宗鏡錄 100

English (machine translation) 100

Language: English

100.1

Compiled by Yanshou, Chan Master Zhijue, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Monastery

Dharma Master Uisang of the Eastern Country, explaining the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, says: 'One should know that although this entire single Avataṃsaka Sūtra has seven locations and nine assemblies, it exists solely within the Ten Grounds Chapter. Why is this? Because the fundamental fully gathers all teachings. Although the ten grounds are distinct, it exists solely within the first ground. Why is this? Because without leaving the one ground, it universally gathers the merits of all the grounds. Although within the one ground there are many different parts, it exists solely within a single thought-moment. Why is this? Because the three times and nine times are just a single thought-moment, and all is just one. As with a single thought-moment, so too with many thought-moments. The one is indeed all; a single thought-moment is indeed many thought-moments. In the method of dhāraṇī, host and companion complement each other: the one is the host, and all are the companions. Whichever single phenomenon is raised, it completely gathers all, down to a single word or single phrase completely gathering all. Why is this? Because without this, that cannot be established. Such is the nature of the dhāraṇī method. The sūtra says: "The Tathāgata, within a single spoken utterance, proclaims an ocean of boundless sūtras."'

100.3

Dharma Master Fuli says: 'Regarding the contemplation of the meaning of karma: karma arises due to the mind, and the mind is used by karma. Karma leads the mind to receive form, and the mind follows karma to produce objects. As such, because of karma one receives a body, and the body in turn creates karma; following the mind, objects are produced, and objects in turn give rise to mind. It is like a shadow following a form in its crookedness or straightness, or like an echo following a sound in its magnitude.'

100.4

Dharma Master Huiji's Verse on Awakening to the Way says: / 'When Samantaprabha first studied the Way, / The boundless worlds trembled. / Turning heaven and rolling over earth, / They merged together into a single hair-pore.'

100.5

Dharma Master Hongyan says: 'If someone clings to there being insentient things apart from the minds of sentient beings, so that Buddha-nature is not omnipresent, all such views contradict the meaning that the tathāgatagarbha pervades the dharmadhātu. The Consciousness-Only Treatise says: "The physical body and the receptacle world are none other than the nimittabhāga of the ālaya[vijñāna]. The nimittabhāga is not separate from the darśanabhāga." It also says: "When wisdom apprehends nothing whatsoever regarding objects of cognition, because it is free from the characteristics of the two graspers, it truly abides in representation-only." For instance, when the sixth consciousness takes the present mind as its object, it is only a single kṣaṇa; what could be the grasper and the grasped? Even if it takes the three times as objects, it is still the present mind falsely dividing grasper and grasped. If one grasps this meaning, the three realms are mind-only, and the dharmadhātu is of one characteristic—how could it not be fitting?'

100.6

Dharma Master Shenkai says: 'A single thought-moment of pure mind is subtle and minute, like a mustard seed; the myriad manifold images are like Mount Sumeru. Although the myriad images are numerous, they must be transformed and arise from the one mind. Outside the mind, there are ultimately no phenomena. This is to gather characteristics and return them to the mind; it is called placing Mount Sumeru inside a mustard seed.'

100.7

Dharma Master Yuankang says: 'Clarifying awakening and entry: the Tathāgata preached eighty-four thousand teachings, yet the ultimate principle clarified is without any different path. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: "A single path transcends birth-and-death." The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "The single path is pure." The Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Sūtra says: "The single characteristic is without characteristic." The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra speaks of: "The non-dual Dharma gate." The treatise says: "Knowing by oneself and not following others, serene and extinguished without conceptual proliferation, without difference and without discrimination—this is called the true mark." This is what all the worthy ones aim for and where all meanings converge, all pointing to the true path of the one mind.'

100.8

The Great Master Zhizhe's Letter to Emperor Xuan of the Chen Dynasty says: 'The method of studying the Way requires first recognizing the root and source. Seeking the Way depends on the mind, and one must also recognize the substance and nature of the mind clearly without delusion; only then can the work of merit be accomplished. One realization brings a thousand illuminations; one delusion brings ten thousand confusions. The mind has no shape or form; it abides neither inside nor outside. When objects arise, the mind is born; when objects perish, the mind ceases. When form is large, the mind is vast; when form is small, the mind is minute. Down to: knowing the mind is empty and serene, one immediately enters the Dharma gate of emptiness and serenity; knowing the mind has no fetters, one immediately enters the Dharma gate of liberation; knowing the mind has no characteristics, one immediately enters the Dharma gate of marklessness; awakening to the mind having no mind, one immediately enters the Dharma gate of tathatā. If one can know the mind in this way, one immediately enters the Dharma gate of wisdom.' The Preface to the Commentary on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment says: 'Now, beings belonging to blood and breath necessarily have consciousness; all that have consciousness necessarily share the same substance. It is what is truly pure, bright, and wondrous, open and penetrating, spiritually luminous, standing loftily and alone. Being the fundamental source of sentient beings, it is called the mind-ground. Being that which all buddhas attain, it is called bodhi. Interpenetrating and harmoniously gathering, it is called the dharmadhātu. Serene, eternal, and blissful, it is called nirvāṇa. Free from defilement and out-flow, it is called purity. Neither false nor changing, it is called tathatā. Free from faults and transcending errors, it is called Buddha-nature. Guarding the good and warding off evil, it is called dhāraṇī. Hidden, covering, and encompassing, it is called tathāgatagarbha. Transcendent, profound, and secret, it is called the Ghanavyūha Realm. Unifying all virtues to be fully prepared, outshining all darkness to shine alone, it is called Complete Enlightenment. In reality, all are the one mind. Opposing it, one is an ordinary being; according with it, one is a sage. Deluded about it, birth-and-death begins; awakened to it, saṃsāra ceases. Seeking it directly, it is śamatha, vipaśyanā, samādhi, and prajñā; extending and broadening it, it is the six pāramitās and ten thousand practices. Drawing it out to become wisdom, only then is it correct wisdom; relying on it as cause, only then is it the correct cause. In reality, all are the single Dharma. One who is completely enlightened all day long yet has never been completely enlightened is an ordinary being. One who wishes to realize Complete Enlightenment yet has not reached the culmination of Complete Enlightenment is a bodhisattva. One who maintains Complete Enlightenment and fully possesses Complete Enlightenment is a Tathāgata. Apart from Complete Enlightenment, there are no six destinies; relinquishing Complete Enlightenment, there are no three vehicles. Without Complete Enlightenment, there is no Tathāgata; obliterating Complete Enlightenment, there is no true Dharma. In reality, all are the single path. That which the buddhas of the three times realize is simply realizing this. That the Tathāgata appeared for the great cause is simply for this matter. The three piṭakas, twelve divisions, and all the sūtras simply elucidate this.' Explication: The single Dharma of the mind is called the universal Dharma. Wishing to illuminate this mind, one must rely on the universal eye of vacant reflection, serene illumination, and spiritual knowing; it cannot be exhausted by the partial or small, but through completeness is able to awaken, hence it is called "Complete Enlightenment." This is explained in terms of that which is able to realize. The wondrous nature of tathatā is serene, extinguished, and unconditioned, complete and all-pervading without deficiency; hence it is called "Complete Enlightenment." This is explained in terms of that which is realized. Grasper and grasped are darkly merged; there is only the one mind. This one mind can serve as the nature of all the myriad phenomena, and can also manifest the characteristics of the three vehicles and six destinies. Gathering characteristics and returning them to the nature, there has never been any different path. Thus, although the mundane and supramundane, ascending and descending, are distinct, all the various actions undertaken are without exception for this. Apart from this, above there are no Three Jewels or ekayāna, and below there are no four modes of birth or nine realms of existence.

