宗鏡錄 11

English (machine translation) 11

Language: English

11.1

Compiled by Chan Master Zhijue, Yanshou, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Temple.

Now, the capacities of those to be delivered are measureless, and the Dharmas capable of delivering are boundless. Establishing the five gateways of practice broadly opens the path for the worthy and the foolish; spreading the net of the eight teachings widely captures the fish of humans and gods. Why then mark citta as the source, [claiming] it can cure all?

11.3

Answer: Expedient means have multiple gateways; thus the net of the eight teachings is cast far and wide. Returning to the source, the nature is without duality; thus the tenet of the one mind stands loftily. For this reason, with the conduct of illness [the Buddha] rests the śrāvakas in the conjured city; with the conduct of infants he entices ordinary beings into the heavenly realms. Combining, exclusive, confronting, and bringing along—he accommodates diverse capacities. Opening, displaying, awakening, and entering—he leads solely to the realization of the way of the ekayāna. It is like a thousand prescriptions collectively treating a single ailment, or ten thousand principles all revealing the one mind, causing [practitioners] not to cling to views and follow the letter, thereby losing the flavor of the true Dharma; what is hoped is that they delve into the mind and investigate the truth, attaining the source of correct awakening. As the Fahua xuanyi says: The one mind and the five conducts are precisely the samādhis of the three truths. Noble conduct is precisely the samādhi of the true truth. Pure conduct, infant conduct, and illness conduct are precisely the samādhis of the conventional truth. Heavenly conduct is precisely the king of samādhis of the middle way. Furthermore, the round three samādhis completely destroy the twenty-five realms of existence: being empty, they destroy the evil karma, views, and afflictions of the twenty-five existences; being provisional, they destroy the twenty-five kinds of ignorance [of details]; being the middle, they destroy the twenty-five kinds of fundamental avidyā. The one is identical to the three; the three are identical to the one. If one is empty, all are empty; if one is provisional, all are provisional; if one is the middle, all are the middle. Therefore it is called the conduct of the tathāgata. Furthermore, the tathāgata's room profoundly perfumes the dharmadhātu. By the power of the roots of benevolence, without moving from the true limit, mingling with the dust and defilements, he responds with the compassion of the conduct of illness: manifesting various bodies as if deaf and mute, and preaching various dharmas as if mad and foolish. Where there is the capacity to produce good, he responds with the compassion of infant conduct: babbling and cooing, wooden oxen, and poplar leaves. Where there is the capacity to enter emptiness, he responds with the compassion of noble conduct: holding a dung vessel, appearing as if fearful. Where there is the capacity to enter the provisional, he responds with the compassion of pure conduct: by the power of the roots of benevolence he displays such matters as reclining on a lion throne, his feet resting on a jeweled stool, with merchants and traders pervading foreign lands, revenue and profit absent nowhere. Where there is the capacity to enter the middle, he responds with the compassion of heavenly conduct: like a swift horse seeing the shadow of the whip, traversing the great straight path without hindrance or difficulty. Therefore, without before or after, neither combined nor distinct, he preaches the nondiscriminative Dharma: 'All dharmas from their very origin are constantly of the characteristic of quiet cessation.' Responding roundly to the multitude of capacities, like the asura's lute: if guided gradually to enter the round, it is as stated before; if guided suddenly to enter the round, it is as stated now. Entering the round and equally realizing it, there is no further distinction. In order to reveal the initial gateways of entry for the distinct and the round, the power of the roots of benevolence causes gradual and sudden persons to see [it] thus. Preaching this Dharma-gate of the one mind, it penetrates horizontally and pierces vertically, completely subsuming meanings [as numerous as] the sands of the Ganges; therefore it is named dhāraṇī. Being able to serve as the source of the myriad dharmas, it is consequently termed unsurpassed. If one merely discusses phenomenal practices, one loses the Buddha's original tenet. As the commentary on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra says: 'Like the prince feeding the tigress, or Śibi substituting [his flesh] for the dove—both gave up the bodies left by their parents, not their own bodies. One's own body is the true mark of the Dharma-nature.' The treatise explains: 'Keeping the precepts is the skin; dhyāna-concentration is the blood; wisdom is the bone; the subtle and wondrous virtuous mind is the marrow. Preaching the precepts for others, which can ward off sin and cultivate merit, where formlessness is supreme, the śīlapāramitā that is neither observing nor violating—this is giving one's own skin. Preaching the various concentrations, supernatural transformations, not rising from the cessation attainment yet manifesting all deportments—this is giving one's own blood. Preaching that the Dharmas all reach the stage of all-knowledge—this is giving one's own bone. Giving, patience, and so forth must be the flesh. Preaching the profound Dharma-characteristics, the sphere of practice of all buddhas, neither one nor two, where the path of words is cut off and the workings of the mind are extinguished, the subtle and wondrous middle way—this is giving one's own marrow.' Satisfying starving sentient beings with this, what need is there to mention other food and drink? Other food and drink are precisely the two vehicles of humans and devas, the skin of precepts, the blood of concentration, the bone of wisdom, and the marrow of the true truth. When the Lotus Sūtra says, 'instructing, benefiting, and gladdening them in other profound teachings,' this is precisely its meaning. Therefore, one who can preach this Dharma-gate penetrates the Buddha's true mind and bestows his own marrow. Furthermore, regarding this tenet of the one mind: if through the gate of total exclusion, then the mind is not anything, and the spiritual nature stands alone; if through the gate of total inclusion, then everything is the mind, and the wondrous substance is all-pervading; if through neither inclusion nor exclusion, then both negation and illumination