宗鏡錄 17
English (machine translation) 17
- Language
- English
17.1
Compiled by Chan Master Zhijue, Yanshou, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Monastery.
17.2
[Question:] Now, regarding the principle of attaining Buddhahood, some say it is in a single thought-moment, while others say it takes three asaṃkhyeya kalpas. It is not yet known which text should be definitively adopted to seal subsequent students?
17.3
Answer: The essential principle of attaining Buddhahood does not pertain to time or kalpas. Teachings of slowness or speed belong to expedient means. Therefore, the Awakening of Faith clarifies that for vigorous sentient beings, attaining Buddhahood lies in a single thought-moment; for indolent ones, obtaining the fruit requires completing three asaṃkhyeya kalpas. Statements merely describing traces of the teaching all constitute expedient means. The Commentary on the Śūraṅgamasūtra states: "'Kalpa' has the meaning of a division of time. That there are formation, abiding, destruction, and emptiness is entirely induced by the false views of sentient beings. When false views stir, they externally induce the wind-mandala. Due to the arising of craving, they externally induce the water-mandala. Due to the grasping mind, they externally induce the earth-mandala. Due to the agitation of seeking, they externally induce the fire-mandala. Due to the four great elements, the six sense faculties arise. Because the six sense faculties arise, the six dust-objects are seen. Because the six dust-objects are seen, there are divisions of time. If one realizes the single thought-moment of the deluded mind that is the root of ignorance, one then knows that the three realms born from the mind are completely non-existent. Furthermore, time is established based on objects; since objects are already originally empty, time naturally has no substance of its own. Why must one further discuss the number of kalpas? If in just a single thought-moment one severs ignorance, why rely on traversing asaṃkhyeya kalpas?" For this reason, the Śūraṅgamasūtra states: "With the illusion-like samādhi, in the snap of a finger one transcends the stage of no-learning." It also states: "Conceptions of characteristics are dust; emotional consciousness is defilement. When both are left far behind, your Dharma-eye will immediately become pure and clear—how could you not attain unsurpassed awareness?" The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment states: "Knowing illusion is detachment, without applying expedient means; detachment from illusion is enlightenment, without any gradual sequence." Therefore, we know that long and short kalpas come from a single thought-moment; the three vehicles' striving toward the fruit are all matters within a dream, whereas speaking of awakening, none involve many kalpas. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expanded half a day into fifty minor kalpas, and the Vimalakīrtisūtra expanded seven days into a kalpa. Also, as the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra states, the butcher Guṅga killed a thousand sheep a day; after he later generated the aspiration [for enlightenment], the Buddha said he would attain Buddhahood in the Bhadrakalpa. The great bodhisattvas and arhats doubted, saying, 'For us to attain Buddhahood requires distant kalpas; why should Guṅga attain Buddhahood beforehand?' The Buddha said, 'To one who wishes to attain it early, I grant it early; to one who wishes to attain it distantly, I grant it distantly.' If one頓見 [suddenly sees] the true nature, one attains Buddhahood in a single thought-moment. Therefore, we know that faculties differ in sharpness and dullness, and slowness or speed lies with oneself. It can be verified that when the mind arises, dharmas arise; when the mind ceases, dharmas cease. Because in the three realms there are no separate dharmas—they are merely made by the one mind. All sensory realms arise from the stirring of thought. If thought does not arise, realms originally have no substance. Returning to investigate the stirring of thought, thought too is empty and tranquil. One then knows that at the time of delusion there is nothing lost, and at the time of awakening there is nothing gained, because the non-abiding true mind neither increases nor decreases. As the Śūraṅgamasūtra states, the Buddha said: "Pūrṇa, have you not heard of Yajñadatta in the city of Śrāvastī? Suddenly one morning he looked at his face in a mirror and loved the head in the mirror, with its eyebrows and eyes clearly visible; he reproached his own head for not seeing its face and eyes, took it to be a goblin, and ran madly about without reason. What do you think? For what reason did this man run madly about without cause?" Pūrṇa said: "That man's mind was mad; there was no other reason." The Buddha said: "Wondrous enlightenment is luminous and perfect, originally perfectly luminous and wondrous. Since it is called delusion, how could it have a cause? If it had a cause, how could it be called delusion? From various false thoughts, they cause each other in turn; accumulating delusion upon delusion, they traverse dust-kalpas. Although the Buddha elucidates it, they still cannot turn back. Such causes of delusion arise of themselves due to delusion. Recognizing delusion has no cause, delusion has nothing upon which to rely. Since it does not even have arising, what could you wish to extinguish? One