100.9

Shi Cong of Mount Tai says in the Secrets of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra: "Speaking of the essentials of the Buddhadharma, the overarching principle does not go beyond citta as its great purport. Therefore, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra takes citta as its principal source. Thus it says: 'The Buddha's word takes citta as the source, and gatelessness as the Dharma-gate.' That which is called citta refers to the Buddha's word, citta. That which is called the source refers to the actual place of citta. It also says: 'In delusion, myriad confusions burden citta; in understanding, true illumination is the dharmadhātu. In delusion, birth and death are tumultuous; in understanding, nirvāṇa is constantly quiescent.' Though delusion and understanding differ, none fail to be the concealment and manifestation of the one mind." The Tripiṭaka Master says: "The category of sentient beings is the Buddha-field of the bodhisattva. Examining these six consciousnesses, they are precisely the ultimate fruit; yet the confused constantly generate [concepts of] delusion and understanding throughout the day."

100.10

Tripiṭaka Master Bhadra says: "As for the citta of principle: citta is not outside principle, and principle is not outside citta. Citta is itself principle; principle is itself citta. The equality of principle and citta is termed principle. The illumination of principle capable of clarity is termed citta. Awakening to the equality of principle and citta is termed Buddha. For a citta that accords with true nature, it sees no distinction between birth-and-death and nirvāṇa; ordinary being and sage are no different. Objective realm and cognition are as one; principle and phenomena are entirely fused. True and conventional are contemplated equally; perfect penetration is unobstructed—this is termed cultivating the Great Way."

100.11

Shi Daoshi says: "The four dhyānas have no image; the three masteries are all empty. The thousand Buddhas leave different traces, but their one cognition and citta are the same." Upādhyāya Chengguan's Commentary on the Avataṃsaka says: "The preceding gates, extending even to the inexhaustible, do not depart from the one mind. The one mind is itself the dharmadhātu. Therefore the Awakening of Faith says: 'That which is called Dharma refers to the citta of sentient beings.' The substance of citta is itself 'Great'; the fundamental cognition of citta is itself 'Square and Vast' (vaipulya); contemplating citta to arouse practice is itself 'Flower Adornment' (avataṃsaka); awakening to the nature and characteristics of citta is itself 'Buddha.' Awakening does not come from without; it is entirely identical to that which is awakened. Therefore, principle and cognition are not distinct. When principle and cognition mutually depose and shape each other, and both are extinguished in quiescent illumination, then every thought is the ocean of nature of the Avataṃsaka; then thing and self are both tathatā, obliterated into equality. For those who have not yet understood, it causes them to understand their own citta. If one knows that contacting things is entirely citta, only then will one understand the nature of citta. Thus the Chapter on Pure Conduct says: 'Knowing that all dharmas are the intrinsic nature of citta itself, one accomplishes the body of wisdom without awakening by another.' However, practitioners of the Dharma today mostly abandon the internal to seek externally, while practitioners of Chan are fond of eliminating conditions to illuminate internally. Both are biased attachments, both lingering at the two extremes. Since citta and realm are suchness (tathatā), they are equal and unobstructed. In the past, someone polished two mirrors, lit a single lamp, and placed an image [between them]: the layers of light crisscrossed, and Buddhas were inexhaustible. One sees that citta and realm mutually illuminate, and fundamental cognition enters both: within citta one awakens to the inexhaustible realm; on the realm one understands the inconceivable citta. Citta and realm are manifold; cognitive illumination resides therein. Moreover, identifying with citta, one understands the Buddha of the objective realm; identifying with the realm, one sees the Tathāgata of mind-only. Citta and Buddha are manifold, yet the nature of fundamental awakening is one. When neither can be apprehended, citta and realm are both eliminated; when illumination cannot be exhausted, principle and cognition interpenetrate. Since citta and realm are like this, realm faces realm, and thought investigates thought: the myriad transformations in their profusion are all one consistent reality. Only corresponding with verification is termed the Buddha-Avataṃsaka." In explanation: "People today only understand that 'citta itself is Buddha' and 'this citta makes Buddha'; they do not know that 'the objective realm itself is Buddha' and 'this objective realm makes Buddha.' Now it is clarified that tathatā is taken as Buddha: citta and realm are both tathatā. If the tathatā of citta is Buddha, how could the tathatā of realm not be? Furthermore, citta has the nature of citta, and citta can make Buddha; realm has the nature of citta, so how could it not make Buddha? When citta subsumes the realm, one sees the Buddha within citta: this is the Buddha of the objective realm. When the realm subsumes citta, one sees the Buddha within the realm: this is the Tathāgata of mind-only. The Brocade Crown of the Avataṃsaka says: 'If one interprets the Great Vaipulya Buddha Avataṃsaka Sūtra through the contemplation of citta, in terms of the teachings explaining the meanings there are many gates; but if they are not subsumed into the one mind, what do they have to do with me? That which is called "Great" is itself the substance of citta; the substance of citta is boundless, hence it is called "Great." "Square" is the characteristic of citta; its characteristic is endowed with dharmas of virtuous characteristics, hence it is called "Square." "Vast" is the function of citta; citta possesses a function that accords with substance. "Buddha" is the fruit of citta; the place of citta's liberation is called "Buddha." "Flower" is the cause of citta; the practices elicited by citta are likened to a "Flower." "Adornment" is the merit of citta; citta's ability to skillfully adorn is termed "Adornment." "Sūtra" is the teaching of citta; citta gives rise to names and words to express and reveal this principle, hence it is called "Sūtra." Yet this single word citta, though not all things, can become all things.' Contemplation means that within the three greats the four dharmadhātus are contained; corresponding to those four dhātus, four contemplations are formed. Dharmas are fundamentally like this, therefore one contemplates according to the Dharma. If one awakens and understands according to this, thought after thought is itself the Avataṃsaka dharmadhātu; thought after thought is itself the Vairocana dharmadhātu."