vanish, object and wisdom are both empty, and name and meaning are doubly severed. It can be called an inconceivable wondrous art that touches rubble and turns it into gold; unconditioned supernatural power that stirs rivers and makes them into curds. Transformations are sovereign; concealing and revealing accord with the time. Expanding or contracting, it can unify and differentiate. Truly, it is the marvel of that which can cure: what illness would not be healed? A gateway of skillful deliverance: what capacity would not converge? Washing away mental defilements, uprooting the roots of doubt, word after word accords completely with the original mind, each and every one contains the true nature. Dharma after Dharma is a vajra phrase; speck after speck of dust possesses a secret gateway. As the Ru fajie tixing jing says: 'Mañjuśrī said: The nature of dharmas is indestructible; therefore it is called a vajra phrase.' A verse of the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: 'If toward the Buddha and the Dharma / one's mind understands equality / and dual thoughts do not manifest, / one shall tread the inconceivable stage.' The Suvikrāntavikramiparipṛcchā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra says: 'As for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, among all spheres of experience there is not a single dharma he does not penetrate. Cultivating such a wisdom-pāramitā, the two vehicles and heterodox paths cannot obscure him. Observing with wisdom, from the initial resolve of the mind up to entering nirvāṇa, all is clearly understood. He can know all spheres of experience through a single dharma, and all spheres of experience are precisely this single dharma. Why? Because suchness is one. He sees neither the self capable of cultivating nor the dharma cultivated, without duality or difference, because their intrinsic nature is detached. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practicing the prajñāpāramitā, penetrating the jñāna-prajñāpāramitā.' The Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra says: 'Jālinīprabha said to Brahmā: "You should employ expedient means for these five hundred bhikṣus who rose from their seats, guiding their minds to enter this Dharma-gate so that they attain faith and understanding, leaving behind all wrong views." Brahmā said: "Good son, even if they were made to depart for kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, they could not exit such a Dharma-gate. It is like a foolish person who fears empty space: abandoning space he flees, yet wherever he arrives, he is not apart from empty space. These bhikṣus are also like this: although they go far away, they do not exit the characteristic of emptiness, do not exit the characteristic of signlessness, do not exit the characteristic of wishlessness. Furthermore, it is like a person seeking empty space, running east and west, saying, 'I want to attain space, I want to attain space!' This person merely speaks the name of empty space but does not attain space; walking in space, he does not see space. These bhikṣus are also like this: desiring to seek nirvāṇa, walking within nirvāṇa, yet they do not attain nirvāṇa. Why? Nirvāṇa merely has a name, just like empty space: it is merely a name and cannot be grasped. Nirvāṇa is also like this: it merely has a name and cannot be attained."' From this one knows that all unbelieving sentient beings and heterodox persons of wrong views vainly generate revulsion and wrongly seek the ultimate in vain; within the state of the one mind, they have never temporarily departed. Therefore a verse of the Ghanavyūhasūtra says: 'Just as when a single grain of rice is cooked / the other grains can be known, / all dharmas are also like this: / knowing one, you know the others. / Just as one who churns curds / tastes it with the tip of a finger, / so too the nature of all dharmas / can be observed through the one.' A verse of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'Just as an image in a mirror / although seen, does not exist, / within the mirror of false imagination / fools see duality.' The Dharmasaṃgītisūtra says: 'At that time the bodhisattva Sāgaramati said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, if a bodhisattva wishes and aspires to see nirvāṇa, he should contemplate the mind in which false discrimination has ceased; in such a place he attains nirvāṇa. This is called the supreme collection of dharmas."' The Mahāyāna Mūlajātahṛdayabhūmidhyāna-sūtra, in the 'Chapter on Contemplating the Mind', says: 'At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, as the Buddha said, addressing the five hundred elders such as Vimalakīrti: 'I shall expound for you the subtle and wondrous Dharma-gate of the mind-ground.' I now inquire of the Tathāgata on this account: What is the mind? What is the ground?"... Up to the Bhagavān telling the mother of all buddhas, the immaculate great sage, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mañjuśrī: "Great good son, this Dharma is named the most supreme secret mind-ground Dharma-gate of the tathāgatas of the ten directions. This Dharma is named the sudden awakening Dharma-gate for all ordinary beings to enter the tathāgata stage. This Dharma is named the true, correct path for all bodhisattvas to proceed toward great bodhi. This Dharma is named the subtle and wondrous jeweled palace in which the buddhas of the three periods themselves enjoy the bliss of the Dharma. This Dharma is named the inexhaustible treasure store that benefits all sentient beings. This Dharma can lead the assemblies of bodhisattvas to Akaniṣṭha, the place of sovereign wisdom. This Dharma can lead to the Bodhi tree; it is the true guide for bodhisattvas in their final rebirth. This Dharma can shower worldly and supramundane wealth like a maṇi jewel, fulfilling the vows of sentient beings. This Dharma can generate the fundamental source of the merits of all buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods. This Dharma can extinguish the fruits of all evil karma of all sentient beings. This Dharma can bestow upon all sentient beings the seal of their sought-after vows. This Dharma can deliver all sentient beings across the perilous distress of birth and death. This Dharma can calm the waves of the ocean of suffering for all sentient beings. This Dharma can rescue afflicted sentient beings, acting in their urgent crises. This Dharma can dry up the ocean of old age, sickness, and death for all sentient beings. This Dharma is well able to give birth to the causal seeds of all buddhas. This Dharma can serve as a great torch of wisdom for the long night of birth and death. This Dharma can serve as armor, destroying