宗鏡錄 16
English (machine translation) 16
- Language
- English
16.1
Compiled by Yanshou, Chan Master Zhijue, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Temple.
16.2
Now, regarding "citta itself being Buddha": is it the true citta, or is it the deluded citta?
16.3
Answer: It is solely the true citta. Because one awakens to the citta's truth, it accomplishes the meaning of great awakening; therefore it is called "Buddha."
16.4
Question: If it is the true citta, what supreme meaning is there? If it is the deluded citta, what fault does it incur?
16.5
Answer: In the gate of ultimate emptiness, principle has no signs or traces. In the way of differentiation, phenomena have opening and restriction. The deluded citta is produced from subject and object, and arises due to differentiation. It gives rise to the temporary function of the superficial sense faculties, and accomplishes the deluded cognition confronting sense objects. If separated from external dust-objects, this citta has no substance. Arising illumination due to sense objects, when sense objects perish, illumination vanishes. Following thoughts, dust arises; when thoughts are empty, dust ceases. If one takes these shadowy occurrences to be the Buddha-body, since they are a false and deluded cause, they will only produce the result of annihilation.
The true citta is clear and bright, quiescent and illuminating, not produced from sense objects. Containing emptiness and according with conditions, it has never engaged in intention. Bright and unobscured, clearly and constantly aware, when stretched out it leaves no footprints, and when rolled up it leaves no traces. Like a clear pool reflecting the wild plain, or a bright mirror suspended in the sky, the myriad forms spread out in profusion, yet it openly and emptily reflects them, neither exiting nor entering, neither existent nor non-existent. This is where the thousand sages secretly return, and where the myriad spirits converge. Those who have faith in it penetrate the source and bottom of the Great Path; those who embody it accomplish the permanent dharmakāya. The ancestors and Buddhas jointly point to this citta and thereby accomplish Buddhahood. It is also called the innately true Buddha, the dharmakāya Buddha, the nature Buddha, and the tathatā Buddha.
It is neither apart from delusion, because delusion has no substance; nor is it identical with truth, because truth is not an identity. When the designations of truth and delusion are exhausted, and the sentiments of identity and departure are extinguished, the wondrously complete awakened citta can then be revealed. Furthermore, because it is inherently possessed, it can then be opened and revealed. Therefore it is said: 'The Tathāgata's right awakened citta and the discriminative citta of sentient beings accord and are identical without duality; this is the skillful means for opening, revealing, awakening to, and entering.' Therefore, if the cittas of sentient beings and the cittas of all Buddhas were each different, how could one speak of opening? Only because they accord and are identical does one bestow skillful means. If there were no treasure in the storehouse, digging and excavating would be in vain; only because there is a treasure is human effort not wasted. If one only generates faith, one will ultimately see the nature. Therefore it is said: 'I guarantee this matter for you; it will never be in vain.'
Hence it is said:
'The maṇi jewel, people do not know; / Within the tathāgatagarbha it is personally retrieved. / Six kinds of divine functions are empty and not empty; / A single round light is form and not form.'
With such direct pointing, what need is there to seek elsewhere? Therefore the Secret of the Citta-Elixir says:
'Vastly beneath heaven they search in vain, / Unwilling to turn their heads and recognize it themselves. / Trusting the master to travel to the land of non-action, / Only then does one realize that one has always wasted effort.'
Therefore the Treatise on the Avataṃsaka says: 'The kleśas of the ground of avidyā are immediately the unshakeable wisdom of all Buddhas. All sentient beings possess it inherently of themselves. It is only because the substance of wisdom has no nature and no support that it cannot comprehend itself; only by meeting conditions does it comprehend.' Thus we know that all sentient beings are the Buddha's wisdom; without obtaining the conditions for comprehension, they have no way to be awakened. When comprehended, they immediately become Buddhas. As the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: 'There is a bodhisattva who, upon first generating the citta, immediately sits at the place of awakening and is like a Buddha.' Therefore Layman Pang's verse says:
'If the citta is like tathatā, the spirit is naturally empty. / Without taking medicine, the disease is naturally removed. / The white lotus flower, the wish-fulfilling jewel: / No need to labor in search, do not scurry about. / The wise observe wealth and sex, / Clearly understanding them to be like illusions and emptiness. / Food and clothing support the body and life; / Mutually we encourage studying suchness. / When the time comes, move the hut away; / There are no things left over.'
Also the ancients said: 'A single pill cures ten thousand diseases; there is no need for many prescriptions.'
16.6
Question: If it is by the true citta that one accomplishes Buddhahood, while deluded awareness falls into the ordinary, then deluded thoughts run contrary to the source, and the true citta accords with awakening. This means that truth and delusion are two, substance and function are separated. How do you resolve and harmonize them into a single, completely fused purport?
16.7
Answer: Truth and delusion have no nature of their own; they constantly accord with a single source. How could there be two cittas that are mutually identical? Because the nature is pure and undefiled, delusion cannot be found. Just as an illusory knife cannot cut stone, and a bitter fog cannot defile the sky. It is for the person who has not comprehended the one mind that identity is spoken of.
16.8
As asked in the Tiantai teaching: 'Avidyā is identical with the Dharma-nature; there being no more avidyā, with what is it identical?'
