宗鏡錄 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

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Preface to the Record of the Mirror of the Source

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Composed by Yang Jie, Gentleman for Court Discussion on the Left, Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites, and Commandant of the Army.

The true words of the buddhas take citta as their source; sentient beings who have faith in the Way take this source as their mirror. The realm of sentient beings is identical to the realm of the buddhas: they become sentient beings because of delusion. The citta of the buddhas is the citta of sentient beings: they become buddhas because of awakening. Citta is like a bright mirror; the myriad phenomena appear distinctly within it. The buddhas and sentient beings are like reflections. Nirvāṇa and saṃsāra are both arbitrary designations. The mirror's substance is serene yet ever illuminates; the mirror's illumination reflects yet is ever serene. Citta, buddha, and sentient beings: these three are without distinction. At the beginning of our dynasty, Chan Master Yongming Zhijue Yanshou of Wuyue realized the supreme vehicle and thoroughly comprehended the ultimate truth. Penetrating deeply into the scriptural teachings, he profoundly mastered the Chan tradition. Observing the monastic precepts, he extensively carried out beneficial deeds. Because he read in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra that 'the Buddha's words take citta as their source,' he composed the Record of the Mirror of the Source. He raised doubts where there were no doubts, posed questions where none had been asked, acting as an uninvited friend and a truly great guide. Scattering the treasures of the dragon palace, he distributed them equally to all beings; throwing open the barrier of the patriarchal gate, he universally welcomed all who came. Raising one's eyes to look, whatever desire one has is fulfilled; reaching out one's hand to pluck, whatever illness one has is cured. He washed away false views and pointed directly back to the wondrous source. This is indeed what is meant by taking the one mind as the source and illuminating the myriad phenomena as a mirror. If one takes the buddhas as a mirror, one will know that morality, concentration, and wisdom are the source of all virtues: humans, devas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and tathāgatas all emerge from these, and not one of the virtuous kinds fails to accept them with faith. If one takes sentient beings as a mirror, one will know that rāga, dveṣa, and moha are the source of all evils: asuras, animals, hell beings, and the ghost realms all emerge from these, and not one of the evil kinds fails to dread them. Although good and evil differ, their source is the same. Turning back to mirror one's own citta, one will know that it is numinously luminous, calm, and serene, vast and unobstructed, unconditioned and non-abiding, devoid of cultivation and devoid of realization, without dust that could defile it, without taint that could be polished away: it is the source of all phenomena. Formerly, King Zhongyi of Wuyue wrote a preface for it and kept it hidden in the scriptural repository. Down to the Yuanfeng reign period,

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the imperial younger brother, Prince Duanxian of Wei, had printing blocks carved and distributed it to famous monasteries. Yet scholars of the four quarters rarely encountered a copy of it. In the summer of the sixth year of the Yuanyou reign period, while visiting the Fayun Monastery in the Eastern Capital, I first saw the new Qiantang edition, which was especially precise and detailed. It had been brought about when Xu Sigong, a native of Wu, invited Chan Master Fayong, together with two or three elders including Fazhen of Yongle, to gather all editions extensively, and using the scriptures of the triyāna and the teachings of the sages, collated and finalized it so as to distribute it widely. Its benefit has been immensely vast. Knowing that I took delight in reading this record, Fayong accordingly requested that I write this preface.

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Preface to the Record of the Mirror of the Source

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Composed by Qian Chu, Grand Marshal of the Realm and King of Wuyue.

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Examining it closely, within the realm there are three teachings. Rectifying ruler and minister, bringing intimacy between father and son, and solidifying human relations: Confucianism is my teacher in this. Tranquil and vast, beyond what sight and hearing can attain; ascending from the subtle to the void, culminating in riding the wind and chariot of the sun; if the ruler attains it he establishes well and remains unshakable, and if a person attains it blessings are prolonged without end: Daoism is the teacher of Confucianism. The caturāryasatya, dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpāda, the three clarities, and the eight liberations: practicing them constantly without forgetting, cultivating them daily to attain them, once ascending to the fruit ground one forever reaches the true and eternal: Śākya is the source of the Way. Yet these three teachings are all cultivated from citta. The Record of the Mirror of Citta was composed by Chan Master Zhijue. Totaling one hundred fascicles, it embraces all subtle words.

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What our Buddha proclaimed with his golden mouth fills the oceanic treasury, also intended to guide and encourage later students. With the master's wisdom and eloquence, he unfolded and expounded the myriad phenomena, illuminating the one mind. In Chan he swam across rivers; in wisdom he spread clouds. Even enumerating and praising them, one could never record them completely. I have merely composed this brief preface to extol and promote its circulation.

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Preface to the Record of the Mirror of the Source

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Compiled by Yanshou, Chan Master Zhijue, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Monastery in the State of Wuyue under the Great Song.