the armies of the four māras. This Dharma is precisely the victorious banners of the truly valiant army. This Dharma is precisely the unsurpassed wheel of the Dharma of all buddhas. This Dharma is precisely the most supreme banner of the Dharma. This Dharma is precisely the striking of the great drum of the Dharma. This Dharma is precisely the blowing of the great conch of the Dharma. This Dharma is precisely the great lion king. This Dharma is precisely the great lion's roar. This Dharma is like a great holy king of a nation who is well capable of the correct Dharma: if one accords with the king's governance, one obtains great peace and happiness; if one disobeys the king's governance, one is immediately executed and eliminated. Good son, within the three realms, the mind is the master: one who can contemplate the mind attains ultimate liberation; one who cannot contemplate it sinks into ultimate submersion. The mind of sentient beings is like the great earth: the five grains and five fruits grow from the great earth; likewise, the mind-dharma gives birth to the worldly and supramundane, good and evil five destinies, those in training and beyond training, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and the tathāgata. Due to these causes and conditions, the three realms are only mind, and the mind is named the ground. If all ordinary beings draw close to good friends, hear the Dharma of the mind-ground, observe it according to reason, practice it according to the teachings, benefit themselves and instruct others, and praise, encourage, rejoice, and console, such persons will be able to sever the two hindrances, quickly fulfill all practices, and swiftly attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi." At that time the great sage Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, as the Buddha said, one solely takes the mind-dharma to be the master of the three realms. The fundamental source of the mind-dharma is not defiled by dust or grime. Why does the mind-dharma become defiled by rāga, dveṣa, and moha? Among the dharmas of the three periods, what is called the mind? The past mind has already ceased; the future mind has not yet arrived; the present mind does not abide. Internally among dharmas, an intrinsic nature cannot be obtained; externally among dharmas, a characteristic cannot be obtained; in between dharmas, nothing at all can be obtained. The mind-dharma originally has no shape or characteristic; the mind-dharma originally has no abiding place. All tathāgatas do not even see the mind, how much less could other persons be able to see the mind-dharma? All dharmas arise from false imagination. Due to these causes and conditions, the World-Honoured One now preaches to the great assembly that the three realms are only mind. May the Buddha take pity and explain it in accordance with reality." At that time the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva: "So it is, so it is, good son! As you have asked, the nature of mind and mental factors is originally empty and quiet. I shall speak of many analogies to clarify its meaning. Good son, the mind is like an illusory dharma: arising from conceptual construction, due to various thoughts of the mind, it experiences suffering and pleasure. The mind is like flowing water: arising and ceasing from thought to thought, it does not temporarily abide in previous or subsequent lifetimes. The mind is like a great wind: in a single kṣaṇa it traverses all directions. The mind is like the flame of a lamp: it arises from the harmony of conditions. The mind is like a flash of lightning: lasting for an instant, it does not abide for long. The mind is like empty space: it is covered and obstructed by adventitious defilements. The mind is like an ape: playing in the tree of the five desires, it does not temporarily abide. The mind is like a painter: it can paint various colors in the world. The mind is like a servant: it is driven and employed by the defilements. The mind is like traveling alone: there is no companion. The mind is like a king: initiating various affairs, it attains sovereignty."... "Up to: Good son, as has been said, the mind and mental factors are without inside, without outside, and also without in-between. Sought among dharmas, they cannot be obtained; past, future, and present, they also cannot be obtained. Transcending the three periods, they are neither existent nor non-existent. Harboring defilement and attachment in the mind, they manifest from false conditions; conditions lack intrinsic nature, and the nature of mind is originally empty. Such an empty nature neither arises nor ceases, neither comes nor goes, is neither one nor different, neither annihilated nor permanent. Originally it has no place of arising and no place of cessation; it is neither distant nor not distant. Such mind and so forth are not different from the unconditioned; the substance of the unconditioned is not different from the mind and so forth. The substance of the mind-dharma originally cannot be spoken of; that which is not the mind-dharma also cannot be spoken of. Why? If the unconditioned were the mind, this would be called the annihilationist view; if it were apart from the mind-dharma, this would be called the eternalist view. Forever leaving the two characteristics, not clinging to the two extremes: one who awakens thus is said to see the true truth. One who awakens to the true truth is called a worthy or sage. All worthies and sages are originally empty and quiet in nature. Within unconditioned dharmas, precepts have neither observance nor violation, nor small or great; there is no king of mind or mental factors, no suffering and no pleasure. Such a dharmadhātu is inherently immaculate, without distinguishing marks of superior, middling, or inferior. Why? Because the unconditioned dharma is equal in nature. Just as the waters of various rivers flow into the great sea, all becoming of one taste without different characteristics, so too this immaculate nature is unequalled, far removed from self and far removed from what belongs to self. This immaculate nature is neither real nor unreal. This immaculate nature is the ultimate truth, inexhaustible in its mark of cessation, its substance originally unborn. This immaculate nature is eternally abiding and unchanging, the most supreme nirvāṇa, because it is self, bliss, and purity. This immaculate nature is far removed from all, because its equal substance is without difference. If there are good sons or good daughters who wish to seek anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, they should single-mindedly cultivate and practice such a method of contemplating the mind-ground.'