16.9
Answer: It is like pointing to water as ice and pointing to ice as water for one who does not know ice. There are only names; how could there be two [separate] things that are identical with each other? Thus we know that though periods of time differ, and melting and freezing follow conditions, the nature of wetness is ever-present and has never altered. Even down to 'the ordinary is the noble'—it is also like this. 'Ordinary' and 'noble' are merely names; they are of one substance without distinction. Therefore a former worthy, explaining the Avataṃsaka-sūtra, said: 'That one world is like this throughout the entire dharmadhātu means that knowing the suchness of one eye, the suchness of all eyes is likewise so.' To cite an analogy: just as one person's body has hands and feet, all people have hands and feet. Therefore, failing to understand this one mind, everyone gives rise to dualistic views. If ordinary beings cling to this mind, they create the karma of saṃsāra. The two vehicles loathe and abandon this mind, seeking the fruit of reduction to ashes and annihilation. Furthermore, ordinary beings lack eyes; they turn the illumination of bodhi-wisdom into a burning fire of kleśas. They are like the blind child of a great house of wealth: sitting amidst a treasure house, every movement meets with obstruction, and he is harmed by the treasures. The two vehicles take the Tathāgata's secret treasury of the four virtues to be the impermanent five aggregates, calling it a robber, a tiger, a dragon, or a serpent, and run away in terror. Though bondage and liberation differ, clinging and rejection are both failures. If one truly understands and penetrates this, there is no arising and no ceasing, nothing attained and nothing produced. Realizing that this deluded mind has no substance from moment to moment, from where could attachment arise? Moment to moment it naturally departs; there is no need to sever or extinguish it. One cannot even obtain 'one', much less 'two'! Thus we know that when all dharmas accord with suchness, they realize the consummate [nature]; and though present in deluded feeling, they are absent in principle. When the feelings of the masses go against the intent, they cling to the imagined [nature]; and though present in deluded feeling, they are absent in principle. Accordance ever resides in violation; in the one path, how could it ever lose its substance? Deluded feeling does not diverge from principle; across a thousand paths, it has never branched off for an instant. Penetrating it, deluded feeling and principle transcend names; realizing it, accordance and violation find no ground. Therefore, every single dharma completely accords with the wordless Path; every single thought-moment returns to the source of non-attainment. It is innately natural, not artificially made. As the Wordless Bodhisattva Sūtra states: 'At that time, Śāriputra said to Wordless Bodhisattva: "Son of good family, if you cannot speak, how do you intend to inquire into the meaning of the Tathāgata?" Wordless said: "All dharmas are entirely without written letters, and also without words. Why is this? All sentient beings are entirely spontaneous, without any verbal teachings or manifold conceptual thoughts."' Therefore, if set forth in full in terms of phenomena, then ordinary and noble are identical and yet distinct; if harmonized and identified in terms of principle, then sentient beings and buddhas are distinct and yet identical. Hence, distinction and non-distinction both do not depart from the substance of tathatā. As the Commentary on the Avataṃsaka states: 'Distinction within non-distinction is gradual deployment atop complete harmony; non-distinction within distinction is complete harmony atop gradual deployment.' It is like gathering particulars to form the general; it is not that this general exists apart from the particulars. In this kind of harmonious integration, there is no dharma that does not return [to it]. Thus the three vehicles are not three, and the five natures are not five. Only with such wondrous understanding can one be bathed in the light of the Mirror of the Source. Giving rise to views that depart from this entirely violates the principle of non-duality.
16.10
Question: If for all sentient beings the mind itself is Buddha, why do the buddhas rely on three [asaṃkhyeya-]kalpas and a hundred eons of accumulating merit and heaping up virtue before achieving it?
16.11
Answer: Are you studying the true teaching of the One Vehicle, or are you aiming at the provisional capacities of the five natures? Here we discuss the teaching of personal realization, not the skillful means of the forms of conversion. Furthermore, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra speaks of four buddhas: first, the transformation buddha; second, the retribution-born buddha; third, the suchness buddha; fourth, the wisdom buddha. Responding to capacities and answering receptivity is called 'transformation'. Requiting past causes is called 'retribution'. The fundamental awakening manifesting in illumination is called 'wisdom'. The substance of principle being non-dual is called 'suchness'. The Avataṃsaka-sūtra explains ten kinds of buddhas, namely: regarding the Buddha who abides in the world and achieves perfect awakening, he is seen without attachment; regarding the Vow Buddha, he is seen in birth; regarding the Karmic Retribution Buddha, he is seen in deep faith; regarding the Upholding Buddha, he is seen in accord; regarding the Nirvāṇa Buddha, he is seen in deep entry; regarding the Dharmadhātu Buddha, he is seen in universal pervasion; regarding the Mind Buddha, he is seen in abiding; regarding the Samādhi Buddha, he is seen as immeasurable and unreliant; regarding the Fundamental Nature Buddha, he is seen with clear understanding; regarding the Accordance-with-Joy Buddha, he is seen in universal bestowal. Moreover, the Buddha completely possesses ten bodies: first, the sentient-being body; second, the land body; third, the karmic retribution body; fourth, the śrāvaka body; fifth, the pratyekabuddha body; sixth, the bodhisattva body; seventh, the tathāgata body; eighth, the wisdom body; ninth, the dharma body; tenth, the space body. If classified separately according to the Five Teachings, it is indeterminate according to the teaching: First, the Hīnayāna teaching has a Buddha of two bodies: 1. the birth body, 2. the dharma body. Second, the Initial Teaching of the Mahāyāna has a Buddha of three bodies: 1. the dharma body, 2. the response body, 3. the transformation body. Third, the Final Teaching has a Buddha of four bodies: 1. the principle-nature body, 2. the dharma body, 3. the retribution body, 4. the response-transformation body. Fourth, the Sudden Teaching has only one Buddha body: 1. the Buddha of true nature. Fifth, the Perfect Teaching of the One Vehicle has a Buddha of ten bodies. Furthermore, in terms of becoming a buddha through nature, the five teachings have different distinctions: In the Hīnayāna, only the one person Siddhārtha has the buddha-nature. In the Initial Teaching, half succeed and half do not, because buddhahood is defined by the division between having nature and lacking nature. In the Final Teaching, all who have minds will attain buddhahood, excluding grass, trees, and the like. In the Sudden Teaching, there is neither buddha nor nature; transcending verbal characteristics is Buddha. In the Perfect Teaching, there is nowhere that does not have buddha-nature, because all three kinds of worlds are the Buddha. If all three kinds of worlds are the Buddha, then internal and external mind and objects are nothing other than the Buddha. Furthermore, in terms of becoming a buddha through the mind: in the Hīnayāna, what is obtained through cultivating a wholesome mind is the Buddha; in the Initial