宗鏡錄 94.48

94.48

法句經偈云。森羅及萬像。一法之所印。云何一法中。而見有種種。又云。雖誦千章。句義不正。不如一要。聞可滅意。釋曰。雖誦千章者。但徇音聲。不知正義。不如一要者。若了一心。為萬法之要。達宗則息意。意息則境空。以萬法常虛。隨意生形。故不思議光菩薩經偈云。一切非如法。等住於如中。覺了知是已。無過無功德。釋曰。一切非如法者。即是心外遍計妄執無體之法。若了妄無實。則一切諸法。等住於一如心中。如是覺知。則覺外無法可為對待。染淨俱空故。如思益經云。菩薩所化眾生。無有功德。以無對處故。因有過患。方顯功德。以真心遍一切處故。更無一法。可為過患。既無所治過患。亦無能治功德。二俱不立。故云無過無功德。

A verse in the Dharmapada says:

'The dense and varied myriad phenomena / are sealed by a single dharma. / How is it that within the single dharma / one sees diverse varieties?'

It also says:

'Though one recites a thousand verses / whose words and meaning are not correct, / it is not as good as a single essential [verse], / hearing which brings conceptual thought to cessation.'

Explanation: 'Though one recites a thousand verses' means merely following sounds without knowing the correct meaning. 'Not as good as a single essential' means that if one understands the one mind, it is the essential of the myriad dharmas; when one penetrates the source, conceptual thought ceases, and when conceptual thought ceases, objects are empty. Since the myriad dharmas are constantly empty, taking form according to thought, a verse in the Acintyaprabhāsa-bodhisattva-sūtra says:

'All dharmas that are not like [tathatā] / dwell equally within tathatā. / Having awakened to and known this, / there are no faults and no virtues.'

Explanation: 'All dharmas that are not like [tathatā]' refers to dharmas without substantial nature, which are conceptually constructed and falsely grasped outside the mind. If one realizes that delusion has no reality, all dharmas dwell equally in the mind of tathatā. Awakening and knowing in this way, there is no dharma outside awakening that could serve as a counterpart; defilement and purity are both empty. As the Viśeṣacinti-brahma-paripṛcchā-sūtra says: 'The sentient beings transformed by the bodhisattva have no virtues, because there is no place of opposition.' Because there are faults and perils, virtues are then revealed; since the true mind is omnipresent, there is not a single dharma that can be a fault or peril. Since there are no faults and perils to be cured, neither are there virtues capable of curing them. Neither is established; hence it says 'there are no faults and no virtues.'