11.4

The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa asks: "The prajñāpāramitā is the bodhisattva's supreme path, having a single characteristic, namely, the unconditioned [characteristic] of signlessness. For what reason are these various paths taught?"

11.5

It answers: "These paths all enter into the one path, namely, the true characteristic of all phenomena. For beginners there are various distinctions, but ultimately all are identical and without distinction. It is just as when the kalpa is consumed by fire: everything that exists becomes identical with empty space." Thus we know that if one bypasses this vast practice, there is no ground for advancing; if one departs from these expedient means, there will be no time of achieving buddhahood. Hence, from the initial attainment of the path straight through to nirvāṇa, therein the converter and the converted, teacher and disciple from beginning to end, root and branch are simultaneous; capacity and response are of a single limit—neither departs from one's own mind. As the Tiantai teachings state: "The mind-king is the Tathāgata; the mental factors are the disciples. But in the moment-to-moment continuity of sentient beings, countless hundreds of thousands of sentient beings are constantly generated day and night. If the ten mental factors of the mind-king are perverse, then all phenomena are perverse, being the retinue of Māra. If the ten mental factors of the mind-king are correct, then all phenomena are correct. Practitioners who study the path in the present day must properly grasp this meaning. If one cultivates wisdom, one should only inwardly give rise to the mental factor of wisdom, reflecting and discerning. Because of this, half-and-full wisdom arises, practicing for oneself and converting others, which is equivalent to Śāriputra adorning the twin trees. In this way, when the practices are accomplished in terms of each of the mental factors, converting the ten disciples, the practice of each one clearly arises from the mind. If one can accurately contemplate mind-nature, this is seeing the Buddha-nature and abiding in great nirvāṇa, which is equivalent to the Tathāgata fully adorning the śāla twin trees. If the mind of contemplative practice is clear, seeing the mind-king is seeing the Dharma King, and the mental factors are the great disciples; the meaning of adorning the twin trees is as if seen before one's eyes." Question: "The Tiantai school's contemplation of mind uses esoteric speech; how could the commentaries exhaust the mind?" The Huanyuan ji states: "The Lotus Sūtra says: 'Whose sūtra do you uphold and practice? Which Buddha's path do you extol?' The Avataṃsaka Sūtra speaks of: 'The sūtras and treatises of form, the sūtras and treatises of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.' If speaking according to one's own mind, one might also say: 'The sūtras and treatises of the eye; the sūtras and treatises of ear, nose, tongue, body, and mental faculty, of greed, anger, and delusion.' Why is this so? The sūtra says: 'Know that the eye is unarisen and without intrinsic nature; it is described as empty, tranquil, and non-existent.' The six sense faculties are identical with this sūtra. 'Sūtra' is simply 'phenomenon'. Knowing that the eye is an empty phenomenon is the sūtra and treatise of the eye. The empty phenomenon of the ear is the sūtra and treatise of the ear. The various dhātus are also like this. The principle must be genuinely illuminated; it cannot be made into empty talk to deceive oneself. In walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, in upholding the aggregates, dhātus, and sense bases—whose sūtra is being practiced? Producing wisdom regarding form is upholding and practicing the sūtra of form. And so on, adapting to all places, awakening is upholding the sūtras of all places. This vehicle emerges from the three realms and abides in sarvajñā; because it is unmoving, that is its meaning. If one believes firmly and reflects deeply, then one abides according to the Dharma. The sūtra says: 'To abide according to the Dharma means, like the phenomena of the nature of the six sense faculties being empty, to provisionally speak of abiding.' As for 'extolling which Buddha's path': The Yingluo jing says: 'The nature of real wisdom is the dharmakāya.' If one sees the real nature, this is extolling the dharmakāya Buddha. Hearing that the body has the real nature, one then attains the samādhi of emptiness in the aggregates, dhātus, and sense bases, the six pāramitās, the seven factors of awakening, the three ranks of worthies, the ten grounds, wonderful awakening, and so forth; as recompense for prior merit, this is extolling the saṃbhogakāya Buddha. Attaining the aforementioned phenomena and responding to the bodies of sentient beings is extolling the nirmāṇakāya Buddha. This is to see the three Buddhas in a single thought within one's body. Sentient beings do not contemplate this; though close, they do not see them. The Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra says: 'The emergence of no emergence is called the emergence of the Buddha; the meditation of no meditation is called correct meditation; the release of no release is called correct release.' The Mo ni jing states: 'Māra requested Mañjuśrī to untie his bonds. Mañjuśrī said: "No one binds you; you yourself imagine that you are bound." Māra then said: "I shall ultimately never be liberated." The sūtra says: "Originally