述謗方等罪。 略引誠證。 如大般若經中。 廣說謗法之罪。 謂此方墮阿鼻地獄。 此土劫壞。 罪猶未畢。 移置他方阿鼻地獄中。 他方復經劫壞。 罪亦未盡。 復移他方。 如是巡歷十方。 十方各經劫盡。 還生此土阿鼻地獄中。 千佛出世。 救之猶難。 若欲說其所受之身。 聞者當吐熱血而死故。 善現請說所受之身。 佛竟不說。 乃至華嚴地獄天子。 法華不輕四眾。 皆是不信。 悉墮阿鼻。 若有聞者。 應須驚懼。 以為鑒誡。 普曉群蒙。 次明信毀現受報者。 第一明信者。 唐釋慧璿。 姓董氏。 住襄陽。 少出家。 聽三論。 初住光福寺。 居山頂。 引汲為勞。 明欲往他寺。 夜見神人。 身長一丈。 衣以紫袍。 頂禮璿曰。 請住於此。 常講大乘經。 勿以小乘為慮。 其小乘者。 如高山無水。 不能利人。 大乘經者。 猶如大海。 自止此山。 多佛出世。 一人讀誦說大乘。 能令所住。 珍寶光明。 眷屬榮勝。 若有小乘。 前事並失。 唯願弘持。 勿孤所望。 法師須水。 此易得耳。 來月八日。 定當得之。 自往劍南慈母山大泉。 請一龍王去也。 言已不現。 恰至來月七日夜。 大風卒起。 從西南來。 雷震雨霔。 唯見清泉。 香而且美。 合眾幸。 及亡龍泉。 漸便乾竭。 信之為益。 其類是焉。 第二明毀者。 佛藏經云。 於未來世。 當有比丘。

understanding conditioned dharmas.
If one knows both natures are the same,
one will surely be an honored one among humans.
A Buddha does not see bodhi,
nor does he see Buddha-dharmas.
Because he does not cling to dharmas,
he conquers Māra and realizes the Buddha Way.
If you wish to liberate sentient beings,
do not discriminate their nature.
All sentient beings
are identically in nirvāṇa.
If one can see thus,
then one will attain buddhahood.
One whose mind is not quiet and still,
yet manifests a quiet, still appearance,
among devas and humans
is a great thief.
Such a person has no bodhi,
nor any Buddha-dharmas.
If one forms such an aspiration as:
'I shall become a Buddha,'
such an ordinary being
is dragged by the power of avidyā.
Buddha-dharmas are profoundly pure;
their metaphor is like empty space.
Within this there is nothing to grasp,
nor is there anything to discard.
A Buddha does not attain the Buddha Way,
nor does he liberate sentient beings.
Ordinary beings forcefully discriminate,
making a Buddha who liberates sentient beings.
Such a person, from Buddha-dharmas,
is exceptionally far removed.
If one sees sentient beings suffering,
then one is a sufferer oneself.
Sentient beings have no sentient beings,
yet we say there are sentient beings.
Abiding in the mark of sentient beings,
one does not have bodhi.
If someone sees that sentient beings
are ultimate liberation,
free of lust, anger, and delusion,
know that this person is a general of the world.
If someone sees sentient beings
and does not see non-sentient beings,
they do not attain the reality of Buddha-dharmas.
Buddhas share the nature of sentient beings;
if one can know thus,
one is a general of the world."
