宗鏡錄 98.57

98.57

牛頭下佛窟和尚云。若人不信一文殊說。十方文殊一時說。一佛涅槃。一切諸佛俱涅槃。何以故。不達色根本故。問。了色性無所有是本不。答。此是住觀語。非是即事見根本。若即事見者。只汝生老病身。及無明婬怒。是色根本。事外無理故。是以若了一色根本。即舉十方色同。名為一說一切說。一涅槃一切涅槃。當知色體無性。性無不包。又云。雖同凡夫。而非凡夫。不得凡夫。不壞凡夫。謂別有殊勝在心外者。即墮魔網。我今自觀身心實相作佛。即是見十方佛同行同證處。問。佛身無漏戒定熏修。五陰不縛不脫。不敢有疑。且如大品經云。眾生不善五陰之身。亦不縛不脫。甚令人驚疑。答。若向眾生五陰外。別有諸佛解脫。無有是處。只了眾生自性。從本已來。無有一法可得。誰縛誰脫。何得更有縛脫之異。問。經云眾生與佛平等。無有縛。脫何得六道眾生沈淪不得解脫。答。眾生不了色心清淨。妄想顛倒。不得解脫。若知人法常空。其中實無縛脫。問。作何觀行懺悔。臨終免被業牽。答。汝須深信諸佛所行所說處。與我今日所行所說處無別。乃至成佛尚不得涅槃相。何況中間罪福妄業可得。此是真實正知正見。真實修行。真實懺悔。但於行住坐臥不失此觀。臨終自然不失正念。

Venerable Fokū of the Niutou lineage said: “If one does not believe what a single Mañjuśrī speaks, the Mañjuśrīs of the ten directions speak it simultaneously. When one buddha enters nirvāṇa, all buddhas enter nirvāṇa together. Why is this? Because they have not penetrated the root of matter (rūpa).”
Question: “Is understanding that the nature of matter has no existence whatsoever the root?”
Answer: “This is the language of abiding in contemplation, not seeing the root right within phenomena. If one sees it right within phenomena, it is simply your body of birth, old age, and sickness, as well as avidyā, lust, and anger, that are the root of matter. This is because outside of phenomena there is no principle. Therefore, if one penetrates the root of a single [instance of] matter, the matter of all the ten directions is identical; this is termed ‘one speaking is all speaking’ and ‘one nirvāṇa is all nirvāṇa.’ You should know that the substance of matter has no intrinsic nature, and its nature encompasses everything.”
He also said: “Although identical with ordinary beings, it is not an ordinary being; it does not obtain ordinary beings, nor does it destroy ordinary beings. To claim there is something specially superior outside the mind is to fall straight into the snare of Māra. When I now contemplate the true characteristic of my own body and mind and become a buddha, that is precisely where I see the buddhas of the ten directions practicing together and realizing together.”
Question: “That the buddha body is perfumed and cultivated by untainted morality and concentration, so that the five aggregates neither bind nor release, I dare not doubt. Yet as the Great Sūtra says, the body of the unwholesome five aggregates of sentient beings likewise neither binds nor releases—this causes people great alarm and doubt.”
Answer: “If there were a liberation of the buddhas apart from the five aggregates of sentient beings, that would be impossible. If one simply understands that the self-nature of sentient beings, from the very beginning, does not contain a single dharma that can be attained, who binds and who releases? How could there be any distinction between bondage and release?”
Question: “The sūtra says that sentient beings and buddhas are equal and that there is neither bondage nor release; why then do sentient beings of the six destinies sink and drown, unable to attain liberation?”
Answer: “Because sentient beings do not understand that matter and citta are pure, their deluded thoughts are inverted, and they fail to attain liberation. If one knows that persons and dharmas are constantly empty, within them there is truly neither bondage nor release.”
Question: “What contemplative practice and repentance should one perform so that at the time of death one avoids being dragged along by karma?”
Answer: “You must deeply believe that the place where all buddhas practice and speak is no different from the place where I practice and speak today. Even upon attaining buddhahood, one still does not grasp the characteristic of nirvāṇa, so how much less could the deluded karma of sins and merits in between be grasped! This is true right knowledge and right view, true cultivation, and true repentance. If only one does not lose this contemplation in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, at the end of life one will naturally not lose right mindfulness.”