there are no bonds; who seeks liberation? If the dharmadhātu had any binding ties, then I would be liberated. This is truly unarisen and unceasing. You should seek it within the activity of the mind. Do not speak of this sūtra among people lacking wisdom, for fear that they will produce wrong views, and the medicine will instead turn into illness."' Knowing detachment is called the Dharma; awakening to the Dharma is called the Buddha. As for 'knowing detachment': the nature of form is detached, and feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are also naturally detached. From the single phenomenon of the emptiness of nature, the names of the Three Jewels are provisionally produced. Venerable Huangbo said: 'If you intend to attach to a single phenomenon, the seal has already been stamped. If it is stamped on existence, the patterns of the four modes of birth appear; if it is stamped on emptiness, the patterns of the empty realm of non-conceptualization manifest. Now, just know with certainty not to stamp upon any thing. This seal is neither identical with nor different from empty space. Empty space is not empty; the original seal does not exist. Seeing the Buddhas of the ten directions' empty space worlds appearing in the world is just like lightning; contemplating all crawling creatures is just like an echo. The thousands of sūtras and tens of thousands of treatises speak only of your one mind. All phenomena are neither arisen nor extinguished; this is the fruit of great nirvāṇa. Therefore it is said: "The fruit is full in bodhi; the round flower opens and the worlds arise." Thus we know that the fullness of the fruit of bodhi ripens from the flower of one's own mind, and the conditioned arising of worlds begins from the waves of consciousness.' For example, in the past there were the Dharma Masters Wonhyo and Uisang of the Eastern Land. The two traveled together to the Tang dynasty to seek a master. Encountering nightfall, they lodged in the wilderness, staying inside a tomb. Dharma Master Wonhyo, longing for a drink because of thirst, found a pool of water beside his seat; scooping it up, he drank, finding it very sweet. When the next day arrived and he looked at it, it was actually the fluids of a dead corpse. At that moment, his mind was revulsed, and he vomited; thereupon he had a great awakening, and said: 'I have heard the Buddha say: "The three realms are mind-only; the ten thousand phenomena are consciousness-only." Thus I know that sweet and foul reside in me; they are truly not in the water!' He then returned to his homeland to widely propagate the supreme teaching. Thus we know that there is no one who does not arrive at this. One abruptly ceases the wandering mind. Even if one shoulders book-boxes and carries satchels, widely roaming the schools of the three vehicles, or even if one seeks teachers and visits companions, comprehensively calling upon the Chan chambers throughout the dharmadhātu—if one wishes to abandon learning and rest the spirit, one must ultimately return to the mirror of the source. As the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "How does a bodhisattva faithfully conform to the one reality? A bodhisattva completely understands that all sentient beings return to the one path. The one path refers to the Great Vehicle."' Commentary: 'As for the Great Vehicle: what is called "great" is the mind-nature of sentient beings. It can encompass and pervade: at its smallest it has no interior, such that not a single dust mote could enter it; at its largest it has no exterior, such that not a single phenomenon is not contained by it. What is called "vehicle" takes transport as its meaning; it can transport practitioners straight to the ocean of sarvajñā. From this we know that this ocean is not far; the jewel of the mind is always present. Then the jade of Zhao is not precious, and the pearl of Sui is not rare; Good Friend vainly sailed the blue waves, and Bian He untruthfully reported on the Jing mountains. If one enters the mirror of the source without stirring mind and spirit, in a single instant that jewel manifests of itself. Why must one comprehensively call upon the dharmadhātu and widely traverse the monasteries? When personally awakened, it is truly not attained from another.' As the poem of Cold Mountain (Hanshan) says: / 'In years past I entered the great sea, / making a fervent vow to search for the maṇi jewel. / Straight to the deep secret treasury of the dragon palace I went; / the gold gates locked tight, even ghosts and spirits grieved. / The Dragon King guarded it, keeping it within his body; / the treasure-sword's stars were cold, nowhere to search for it. / The merchant returned inside his own gates: / the bright pearl had been in my mind all along!' / The verse of Venerable Dushun says: / 'The wanderer toils in vain, / trekking mountains and bowing to earthen mounds. / Mañjuśrī is just this; / where else will you look for Amitābha?' / Venerable Shigong's "Song on Playing with the Pearl" says: / 'The wish-fulfilling jewel, the great round mirror— / some people also call it the nature. / Manifesting hundreds of millions of bodies, my jewel is partitioned; / fundamentally pure from beginninglessness, it is pure just as it is now. / The daily-used true pearl is the Buddha; / why labor to chase after objects in vain toil? / Hidden and revealed right now without two characteristics, / looking face to face at the pearl, do you recognize it?'