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I respectfully submit: The true source is profoundly still; the ocean of awakening is clear and tranquil. It cuts off the beginnings of name and characteristic; it lacks the traces of subject and object. In the beginning, through unawareness, a stirred citta suddenly arose, becoming the origin of karmic consciousness and the fault of awakening clarity. Because of clarity, illumination was aroused, and the darśanabhāga abruptly emerged; following illumination, objects were established, and the nimittabhāga was laid out. Like a mirror reflecting images, sense faculties and body suddenly arose. Next, following conceptualization, the world became differentiated; subsequently, because of cognition, hatred and love became unequal. From this point on, beings abandoned the real and lost the nature, clinging to characteristics and following names. They accumulated the emotional defilements of stagnant attachment and forged the consciousness waves of continuity. They locked the true awakening in the night of dreams, sinking in delusion within the triple realm; they blinded the eye of wisdom upon dark crossroads, crawling within the nine abodes. Thereupon, they were entangled in the suffering of karmic bonds and lost the gate of liberation. Within that which has no body, they received bodies; toward that which has no destiny, they established destinies. In terms of their bases, they are divided into the twenty-five states of existence; in terms of direct retribution, they possess the twelve classes of living beings. All originate from the roots of emotion and thought, bringing about the distinctions of base and retribution. Upon the changeless sphere, they fruitlessly undergo saṃsāra; within the dharma that has no bondage, they spontaneously generate binding fetters. They are like spring silkworms spinning cocoons, or autumn moths flying into lamps: with the threads of false thoughts of dualistic views, they entangle the karmic substance of the mass of suffering; with the wings of avidyā, rāga, and craving, they throw themselves into the fiery wheel of birth and death. With echoes in valleys and vocal sounds, they discuss the beauty and ugliness of the four modes of birth; with the mirror of the conceptualizing citta, they manifest the forms and manners of the three existences. Thereafter, the winds of contrary and agreeable thoughts agitate the ocean of awakening; the waters of rāga, moha, and craving nourish the sprouts of suffering. Wholly complying with defilement, they know not how to return to the root; producing disordered views and understanding, they obscure their own citta; establishing illusory forms and sounds, they consider them external dharmas. From this, a single speck of dust contacting an object gradually becomes a lofty peak brushing the heavens; a drop of water raising a ripple ultimately becomes a ship-swallowing giant wave. Afterwards, when wishing to turn back to the beginning and return to the root, according to the differences in sharp and dull faculties, within the one realm of tathatā, the triyāna and five natures were opened: some see emptiness and realize the fruit; some comprehend conditions and enter reality; some undergo three asaṃkhyeya kalpas of cultivation and gradually perfect the gates of practice; some cultivate completely in a single thought and suddenly accomplish the Buddha path. Thus, realization differs, but the one nature is not distinct. Consequently, the names of ordinary beings and sages are formed, and the characteristics of the ultimate and conventional seem to divide. If one wishes to exhaust the subtle and penetrate the root, to investigate the purport and comprehend the source, then the fundamental nature is transcendent, ultimately tranquil and extinguished. It cuts off the difference between rising and sinking; it has no distinction of bondage and liberation. There is neither a person who remains in the world, nor one who passes into extinction. The two limits are equal; the one path is clear and empty. Consciousness and wisdom are both empty; name and substance are completely tranquil. Utterly void of anything that exists, there is only the one mind. One who comprehends it is called a person who sees the path; one who is benighted to it is titled the beginning of birth and death. Furthermore, there are those of heterodox roots and external lineages, of small wisdom and provisional capacities: failing to understand the etiology of the illness of birth and death, they do not know the root of views of person and self. They only desire to revile clamor and reject motion, to break characteristics and analyze dust. Although they are said to savor quietude and merge with emptiness, they do not realize they are burying the real and resisting awakening. It is like failing to discern the red cataract in one's eyes, and merely extinguishing the double glare on the lamp; or failing to fathom the illusory body within consciousness, and vainly fleeing the empty shadow in the midday sun. This is to exhaust the body and overwork the mind, wasting effort and relinquishing efficacy—no different from adding water to augment ice, or throwing firewood to increase a fire. How could they know that the double glare resides in the cataract, and the empty shadow follows the body? Remove the diseased eye, and the double glare naturally vanishes; still the illusory form, and the empty shadow must be extinguished. If one can turn the light around toward oneself, reverse the object, and contemplate the citta, the Buddha eye will be bright and the shadow of karma empty, the dharmakāya will appear and the traces of dust will cease. With the blade of wisdom of self-awakening, cut open the wish-fulfilling jewel within the entanglements; with the sharp point of prajñā in a single thought, sever the net of views amid the dust. This is the purport of exhausting the citta, the definitive explanation of comprehending consciousness: its words are concise yet its meaning is rich; its phrasing is substantive and its principle is reached. It exposes the barrier of doubt at the door of right wisdom, and weeds the grass of delusion at the plain of true awakening. It cures the deep malady that has penetrated the marrow, and clevers the stubborn clinging of entangled roots. Then object and self encounter the flame of the fire of wisdom, melting within the furnace of mind-only; names and characteristics approach the light of the sun of prajñā, dissolving into the ocean of the one real. This is the dharma of internal realization; how could it reside in written explanations? Cognition and understanding cannot exhaust it; seeing and hearing cannot reach it. Now, for those who have not seen, I expound the wondrous seeing of non-seeing; for those who have not heard, I cause them to enter the complete hearing of non-hearing; for those who do not know, I speak of the true knowing of non-knowing; for those who have not understood, I bring about the great understanding of non-understanding. It is hoped that, relying on the finger, they will see the moon, and having caught the rabbit, they will forget the trap; embracing the one, they will merge with the source, abandoning the explanation to examine the principle. Realizing that all things stem from oneself, they will clarify that wondrous awakening resides in their own person. This may indeed be called searching out the profound root, polishing the cavern of principle, paring out the bone and marrow of the Chan source, and hoisting the guideline of the net of teachings. Residual delusions and slight flaws are completely purified under hand; the profound source and wondrous purport are fully revealed upon a single thought. It can destroy the mountain of sevenfold conceit and forever block the road of the six decays. The heterodox paths of worldly toil all obey its summons; the demon armies of birth and death completely vanish without a trace. It manifests sovereign power and displays great majestic radiance; it shows the true jewel-gem, its function and use inexhaustible; it empties the secret treasury, providing universal succor without limit. It can be compared to burning ox-head candana among fragrances, grasping the black dragon's pearl among jewels, plucking the auspicious omen among flowers, shining forth divine light among illuminations, sipping milk-congee among foods, drinking ambrosia among waters, taking the nine-times refined elixir among medicines, and encountering a sacred king among rulers. Thus, the mountain of dharmatā is lofty, abruptly surmounting the height of all peaks; the ocean of sarpirmanda is vast, horizontally swallowing the waves of manifold streams. Like the moon rising in splendor, it outshines the constellations of the Hīnayāna; like the morning sun pregnant with radiance, it dispels the murky dimness of external paths. It is like a person destitute of the wealth of Dharma encountering a great heap of treasures; like one thirsty for ambrosia coming upon a cool pond. It is the god revered by sentient beings; it acts as the father of true compassion for bodhisattvas. For one afflicted with an incurable disease, it meets the Medicine King of Fair Vision; for one lost on perilous paths, it encounters a clear and penetrating good guide. Having long dwelt in a dark room, one is suddenly exposed to the brilliance of a precious torch; having constantly been naked, one suddenly receives the wondrous garment of celestial robes. Without seeking, one naturally obtains it; without effort, it is suddenly accomplished. Thus one should know: in immeasurable lands, its name is difficult to hear; across kalpas numerous as sands of dust, encountering its transmission and upholding is rare. Based on the causes and conditions above, it is titled the Mirror of the Mind. It manifests the one path, clear and empty, serving as a mirror; it fends off all heterodoxies, tolerating not a hair's breadth. Its wondrous substance is impartial; its perfect light is not external. The boundless ocean of meaning wholly falls within its glance; the appearance of all forms completely enters its illumination. This is the purport of the single taste of Caoxi, transmitted alike by