who attains bodhi is like an awake person speaking of matters in a dream: even if his mind is sharp and bright, by what causes and conditions could he grasp the objects in the dream? How much less so when there is no cause, and it is originally non-existent! Just like that Yajñadatta in the city: could there be any cause or condition for his self-frightened running away with his head? When the madness suddenly ceased, his head did not come from outside; even when the madness had not yet ceased, what was lost? Pūrṇa, such is the nature of delusion; by what cause could it exist? If you simply do not follow the three kinds of continuity of distinguishing worldly karma and its results, and sentient beings—because the three conditions are severed, the three causes do not arise. Then the Yajñadatta in your mind, his mad nature, will naturally cease. Cessation is bodhi. The supremely pure and luminous mind originally pervades the dharmadhātu; it is not obtained from another. Why rely on laborious toil, the crucial joints of practice and realization?" An ancient commentary states: "'The head is without gain or loss': the head is an analogy for the true nature. When one is deluded by ignorance, the nature is not lost; when ignorance ceases, it is not separately obtained. 'Cessation is bodhi': simply awakening to the original substance, the five direct-perception consciousnesses and all myriad practices are entirely complete—this is bodhi." As the Nirvāṇasūtra states: "All sentient beings originally have attained Buddhahood; the uncontaminated nature of wisdom is originally complete in itself." Moreover, "sudden" gets its name in contrast to "gradual"; both are called expedient means. An ancient commentary states: "If one relies on speaking of the sudden, it is also an expedient mean. If one says both gradual and sudden are right, one also slanders the Buddha; if one says both are not right, one also slanders the Buddha. Therefore, on the substance of original enlightenment, it is free from sudden and gradual, free from words and speech. Where could there be the names of 'sudden' and 'gradual'? When the sixth consciousness stirs, there is discrimination; when it does not stir, it equally pervades the dharmadhātu. The five direct-perception consciousnesses and the rest: each and every sense faculty pervades the dharmadhātu. When the eye sees matter, matter is ungraspable, and is fundamentally equal to the dharmadhātu." The Lotus Sūtra states: "These dharmas abide in their dharma-positions; worldly characteristics are eternally abiding." One then knows that all worldly characteristics are originally eternally abiding. What stage of practice can know this? Only the Buddha knew it at the bodhimaṇḍa, and the Guide spoke it as an expedient mean because sentient beings are deluded and do not know it. If they knew, there would be no need to speak it further. Only then does one know that whatever is spoken belongs to expedient means.
17.4
[Question:] If it is one's own mind that attains Buddhahood, are other Buddhas established or not? If they are definitely not established, then there would be no awe-inspiring power, establishment, empowerment, and protection by the Buddhas, which would then become the view of annihilationism.
17.5
Answer: Because one's own citta-nature pervades all places, when one sees another Buddha, that is precisely one's own Buddha. Without destroying the domain of self and other, it is exclusively the one mind. Sentient beings are like a mold over an image: if the mold is removed, one sees one's own Buddha as well as the other Buddha. Why? Although one sees the other Buddha, it is precisely one's own Buddha, because it is cast from oneself. Nor does it destroy the other Buddha, because upon that essential nature, although it transforms into the form of the other Buddha, it is precisely one's own nimittabhāga. Both transforming and not transforming are all the one mind. Therefore, because of the two minds of delusion and awakening of sentient beings, there is the principle of seeing and not seeing self and other. If considered in terms of the true nature, where would delusion and awakening come from? Self and other are both eliminated, because the dharmakāya has no form, nor the characteristic of mutual seeing between self and other. An ancient master said: 'There are two kinds of delusion: first, grasping at objects outside the mind, generating thoughts contrary to principle, and therefore being unable to see the formless Buddha; second, grasping at the characteristics of the inner aggregates, not understanding the nature, and therefore not seeing the mind-Buddha. There are two kinds of awakening: first, understanding that all phenomena are the citta's own nature, while nature is also non-nature; when emotion is broken and principle appears, one then sees the Rocana body conforming to the dharma-nature, with neither inside nor outside. Second, understanding the nature and characteristics of the aggregates, one then sees the Buddha of one's own mind, which is neither identical to nor different from Rocana.' If Śakra, Lord of the Devas, did not cultivate heavenly karma, how could the palaces accompany his person? If a cakravartin king did not create the causes of a king, how could the seven treasures gather? Relying solely on one's own goodness, one outwardly evokes excellent conditions. Therefore, the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: 