11.6

Question: "If all the ten thousand phenomena are consciousness-nature only, why are there the unreal and the real, the establishment of form and the establishment of emptiness, the gates of the two truths of ultimate and conventional, and the path of the dual penetration of nature and characteristics?"

11.7

Answer: The dense array of manifestations are entirely the fundamental source of one mind; the differentiated traces that divide are wholly the wondrous nature of consciousness-only. The nature of consciousness-only is briefly of two kinds: the first is false and deceptive, which is the parikalpita [nature]; the second is true and real, which is the pariniṣpanna [nature]. In regard to the former nature of consciousness-only, there is the purity of what is eliminated; in regard to the latter nature of consciousness-only, there is the purity of what is realized. Furthermore, there are two kinds: the first is conventional, which is the paratantra [nature]; the second is ultimate, which is the pariniṣpanna [nature]. In regard to the former, there is the purity of what is severed; in regard to the latter, there is the purity of what is attained. Moreover, characteristics are the paratantra, covering the gateway of the conditioned; the nature is the pariniṣpanna, pervading the path of the untainted. Furthermore, form is the characteristic of the paratantra; emptiness is the nature of the pariniṣpanna. Thus, the false and the real, the ultimate and the conventional, nature and characteristics, existence and emptiness—when their roots are penetrated and their source exhausted—are all the nature of consciousness-only. Ci'en says: "The nature of consciousness and the characteristics of consciousness are both not separate from citta. Mental factors and the king of citta take consciousness as primary. Returning to citta and extinguishing characteristics is collectively called 'consciousness-only.' 'Only' excludes the existence of external objects: those who grasp at existence lose the truth. 'Consciousness' selects against citta being empty: those who stagnate in emptiness contradict reality." Therefore, the Buddha-mind is like an ocean: there is no stream that does not flow into it. The Buddha-mind is like a mirror: there is no image that is not produced [in it]. The Buddha-mind is like a wish-fulfilling jewel: there is no treasure that it does not rain down. The Buddha-mind is like the earth: there is no seed that does not reach fruition. The myriad images manifest in the dharmakāya; all principles are born from prajñā. Thus a single phrase, a single character, a single thought, a single dust particle—all enter the non-dual Dharma gate and entirely dwell in inconceivable liberation. As the Vajrasamādhi-sūtra says: "If one dwells in the great ocean, one embraces all streams; if one dwells in the single taste, one subsumes all tastes." A verse from the Wuxing jing says: "Bodhi is not bodhi; / The Buddha is not the Buddha. / If one knows that it is of one characteristic, / one is a guide for the world." Therefore, know that one who can comprehend this source of the single realm of marklessness can be an illumination and a guide, a master and a craftsman, universally rescuing the multitude of the confused, not resting in the conjured city, but going straight to the place of jewels. Hence the sūtra says: "Always delighting in observing cessation, / of one characteristic without duality, / their mind neither increases nor decreases, / manifesting immeasurable spiritual power." Furthermore, the "Manifestation" chapter of the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: "O Sons of the Buddha! For example, suppose there is a great scripture scroll, whose measure equals the trichiliocosm, recording the events in the trichiliocosm completely and entirely… and furthermore, this great scripture scroll, though measuring equally to the great chiliocosm, completely resides inside a single dust particle. Just as in a single dust particle, so it is in all dust particles. At that time there is a person whose wisdom is bright and penetrating, completely accomplished with the pure divine eye. Seeing this scripture scroll inside the dust particle bringing not the slightest benefit to the multitude of sentient beings, he then thinks: 'With the power of diligence I should break that dust particle and bring forth this scripture scroll, causing all sentient beings to be abundantly benefited.' Having thought thus, he forthwith applies skillful means, breaks that dust particle, and brings forth this great scripture, causing all sentient beings to be universally and abundantly benefited. Just as in a single dust particle, so it should be known for all dust particles. O Sons of the Buddha! The tathāgata's wisdom is also like this: immeasurable and unhindered, universally able to benefit all sentient beings, fully present within the bodies of sentient beings. Yet ordinary fools, falsely conceptualizing and clinging, are unaware and unperceiving, failing to gain the benefit. At that time the Tathāgata, with unhindered pure eyes of wisdom, universally contemplates all sentient beings throughout the dharmadhātu and speaks these words: 'How wondrous! How wondrous! How is it that these sentient beings possess the tathāgata's wisdom, yet in stupidity and confusion, neither know nor see it? I should teach them the noble path, causing them to forever abandon false conceptualization and grasping, so that within their own bodies they can see the Tathāgata's vast wisdom as no different from the Buddha.' He then teaches those sentient beings to practice the noble path, causing them to abandon false conceptualization. Having abandoned false conceptualization, they realize the Tathāgata's immeasurable wisdom, benefiting and bringing peace and happiness to all sentient beings." Explanation: The scripture scroll of the chiliocosm is the Tathāgata's wisdom; being inside a single dust particle means being entirely inside the citta of a single sentient being. That all dust particles are also like this means that all sentient beings in the dharmadhātu contain the Buddha-wisdom. Because they are alienated by the dust of emotions, they cannot illuminate within, burying the golden store in vain and unjustly obscuring the numinous platform. It is like the jewel sinking into the forehead