Teaching, the mind-nature is the Buddha; in the Final Teaching, the cessation of mental characteristics and nature is the Buddha; in the Sudden Teaching, the mind being fundamentally unborn is the Buddha; in the Perfect Teaching, the mind being unobstructed and inexhaustible is the Buddha. Furthermore, Tiantai clarifies the buddhas of the four teachings: 1. the Buddha of the Tripiṭaka Teaching, 2. the Buddha of the Shared Teaching, 3. the Buddha of the Separate Teaching, 4. the Buddha of the Perfect Teaching. If taking the Suchness Buddha, the Mind Buddha, and the Fundamental Nature Buddha, who is not endowed with them? If taking the Land Body, the Dharma Body, and the Space Body, what dharma is not fully complete? Then every place is a jeweled dwelling—who erects hills and mounds? In every thought-moment all achieve perfect awakening—how could deluded thoughts be differentiated? Just as a blind person not seeing light is not the fault of the morning sun or the evening moon, and just as the lesser fruit not hearing the perfect and sudden [teaching] is not a matter of the closeness or distance of the wondrous intent of the Buddha's mind, it is only that the weakness of the Dharma is due to slightness of capacity, and the vastness of the Path depends on greatness of scope. When shallow capacities perceive by themselves, wondrous existence is realized as impermanence; suited to meager merit, precious jewels turn into tiles and rubble. Vainly deluding one's own eyes, one mistakenly identifies another's body, dividing the ultimate reality into a thousand differences, causing a hundred variations in the forms of conversion. As the Mahāvaipulya Mahāmegha Sūtra states: 'At that time the Buddha said to Mahāmeghagarbha Bodhisattva: "Good man, you must now light the great lamp of wisdom to destroy the mad, foolish darkness of sentient beings. If anyone says that the Tathāgata was truly born in Śuddhodana's palace, left home to study the Path, practiced austerities, defeated the hosts of Māra's army, sat at the bodhimaṇḍa, and realized the path of bodhi, you should know that this person slanders the Buddha. Better to have one's head cut off and one's tongue pulled out than ever to utter such false words. Why is this? Because he does not skillfully understand the Tathāgata's secret words."' Furthermore, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra states: 'If one says that the Tathāgata Śākyamuni descended in spirit from the Tuṣita heaven into his mother's womb, and so on up to the eight aspects of achieving the Path, this is the crooked view of the śrāvakas. Hence it is said that for sentient beings of inferior understanding, he appeared from a mother's womb.' Therefore, upon entering this Mirror of the Source, uttered words are free from error, and arising thoughts are all true. If one has not reached this gate, asserting what is right turns into wrong, and collecting the mind is still mistaken. As the Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra states: 'Both moving thought and stilling thought return to confusion and stupor.' The Xinxin ming states: 'Without knowing the profound intent, one toils in vain striving for mental purity.' Master Rong said: 'For one who has awakened to this source, saying that the Buddha is not [a buddha] is also permissible; for one who has not yet believed, even reciting the Buddha's name turns into false speech.' Therefore we know that without penetrating the Mirror of the Source, whatever views one holds all become slandering the Buddha, slandering the Dharma, and slandering the Saṅgha. Though one ponders ten thousand times and reflects a thousand ways, there will never be a day of accord. The moment one understands this principle, naturally in a single thought-moment there is no error. Therefore the Treatise on the Avataṃsaka states: 'From the initial arousal of the mind, at the head of the ten abodes, by the power of samādhi one suddenly seals the three realms. The three times are of one limit, all dharmas are of one taste, and liberation and nirvāṇa are of the ever-quiescent taste. There is no longer any beginning or end; cause and fruit are of one limit; all natures are of one nature; all wisdoms are of one wisdom; all characteristics are of one characteristic; all practices are of one practice; the three times are one thought-moment, and one thought-moment is the three times, and even the ten times. Dharmas such as these are sovereign and unobstructed. The dharma-gate of this sūtra has no beginning and no end, and is called the constantly turning wheel of the Dharma. Therefore, the teaching-gate of this sūtra is established according to the root so as to provide for great faculties. Relying on the root as one limit, it does not establish beginning and end, because it is not a deluded view. Entering one, one totally obtains the rest, because the dharmadhātu is of one limit. It is not like provisional learning where the vision is not yet exhausted. Entering the rest, one totally obtains the one, because the substance of the dharmadhātu is unobstructed. It is like a round pearl without corners, like a bright mirror illuminating suddenly, like empty space without division, like an echo without reliance, like a shadow without obstruction, like the creations of a phantom person. This dharma-gate encompasses beginning and end in one limit, is completely round and unobstructed, without production or destruction, without arising or vanishing—the constantly turning wheel of the Dharma. If a person can understand this dharma-gate, Buddha-wisdom, spontaneous wisdom, and teacherless wisdom will manifest before him. Because this dharma has no arising or vanishing, one can also attain it oneself only through spontaneous, non-arising and non-vanishing wisdom; it is not what can be attained by emotional attachment and conceptual calculation. All provisional teachings and dharma-gates are entirely included within it and expounded at one time, because the various provisional teachings do not depart from the dharmadhātu and have no three times; each relying on its own view, there are immeasurable differences. This One Vehicle teaching was expounded when he first achieved perfect awakening. If according to feeling, it was expounded when he first became a buddha; if according to wisdom, it is expounded without beginning or end. Thus we know that becoming a buddha and expounding the Dharma do not depart from a single thought-moment. As in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra, when the ṛṣi Vairaṃbhya took Sudhana's hand, immediately Sudhana saw his own body go to worlds numbering the atoms in ten buddha-lands in the ten directions, arriving before buddhas numbering the atoms in ten buddha-lands, seeing those buddha-lands and their assemblies, the buddhas' major and minor marks, and manifold adornments, and so on, even passing through kalpas numbering the atoms in hundreds of thousands of koṭis of ineffable-ineffable buddha-lands. And so on, until that ṛṣi released Sudhana's hand, and the youth Sudhana immediately saw his own body back in its original place. Thus we know that without moving from the place of one's original position, one's body pervades the ten directions; without departing from within a single thought-moment, eons numbering billions pass. The original position is unmoved, yet distant and near lands are distinct; a single thought-moment does not shift, yet periods of expansion and contraction are clearly apparent. If not relying on the Mirror of the Source, how could one interpret the text? The ten thousand dharmas subtly return [here], ultimately without any other intent.'
16.12
Question: If the principle of non-nature is the same and all achieve buddhahood at the same time, why do people of the three vehicles and others perceive the Buddha with distinctions?