100.12

The Commentary on the Zhaolun says: "That which is 'near yet unknowable—is it not solely the nature of things?' The Classic of History says: 'Heaven produces the myriad things; only humanity is spiritual.' Sentient and insentient constitute the myriad things. 'Spirituality' is the nature of citta, and it is also the nature of the myriad things. The nature of things being empty meets the eye and is not distant; though near, it cannot be known. Therefore the treatise says: 'What is distant cannot be seen, like the tracks of a bird in the sky; what is near cannot be seen, like medicine in one's own eye.' 'Distant' is an analogy for the ultimate path across three asaṃkhyeya kalpas; 'near' is an analogy for not seeing that which is identical to the true."

100.13

The teachings of the patriarchs cited above have been set forth in full detail, whereby minute doubts may be severed forever and great faith may be completely established. It is like having a divine jewel in one's palm or a precious seal facing one's chest: all Buddhas constantly manifest before one's eyes, and the dharmadhātu does not depart from the spoken word. For this reason, setting forth the source from the beginning, countless names and meanings have been expounded from the one mind. The countless names and meanings do not go beyond principle and cognition. Without principle there is no cognition, so outside principle there is no cognition; without cognition there is no principle, so outside cognition there is no principle. One also subsumes cognition into principle: apart from substance there is no function. Subsuming function into substance, the nature of substance is fundamentally free [from concepts]; thus substance is itself non-substance. It is identical to all dharmas, like the nature of empty space: the nature of space is also empty, ultimately quiescent, and this extinction is also extinguished. Not knowing what words to use, it is forcibly designated as the inexhaustible true citta. Now, gathering back the ocean of countless meanings, they all return to a single sentence, even to no sentence; to a single character and a single dot, rolling up and expanding at will, without moving the one mind. As the ultimate destination, words and thoughts are extinguished. Moreover, this is the Dharma-gate of the internal realization of one's own citta—the true nature, non-dual, without reliance, and equal. As the Commentary and Subcommentary on the Avataṃsaka says: '"Awakening to the equality of the intrinsic nature of all dharmas" means entering the true nature of all dharmas. That is to say, within the true nature there are no differentiated characteristics, no manifold characteristics, and no immeasurable characteristics. The ten thousand dharmas are as one; how could there be inequality? Upon what is this true nature established? Furthermore, the bright lamp is the unsupported Dharma, namely: not relying on form, and not relying on emptiness. If the ten thousand dharmas rely on emptiness, emptiness has nothing upon which to rely. Now the ten thousand dharmas rely on the true, and the true has nothing upon which to rely: this is the Dharma-gate of the seal of non-reliance. Therefore, one abandons the worldly, for the worldly has manifold distinctions. This being so, even the nature is not established, how much less characteristics? Nor is form established relying on emptiness, nor is emptiness established relying on form; there is neither difference nor non-difference, neither identification nor non-identification. Such views are instantly cut off; it is forcibly termed internal realization.'

100.14

Question: The explanations and citations given above are all the words of the patriarchs and Buddhas. Why do you not speak your own words?

100.15

Answer: If I were to speak my own words, all would be at a total loss, finding nowhere to anchor. How could there even be a place to raise a question? Even the teachings of the patriarchs and Buddhas are all words spoken in accordance with the minds of others, accommodating the capacities of the time. Thus the World-Honoured One said: 'Regarding the Dharma expounded by the Buddhas of the three periods of time, in forty-nine years I have not added a single word.' Furthermore, a sūtra states: 'What preceding Buddhas have already spoken, subsequent Buddhas follow.' If one can comprehend in this way, one will know that the Buddha's words are one's own words, and one's own words are the Buddha's words. Therefore our Fundamental Teacher said: 'All the scriptures of non-Buddhists are the spoken word of the Buddha, not the spoken word of non-Buddhists.' He also said: 'The words of Śākyamuni Tathāgata and the words of Devadatta are without duality and without distinction.' If one has no faith and no clarity regarding this, it will entirely become dualistic views: one will constantly be entangled in thoughts distinguishing ordinary from sage, and forever produce feelings of accepting or rejecting self and other. To wish to inherit our source in this way is utterly impossible.

100.16

Question: The preceding chapter establishing the source has already broadly expounded the principle of mind-only. Why, throughout the ten cases, is it reiterated in elaborate detail in every single fascicle?