And so forth, until, when he preached these verses of the Dharma, thirty thousand sons of devas attained anutpattikadharmakṣānti, and eighteen thousand people attained the liberation of the destruction of the āsravas. Thereupon the earth split open, and the monk Śreṣṭhamati fell into the great hell. Due to the causes and conditions of this karmic obstruction and transgression, for hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, he underwent diverse bitter torments in the great hell. Emerging from the hell, for seven hundred and forty thousand lives he was constantly slandered. For several hundreds of thousands of kalpas, he did not even hear the name of a Buddha. From that time onward, he again happened to meet Buddhas and left household life to study the Path, yet lacked aspiration and joy. For six hundred and twenty thousand lives, he constantly returned from the Path to secular life. Also, due to the residual transgression of the karmic obstruction, for several hundreds of thousands of lives his sense faculties were dull and dim. "World-Honoured One, that Dharma Master Prasannendriya has now, over a hundred thousand koṭis of Buddha lands to the east, in a land named Ratnavyūha, attained anuttarāsamyaksaṃbodhi within it, titled King of Supremely Radiant and Mighty Virtue Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha, currently residing there. That monk Śreṣṭhamati is my present self. World-Honoured One, when I had not yet entered such an approach to the characteristics of dharmas, I underwent such suffering—the suffering of discrimination and the suffering of inversion. Therefore, if one generates the mind of a bodhisattva, or generates the mind of the Hīnayāna, and does not wish to arouse such transgressions of karmic obstruction, nor wish to undergo such suffering and affliction, one must not oppose and reject the Buddha-Dharma. There is no place where anger and delusion can arise." The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī, "Having heard these verses, what benefit did you obtain?" "World-Honoured One, after I exhausted these transgressions of karmic obstruction, due to the causes and conditions of hearing these verses, wherever I was born, I had sharp faculties and wisdom, attained deep Dharma-kṣānti, and skillfully expounded the profound Dharma." "Mañjuśrī, through whose power are you able to remember the causes and conditions of such sinful karma over immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas?" "World-Honoured One, whatever the bodhisattvas recall, expound, and reflect upon is entirely the supernatural power of the Buddha. Why? All dharmas come forth from the Buddha." Thus we know that if one does not believe in the principle of true reality expounded in the Record of the Mirror of the Source, one will be like the monk Śreṣṭhamati, whose spirit sank and suffered the great agony of the earth splitting open. If one has faith in such teachings, one will be like Mañjuśrī, whose wisdom articulated the wondrous eloquence of the profound Dharma. Faith and slander bring mutual retributions; cause and effect do not err. We universally encourage future sages: you should deeply believe and accept it. If one speaks of the blessings of faith in prajñā, they are extensively detailed in the previous text. Now, expounding the sins of slandering the Vaipulya teachings, we briefly cite true evidence. As the Great Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra extensively explains the sin of slandering the Dharma: one falls from this realm into the Avīci Hell. When this realm's kalpa is destroyed and the sin is still not exhausted, one is transferred to an Avīci Hell in another realm. When that other realm again undergoes kalpa destruction and the sin is still not ended, one is transferred again to another realm. Wandering thus through the ten directions, each of the ten directions undergoing the end of a kalpa, one is reborn back into the Avīci Hell of this land. Even if a thousand Buddhas appear in the world, saving them is still difficult. If one wished to describe the bodies they receive, those who hear it would vomit hot blood and die; therefore, when Subhūti requested that the bodies they receive be described, the Buddha ultimately did not speak of it. Furthermore, the celestial sons of the hells in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the fourfold assembly that despised Sadāparibhūta in the Lotus Sūtra all disbelieved and completely fell into Avīci. If anyone hears this, they should be frightened and terrified, taking it as a mirror and admonition to universally enlighten the mass of the ignorant. Next, explaining those who receive retribution in the present life for faith and slander: First, explaining those who have faith: In the Tang dynasty, the Śramaṇa Huixuan, whose lay surname was Dong, lived in Xiangyang. He left household life at a young age and listened to the Three Treatises. At first he resided at Guangfu Monastery, living on the mountain summit. Drawing water was laborious. In the morning he intended to go to another monastery. At night he saw a divine man, ten feet in height, wearing a purple robe, who bowed with his head to Xuan's feet and said, "Please remain here and constantly lecture on Mahāyāna sūtras; do not be anxious on account of the Hīnayāna. That Hīnayāna is like a high mountain without water: it cannot benefit people. The Mahāyāna sūtras are like a great ocean. Since residing on this mountain, many Buddhas have appeared in the world. If one person recites and explains the Mahāyāna, it can cause their dwelling place to be filled with the radiance of precious jewels and their retinue to flourish. If there is Hīnayāna, the former matters will all be lost. I only wish you will propagate and uphold it, not disappointing what is hoped for. If the Dharma Master needs water, this is easily obtained. On the eighth day of the coming month, you will certainly obtain it. I will personally go to the great spring at Mount Cimu in Jiannan and invite a dragon king to depart." Having spoken, he disappeared. Just on the night of the seventh day of the coming month, a great wind suddenly arose, coming from the southwest, with thunder claps and torrential rain. They saw only a clear spring, fragrant and delicious. The entire congregation rejoiced. When the monk passed away, the dragon spring gradually dried up. Faith serving as a benefit is of this kind. Second, explaining those who slander: The Buddha Treasure Sūtra states: 'In the future age, there will be monks...'