16.13
Answer: They are manifested in response to the citta, so the reflections differ; their own karma is varied, not that the Buddha is different. When observing the same water, four classes [of beings] suddenly differ—all are distinctions in their own seeing. Sharing a precious vessel, yet the color of the rice is not the same—it is not that another's karma transforms it. Thus the entire mind is the Buddha, and the entire Buddha is the mind; this very mind of tathatā is the dharmakāya Buddha. Moreover, the dharmakāya has no marks, and the true nature has no form. If form and marks are not even present, how could there be distinction? All are one's own vijñāna reflecting images differently. Just as five hundred brahmins gave rise to faith upon seeing a body of ashes; the elder Ghoṣila generated the mind [directed toward bodhi] upon beholding a three-foot [form]; Bodhisattva Anantakāya exhausted the upper realms and found it still remaining; and worldlings dwelling in lesser sageliness observed the sixteen-foot [body] without end. As the Guanfo sanmei jing says: 'The Buddha addressed his father, the king, and instructed Ānanda: "I shall now fully display the marks of my body for you." Having spoken these words, the Buddha arose from his seat, causing the assembly to rise together, and caused them to observe the Tathāgata, observing from the crown down to the wheel marks on the feet, and again from the foot marks up to the crown, each and every bodily part distinct and clear, like a person holding a mirror and seeing the image of their own face. If one generates an impure, evil, and unwholesome mind, or if there is someone who breaks the Buddha's prohibitions and precepts, they see the image purely black, like a person of ashes. Five hundred Śākyas saw only a person of ashes; a thousand monks saw the color of red clay; sixteen upāsakas saw the color of a black elephant's leg; twenty-four upāsikās saw it like gathered ink; nuns saw it like white silver; upāsakas and upāsikās [some] saw it like the blue-green dyed with indigo. The fourfold assembly wept in sorrow; the Śākya youths pulled their hair and struck their bodies, recounting what they had seen, until the Buddha explained to each their past karma that caused these different colors.' Therefore the Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi says: 'Objects turn following the karmic vijñāna; therefore it is said to be mind-only.' Also the Guhyakādhipatinirdeśa says: 'All devas and humans see the color and size of the Buddha's body either like yellow gold, white silver, various miscellaneous gems, and so forth, or seeing it as sixteen feet, or seeing it as one li, or seeing it as ten li, up to a hundred billion, measureless and boundless, pervading space. This is called the Tathāgata's bodily secret.' Thus we know that in accordance with different perceptions, the traces are divided into many kinds. Not only in seeing the Buddha, but contemplating phenomena is also like this: according to the shallowness or depth of wisdom, phenomena become higher or lower. As the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: 'Because the dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpāda is contemplated with inferior wisdom, one attains śrāvaka bodhi; because it is contemplated with middling wisdom, one attains pratyekabuddha bodhi; because it is contemplated with superior wisdom, one attains bodhisattva bodhi; because it is contemplated with the utmost superior wisdom, one attains Buddha bodhi.' Up to the eight aspects of accomplishing the Way, which do not go beyond the samādhi gate of the kṣaṇa limit: according to what sentient beings see and hear, time divisions naturally arise. Therefore former virtuous ones said: 'Thus, the Tathāgata accomplishing the Way in eight aspects within a single thought does not go beyond the kṣaṇa limit, because the time of descent is precisely the time of accomplishing the Way, precisely the time of liberating people, and precisely the time of entering extinction. Why? Because all phenomena are established simultaneously together; when one is accomplished, all are accomplished.' The Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'Without leaving the bodhi tree, he ascended to Śakra's heaven.' The commentary explains: 'When the Buddha attained bodhi, his wisdom was everywhere, his substance was nowhere absent, without reliance and without abiding, without going and without coming. Yet through the response that is sovereignly identical to substance, the response pervades following the substance. As conditions respond earlier or later, there is abiding and there is ascending. When Jambudvīpa responds, he is seen at the bodhi tree; when the heavenly palace responds, he is seen ascending to heaven. It is not that the Buddha moved from the bodhi tree and ascended to the heavenly palace. Therefore it says, "Without leaving the bodhi tree, he ascended to Śakra's palace."' Dharmamati's gāthā says: 'Disciples of the Buddha, you should observe / the Tathāgata's sovereign power: / All of Jambudvīpa / says the Buddha is in its midst— / this is not leaving; / we now see the Buddha / abiding on the summit of Sumeru— / this is ascending.' Furthermore, ancient masters explained this with ten meanings: First, according to the gate of mutual entering of places: because within one place all places exist, these heavenly palaces and the like were originally under the tree, so he did not need to arise; yet being its function, it is spoken of as ascending. Second, also according to the gate of mutual entering: because one place enters all places, the tree pervades the heavens, so he also did not need to arise; wishing to use the heavenly palace to express the ascent and advancement of the Dharma, it is said to ascend. Third, because all are identical to one, the heavens are under the tree. Fourth, because one is identical to all, the tree is in heaven; not arising and so forth are parallel to the previous. Fifth, according to the Buddha's body: this body under the tree fills the dharmadhātu and pervades all places, so originally being there, it does not await arising; when faculties ripen he causes them to see, hence it is called ascending; therefore the Tathāgata, by means of the dharmadhātu body, is constantly here, which is precisely being there. Sixth, according to the Buddha's sovereign, inconceivable liberation: sitting is walking, abiding, and so forth; being here is being there; all are beyond the reckoning of lower levels. Seventh, according to the gate of dependent origination and mutual reliance. Eighth, according to the gate of the integration of the dharmatā. Ninth, according to the gate of signifying and manifesting the Dharma. Tenth, according to the gate of accomplishing the great assembly of the dharmadhātu. The Acintyasūtra says: 'Because all Buddhas and all phenomena are equally identical, all are of the same single principle, like a mirage and so forth. All sentient beings and all tathāgatas' Buddha-fields are not separate from thought, up to: if I discriminate, the Buddha immediately manifests before me; if there is no discrimination, nothing at all is seen. Thought can make a Buddha; apart from thought there is none. In this way, all phenomena in the three realms are not separate from the citta.' The Samantabhadrabodhicaryā-sūtra says: 'At that time the practitioner, hearing Samantabhadra's teaching, deeply understood the meaning and remembered it without forgetting. Day after day like this, their mind gradually became sharp. Bodhisattva Samantabhadra taught them to be mindful of the Buddhas of the ten directions. Following Samantabhadra's teaching, with correct citta and correct intention, gradually with the mental eye they saw the Buddha