100.17

Answer: This is the gate of secret essentials, the Dharma that is difficult to believe. Becoming ever deeper and ever subtler, it is difficult to understand and difficult to know. All harbor doubtful thoughts; all dwell in the ground of delusion. Now, doubt has hesitation regarding the principles of the truths as its nature, and its function is the ability to obstruct wholesome factors. Therefore, there are many kinds of doubt, which briefly explained comprise three: first, doubting oneself, saying that one cannot enter the principle; second, doubting the teacher, saying that he cannot teach well; third, doubting the Dharma, saying of what one studies, 'Does it cause transcendence, or does it not cause transcendence?' Furthermore, it is like a sick person who doubts himself, doubts the doctor, and doubts the medicine: in the end, his sickness is not cured. If one possesses the former three doubts, one will ultimately never be able to enter with decisive faith. Now, what is recorded in this Mirror of the Source entirely consists of straightforwardly setting aside expedient means and speaking only of the unsurpassed path. Hearing any single dharma, it completely accords with the perfect source; it can truly sever deep doubts and accomplish great faith. As the Qingliang Commentary says: 'When hearing of emptiness, do not doubt it as annihilation; it is emptiness identical with phenomena, not an annihilating extinction. When hearing of existence, do not doubt it as permanence; it is not existence with a fixed nature, for it exists from conditions. When hearing of both being affirmed, do not doubt them as two parts; it merely illumines both truths simultaneously, for they lack two substances. When hearing of both being negated, do not doubt it as baseless; it merely wards off faults to make one unattached. Furthermore, when hearing of emptiness, do not doubt it as existence, for it is the emptiness that is identical with existence. When hearing of existence, do not doubt it as emptiness, for it is the existence that is identical with emptiness. When hearing of both being affirmed, do not doubt them as both being negated, for it is precisely non-existence and non-emptiness that constitute existence and emptiness. When hearing of both being negated, do not doubt them as both being affirmed, for it is precisely existence and emptiness that only then constitute non-existence and non-emptiness.' Therefore, know that when one clearly understands the one mind, the host of doubts is abruptly severed. Then existence cannot be existence, emptiness cannot be emptiness, the ordinary cannot be ordinary, and the noble cannot be noble. How could one ever be deluded by worldly words of right and wrong? As the Fo zang jing says: 'The Buddha addressed Śāriputra: "Is the king of mountains, Sumeru, high and great or not?" "High and great, World-Honoured One." "Śāriputra, if throughout the four continents it rained large stones everywhere, all like Sumeru, and someone caught these stones with their hand without dropping even one the size of a mustard seed, what do you think? Would that be rare or not?" "Rare, World-Honoured One." "Śāriputra, that the Tathāgata explains all dharmas as unarisen and unceasing, markless and unconditioned, and enables people to believe and understand them, is doubly rare. Śāriputra, suppose someone placed all sentient beings in his left hand and with his right hand lifted up the trichiliocosm with its mountains, rivers, grasses, and trees, and was able to make all these sentient beings rejoice with one mind, without their intentions differing: what do you think? Would that be rare or not?" "Rare, World-Honoured One." "Śāriputra, that the Tathāgata explains all dharmas as unarisen and unceasing, markless and unconditioned, and enables people to believe and understand them, is doubly rare." The reason why the text of this Mirror of the Source cites so broadly from beginning to end is simply that this mind is profound and abstruse, hence difficult to believe, and secret, hence difficult to know. Even the great wisdom of bodhisattvas still requires the reinforcement of the Buddha's power; how much less could the shallow and inferior be able to know it? As the Baoyu jing says: 'The Buddha said: "How do bodhisattvas deeply believe in the secrecy of the Tathāgata's mental karma? If bodhisattvas hear of the secrecy of the Tathāgata's mind—namely, that all the Dharma-meanings delightful to the Tathāgata's intention rely upon the mind and abide relying on the mind—none of all the bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, or sentient beings can know them, except through the empowerment of the Tathāgata."' Therefore, although citations precede and verifications follow, with extensive text and manifold meanings, within every word it benefits the faculties, and in every hearing it startles the ears and eyes anew. Why grow weary of repeating explanations and give rise to this arrogant mind? Thus our original teacher said: 'Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, I constantly speak the wondrous Dharma.' He also said: 'Between the night I attained the path and the night of nirvāṇa, during these two nights I constantly spoke prajñā.' Therefore, faculties have much ripeness and unripeness; faith has depths and shallows. What was not firm through previous hearing and perfuming is only entered through later hearing and perfuming. As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'It is like shaking a tree to gather fruit: the ripe ones fall first; if they are not yet ripe, one must shake it again later. It is also like catching fish: what the first net does not exhaust, the later net then catches.' It also says: 'Furthermore, the characteristic of this prajñāpāramitā is extremely deep, difficult to understand, and difficult to know. The Buddha knows the minds of sentient beings: their faculties have sharpness and dullness. Those of dull faculties have little wisdom; for their sake he explains it repeatedly. If they are of sharp faculties, with one or two explanations they awaken, and there is no need for varied explanations. It is like a swift horse that runs at a single whip, while a sluggish horse goes only after many whips. Due to such various causes and conditions, there is no fault in repeating explanations in the sūtras.'

100.18

It is also asked: "The profound causes and conditions of this prajñāpāramitā have already been repeatedly explained above; why now explain them repeatedly again?"

100.19

Answer: "Explaining the extremely deep everywhere brings much benefit. Ordinary people do not understand and call it repeated explanation. For instance, a great king had no legitimate son, and prayed to the spirits for many years without response. When the king was out traveling, his lady gave birth to a male child. A messenger was sent to inform the king: 'The chief consort has given birth to a boy.' The king heard it with joy but did not reply, up to ten times. The messenger said to the king: 'Did the king not hear what was just reported?' The king said: 'I heard it at once. Because my long-held wish has been fulfilled, I am joyous and delighted in my mind, and I never tire of hearing it.' He immediately ordered the officers to bestow one million ounces of gold upon this person—a hundred thousand ounces for each phrase. The king heard the messenger's words: within every phrase there was benefit; it was not a repeated explanation. Those who do not understand call it repetition. Explaining the extremely deep everywhere is also like this. The Buddha and the bodhisattva Subhūti knew there was great benefit. When Subhūti heard the Buddha explain deep prajñā, he could not reach the bottom and felt it to be ever deeper. When listeners hear the extremely deep everywhere, they obtain benefits such as meditative concentration and wisdom. Ordinary people call it repeated explanation. Now, if a king hearing a single phrase had much benefit and bestowed a hundred thousand ounces of gold, this was merely increasing the root of saṃsāra and accomplishing sensory pleasure. Now, hearing the Mirror of the Source, volume by volume, text by text, repeatedly proclaiming the path and individually indicating the source, increases the root of bodhi and accomplishes the joy of the Dharma. Even if the entire great earth were turned into yellow gold, it could not repay a single word. Please do not give rise to indolence and weariness toward frequent hearing, so that those who have already attained it may re-strengthen their faithful mind, and those who have not yet entered may swiftly give rise to the wisdom gained from hearing."

100.20

Question: "Does this gate of the Mirror of the Source still admit of study and practice, or not?"