all patriarchs; the non-dual source of the Crane Forest, expounded in common by all sūtras. It can be called the deep storehouse of myriad virtues, the profound source of all sages, the jewel-king of the single word, the prime ancestor of all conscious spirits. Consequently, objects separated from the citta are void in both expression and principle; dust that is identified with consciousness possesses authority in explanation and measurement. The sāgaramudrā of the one mind standardizes the perfect source; the wisdom lamp of the eight consciousnesses illuminates and dispels heterodox darkness. Truly, it is called the spiritual mansion of sentient beings, the doctrinal source of the ten thousand dharmas. Its transformations are without limit; its coiling and unfolding are sovereign. It manifests traces in response to conditions, assuming names according to objects. All Buddhas embody it and call it sambodhi; bodhisattvas cultivate it and term it the practice of the six pāramitās. Sāgaramati transforms it into water; the Nāga maiden offers it as a jewel; the goddess scatters it as flowers of non-attachment; the good friend seeks it as a wish-fulfilling gem. Pratyekabuddhas awaken to it as the twelvefold dependent origination; śrāvakas realize it as the four truths and the emptiness of persons. Heterodox paths seize it and make it a river of wrong views; ordinary beings cling to it and make it an ocean of birth and death. Discussing its substance, it wondrously accords with ultimate principle; regarding phenomena, it deeply tallies with right conditions. However, although it marks the general gate of the dharmadhātu, one must discern the distinct purports of the ekayāna. The diverse meanings of nature and characteristics are completely penetrated by the Great Awakening; the layered gates of identity and entry are wondrously reached only by sarvākārajñatā. Yet because faculties are weak and lack discernment, and learning is scant and hard to make comprehensive, people do not know that the two gates of nature and characteristics are the substance and function of their own citta. If they possess function but lose the eternal substance, it is like having waves without water; if they attain substance but lack the gate of wondrous function, it is like having water without waves. Moreover, there has never been water without waves, nor has there ever been a wave that was not wet. Because waves penetrate the source of water, water exhausts the tips of waves; just as nature exhausts the surface of characteristics, and characteristics reach the origin of nature. One must know that substance and function accomplish each other, and nature and characteristics mutually reveal one another. Now I shall explain the general and distinct in detail, and broadly distinguish similarity and difference, investigating the root source of the one dharma, and searching out the origin and end of manifold conditions. Then it can be called the Mirror of the Source to inspect the subtle and obscure: with no single dharma escaping its form, the thousand differences are universally unified. Thereupon, I have compiled extensive doctrines and gathered essential texts, spreading them out within one hundred fascicles, and gathering them into the one mind. This can cause the inconceivable ocean of teachings to become fully clear from thought to thought, as easy as pointing to one's palm; and the inexhaustible true source to be seen by the eyes and tallied with from mind to mind. It is like having a divine jewel in hand, forever ending one's outward pursuit; like the shade cast by the tree of awakening, completely eliminating shadows and traces. Obtaining the true jewel within the spring pond, one finds that gathering gravel was entirely mistaken; recovering one's original head before the ancient mirror, the mad mind abruptly rests. It can deeply extract the thorn of views, and forever cut off the root of doubt; without exerting a single hair's breadth of effort, it fully opens the jewel treasury; without using the strength of a kṣaṇa, it suddenly acquires the profound jewel. It is called the great field of tranquil extinction of the ekayāna, the true araṇya, the place of correct practice. This is the realm of the Tathāgata's own arrival, the Dharma gate where all Buddhas originally abide. Therefore, I universally urge later worthies to carefully grant it their profound inspection, so that their wisdom will exhaust the ocean of nature, and their learning will penetrate the true source. This consciousness and this citta are uniquely honored and uniquely supreme. This consciousness is that which is realized by all Buddhas of the ten directions; this citta is that which is expounded by the teachings of an entire generation. Uniquely honored: it is that to which doctrine, principle, practice, and fruit return; uniquely supreme: it is that toward which faith, understanding, realization, and entry tend. The worthies relied on it in explanation, treatises arising in a thousand chapters; the sages embodied it to widely propagate, discourses achieving the four unhindered eloquence. Therefore, plucking the rare and elevating the extraordinary, refining the subtle and penetrating the obscure, it solely raises the grand guideline and broadly spreads the right net, scooping up the capacities of the five vehicles and ascending to the heaven of ultimate truth. Extensively attesting to this source, its benefit is inexhaustible: thus the true Dharma abides long, destroying the heterodox forest of non-Buddhists; it can broadly succor sentient beings, blocking the disordered ruts of the Hīnayāna. Then nothing heterodox is not rectified, and whatever is false is entirely empty. Because of benefiting oneself, the source of the virtue of wisdom is brought forth; because of benefiting others, the acts of the virtue of grace are established. Because the virtue of wisdom is accomplished, compassion arises in conditionless transformation; because the virtue of grace is accomplished, pity embraces the mind of identical substance. Because of identical substance, the mind arises as no-mind; because of conditionlessness, transformation becomes great transformation. Since the mind arises as no-mind, what joy is not granted? Since transformation becomes great transformation, what suffering is not gathered in? When what joy is not granted, the sharp and dull are viewed alike; when what suffering is not gathered in, enemies and kin are universally saved. Consequently, the three grasses and two trees all return to the luxuriant growth of the single ground; the scorched sprouts of heterodox seeds equally receive the moistening of the one rain. This is indeed the utmost good and utmost beauty, peerless and matchless; it can be said to encompass all causal gates and exhaust the fruit-ocean. Thus, aspirants who first arouse bodhi and persons who newly seek prajñā clearly know the origin of becoming a Buddha, suddenly complete without hindrance; and clearly recognize the road home, advancing directly without doubt. If one departs from this to cultivate otherwise, following other false understandings, it is like milking a horn to get milk, or climbing a tree to catch fish: in vain one passes through three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, ultimately without a single attainment. If one relies on this purport, faithfully accepts, and broadly upholds it, it is like a swift boat following the current without any hindrance; further meeting the advantage of a favorable wind, and adding the effort of oars and sculls, one will swiftly reach the jewel city and suddenly ascend the shore of awakening. It can be said that the provisions are easily prepared, and the fruit of the path is first accomplished: donning Kāśyapa's robe of supreme practice, sitting on Śākyamuni's seat of the emptiness of dharmas, ascending to the pavilion of Maitreya and Vairocana, and entering the dharmadhātu body of Samantabhadra. It can cause a hired base servant to fully inherit the elder's family estate, and suddenly cause the small fruit sunk in emptiness to immediately receive the Tathāgata's prediction. There has never been a gate that does not lead to this path; there must be no dharma that does not accord with this source. Past kings of awakening became Buddhas through this; future great beings rely on this to realize reality. Then what single Dharma gate is not opened? What single principle is not manifested? Not a single form is not samāpatti; not a single sound is not a dhāraṇī gate. Tasting one flavor, all turns into sarpirmanda; smelling one fragrance, all enters the dharmadhātu. Windy branches and moonlit shoals can both transmit the mind; misty isles and cloudy groves all convey the wondrous purport. Step by step, one treads the golden realm; thought by thought, one smells the fragrance of campaka. Scooping a handful of the great ocean, one has already obtained the hundred rivers; arriving at Sumeru, all is of the same color. Brilliantly opening the eyes that contemplate images, all return to their own source; quietly guiding the mind that seeks the jewel, all return to the original dharma. Thereupon, the heterodox mountains drop their heights, and the ocean of suffering stills its waves. The raft of wisdom moves smoothly because of it; the wondrous peak rises high through it. Now, having examined the great intent of patriarchs and Buddhas and the orthodox source of sūtras and treatises, I have pruned away verbose text and sought out only the essential purport. Temporarily setting forth questions and answers and broadly citing proofs, I hold up the one mind as the source and illuminate the ten thousand dharmas like a mirror. Compiling the profound meanings of ancient compositions and summarizing the complete explanations of the precious treasury, I jointly make them known, calling this a "Record." It is divided into one hundred fascicles, broadly in three sections: first, establishing the orthodox source to serve as the destination; second, setting forth questions and answers to eliminate doubts; third, citing true explanations to accomplish complete faith. With this wondrous good, universally bestowed upon sentient beings, may we together repay