of the east, his body golden in color, dignified, wondrous, and subtle. Having seen one Buddha, they again saw another Buddha; thus gradually they pervadingly saw all the Buddhas of the east. Because mental thought was sharp, they pervadingly saw all the Buddhas of the ten directions.' The Amitāyurdhyānasūtra says: 'All Buddha-tathāgatas are the dharmadhātu body, entering into the mental thoughts of all sentient beings. Therefore, when your minds think of the Buddha, this mind is fully endowed with the thirty-two marks and eighty secondary characteristics; this mind makes the Buddha, this mind is the Buddha. The ocean of the true, universal knowledge of all Buddhas arises from mental thoughts.' This Amitāyurdhyānasūtra, for faculties of medium and inferior capacity, established the sixteen contemplations, causing Lady Vaidehī and others to temporarily manifest the Buddha's body. Fearing that external interpretations would arise, it therefore made this statement: the passage 'this mind is the Buddha' causes them to produce real seeing. The Chapter on the Manifestation [of the Tathāgata] in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'Disciples of the Buddha! Just as with the great ocean, its water invisibly flows through the four continents and eighty billion small islands; if anyone digs, none fail to obtain water; yet that great ocean does not make the discrimination: "I send forth water." The water of the ocean of the Buddha's wisdom is also like this: it flows into the citta of all sentient beings. If sentient beings contemplate cognitive objects and cultivate Dharma-doors, they then attain pure and clear wisdom; yet the Tathāgata's wisdom is equal, non-dual, and without discrimination; merely following the differences in sentient beings' mental actions, the wisdom attained by each is distinct. Disciples of the Buddha, this is the mental characteristic of the Tathāgata.' Also, a verse in the Chapter on Inquiries says: 'Just as water has a single taste, / but differs according to the vessel, / the Buddha's field of merit is also like this: / it differs because of sentient beings' minds.' Another verse says: 'Just as a pure and bright mirror / reflects images according to colors, / the Buddha's field of merit is like this: / according to the mind one obtains various retributions.' The Awakening of Faith says: 'Furthermore, the function of tathatā means that all Buddhas, when on the causal stage, generate great compassion, cultivate the pāramitās, the four means of embracing, and other practices, view beings as identical to themselves and universally rescue them, exhausting the limits of the future without limiting the number of kalpas, truly understanding the equality of self and other, yet without grasping at the characteristic of sentient beings. With such great wisdom of skillful means, they extinguish beginningless avidyā, realize the original dharmakāya, and spontaneously give rise to inconceivable deeds, various sovereign, differentiated functions, pervading the dharmadhātu, equal to tathatā, yet without any mark of function that can be apprehended. Why? Because all tathāgatas are solely the dharmakāya, the ultimate truth; there are no worldly truths, realms of objects, or functions. Merely following the seeing and hearing of sentient beings, there are various different functions. This function has two kinds: First, relying on the discriminating object-vijñāna: that which is seen by the minds of ordinary beings and the two vehicles is called the nirmāṇakāya. These people do not know the reflection of the pravṛttivijñāna; seeing it as coming from outside, they grasp at limits of form; yet the Buddha's nirmāṇakāya has no limit. Second, relying on the karmic vijñāna: that which is seen by the minds of bodhisattvas from their first generation of the mind up to the ultimate stage of bodhisattvahood is called the sambhogakāya. The body has measureless forms, form has measureless marks, marks have measureless characteristics, and the dependent fruition in which it abides is also measurelessly adorned with merits; in accordance with what should be seen, it is measureless, boundless, without limit and without interruption; it is not outside the mind that it is seen in this way. All these merits are accomplished through the perfuming of outflow-free practices such as the pāramitās, and inconceivable perfuming; because it is endowed with boundless marks of joy and merit, it is also called the saṃbhogakāya. Furthermore, what ordinary beings and others see is its coarse function; following the differences of the six destinies, there are various distinctions, without the boundless marks of merit and joy, which is called the nirmāṇakāya. Bodhisattvas of initial practice see the middling function; because of deep faith in tathatā, they attain a partial seeing, knowing that the Tathāgata's body has no going and no coming, and has no interruption; it is only a mental reflection, not separate from tathatā. Yet these bodhisattvas are still not able to be free from subtle discrimination, because they have not entered the stage of the dharmakāya. Pure-minded bodhisattvas see the subtle function; thus it becomes progressively superior, until in the ultimate stage of bodhisattvahood it is seen completely. This subtle function is the saṃbhogakāya. Because there is karmic vijñāna, one sees the saṃbhogakāya; if one is free from karmic vijñāna, then there is nothing to be seen. All tathāgatas are the dharmakāya; there are no distinct forms of self and other seeing each other.' Therefore an ancient commentary says: '"Relying on the discriminating object-vijñāna: that which is seen by the minds of ordinary beings and the two vehicles is called the nirmāṇakāya" means that ordinary beings and the two vehicles do not yet know vijñaptimātra, and reckon external dust [objects], which is the meaning of discriminating object-vijñāna. Now seeing the Buddha's body, they also regard it as external to the mind; conforming to that object-vijñāna's discrimination and reckoning, they are deluded about mind-only, hence it is said to come from outside. Failing to understand that form itself is mind, without division or limit, it is said that they grasp at limits of form and cannot know it exhaustively.'
16.14
Question: Why is the Buddha's body solely the true mind of sentient beings, equal and non-dual with the substance of all Buddhas?
16.15
Answer: It is simply that sentient beings are deluded about their own principle and give rise to various false thoughts. At this time, tathatā merely manifests defiled marks. Because original enlightenment internally perfumes the false mind, there is revulsion and seeking. Because there is revulsion and seeking, the true function immediately manifests. Because revulsion and seeking are weak, the marks and functions are coarse. As revulsion and seeking gradually increase, the function also becomes subtle. Gradually like this, up to the source of the mind, when avidyā is exhausted, revulsion and seeking entirely cease; initial enlightenment becomes identical to original [enlightenment], and function returns to substance—equal, non-dual, and without distinction. Before reaching the source of the mind, function is manifested within consciousness according to one's faculties; hence it is said to manifest within consciousness.
16.16
Question: If based on this meaning, function arises from the real, why is it said to manifest from the pravṛttivijñāna?
16.17
Answer: Pravṛttivijñāna is precisely the evolving aspect (pravṛttilakṣaṇa) within the ālaya. Relying on this evolving aspect, the manifesting consciousness (khyātivijñāna) only then arises, manifesting all objects. This consciousness is precisely the union of the real and the false.