100.21

Answer: "Study is not non-existent, but briefly there are two meanings. First: if we discuss the great source, fundamental correct wisdom is not learned from the mind, nor does it consist in conscious thought; perfect, luminous, complete understanding is not caused by mental thought. Therefore the Tiantai teaching says: 'The hands do not hold the scroll, yet constantly read this sūtra; the mouth has no sounds of words, yet everywhere chants all the scriptures; the Buddha does not preach the Dharma, yet one constantly hears the pure voice; the mind does not deliberate, yet universally illumines the dharmadhātu.' This speaks of those of the highest faculties, who awaken abruptly upon hearing and personally verify it at the time. Second: if one has not yet realized and reached it, there is also the power of assisting its emergence and the efficacy of giving seal and approval. Or, if the workings of one's faculties are hesitant and slow, down to medium faculties and lower grades, and when studying the gates of discriminative wisdom, one must rely on an illuminated teacher to distinguish the false from the correct: first entering through faith based on understanding what one hears, and later according with it without thought. One must attain complete penetration in every single thing and freedom from obstruction in every single affair; only then, encountering conditions and facing objects, will one not lose the purport or lose one's way regarding the source. Therefore it is said: 'He who gathers all things into oneself—is it not only the sage?' Furthermore, if we summarize the broad outline, one must realize it oneself; even if there is assistance, it also points to knowing it oneself."

100.22

For instance, a student asked a former worthy: "What is Chan?"

100.23

He answered: "Awakening to one's own principle is Chan."

100.24

Question: "The mind-nature that accords with principle is merely a provisional name. What is real?"

100.25

Answer: "There are three asaṃkhyeyas of hundreds of thousands of names, which are merely provisional designations. The real mark is markless like empty space; you must reflect and awaken to it yourself."

100.26

Question: "After awakening, what other dharma is there?"

100.27

Answer: "Just that place of awakening is the Dharma. Clarified through conditions, one in turn attains one's own principle."

100.28

Question: "Can this nature still be shown to others to make them see it?"

100.29

Answer: "If you simply show him to make him reflect and realize it himself, then it is attained. It is not an affair of the eye seeing, the ear hearing, or the intellect knowing. This true, pure, wondrous, and luminous nature is not like the great void, wood, or stone; it is innately spiritual, wondrous, and inconceivable—namely, the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha of one's own nature. If you do not awaken to it, but deduce and seek wanting to see it, not even a single hair of it can be attained. Merely depart from the pleasant and unpleasant of the dusts before you, and that is your own original mind. If even a single hair is not exhausted, to be with the Buddha path is impossible."

100.30

Question: "Seeing form is merely seeing form; how does one see the mind?"

100.31

Answer: "Immediately think about it: who is it that sees form?"

100.32

Question: "Is it not that whatever faces the object is entirely it, and one should not seek further to see it?"

100.33

Answer: "Deliberate for yourself and see: is it, or is it not? Do not ask others. If you see it directly, do not scheme and calculate any further. The Buddha Dharma is only in the square inch of the mind; outside the mind, traces of action are severed. Simply with one mind and one wisdom, apart from grasping and receiving inside, outside, or in between, the principle of the three periods of time is profound, and you will enter the unconditioned path."

100.34

Question: "Awakening to which mind is the path?"

100.35

Answer: "Awakening to mind as no-mind is precisely the path."

100.36

Question: "Please point it out for me."

100.37

Answer: "I have already pointed it out; you yourself do not see it."

100.38

Question: "What thing is it that you instruct the student to see?"

100.39

Answer: "I instruct him to see directly; it is also not a thing."

100.40

A former worthy also asked: "Right now, what thing do you see?"

100.41

Answer: "I see the original mind."

100.42

Question: "Are seeing and the original mind different or not different?"

100.43

Answer: "They are not different. Upon the substance of tathatā, there naturally is illumination and function. Because it is luminous, it obtains the name 'seeing'; because it is unmoving, it obtains the name 'mind.' Furthermore, the purity of self-nature is called illumination, and constantly seeing the self-nature is called function. Therefore, know that this mind is manifest before one's eyes. Why must there be questions and answers? How could it rely on deduction and investigation? It is the perfect gate; it is the presently accomplished dharma."

100.44

For instance, a student asked National Master Zhong: "Venerable, what is the liberated mind?"

100.45

[The Master] replied: "The liberated mind is originally present of itself. Look at it, and it is not seen; listen to it, and it is not heard; grasp at it, and it cannot be gotten. Sentient beings use it daily without knowing it—this is it. This is directly pointing [to it]: upon meeting the eye, the Dao is present; past and present it is ever so, common to ordinary beings and sages alike. Now, all that is recorded in this Mirror of the Source is what the Buddha taught. Even if there are compositions by bodhisattvas and expositions by Dharma masters, these too have penetrated the Buddha's intended meaning and accord with what the Buddha said. Because sentient beings in this realm all enter samādhi through the wisdom of hearing, one must use sound to perform the Buddha's work, revealing the correct meaning and shattering heterodox attachments. Without words, there is no communication. In this there are two meanings: First, in terms of the ultimate approach, it is truly ineffable. As the *Treatise on the Awakening of Faith* says: 'All dharmas from the beginningless past are free from the characteristics of verbal expression, free from the characteristics of names and letters, and free from the characteristics of mental conditioning.' It also says: 'Furthermore, regarding the ultimate freedom from deluded attachments, one should know that defiled dharmas and pure dharmas are all mutually relative and have no self-characteristics that can be spoken of. Therefore, all dharmas from the beginningless past are neither matter nor mind, neither wisdom nor consciousness, neither existent nor non-existent; their characteristics are ultimately ineffable. That there is verbal expression—one should know this is the Tathāgata's skillful means, provisionally employing speech to guide sentient beings. Those who grasp its import do so entirely to transcend thought and return to tathatā, because thinking of any dharma causes the mind to arise and perish, failing to enter real wisdom.' This is to guide all people who first generate the bodhi-mind, temporarily enabling them to benefit themselves, bring principle and practice to completion, return to real wisdom, and ultimately point the way back to the mirror of the source. Second, in terms of the approach of skillful means, it is the practice of benefiting others. Hence it is said that the Tathāgata, by skillful means, provisionally employs speech to guide sentient beings. Moreover, one must not unconditionally hold that uttering words is wrong and that giving rise to thoughts constitutes a fault. Why? Because right in words there are no words, and right in thoughts there are no thoughts. Thus one knows that word after word accords with the Dao, and thought after thought returns to the source. If viewed through the approach of differentiation, there are indeed two assertions; if viewed through the ultimate approach, words and thoughts are utterly severed."

100.46

Question: "The principle of the one mind established above can subsume immeasurable Dharma-gates and interfuse everything. Does this mind further contain all dharmas or generate all dharmas? Does it further arise from itself, from another, from both, or without a cause?"

