宗鏡錄 100.8

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.