16.18
Question: If based on this meaning, it is the function of tathatā within sentient beings' own minds; why is it spoken of as the Buddha's sambhoga and nirmāṇa?
16.19
Answer: The true mind of sentient beings and the substance of all Buddhas are without difference. If it follows the flow into birth-and-death, then delusion possesses functional efficacy. Although delusion has functional efficacy, apart from the true it cannot be established. If it reverses the flow and emerges from entanglement, the true possesses functional efficacy. Although the true has functional efficacy, apart from delusion it is not revealed. Its functions are spoken of only in terms of dependent arising and harmonious combination. Since the functions of reward and transformation arise from the dharmakāya, how could they not be the true mind of sentient beings? For the true mind is the body belonging to Dharma, because ordinary beings and sages share the identical one dharmakāya. A sūtra says: 'The mind creates all tathāgatas.' Therefore, mind itself is Buddha.
16.20
Question: If the true mind is itself Buddha, why is it said to be born from causes and conditions such as the pāramitās?
16.21
Answer: This is spoken in reference to the meaning of original enlightenment conforming to defilement. Yet when initial enlightenment awakens and reaches the source of the mind, they are of a single equal limit—what difference could there be? Moreover, taking all Buddhas' compassion and wisdom as the predominant condition, and taking sentient beings' capacities, resonance, and seeds as the cause, resting upon the Buddha's original substance (bimbamātra), one's own mind transforms into a reflected image (pratibimba); hence it is said to appear within one's own consciousness. In the 'Dharmadhātu Chapter', the elder Megha thoroughly perceived the ocean of Buddhas of the ten directions. That which reveals this samādhi is the contemplation of mind-only, knowing that the realms of sentient beings, immeasurable and boundless, are all the manifestations of mind. It clarifies that when one is mindful of the Buddha in accordance with the mind, all Buddhas appear before one, because the contemplation of mind-only completely encompasses the myriad dharmas. Now, in terms of higher, middling, and lower faculties, their seeing of the Buddha differs according to the contemplation of their own minds, having four grades: First, ordinary beings. Because their unexhausted latent tendencies of past evil karma of the six destinies still adhere to them, they may see the Buddha as a tree spirit, a deva, a black-footed elephant, or a three-foot body, and so forth. Second, the Hīnayāna. Because their view of birth and cessation associated with karma still adheres to them, they see the Buddha pierced by a golden spear, eating horse-barley, and his body bleeding from a blow—all of which are not pleasing marks. Third, the Mahāyāna. Bodhisattvas of the three teachings—initial, final, and sudden—because of their contemplation of consciousness-only, see that the Buddha is an appearance manifested by the evolving consciousness within the ālayavijñāna; therefore, they see this Buddha-body as solely a manifestation of mind, not apart from tathatā, without boundary or measure, pervading all places, naturally manifesting according to the faculties of sentient beings. This is a pleasing mark. Fourth, the bodhisattvas of the ekayāna's perfect teaching. Through their wisdom of the perfect illumination of the dharmadhātu, primary and secondary retribution encompass and gather principle, phenomena, persons, and dharmas. Using this wisdom, they resonate with and see the ten bodies, with unobstructed interpenetration of principle and phenomena. Moreover, the three times fuse and penetrate all; therefore, the Buddha-body does not depart from the bodhi-trees of the ten directions, yet constantly visits the six [desire] heavens. Their wisdom completely observes all, eternally without conceptual thought. The 'Fourteen Categories on the Meaning of the Dharmakāya' states: 'When sūtras clarify the dharmakāya, the traces point to the sixteen-foot body matching a human body as an aggregate, yet there is nothing that is not Dharma; hence it has the designation dharmakāya. Investigating the intent of the sūtras, taking the Tathāgata’s illuminated substance being emptily present as the body, and the exhaustion of all burdens as the Dharma—this is that by which it is the true dharmakāya. Yet responding to goodness through resonance, the response forms differences according to species. But it exists only for those who see it, for the Buddha is constantly without body. Hence a sūtra says: "The body of the Tathāgata is an illusory transformation body."'
16.22
Question: If the Buddha definitely has no body, how is the sixteen-foot [body] resonated with through understanding?
16.23
Answer: Sentient beings, through their incomplete good, reverently resonate with the Tathāgata's state of supreme sufficiency. When the Way is sufficient, one is able to respond and transform without fixed direction. Because [their good] is incomplete, they see only the dharmas they are capable of seeing, not realizing that the body itself is empty and illusory.
16.24
Question: The way of resonance and response always occurs because feelings penetrate and secretly tally, thereby bringing about an effect in the immediate situation. The principle of the internal and the external should be identical. For instance, when a woman reached the depths of feeling in the unseen realm, a city wall collapsed for her; when filial piety reached its utmost, a stone split open. This is phenomena transforming according to the mind. How can it be said that one resonates with the sixteen-foot [body] through goodness, yet it is an empty and illusory body?
16.25
Answer: The wall collapsing and the stone splitting open—these occur because feeling resonated with external objects; because objects are real, their collapsing and opening are not unreal. In understanding and resonating with the dharmakāya, the dharmakāya is not an existent thing; it is merely that faith and understanding are obstructed and separated by delusion, so that one sees the sixteen-foot [body] as real. How could this not be resonated with through one's own perception?
16.26
Question: If the sixteen-foot [body] is empty and illusory, how can it transmit the real principle?
16.27
Answer: The principle is subtle and cannot be transmitted without the coarse, just as a shadow transmits the form.
16.28
Question: If the dharmakāya is formless, is the dharmakāya itself the sixteen-foot [body], or is there a sixteen-foot [body] distinct from the dharmakāya?
16.29
Answer: Resonating with the dharmakāya as the sixteen-foot [body], how could there be anything distinct? Just as a sound resonates in a valley and brings forth an echo, how could there be an echo distinct from the valley?
16.30
Question: Do sentient beings give rise to seeing conditioned by the dharmakāya, or do they give rise to seeing conditioned by the sixteen-foot [body]?
16.31
Answer: They resonate and see that to which the dharmakāya responds; on what condition could they see the dharmakāya? It is like seeing a shadow and knowing there is a tree, without seeing the tree itself.