100.47

Answer: "This mind is neither vertical nor horizontal, neither other nor self. Why? If you say the mind contains all dharmas, that is horizontal. If you say the mind generates all dharmas, that is vertical. If you say it arises from itself, mind does not generate mind. If you say it arises from another, since 'self' cannot be established, how could there be 'another'? If you say it arises from both, since self and other are both absent, what would combine to form 'both'? If you say it arises without a cause, even with a cause it does not arise, how much less without a cause!"

100.48

Question: "If the mind is free from the four natures, why does the teaching say: 'The manas-faculty gives rise to the manovijñāna'; 'The mind is like a master painter: there is nothing that is not made from the mind'—which would be arising from self? It also says: 'The mind does not arise in isolation; it must arise depending on conditions. When conditions are present, thought arises; when conditions are absent, thought does not arise'—which would be arising from another. It also says: 'The condition of the six contacts gives rise to the six feelings, obtaining all dharmas'—which would be arising from both. It also says: 'The twelve links of dependent origination were not made by buddhas, gods, humans, or asuras; their nature is just so of itself'—which would be arising without a cause. Since these belong to the scriptural teachings, how could they constitute a fault?"

100.49

Answer: "The buddhas, according to differing conditions, condescend to the various capacities, producing the good and destroying the evil to enable them to enter the supreme meaning. These are all the provisional applications of the four siddhāntas—deceiving little children with an empty fist to entice and deliver all beings."

100.50

Question: "Since it is neither vertical nor horizontal and does not fall into the four natures, are all dharmas the mind, and is the mind all dharmas, or not?"

100.51

Answer: "If so, they become two."

100.52

Question: "If so, then is nothing established and all are negated?"

100.53

Answer: "Negation also becomes two. As Mañjuśrī said: 'I am the real Mañjuśrī; there is no "this is Mañjuśrī." If there were "this is," there would be two Mañjuśrīs. Yet today I am not without Mañjuśrī; within this, there are truly no dual characteristics of affirmation and negation.'"

100.54

Question: "Since there are no dual characteristics, is the source one?"

100.55

Answer: "Affirmation and negation already deviate from the great import; 'one' and 'two' likewise contradict the perfect source."

100.56

Question: "How can one accord with this import?"

100.57

Answer: "When object and cognition are both obliterated, how can one speak of according?"

100.58

Question: "If so, then the path of words and thought is cut off, and the track of mind and cognition is severed."

100.59

Answer: "This too is forced speech, shifting along with the thoughts of another. Though you wish to conceal the form, you have not yet obliterated the tracks."

100.60

Question: "How can both form and tracks be obliterated?"

100.61

Answer: "Originally there are no traces or tracks; how could you wish to obliterate them?"

100.62

Question: "If so, it is like a person drinking water: cold and warmth are known to oneself. Only at the moment of great awakening does one match this import."

100.63

Answer: "Within this gate of mine, there is neither delusion nor awakening, nor any principle of matching or not matching. 'Letting go of your hands, you seem to have not a single thing; in vain do you laboriously speak of several thousand kinds.' This matter cannot be compared by ten thousand metaphors; the thousand sages cannot determine it; the great earth cannot bear it; empty space cannot contain it. Unless one is a person of great capacity, there is no way to shoulder it. As an ancient worthy said: 'Though one search through the worlds of the ten directions, one cannot find a single person as a companion.' It is also said: 'There is only one person who inherits the ancestral seat; there is never a second person.' If you have not personally arrived, you wear out your mental faculties in vain. Even if you speak of the mystery of mysteries, the wonder within wonders—if, as a skillful means within the gate of praise, you aid another in faith and entry as a temporary peripheral commendation, then it is not [a fault]. But if, at the time of personal illumination on one's own part, you deliberately speak of mystery and wonder, giving rise to a single thought of an extraordinary, inconceivable understanding, you fall completely into the realm of Māra. Therefore the *Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment* says: 'With a false, floating mind and many clever views, one cannot achieve perfect enlightenment.' A verse by an earlier worthy also says: / 'Gaining it is not gaining; the heavenly demons gain it. / The mystery of mysteries is the mystery of the non-Buddhists. / Casting mother and father away into the village weeds, / One mistakes yellow leaves for gold coins. / At the top of a hundred-foot pole, quickly let go your hands; / There is no need to look behind and look ahead.' / At present, whenever there seems to be the trace of words and patterns begin to arise, all of it is clinging to the gate of skillful means and being deluded about the real Dao; it is all mistaking yellow leaves for gold coins. At the moment of great awakening, it is like casting off your body at the top of a hundred-foot pole, no longer looking back or forward. Within this mirror of the source is the place where all commoners and sages make the great sacrifice of body and life. Those who do not enter this source are all non-ultimate."

100.64

Question: "Ultimately, how is it?"

100.65

Answer: "There is also no 'ultimately.'"

100.66

Question: "Earlier you said, 'Those who do not enter this source are all non-ultimate.' Why do you now state that there is no 'ultimately'?"

100.67

Answer: "Earlier, addressing people of excessive pride who took what was unattained as attained, mistook the false for the real, and clung to inversion as the perfect and eternal, I provisionally declared it 'ultimate' in order to shatter the dust of emotional attachment. Now discussing the seeing of the nature, how could one speak of false or real?"

100.68

Question: "After thoroughly clarifying this, how does one practice it?"

100.69

Answer: "Whom do you bid to practice?"

100.70

Question: "Could it not become annihilation?"

100.71

Answer: "Even permanence cannot be established; how could there be annihilation?"

100.72

Question: "I beg for one final word."

100.73

Answer: / "A conjured person questions an illusory being; / A valley's echo replies to a spring's sound. / If you wish to reach my source-principle: / A mud ox walks upon the water."

100.74

Question: "This record summarizes the subtle and minute, and principle and phenomena are perfectly clear. For a person who aspires to the Dao, what benefit and aid does it bring?"

100.75

Answer: "In terms of the supreme meaning, there is no benefit and no merit. Approaching it within the conventional gate, there seems to be praise. In all, there are two paths that can aid beginners: First, for those who do not yet have faith, it causes them to achieve right faith, gathering them back to the single thought, no longer seeking externally. Second, for those who already have faith, it assists in perfecting the power of contemplation, making principle and practice steadfast, so that they swiftly realize bodhi. Step by step, they do not linger on the progress toward the jewel place; thought after thought, they flow into the ocean of sarvajñā. It is like riding a vast carriage, instantly arriving at the jewel city; like steering a sturdy boat, serenely ascending the shore of awakening."