during battle, or the drunkard confused about the jewel in his clothes; without pointing it out, how could it be brought to light? Hence an earlier worthy said: "Breaking the dust particle and bringing forth the scroll means understanding the Buddha-dharmas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, in the one mind." Thus we know that if water has not entered the sea it is not salty, if firewood has not entered the fire it does not burn, and if objects have not returned to citta they are not equal. But when gathered by the mirror of the source, the myriad dharmas share the same single illumination: right and wrong are both extinguished, adversity and favor return to the same [source]. There is no one mind that is not the Buddha-mind; there is no single deed that is not a Buddha-deed. Never has a single kṣaṇa been seen that is not the time of the Tathāgata attaining bodhi; there is not the space of a mustard seed that is not where a bodhisattva has renounced body and life. Therefore an earlier worthy said: "Because citta is not outside of objects, there is nothing to be attained. Because objects are not outside of citta, there are no characteristics. Since citta is precisely objects, it is profoundly deep. Since objects are precisely citta, it is difficult to enter." As Master Zhao said: "In terms of phenomena, none are not different; in terms of emptiness, none are not one. Reaching the utmost above and exhausting the bottom below, aligning them in a single contemplation, one then accords with equality." The Tiantai teaching says: "Just as the earth has no distinctions, yet grass and trees are various; various yet not various, not various yet various." Furthermore, it is like discussing dharmas in terms of citta, and discussing citta in terms of dharmas: citta has various mental factors, while dharmas do not have various mental factors. Citta is not separate from dharmas, and dharmas are not separate from citta: without count yet counted, counted yet without count. Therefore, the Awakening of Faith says: "Furthermore, tathatā, depending on verbal discrimination, has two meanings. What are the two? The first is truly empty, because it can definitively reveal the real. The second is truly non-empty, because it possesses its own substance, fully endowed with untainted qualities of the nature. That which is called 'empty' means that from the beginning it has never been associated with any defiled dharmas; that is, it is free from the differentiated characteristics of all dharmas, because there are no false thoughts of citta. One should know that the self-nature of tathatā is not the characteristic of existence, not the characteristic of non-existence, not the characteristic of neither existence, not the characteristic of neither non-existence, and not the characteristic of both existence and non-existence together; it is not the characteristic of oneness, not the characteristic of difference, not the characteristic of neither oneness, not the characteristic of neither difference, and not the characteristic of both oneness and difference together... To speak in summary, because all sentient beings have false minds that discriminate thought after thought, none of these correspond [to it], and therefore it is called empty. If one is free from the false mind, there is truly nothing to be emptied. That which is called 'non-empty' means that since the substance of dharmas is revealed to be empty and devoid of falsehood, it is precisely the true mind, eternal and unchanging, replete with pure dharmas, and is therefore called non-empty. Nor is there any characteristic that can be grasped, because the realm free from thought corresponds only to realization." Regarding tathatā, an ancient commentary states: "Eliminating falsehood is called 'true' (tatha); revealing the principle is called 'thus' (tā)." Venerable Guan refuted this meaning, saying: "No dharma is not true; what falsehood is there to eliminate? Then 'true' is not true. No dharma is not thus; what principle is there that can be revealed? Therefore 'thus' is not thus." This, then, without elimination and without establishment, is the non-established tathatā. This explanation is extremely wondrous. Hence the Xinxin ming says: "Truly because of grasping and rejecting, therefore it is not thus." Establishment is grasping; elimination is rejecting. Now, without elimination and without establishment, the Way is spontaneously and profoundly met. How could there be truth and falsehood presenting themselves to consciousness? As the Preface to the Śataśāstra says: "Carefree and without support, yet phenomena do not lose their truth; serene and without lodging, yet the principle is spontaneously and profoundly met. The path of returning to the root is manifest herein." This can be called having no mind and according with the Way, with principle and phenomena both penetrating. Furthermore, the intrinsic characteristic of tathatā is solely a realm free from thought, and thus cannot be conceptualized in terms of existence or non-existence. Therefore it is said: "Not the characteristic of existence, not the characteristic of non-existence, not the characteristic of neither existence, not the characteristic of neither non-existence, and not the characteristic of both existence and non-existence together." Why is this? If there were two, they could be called "together." But now existence is precisely non-existence; hence outside of existence there is no non-existence that could be together with existence. Now non-existence is precisely existence; hence without non-existence there is no external existence that could be together with non-existence. Therefore, both existing and not existing are mutually contradictory and cannot be established. As for the statement that "neither" cannot be established: if there were definitively existence and non-existence, then negating that existence and non-existence would yield the clause of "neither." But now existence is precisely non-existence; what is there that is not non-existence? Now non-existence is precisely existence; what is there that is not existence? Therefore, both negations are also tranquil. Hence we know that words extinguish the four clauses, and there is no clause that can be extinguished. Comprehending this absence of clauses is true extinction.