'Sons of the Buddha! All tathāgatas are of the same substance and nature; from the great wheel of wisdom, they produce various lights of wisdom. Sons of the Buddha! You should know that the Tathāgata, from a single taste of liberation, produces immeasurable, inconceivable, various merits. Sentient beings think, "This is created by the Tathāgata's spiritual power." Sons of the Buddha! This is not created by the Tathāgata's spiritual power. Sons of the Buddha! There is no such possibility as even a single bodhisattva who has not previously planted wholesome roots under the Buddhas being able to attain even a slight portion of the Tathāgata's wisdom. It is only through the power of the majestic virtue of the Buddhas that sentient beings are caused to see the Buddha's merits. Yet the Buddha, the Tathāgata, is free of conceptual discrimination, free of creation and destruction, has no creator, and has no act of creation. Sons of the Buddha! This is the characteristic of the appearance of the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyaksaṃbuddha.' The Baozang lun says: 'Now, the reason why the True One has no oneness yet appears differently is that when someone is mindful of the Buddha, a Buddha appears; when one is mindful of the Saṅgha, a Saṅgha appears. Yet that Buddha is neither Buddha nor non-Buddha, but appears as a Buddha; likewise, neither Saṅgha nor non-Saṅgha, but appears as a Saṅgha. Why is this? Because that deluded mind hopes for it to appear; not realizing that it is the manifestation of one's own mind, one completely takes the dependent origination of sacred matters as an external realm and sees distinctions, when in truth it is not that Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha have differences. Furthermore, it is like someone standing beside a great smelter who makes a mold for himself, suited to square or round as he pleases, wishing: "May that molten gold flow into my mold to form an image." Now, although the molten gold forms an image, in truth the molten gold is neither an image nor a non-image, yet it appears as an image. That person's mindfulness of the Buddha is also like this. The gold in the great smelter is a metaphor for the Tathāgata's dharmakāya; the mold is a metaphor for sentient beings' hope. Because they think of fusing and obtaining the Buddha, through the harmonious condition of mindfulness of the Buddha, various bodily characteristics are generated. Yet that dharmakāya is neither characteristic nor non-characteristic. What does "not a characteristic" mean? Originally it has no fixed characteristic. What does "not a non-characteristic" mean? Dependent origination produces all characteristics. Nevertheless, the dharmakāya neither appears nor non-appears; it is free from nature and non-nature, neither existent nor non-existent, neither mind nor mentation, and cannot be measured by any standard. However, that ordinary person has it according to their mind, and so produces the thought of an appearing Buddha, completely asserting that there is a Buddha outside their mind, not knowing that it exists through the harmony of their own mind. Alternatively, completely claiming that there is no Buddha outside the mind is also slandering the true Dharma.' Explanation: What does 'not a characteristic, originally having no fixed characteristic' mean? Because it is manifested due to the mind, external characteristics have no substance; they are induced and born from the mind, and when conditions are exhausted, they are extinguished—what characteristic could there be? Therefore it is said, 'originally having no fixed characteristic.' What does 'not a non-characteristic, dependent origination produces all characteristics' mean? Since it is said to have no fixity, it only appears according to conditions; when causes and conditions harmonize, illusory characteristics are not absent. Therefore it is said, 'dependent origination produces all characteristics.' If one can avoid generating conceptual discrimination, avoid grasping at self and other, inwardly avoid grasping at existence and taking up the aggregates, and outwardly avoid grasping at non-existence and slandering the true Dharma, then opening the eyes and closing the eyes, lifting the feet and lowering the feet, neither seeing nor non-seeing, is truly seeing the Buddha. The Ratnagotravibhāga says: 'Based on the meaning of Buddha, the sūtra says: The Buddha addressed Ānanda, saying: "The Tathāgata is not a phenomenon that can be seen; therefore, the eye-consciousness cannot see him." Based on the meaning of Dharma, the sūtra says: "What is called Dharma is an inexpressible matter; for this reason, it is not heard by the ear-consciousness." Based on the meaning of Saṅgha, the sūtra says: "What is called Saṅgha is named the unconditioned; therefore, it cannot be made offerings to, bowed to, or praised with body and mind."' Therefore we know that the Three Jewels are like the characteristic of empty space, beyond the reach of seeing and hearing. Thus, the mind-Buddha of sentient beings delivers the sentient beings of the Buddha-mind. If there is a single dharma used as an antidote, it all becomes wrong view. Therefore the Sixth Patriarch said: 'When deviance comes, deliverance is by correctness; when delusion comes, deliverance is by awakening; when foolishness comes, deliverance is by wisdom; when evil comes, deliverance is by goodness. Such deliverance is true deliverance.'