100.76

Question: "What merit is there in compiling this Mirror of the Source?"

100.77

Answer: Regarding this inconceivable teaching of great majesty and virtue, if one only sees or hears it, one deeply obtains wholesome benefits. It is like a single speck of dust falling upon the ridges and mounds of Mount Song, which already partakes of towering above the clouds; or like a drop of dew entering the waves of the vast ocean, which instantly shares in the broad moisture. It can indeed be called directly inheriting the seed of bodhi and being born entirely into the house of the buddhas. How much more so if one faithfully understands, accepts, maintains, correctly contemplates, observes, expounds for others, and spreads and puts it into practice! In terms of the gate of wholesome benefits, no thing can serve as a metaphor; its merit is inexhaustible, and cannot be measured except by sarvākārajñatā. How could its benefits and joy be exhausted? They surpass empty space so that their boundaries cannot be known. Even if one were to fill empty space with rare jewels and make offerings to as many tathāgatas as the sands of the Ganges, and transform the sentient beings of the ten directions so that they all realize the fruit of a pratyekabuddha, it would not compare to widely proclaiming this purport and expounding this source. When measured against this, nothing can be compared to it. It can be called planting the seed of the buddha within the field of the bodies of sentient beings, sprouting the shoot of the true Dharma within the mire of kleśas and desires, after which the seven flowers of awakening blossom and the fruit of bodhi is accomplished, generating one another in turn to an inexhaustible limit. As the Huayan tanxuan ji says: 'If, within the residual teaching, one sees, hears, believes, and turns toward this inexhaustible Dharma, it becomes a vajra seed, and one will certainly attain this perfectly fused universal Dharma. As the sūtra says: the metaphor of swallowing a vajra, and the metaphor of a small fire burning extensively. Furthermore, it is like the Tusita devaputra coming out of hell and attaining the anutpattikadharmakṣānti of the tenth bhūmi, whose progressive benefits cannot be exhausted, all because having heard this Dharma in the past served as the fundamental cause.' The verse says: 'Though one be in the great ocean / or amidst the fire at the end of the kalpa, / if one has resolute faith without doubt, / one will certainly get to hear this sūtra.' The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'In weighing the merits of accepting and upholding prajñā, in terms of such upholding, correct recollection is supreme. Now, as the buddhas take pity on sentient beings, explaining its meaning for them to make it easy to understand is superior to one's own practice of correct recollection.' At that time, because the Buddha wished to extensively distinguish the merit, he said: 'If someone were to make offerings to the buddhas of the ten directions for their whole life, it would not compare to explaining the meaning of prajñā for others.' The supreme reason is stated here: the buddhas of the three periods all trained in prajñā to accomplish the unsurpassed path. Furthermore: 'Even teaching people in worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to attain the path of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas would not compare to expounding the meaning of the prajñāpāramitā for others.' The reason is stated here: all these worthy and noble ones emerge from the prajñāpāramitā. Therefore the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: 'The Buddha told Ānanda: "If, furthermore, a person were to fill all the empty space of the ten directions with the seven treasures, and take them to offer up to as many buddhas as dust motes, serving and making offerings without their mind idling for a moment—what do you think? Would this person gain much merit by this cause of giving to the buddhas?" Ānanda replied: "Empty space is inexhaustible, and rare jewels are boundless. In the past, a sentient being gave seven coins to the Buddha, and after relinquishing his body still attained the station of a wheel-turning king. How much more so when empty space is now exhausted and buddha lands are filled, and all is given with rare jewels! Even thinking and calculating for an entire kalpa could not reach it; how could this merit have any boundary?" The Buddha told Ānanda: "The words of the buddhas, the tathāgatas, are not false. If, furthermore, a person has committed the four grave offenses and the ten pārājikas, so that in the twinkling of an eye they would pass through the Avīci hells of this world and other worlds, even to the point of passing through without exception all the unceasing [hells] across the ten directions, yet could with a single thought take this Dharma door and reveal it to beginners in the final kalpa, this person's sinful hindrances would be extinguished in an instant, transforming the causal factors of the hellish suffering they were to receive into a land of peace and bliss, and they would gain merit surpassing that of the previous giver by a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten millionfold, up to what cannot be reached by calculation or metaphor."' Therefore, praising and disseminating this scripture brings boundless wholesome benefits. This is because the Śūraṅgamasūtra takes the tathāgatagarbha mind as its source. The tathāgatagarbha is none other than the eighth ālayavijñāna. A verse in the Ghanavyūhasūtra says: 'The pure garbha of the Tathāgata / is the worldly ālaya; / like gold and a finger-ring, / they are mutually without distinction.' Because all buddhas comprehend it, it becomes the pure garbha; ordinary beings cling to it as the ālaya. It is like true gold which, following the conditions of the artisan's furnace and fire, receives the distinct name of 'finger-ring' and assumes the illusory appearance of being round and small; the substance of the gold does not move, while name and characteristic are falsely displayed. Similarly, the true mind, following sentient beings' conditions of defilement and purity, takes on the distinct names of ordinary and noble, and displays the illusory appearance of rising and sinking; the mind-nature does not move, while name and characteristic are fundamentally empty. Grasping at false designations, the two views suddenly diverge; awakening to the true substance, the one mind is completely realized. Delusion and awakening occur right beneath the words; Dharma and metaphor are brilliantly clear before our eyes. Those who are dim to it cultivate in vain over kalpas; those who penetrate it are motionless and still in its very substance. The Lotus Sūtra says: 'After my extinction, if one can secretly speak even a single line of the Lotus Sūtra for one person, know that this person is an emissary of the Tathāgata, sent by the Tathāgata to do the Tathāgata's work; how much more so if one speaks it extensively for people amidst the great assembly!' 