16.32
Question: The dharmakāya is permanent; is the sixteen-foot [body] also permanent or not?
16.33
Answer: In principle, the sixteen-foot [body] is permanent, but to human beings it is impermanent. Therefore, a sūtra says: 'Like the shadow of a tree in the dark, it cannot be seen by the physical eye.' An ancient commentary says: 'When it is said that the Buddha is always without a body, it clarifies that sympathetic response is not real; the dharmakāya is actual. Sympathy is that which can evoke, belonging to sentient beings; response refers to that which is responded with, belonging to the Buddha. Because sentient beings possess the wholesome [roots] that evoke the Buddha, what they perceive individually is not identical: some see the sixteen-foot Śākya, [others see] the thousand-foot Maitreya; or some behold a form that is boundless, or see a form that is three feet tall. Because the wholesome roots of sentient beings have depths and shallows, this accordingly causes the response body to vary in refinement or coarseness. Therefore it is said: "The Buddha's true dharmakāya is just like empty space; responding to things, it manifests forms, like the moon in the water." Furthermore, when it is said that the Buddha is always without a body, this means he is without a body of mortal life or alteration, for the dharmakāya is supremely subtle and cannot be sought in physical form. Therefore it is called "without body". Based on actual principle, it is not without subtle form and subtle mind. Because of subtle form, it can divide forms and adapt to changes; because of subtle mind, it can be vacuous and able to mirror.' Vasubandhu's verse says: 'The reward and transformation [bodies] are not the true Buddha, / Nor are they the preacher of the Dharma.' The Suvarṇaprabhāsasūtra says: 'The two bodies of response and transformation exist only as provisional names; the dharmakāya exists as true reality.' When it is said, 'When the Way is complete, one can respond and transform without direction,' this means that because the Way of the dharmakāya is complete, one can respond and transform without direction—that is, there is nowhere it does not respond to, having no fixed, singular body. When sentient beings reside in the stage of faith and understanding, because of incomplete wholesome [roots], they only follow whatever sixteen-foot and other bodies they perceive. 'Incomplete wholesome [roots]' means the wholesomeness of faith and understanding prior to the Cloud of Dharma [stage]. 'The land of supreme completion' means that the Buddha fruit supremely illumines, and the Way fulfills bodhi; this is called the land of supreme completion. Because wholesome [roots] are not yet complete, they cannot comprehend that the sixteen-foot and three-foot bodies are illusory. Only the dharmakāya and the self-enjoyment body can be called real. As for 'like a woman whose feelings reach into the darkness, causing a wall to collapse': the Lienü zhuan says that the wife of Qi Liang approached her husband's corpse and wept beneath the city wall; after ten days, the wall collapsed for her. As for 'when filial piety reaches its peak, stones split open': the Hanshu says that Li Guang had no father, and asked his mother, 'Where is my father?' The mother said, 'A tiger killed him.' He then set out and shot at a tiger in the grass; at night he saw a stone resembling a tiger, and shot it, sinking the feathers [of the arrow]. When he later shot at it, [the arrow] never penetrated again. Because the matters of the wall and the stone were sympathetically transformed in accord with the mind, they accordingly collapsed and split open. 'The subtlety of the principle cannot be transmitted without the coarse, as the shadow transmits the form': this clarifies that although the sixteen-foot [body] is coarse, it can transmit the subtle principle; relying on matters to express principle, and lodging in words to reveal the Way, is like a shadow transmitting the form, or like a finger pointing to the moon. Qingliang's commentary says: 'The old Buddha newly achieved [awakening], yet never had two substances. The newly achieved [awakening] is the old Buddha; Dharma and reward [bodies] seem to be divided. Because there is no time when it does not respond, it is response right while being real; because the response arises in accord with nature, it is real right while being response. The three Buddhas are completely interfused, and the ten bodies are unhindered; hence, explaining the manifestation of the response immediately reveals that the real has been achieved. Furthermore, the Buddha's body has no support, universally manifesting in response to capacities: form has no fixed form, like a diamond matching vermilion and purple; appearance has no fixed appearance, like light and shadow depending on length; characteristic has no fixed characteristic, like a bright mirror facing the beautiful and the ugly. Therefore, in accord with their inclinations, all behold it, even as one body or many bodies. It merely arises from the discriminative minds of sentient beings, and thus has no accumulation and no source. It is like setting up a thousand vessels side by side: within a few paces, the thousand moons are not identical. Along a single stretch of clear river for ten thousand miles, a single moon shines alone. Again, it is like three boats gazing together: one boat stays still, while two boats travel south and north. The one going south sees the moon follow south for a thousand miles; the one going north sees the moon follow north for a thousand miles; the one in the still boat sees the moon not move. Thus, this moon does not leave the middle of the stream to go south or north. Suppose hundreds of thousands gaze together, going in each of the eight directions: then hundreds of thousands of moons will each follow them as they go. Therefore, when feelings are obstructed, the dharmakāya becomes differentiated; when the mind penetrates, the profound purport must be uniform. The turmoil of self and other—what has it to do with the Buddha? Therefore, the true body is vast and open, uniting its substance with the dharmadhātu; embracing everything without exterior, it equals all transformations in its function. When tracing the source, there is no duality; when grasping at traces, there are many varieties. One body or many bodies are explained differently in the sūtras and treatises. Now, in expounding this sūtra's Buddha, is he true or response? Is he one or many? If one says he is true, why is he named Śākya, dwelling in the Sahā world, seen equally by humans and devas? If one says he is response, why is he called Vairocana, abiding in the Lotus Treasury, seen by great bodhisattvas who see the Buddha's dharmakāya? If one says he is one, why does he manifest separately in multiple places? If one says he is different, why is it also said that he does not divide his body? Therefore, expounding this sūtra's Buddha is neither of the previous explanations: he is the inexhaustible cloud of bodies of the dharmadhātu. True and response are mutually interfused; the one and the many are unhindered. Because Vairocana is Śākya, he is constantly here while being in other places; far off in other directions, he permanently abides here. Because his body is not divided or different, neither is it one. Because at the same time in different places, one body is complete and all are fully manifested, all bodhisattvas cannot conceive it. Now we first clarify the ten bodies, and afterward display unhinderedness. As for the ten bodies: as stated before, with respect to the Buddha, there are inherently ten bodies: 1. the bodhi body, 2. the vow body, 3. the transformation body, 4. the sustaining body, 5. the body adorned with marks and signs, 6. the majestic power body, 7. the mind-made body, 8. the merit body, 9. the dharmakāya, and 10. the wisdom body. As for unhinderedness: in the Zhigui there are ten meanings: 1. Unhinderedness of pervasive function: this means that in places such as thoughts, kalpas, kṣetras, and dust motes, Vairocana Buddha manifests clouds of bodies of the dharmadhātu, whose activities and functions are boundless and entirely pervasive. The sūtra verse says: "Just as one sees the Buddha sitting in this place, / In all dust motes it is also like this," and so forth. 