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[repay] the Buddha's kindness and jointly transmit this principle.

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Chapter 1: Setting Forth the Source

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Consider this carefully: Patriarchs set forth the principle of Chan, transmitting the orthodox source of silent tallying; Buddhas expounded the teachings, establishing the great import that lies beyond verbal explanations. Thus, what the former worthies received, later students can rely upon. Therefore, the chapter "Setting Forth the Source" is placed first. Because there are doubts, questions are asked; because doubts must be resolved, answers are given. Through questions, doubtful inclinations are disclosed; through answers, subtle understanding quietly arises. This consummate source is said to be difficult to believe and difficult to comprehend; it is the foremost teaching, providing for those of the highest capacity. If one did not make provisionally established verbal expressions, there would be no means to wash away their emotional attachments. Pointing at the moon allows one to see the moon; this is not devoid of being an expedient gate. Catching the hare allows one to forget the snare; it naturally accords with the spontaneously real Way. Next is established the chapter "Questions and Answers." However, since this is the final age, great capacities are seldom encountered; their contemplation is shallow, their minds are flighty, their faculties are weak, and their wisdom is inferior. Although they may know that the source and purport indeed have that to which they return, and questions and answers resolving doubts gradually eliminate the hindrances of confusion, if they wish to strengthen their power of faith, they must rely on verification. Widely citing the sincere words of the patriarchs and Buddhas secretly accords with the great Way of consummate permanence; comprehensively gathering the essential purports of sūtras and treatises completely fulfills the resolute true mind. Finally, the chapter "Citing Proofs" is presented. With these three chapters, all constitutes a single contemplation; searching out and encompassing [all teachings], it is fully exhausted herein.

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Question: Former worthies said, "If you make me establish a source and determine a principle, it is like searching for hair on a turtle or seeking horns on a rabbit." A verse in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "All phenomena do not arise; one should not establish this source." Why then do you establish this chapter's title?