'Secretly for one person': 'secretly' means privately. If one privately speaks only this single line for one person, this person is an emissary sent forth from the tathatā of the one mind to proclaim to ordinary beings that they should directly comprehend the principle of the single suchness, which is precisely doing the work within tathatā. Because tathatā is boundless and reaches all places, the Dharma benefit obtained also accords with the nature of tathatā, immeasurable and inexhaustible. It also says: 'Know that this person lodges together with the Tathāgata, and has their head caressed by the hand of the Tathāgata,' up to entering the Tathāgata's room, wearing the Tathāgata's robes, and sitting on the Tathāgata's seat. In summary, for the person who upholds this sūtra, in their four deportments, raising a foot or lowering a foot, they never depart from the tathatā of the one mind, the place where all buddhas tread. The Aṅgulimālīyasūtra says: 'If a person in the past had encountered buddhas, made offerings and served them, heard of the tathāgatagarbha, and for the snap of a finger temporarily got to listen and receive it, by the cause of this good karma their faculties would be fully matured, their rebirths superior, and they would be wealthy, noble, and autonomous. These sentient beings are now still fully matured, their rebirths superior, and they are wealthy, noble, and autonomous, because in the past they had encountered buddhas and temporarily got to hear the tathāgatagarbha.' It further states that the Buddha told Aṅgulimāla: 'It is not being a tathāgata that is the foremost difficult thing; there is something even more difficult. Aṅgulimāla, suppose a man were to shoulder the king of mountains Sumeru, as well as the great earth and the great oceans, for hundreds of thousands of years—would this be great strength and the foremost difficulty?' Aṅgulimāla said to the Buddha: 'This is the realm of a tathāgata, not something reached by those śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.' The Buddha told Aṅgulimāla: 'That is not great strength, nor is it extremely difficult. If one were to divide a single speck of dust of the great ocean into ten billion parts, and take away one part every hundred thousand kotis of kalpas, until it were nearly exhausted, leaving only as much as a cow's footprint, and could furthermore shoulder the king of mountains Sumeru, the great earth, and the rivers and seas for hundreds of thousands of kotis of kalpas, yet he could not, during the remaining eighty years when the true Dharma abides in the world, expound the Tathāgata's eternal, constant, and unchanging tathāgatagarbha. Only a hero among people, a bodhisattva, can speak of the Tathāgata's eternal, constant, and unchanging tathāgatagarbha and protect and uphold the true Dharma. I say that this person is the foremost in extreme difficulty.' Furthermore, the chapter 'Apparition of the Jeweled Stūpa' in the Lotus Sūtra says: 'If one were to take up Sumeru / and cast it to other lands / across countless buddha territories, / that would not yet be difficult; / if one were to move the great trichiliocosm with one's toe / and fling it far to another country, / that would not yet be difficult.' It also says: 'Supposing a person / were to hold empty space in their hand / and wander about with it, / that would not yet be difficult.' It also says: 'Supposing, when the kalpa burns, / one were to shoulder dry grass / and enter into it without being burned, / that would not yet be difficult. / After my extinction, / if one upholds this sūtra / and speaks it for one person, / that indeed is difficult.' Therefore we know that exhausting the ocean and moving mountains is not unconditioned power; even treading on empty air and walking on water are all contaminated supernormal faculties. How can they compare to opening the mind of all buddhas, expounding the tathāgatagarbha, inheriting the seed of bodhi, entering the gate of the ekayāna, being able to rely on the noble womb, and becoming a true child of the Buddha? Why is this? Because one attains the root; just as water comes forth from the source, and ghee is obtained from milk. As the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra says: 'Furthermore, Mañjuśrī, just as knowing that milk contains ghee, one applies skillful means to churn and seek it, and does not churn water because it lacks ghee—so it is, Mañjuśrī: because sentient beings know there is the tathāgatagarbha, they diligently maintain the precepts and purely cultivate the brahmacaryā. Furthermore, Mañjuśrī, just as knowing that a mountain contains gold, one digs the mountain to seek gold, and does not dig a tree because it lacks gold—so it is, Mañjuśrī: because sentient beings know there is the tathāgatagarbha, they diligently maintain the precepts, purely cultivate the brahmacaryā, and say: "I will certainly attain the accomplishment of the buddha path." Furthermore, Mañjuśrī, if there were no tathāgatagarbha, cultivating the brahmacaryā would be in vain, like churning water for endless kalpas, in the end never obtaining ghee.' Therefore, we know that entering the mirror of the source and seeing the tathāgata-nature, the path and fruit of bodhi are both accomplished in an instant, like a boat moving with the current, or like a fire assisted by the wind. If one turns one's back on the mirror of the source and does not recognize one's own mind, even if one cultivates merit and wisdom equally, one will never succeed in the end. It is like churning water to seek milk, or digging away from the mountain to find gold; even if one undergoes three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, how could there be any principle of attainment? What is recorded in the Mirror of the Source, from beginning to end, was all observed by the five eyes of all buddhas and spoken by their five modes of speech. Not a single word is not true; not a single meaning is not complete. It awaits future worthies to have resolute faith and enter it. As a verse in the Candrārkapradīpasūtra says: 'Even if Mount Sumeru were moved and overturned to the ground, / and the dwelling places of asuras were all destroyed, / the great ocean dried up, and the moon-god fell, / the Tathāgata would never utter false speech. / Even if the ten assemblies were of one mind, / or fire became water and water became fire, / the Most Honored One of immeasurable merits / speaks no varied word when benefiting sentient beings. / Even if the great earth and empty space became chaos, / and a hundred lands entered together into a mustard seed, / and a net could be used to bind the fierce wind, / the Tathāgata would never have false speech.' Because of this truthfulness, it can be universally transmitted and upheld; its merit is boundless, beyond the reach of words and thought. Therefore a verse in the Vijñaptimātratāsiddhiśāstra says: 'In composing this Vijñaptimātratā treatise, / it is not the place of my thinking; / it is the wondrous realm of all buddhas, / its merit and virtue bestowed upon sentient beings.' The great purport of this treatise is not what can be thought by the cognitive understanding of emotion and consciousness; it is the inconceivable, supremely wondrous realm of the Great Awakened One. By broadly using this inconceivable, inexhaustible blessing of propagation, it is universally bestowed upon the immeasurable living beings of the entire dharmadhātu, so that they may together enter this source and ascend equally to the buddha stage. As the verse of aspiration by Master Zang, the commentator on the Avataṃsakasūtra, says: 'I vow to see, hear, cultivate, and train in this / perfectly fused and unobstructed Dharma of Samantabhadra; / even if losing my life, I will never depart from it, / and vow to correspond with it to the end of future time. / With this root of goodness equal to the dharmatā, / may it universally moisten the inexhaustible realm of sentient beings; / cultivating universal practice in a single thought through many kalpas, / may all completely accomplish unsurpassed buddha bodhi.'

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宗鏡錄 — Classical Chinese