2. Unhinderedness of pervasive characteristics: within each distinct function, each includes all activities and functions. For example, while in the womb, there is already the departure from home, attaining the Way, and the like. Thus all are sovereign and unhindered. 3. Unhinderedness of quiescent function: although manifesting such boundless sovereignty, yet without intention and without generating thought, he is constantly in samādhi, which does not hinder the arising of function. The "Inconceivable Chapter" says: "In a single thought, he is able to manifest all Buddhas of the three times, teaching and transforming all sentient beings, without abandoning the Buddhas' quiescent, non-dual samādhi. This is the incomparable, inconceivable realm of all Buddhas. Just as a maṇi jewel rains down treasures and heavenly drums emit sound, all are without effort, accomplished spontaneously." 4. Unhinderedness of dependent arising: what is thus manifested, although without effort, is all displayed depending on the power of the sāgaramudrāsamādhi. The sūtra verse says: "All manifestations without remainder / Are the spiritual power of the sāgaramudrāsamādhi." 5. Unhinderedness of true and response: this very responsive manifestation of inexhaustible clouds of bodies is immediately without birth or cessation; it is immediately the dharmakāya of equal, single flavor, without hindering activities and functions, having no limitation. 6. Unhinderedness of part and whole: this Rocana body that pervades the dharmadhātu, in every single body, every single limb, and every single pore, also contains the entire body of Rocana himself. Therefore, the part is immediately complete. The sūtra verse says: "The Tathāgata's ocean of immeasurable merits / Is completely seen in each and every pore." 7. Unhinderedness of cause and fruit: this means that in parts of the body and in pores, he manifests the bodies received by Rocana himself in his past original lives while practicing the bodhisattva conduct, as well as bodhisattvas numerous as dust motes such as Utkṛṣṭaghoṣa emerging from between the Buddha's brows. 8. Unhinderedness of receptacle and sentient beings: this means that this cloud of bodies immediately acts as all receptacle worlds. The sūtra verse says: "Or he acts as the sun and moon traversing empty space, / Or acts as rivers, ponds, wells, and springs," and so forth. Moreover, he also invisibly enters those kṣetras: in every minute dust mote, hair, and the like, there is a Buddha body complete and pervasive. 9. Unhinderedness of latent entry: this means entering the realm of sentient beings, like the tathāgatagarbha: although becoming sentient beings, it does not lose its own nature. Therefore, the "Appearance Chapter" says: "The Buddha's wisdom latently enters sentient beings." It also says: "Within the minds of sentient beings, there is a Buddha who realizes right awakening," and so forth. Moreover, he also gathers all sentient beings into a single pore. The King of the Sunirmita Devas' verse says: "You should observe a single pore of the Buddha: / All sentient beings are within it," and so forth. 10. Unhinderedness of perfect interpenetration: this means that this Buddha body is immediately principle and immediately phenomena, immediately one and immediately many, immediately dependent and immediately primary, immediately person and immediately Dharma, immediately this and immediately that, immediately sentient and immediately non-sentient, immediately deep and immediately broad, immediately cause and immediately fruit, immediately the three bodies and immediately the ten bodies, identical in single unhinderedness. Such unhinderedness is merely the one mind. If there were external dust motes, the slightest amount would cause obstruction. As a verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: "The Buddha's body is not of the past, / Nor is it of the future. / In a single thought it manifests birth, / Attaining the Way, and nirvāṇa." The Huayan yanyi explains the distinctions in seeing the Buddha. Here, borrowing Qingliang [Mountain], where one seeks to see Mañjuśrī at Wutai, it illustrates the distinctions in seeing the Buddha in the dharmadhātu. In total there are ten meanings: 1. or multiple capacities in different places each sympathetically see [him]; 2. or in the same place they each see [him differently]; 3. or at different times they separately see [him]; 4. or at the same time they see [him] differently; 5. or at the same time in different places they see [him]; 6. or in the same place at different times they see [him]; 7. or at different times in different places they see [him]; 8. or at the same time in the same place they see [him]; 9. or one person, at interacting same and different times and places, sees what many people see; 10. or one person, at simultaneous same and different times and places, sees what all people see. That is, the same time and same place, and different times and different places, are called "simultaneous same and different times and places". Since one person's time covers many times, their place pervades all places, and their vision penetrates all realms, they are a capacity of universal eyes. Therefore, know that the true substance of Mañjuśrī is not even singular; those who see him naturally have differences. One can verify that it is mind-only, and should add even deeper contemplation. Furthermore, as it is said: "When one Mañjuśrī comes from the east in one place, it is immediately the Mañjuśrī of all places." First, in terms of meaning, it again speaks of his actual virtues: just as the moon in the former stream is immediately the moon of the later stream and of ten thousand rivers and a hundred streams, fully entering the former stream. The reason it is so is that the moon in all places does not depart from the original moon; when the original moon descends into a stream, it descends into a thousand places together. Second, in terms of representation: Mañjuśrī presides over the gate of prajñā. In terms of contemplative prajñā, wisdom comprehends the ten thousand realms, none of which is not prajñā—like the bright sun gracing the heavens, where no object is not illuminated. In terms of real-mark prajñā, because no phenomenon is not the real mark, none is not prajñā—like water pervading waves, where no wave is not water. Thus the Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra says: "Because prajñāpāramitā is pure, form is pure; because form is pure, the wisdom of all wisdoms is pure. Why? Because prajñāpāramitā is pure, form is pure, and the wisdom of all wisdoms is pure: they are non-dual, without duality, without distinction, and without interruption." This applies to both contemplative and real-mark [prajñā].'
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