11.8

Question: If the one mind is equal and its principle transcends the partial and the round, why is it that in the teachings it is also said that all dharmas are different?

11.9

Answer: Difference is spoken of in accordance with sentiments: although different, they are the same. Sameness is spoken of in opposition to attachments: although the same, they are different. Sameness is employed to destroy difference; difference is employed to destroy sameness. Although the same and although different, they are neither different nor the same. This is like the saying about seizing your spear to pierce your shield, or like riding a thief's horse to pursue the thief, or using sound to stop sound. Therefore it is said: "Four in the morning and three in the evening makes the crowd of monkeys rejoice; applying bitter ointment and washing it with water nourishes the infant according to the proper time." These are all accommodating inclinations and capacities through excellent expedient means. As Zhuangzi says: "To exhaust one's spirit to make them one without knowing their sameness is called 'three in the morning'. What is meant by 'three in the morning'? The monkey keeper, handing out rations, said: 'Three in the morning and four in the evening.' The monkeys were all angry. He said: 'If so, then four in the morning and three in the evening.' The monkeys were all pleased. Name and reality suffered no loss, yet joy and anger were brought into play. This too is relying on 'it is this'." The commentary says: "Between four and three, the monkeys falsely give rise to joy and anger; between wrong and right, worldly people contend in giving rise to love and hate. The sage turns around and uses right and wrong to stop the right and wrong of worldly people, just as the monkey keeper used four and three to quiet the monkeys' three and four. How could the person of realization, being in oneness, exhaust their spirit therein?" The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: "For example, a woman gave birth to a child, and the baby fell ill. Troubled and distressed, this woman sought a skilled physician. When the skilled physician arrived, he compounded three medicines—ghee, milk, and rock sugar—and gave it to him to ingest. He then instructed the woman: 'Now that the child has taken the medicine, for the time being do not give him milk; only after the medicine has digested should you then give it.' At that time, the woman applied a bitter flavor to her breast and said to her child: 'My breast is smeared with poison; it cannot be touched again.' The child was thirsty and wished to nurse, but smelling the poisonous odor, he turned away and went far off. Once the medicine had digested, the mother washed her breast and called her child to give it to him. At that time, the young child, although thirsty, had smelled the poisonous odor before and therefore would not come. The mother told him again: 'Because you took medicine, I smeared it with poison. Now that your medicine has digested, I have finished washing it. You may come at once and drink milk without suffering.' Having heard this, the child gradually returned to nurse." The sūtra combines the meaning of the parable: the teaching of non-self and so forth is like the smearing of poison; speaking of the tathāgatagarbha is like calling the child to nurse. Sometimes speaking of self, sometimes speaking of non-self, both are for the sake of suiting capacity, like that smearing and washing. As the Yihai says: "It means that phenomena of dust are different, while strictly as substance, only dharma is non-different. It is precisely because the substance of dharmas is not different that the meaning of difference can be established, because substance is not lost. It is precisely because of the differentiation of phenomena of dust that the meaning of non-difference can be established, because conditions are not destroyed; only then is principle spoken of." Therefore a sūtra says: "Wonderful, O World-Honoured One! Within non-different dharmas, you are able to speak of the differences of dharmas." Although the myriad phenomena are different, they cannot differentiate themselves; although the false is the same, it cannot make itself the same. Because they are without substance, dharma after dharma constantly arises; because they are without function, dust after dust is eternally quiescent. These are all worldly discriminations, the false sentiments of sentient beings, who within the equal Dharma spontaneously produce difference, and facing the place of non-dual characteristics forcibly establish many aspects, just like a painter depicting shapes of high and low, or like a goldsmith forging utensils large and small. The substance of the myriad dharmas is ever empty; they are transformed solely by one's own mind. A verse in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra says: / "Just as a skilled painter / paints a flat surface to appear concave and convex, / so false discrimination / sees grasper and grasped where there are none." / For example, a skilled painter can paint a flat wall to raise the appearance of concavity and convexity: in reality there is no high or low, yet one sees high and low. False discrimination is also like this: within the equal dharmadhātu, in the place without dual characteristics, it constantly sees the two characteristics of grasper and grasped. Therefore one should not be afraid. Why is there no need to be afraid? Because they are transformed by one's own mind, just like painting concavity and convexity is done by one's own hand.

11.10

Record of the Mirror of the Source, Fascicle Eleven

11.11

Printing blocks cut under the general supervision of the Branch Office of the Tripiṭaka Directorate in the bingwu year.

Linked texts (1)

宗鏡錄 — Classical Chinese