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Answer: These words dispel stagnation. If one possesses the source of no-source, then both the source and the teachings are unhindered. The ancient Buddhas all bequeathed expedient gates, and the Chan lineage also opened a single thread of a path. One must never grasp at expedients and lose sight of the great purport, nor may one abolish expedients and cut off subsequent instruction. Yet, before the [receptive] capacity, there is no teaching; after the teaching, there is no actuality. Even if there is an understanding or an awakening, it is already a belated matter, belonging to the second rank. Therefore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: "Observing all things in all the lands of the ten directions with the Buddha eye, one still does not see nonexistence, how much less an existing phenomenon? The phenomenon of ultimate emptiness can destroy inversion and cause bodhisattvas to attain Buddhahood, yet even this matter cannot be obtained; how much less the inverted existent phenomena of ordinary beings?" Now, relying upon the verbal teachings of the patriarchs and Buddhas, and addressing the present students according to the place where their apprehension of the mind-nature is illuminated, we establish citta as the source. For this reason, the Western Śākyamuni Buddha said: "The Buddha's words take citta as the source, and having no gate as the Dharma gate." The first patriarch in this land, Great Master Bodhidharma, said: "Transmit citta with citta; do not establish written words." Thus, Buddha after Buddha personally imparted it, imparting this principle; patriarch after patriarch mutually transmitted it, transmitting this citta. The above concerns the source and purport established by the Buddhas and patriarchs. Furthermore, regarding the substance of the source established by the various worthies and sages: Venerable Dushun, relying on the Avataṃsakasūtra, established the substance of the intrinsically pure, perfectly luminous nature. This is precisely the substance of the dharmatā within the tathāgatagarbha. From the beginningless past, its nature has been inherently complete. Abiding in defilement, it is not stained; cultivated and cured, it is not purified. Therefore, it is called intrinsically pure. The substance of the nature shines everywhere, leaving no darkness unperceived; therefore, it is called perfectly luminous. Furthermore, following the flow to add defilement, it is not stained; going against the flow to eliminate defilement, it is not purified. It can also reside in the sage's substance without increasing, and abide in the ordinary being's body without decreasing. Although there is the difference of concealment and manifestation, there is no distinction of differentiation. When kleśas conceal it, it is hidden; when prajñā realizes it, it is manifest. It is not produced by a productive cause (janaka-hetu); it is only revealed by an illuminative cause (jñāpaka-hetu). This is the very substance of the self-mind of all sentient beings: spiritually knowing and unobscured, tranquil yet shining without omission. It is not only the source of the Avataṃsaka, but also the substance of all teachings. The Buddhabhūmiśāstra establishes the substance of the single pure dharmadhātu. The treatise says: "The pure dharmadhātu is the true essence of all tathāgatas. From beginningless time, its intrinsic nature is pure, fully endowed with diverse nature-and-characteristic virtues that exceed the infinitesimal dust motes of the worlds in the ten directions. Unborn and unceasing, like empty space, it is equally shared by all sentient beings everywhere. It is neither one with nor different from all phenomena, neither existent nor nonexistent, free from all characteristics. All conceptual discriminations and all nominal expressions can never grasp it. It is only realized by pure noble wisdom, revealed by the two kinds of emptiness and selflessness, with tathatā as its intrinsic nature. The various sages partially realize it; the Buddhas fully realize it." This pure dharmadhātu is precisely the wondrous mind of tathatā, serving as the source of the sea of fruition of all Buddhas and acting as the foundation of ultimate reality for all living beings. These are all different names for establishing the source; there is no separate substance. Alternatively, it is said that "source" means "honoured"; taking citta as the source, it is said: "Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am uniquely honoured." Alternatively, it is said that "substance" means "nature"; taking citta as the substance, it is said: "Know that all phenomena are the intrinsic nature of citta." Alternatively, it is said that "wisdom" means taking citta as wisdom, which is the tranquil and shining function of the original nature. Therefore it is said: "Noble wisdom of self-realization," "universal luminous wisdom," and so forth. If divided according to meaning and function, then substance, source, and function are distinct; if returned and unified in equality, then the single path is without differentiation. Therefore, a question in the Huayan Record asks: "If the two stages of equal and wondrous [enlightenment] are entirely identical to the Tathāgata's universal luminous wisdom, this concludes by entering the universal. Therefore, this assembly speaks of the two awakenings of equal and wondrous [enlightenment]; that both awakenings are entirely identical to the universal luminous wisdom is precisely the meaning of returning and unifying."

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Question: That equal enlightenment is identical to wondrous enlightenment is reasonable in principle. Beyond wondrous enlightenment, what Tathāgata's universal luminous wisdom is there to be that with which they are identical?

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Answer: Speaking of equal enlightenment and speaking of wondrous enlightenment is in terms of stages. Universal luminous wisdom does not belong to cause and effect, yet it encompasses and penetrates cause and effect. It is because the noble wisdom of self-realization transcends cause and effect that the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, outside the stage of wondrous enlightenment, further establishes the stage of the noble wisdom of self-realization. It is also like the Buddha-nature having a cause, having an effect, having a cause of causes, and having an effect of effects. If taken in terms of cause, it is the causal Buddha-nature; if taken in terms of effect, it is the resultant Buddha-nature. However, Buddha-nature is neither cause nor effect, and universal luminous wisdom is also like this: its substance transcends cause and effect, yet it is the reliance for cause and effect. Only when the effect is ultimate is it called the Tathāgata's universal luminous wisdom. Alternatively, it is called "basis" because it takes citta as the basis. Therefore, the Commentary on the Nirvāṇasūtra says: "Regarding the source and basis of nirvāṇa, all practices take the great nirvāṇa mind as their basis. When the basis is established, the Way arises—just as without the main rope, the mesh [of a net] cannot be spread, and without the skin, the hair has nowhere to attach. Because citta is the basis, its source can be established."

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Question: If one wishes to clarify the source, one should only purely bring forward the ancestral intent. What need is there to also cite the verbal teachings of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas as a guide? Thus in the lineage of the source it is said: "Borrowing the shrimp to serve as eyes, one has no part of one's own; one only becomes a sage of written words and does not enter the ancestral rank."

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Answer: From the past onwards, it was never an absolute prohibition against reading the teachings. It was out of concern that people might fail to investigate the Buddha's words carefully, form interpretations based on the literal text, lose the Buddha's intent, and thereby betray their original resolve. If, however, through the exposition one attains the purport, does not treat citta and objects as opposed antidotes, and directly comprehends the Buddha-mind, what fault could there be? Take, for example, the Venerable Yaoshan: throughout his life he read the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra without letting the scroll leave his hands. At that time, a student asked, “The Venerable usually does not permit students to read the sūtras; why does the Venerable read them himself?” The Master said, “Only to shield my eyes.” [The student] asked, “May this student also read them?” The Master said, “If you read them, even cowhide would be pierced through.” Furthermore, the first ancestral master of the Western Heavens was our original teacher, Śākyamuni Buddha. He first transmitted it to Mahākāśyapa as the first ancestor, and it was transmitted in succession down to the Sixth Patriarch in this land—all of whom were the Buddha's disciples. Now, quoting the words of our original teacher to instruct and show disciples causes them to realize the Path through words, see the Dharma, know the source, not race about seeking outwardly, and intimately clarify the Buddha's intent. Attaining the purport, one enters the ancestral rank; who would debate the gateways of sudden or gradual? Seeing the nature, one presently realizes complete interpenetration; how could one mark ranks of before and after? If it is like this, what contradiction is there? Furthermore, the twenty-eight ancestors of ancient generations in the Western Heavens, the six ancestors of this land, and even Great Master Mazu of Hongzhou, National Preceptor Zhong of Nanyang, Chan Master Dayi of Ehu, and Chan Master Benjing of Mount Sikong—all were broadly versed in the sūtras and treatises, and had completely awakened to their own citta. Whatever they showed their disciples always cited sincere evidence; they never brought forth fabrications from their own breasts to make assertions recklessly. For this reason, across the passage of years and ages, the true wind has not fallen. Taking the noble words as the authoritative standard, false deceits are hard to shift; using the ultimate teaching as the compass, there is solid proof to rely upon. Thus the Venerable of Guifeng said: “The founding ancestor of all schools is Śākyamuni. The sūtras are the Buddha's words; Chan is the Buddha's intent. The citta and mouth of the Buddhas certainly do not contradict each other. The succession of all ancestors at its root was personally entrusted by the Buddha. The treatises composed by bodhisattvas from beginning to end only propagate the Buddha's sūtras. How much more so since from Kāśyapa down to Upagupta, all propagated them along with the Tripiṭaka! And Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna were both ancestral masters; they composed treatises to explain the sūtras in hundreds of thousands of verses, observing customs to transform beings without fixed rituals. Therefore, whoever is called a spiritual guide must naturally understand the Buddha's words to seal and verify their own citta. If one does not accord with the definitive ekayāna perfect teaching, even if one realizes a noble fruition, it is not ultimate.” Now, let us record one or two to verify this text. Great Master Mazu of Hongzhou said: “Great Master Bodhidharma came from South India, transmitting solely the Mahāyāna Dharma of the one mind, and used the Laṅkāvatārasūtra to seal the citta of sentient beings, fearing they would not believe in this Dharma of the one mind. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: ‘The Buddha's words take citta as the source, and gatelessness as the Dharma-gate.’ Why do the Buddha's words take citta as the source? What the Buddha called citta is: citta itself is Buddha. The present words are the words of citta; hence it is said, ‘The Buddha's words take citta as the source.’ As for ‘gatelessness as the Dharma-gate,’ one realizes the fundamental nature is empty, and there is not a single Dharma besides; nature itself is the gate. The nature has no characteristic, nor does it have a gate; hence it is said, ‘gatelessness as the Dharma-gate.’ It is also called the gate of emptiness, and the gate of form. Why? Emptiness is the emptiness of the dharmatā; form is the form of the dharmatā. Because it has no shape or characteristic, it is called emptiness; because knowledge and vision are inexhaustible, it is called form. Hence it is said: ‘The Tathāgata's form is inexhaustible; wisdom is likewise so.’ In accordance with the places where dharmas arise, there are further immeasurable gates of samādhi, far removed from inner and outer emotional attachments to knowledge and views. It is also called the dhāraṇī-gate, and the dāna-gate—meaning that one does not think of inner or outer wholesome or unwholesome dharmas—up to being all the pāramitā gates. The physical body Buddha is the function of the household of the Buddha of the true mark. The sūtra says: ‘The thirty-two marks and eighty minor signs are all born from the thoughts of the citta.’ It is also called the radiance of the dharmatā household, and the merit of the dharmatā. When a bodhisattva practices prajñā, fire burns away all objects within and without the three realms, yet within this, not a single blade of grass or leaf is damaged, because all dharmas are the mark of thusness. Thus the sūtra says: ‘Without destroying the body, one accords with the one mark.’ Now one knows one's own nature is Buddha; at all times, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, there is not a single dharma that can be attained, up to tathatā not belonging to any name, nor being without a name. Thus the sūtra says: ‘Wisdom attains neither existence nor non-existence.’ Without seeking internally or externally, one leaves things to their original nature, and there is also no citta that leaves things to nature. The sūtra says: ‘The various mind-made bodies (manomayakāya), I declare to be the measure of citta (cittamātra).’ That is the citta of no-citta, the measure of the measureless. Having no name is the true name; having no seeking is the true seeking. The sūtra says: ‘One who seeks the Dharma should have nothing sought.’ Outside of citta there is no other Buddha; outside of Buddha there is no other citta. Do not grasp the wholesome, do not do evil, do not rely on either of the two extremes of purity and defilement. Dharmas have no self-nature; the three realms are only citta. The sūtra says: ‘The dense array and myriad images are sealed by the one Dharma.’ Whatever forms are seen are all seeing citta. Citta is not citta by itself; it is citta because of form. Form is not form by itself; it is form because of citta. Thus the sūtra says: ‘Seeing form is seeing citta.’” National Preceptor Zhong of Nanyang said: “As for the Dharma of the Chan school, one should rely on the Buddha's words of the ekayāna definitive meaning, accord with and grasp the original citta-ground, and transmit it from one to another so that it is identical with the Buddha Way. One must not rely on deluded feelings and non-definitive teachings to form arbitrary views, confusing and misleading later students, which brings no benefit. Even if one receives the fundamental purport relying on a master, if it accords with the definitive teaching, one may rely on it and practice it; if it is a non-definitive teaching, they do not permit one another. It is like worms within a lion's body eating the flesh of the lion's body themselves; it is not heavenly māras or non-Buddhists who can destroy the Buddha-dharma.” At that time, a Chan traveler asked, “Which one is the Buddha-mind?” The Master said, “Insentient things such as walls, tiles, and rubble are all the Buddha-mind.” The Chan traveler said, “This greatly contradicts the sūtras! The sūtra says that being apart from insentient things like walls, tiles, and rubble is called Buddha-nature. Now you say that all insentient things are the Buddha-mind; I do not know whether citta and nature are distinct or not distinct?” The Master said, “To the deluded they are distinct; to the awakened they are not distinct.” The Chan traveler said, “This again contradicts the sūtras! The sūtra says: ‘Good son, citta is not Buddha-nature; Buddha-nature is permanent, while citta is impermanent.’ Now you say they are not distinct; I wonder what the meaning of this is?” The Master said, “You yourself rely on the words and do not rely on the meaning. For example, in cold months, water freezes into ice; when warmth comes, the ice melts into water. When sentient beings are deluded, nature congeals into citta; when they awaken, citta melts into nature. If you definitively grasp that insentient things are not citta, the sūtra should not say that the three realms are citta only. Therefore the Avataṃsakasūtra says: ‘One should contemplate the nature of the dharmadhātu: everything is created by citta alone.’ Now let me ask you: are insentient things within the three realms, or are they outside the three realms? Furthermore, are they citta or are they not citta? If they are not citta, the sūtra should not say the three realms are citta only; if they are citta, you should not say they lack nature. You yourself contradict the sūtras; I do not contradict them.” Chan Master Dayi of Ehu, having been summoned to enter the imperial palace, then asked the great masters and venerable ones of the capital: “What do you take to be the Path?” Someone replied, “Knowledge and views are the Path.” The Master said, “The Vimalakīrtisūtra says: ‘Dharma is free from seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing.’ How can you take knowledge and views to be the Path?” Another replied, “Non-discrimination is the Path.” The Master said, “The sūtra says: ‘Skillfully able to distinguish the characteristics of all dharmas, yet unmoved in the primary truth.’ How can you take non-discrimination to be the Path?” Furthermore, the Emperor asked, “What is the Buddha-nature?” [The Master] replied, “It is not apart from what Your Majesty asked.” Therefore, they either pointed directly to clarify citta, or broke attachments to enter the Path, using unhindered eloquence to dispel fixed attachments, and wielding ungraspable wisdom to bend the mind of measured calculation. Chan Master Benjing of Mount Sikong said to the venerable ones of the capital: “Do not grasp citta! This citta exists entirely because of external dust, like images in a mirror, with no substance to be found. If you grasp it as truly existent, you lose the original source, which is permanently devoid of self-nature. The Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra says: ‘Falsely recognizing the four great elements as the marks of one's own body, and the shadows of the six dust-objects as the marks of one's own citta.’ The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: ‘Not comprehending citta and conditions, two false thoughts arise; comprehending citta and objects, false thoughts do not arise.’ The Vimalakīrtisūtra says: ‘Dharma is not seeing, hearing, perceiving, or knowing.’ I briefly cite these three sūtras to prove this truth.” Under the Fifth Patriarch, Master Zhuangyan throughout his life showed students only the final four lines of the Elder Ratnarāśi's verse praising the Buddha from the Vimalakīrtisūtra: ‘Not attached to the world, like a lotus flower; / Constantly dwelling skillfully in the practice of empty tranquility; / Penetrating the characteristics of all dharmas without hindrance: / I bow my head to the one who, like space, has nothing to rely upon.’ A student asked, “These are the Buddha's words; I wish to hear the Venerable's own words.” The Master said, “The Buddha's words are my words; my words are the Buddha's words.” Therefore, when the First Patriarch came from the west and initially practiced the Chan way, wishing to transmit the citta-seal, he had to rely on the Buddha's sūtras, using the Laṅkāvatāra as verification so that the source of the doctrinal gates would be known. Consequently, outsiders ceased their slander and inner practitioners received the transmission; the ancestral lineage flourished greatly and the mysterious wind spread widely. Therefore, before beginners who have newly set out on study awaken for themselves, if they do not rely on the correct source of the noble teachings, upon what could they cultivate and advance on the Path? Even if they did not generate false views of themselves, they would entirely encounter crooked teachers. Thus it is said: ‘My eyes were originally correct; because of the master, they became crooked.’ The ninety-six kinds of dogmatists in the Western Heavens were all of this type. Therefore know that wood without a plumb-line will not be straight; principle without teaching will not be perfect. The two or three briefly cited above were all great spiritual guides, ancestral masters transcendent of things, unicorns and dragons of the Chan groves, and turtle-mirrors of the ancestral gates. Revealing a single teaching, it moved like the wind and rolled like lightning; letting fall a single word, mountains collapsed and seas dried up. Emperors and kings took them as personal teachers; court and country submitted to them; the monasteries took them as models; later students received their transmission. In the end, they never followed their own personal whims or contradicted the Buddha's words. Whenever resolving doubts and removing falsehood, or revealing the nature and clarifying the source, without exception each broadly cited sūtra passages to fully display the Buddha's intent. Thus it was transmitted to later descendants forever, without the family style falling into ruin. If it were not so, how could the succession have continued so prosperously down to the present day? The power of the Dharma is like this; the verification is not empty. Furthermore, if one wishes to investigate the Buddha-yāna and search through the precious treasury, one must dissolve each and every [word] back into oneself, making every word silently unite with the true citta. Simply do not grasp the literal text upon the meaning or generate views following words; one must directly probe the purport beneath the exposition to accord with the fundamental source. Then the teacherless wisdom will appear before one, and the naturally real Path will not be obscured. As the Avataṃsakasūtra says: ‘Knowing all dharmas are the citta's own nature, one accomplishes the body of wisdom without relying on another's awakening.’ Thus know that the teachings have the power to aid the Path; how could beginners forget them even for a moment? Examining closely that the benefit of the Dharma is boundless, this compilation was researched, promoted, and gathered together. Moreover, whenever discussing the fundamental purport, it responds only to faculties of sudden capacity, like the rising sun illuminating the high mountains, or a swift horse seeing the shadow of the whip. Therefore the Venerable Danxia said: ‘When meeting, one does not bring it out; raising an intention, one immediately knows it is there.’ As for the present Mirror of the Source, it does not even wait for the raising of an intention before one naturally knows it is there. Thus the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: ‘Completely luminous understanding does not depend on citta-thoughts.’ Raising eyebrows and moving eyes are already roundabout. As a verse of an earlier worthy says: ‘Even “this is it” doubles the phrase; / Moving the eyes is already an error. / If you ask about the purport of Caoxi, / It does not wait even for raising an eyebrow.’ Now, for those who delight in the Buddha-yāna but have truly not yet realized it, this Mirror of the Source is borrowed to help reveal the true citta. Although hung on words and phrases, the marvelous purport resides right here. Bending down to embrace the middling and inferior, it covers the multitude of faculties completely. Just let each person draw their own benefit. Though the hundred rivers are nourishing, how could they hinder the great sea from broadly containing them? The Five Peaks are lofty of themselves, yet they do not obstruct the sun from shining everywhere. The faculties and capacities are not equal; desires and wishes are not the same. Though the entry points at the four gates differ, at the time of seeing the One Reality there is no distinction. It is like the one mesh of a net that catches a bird: one cannot take a single mesh to be the net. The governing of a state depends on the merits of a single ruler: one cannot take a single person to be the state. As the Treatise on Inner Virtue (Neide lun) says: ‘A single drop of water cannot blend a broth; a single timber cannot construct a hall; a single garment does not fit all bodies; a single medicine does not cure diverse sicknesses; a single color cannot make embroidery; a single sound cannot harmonize the zither and lute; a single word cannot encourage all good deeds; a single precept cannot prevent many faults. How can one find fault with the difference between gradual and sudden, and demand that the Dharma-gate be single?’ Thus it is said: ‘As for one person, so it is for many; as for many, so it is for one person.’ How could it be like inferior understandings and common feelings that generate narrow views? This unhindered, vast Dharma-gate of ours, like empty space which is non-characteristic, does not reject the manifestation of all characteristics; like the dharmatā which has no body, does not hinder the sudden appearance of all bodies. One must subsume them with the meaning of the six characteristics, so that views of annihilation and permanence may vanish; one must harmonize them with the ten mysterious gates, so that feelings of rejecting and grasping may end. Moreover, if one truly attains a thousand awakenings upon hearing one thing, and obtains the great dhāraṇī, why rely on words and expositions, and why labor over explanations? A raft is for crossing those lost at the ford; a guide is for leading those who have lost their way. All matters concerning words and expositions, as demonstrated in the perfect source, are for the sake of the unawakened. The nature of letters being apart is itself liberation. Deluded about the true nature of all dharmas, seeking dharmas outside citta and giving rise to views of letters, one now uses letters as an antidote to reveal their truth. If one awakens to the original source of all dharmas, one does not see letters or the slightest trace appearing; only then does one know that all dharmas are the citta's own nature. Then object and wisdom interpenetrate, and form and emptiness are both extinguished. At this moment of personally realizing complete luminosity, entering into the equality of this one Dharma, what dharma could be ‘teaching’ to be abandoned, what dharma could be ‘ancestor’ to be revered, what dharma could be ‘sudden’ to be accepted, or what dharma could be ‘gradual’ to be rejected? One then knows that these are all the conscious citta giving rise to arbitrary discriminations. Therefore the ancestors and Buddhas skillfully arranged provisional gates in secret and broadly prepared the vehicles of teachings to accord with and meet capacities expediently. As soon as one attains the seeing of the nature, immediately there is no-citta; then medicine and illness both vanish, and teachings and contemplations all cease. As the gāthā of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: ‘The vehicles of the gods and Brahmā, / The vehicles of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, / And the vehicle of the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas— / I speak of these various vehicles. / As long as there is the turning of citta, / The various vehicles are not ultimate. / If that citta is extinguished completely, / There is no vehicle and no one who rides it. / There is no establishment of vehicles; / I call it the One Vehicle. / For the sake of guiding sentient beings, / I discriminate and preach the various vehicles.’ Thus an earlier worthy said: ‘A single film in the eye, and a thousand flowers disorder the sky; / A single delusion in citta, and kalpas of sands arise and cease. / When the film is removed, the flowers end; / When delusion is extinguished, one realizes the truth. / When the sickness is cured, the medicine is discarded; / When the ice melts, the water remains. / The divine elixir refined nine times turns iron into gold; / A single word of ultimate principle turns the ordinary into the noble. / The frantic citta does not cease; / Ceasing is bodhi. / The mirror clean and citta bright, / One is fundamentally Buddha.’

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宗鏡錄 — Classical Chinese