17.6
Question: Since there is no Buddha outside the mind, and seeing the Buddha is mind, why is it taught in the scriptures that transformation Buddhas come to welcome [practitioners] and they are born in pure lands?
17.7
Answer: The dharmakāya Tathāgata originally has no arising or ceasing; from truth it raises transformations to receive and guide the deluded faculties. Because transformation is precisely truth, truth and response are of one limit: thus there is no coming and no going, responding according to the minds of beings. Furthermore, the substance of transformation is precisely truth, so it is said to have no coming or going; flowing from truth into transformation, it appears as departing and returning. That is, it comes with the characteristic of not coming, and is seen with the characteristic of not seeing. Coming without coming is like the moon in water suddenly presenting itself; seeing without seeing is like floating clouds abruptly appearing.
17.8
Question: As stated above, the true substance is clear and motionless, while the transformation comes without coming. This is precisely another Buddha outside the mind coming to welcome; how does this verify that one's own citta is the Buddha?
17.9
Answer: First, through the predominant condition power of the seeds of the Tathāgata's compassion and fundamental vows and merits, sentient beings who have previously had conditions with the Buddha are caused to be mindful of the Buddha and cultivate contemplation, accumulating all blessings and wisdom and all myriad virtues. Taking this merit-power as cause and condition, their own citta evokes and manifests the Buddha-body coming to welcome them. It is not that the Buddhas actually dispatch a transformation body to come and welcome them. It is only through the power of the seeds of merit and the fundamental vows, because the timing and capacity of the sentient beings to be transformed properly coincide, that their own citta is caused to see the Buddha coming to welcome them. Thus the Buddha-body is clear and ever-quiescent, having no going or coming. The conscious mind of sentient beings, relying on the superior power of the Buddha's fundamental vows and merits, transforms in its own citta into having coming and going. It is like an image in a mirror, like actions performed in a dream: the form in the mirror is neither inside nor outside; the matter in the dream is neither existent nor non-existent. It is merely one's own citta, having nothing to do with the Buddha's transformation. Thus, 'no coming and no going' is spoken with regard to the merits of the Buddhas; 'having departing and returning' is spoken in terms of the mind-characteristics of sentient beings. Hence we know that when pure karma matures, the eyes behold the Buddha-body; when evil retribution is about to form, the citta manifests hells. Just as one with merit holds gravel and it becomes gold, while a person impoverished by karma turns gold into gravel: gravel is not gold, yet gold appears; gold is not gravel, yet gravel is produced. The production of gold is merely the production of the citta; the appearance of gravel arises solely from the citta. The transformation lies with me—whence would gold and gravel come? Those harboring doubts should understand this principle.
17.10
Question: As analyzed above, principle and phenomena are distinct: outside the Buddha there is no citta, and outside the citta there is no Buddha. Why, then, does the teaching further establish the dharma-gate of mindfulness of the Buddha?
17.11
Answer: It is solely because [sentient beings] do not believe that their own citta is the Buddha, and instead rush outward seeking [elsewhere]. For those of middling and inferior faculties, [the teachings] provisionally instruct them to contemplate the Buddha's physical form, fixing their conditions on coarse mindfulness, using the external to reveal the internal and gradually awakening them to their own citta. If one is of superior capacity, they are only instructed to contemplate the real characteristic of the body, and contemplating the Buddha is likewise. As the Fozang jing states: 'To see the real characteristic of all dharmas is called seeing the Buddha. What is called the real characteristic of all dharmas? It is what is known as all dharmas being ultimately empty and having nothing that exists. Mindfully contemplating the Buddha by means of this dharma that is ultimately empty and has nothing that exists—and furthermore, one who mindfully contemplates the Buddha is free from all thoughts; all thoughts do not arise, the citta is free from discrimination, without names, without obstruction, without desire and without attainment, not giving rise to vitarka or vicāra. Why is this? Śāriputra, all thoughts that arise according to what is thought are entirely wrong views. Śāriputra, following nonexistence, free from vitarka and vicāra, free from arising and ceasing—one who penetrates this is called one who mindfully contemplates the Buddha. Within such mindfulness, there is no rāga and no clinging, no adversity and no compliance, no name and no thought. Śāriputra, being free from thought and free from speech is precisely what is called mindfully contemplating the Buddha. Herein there is not even the most minute subtle thought, how much less the coarse karma of body, speech, and mind! Where there is no karma of body, speech, and mind, there is neither grasping nor gathering, neither dispute nor litigation, no thought, no discrimination, empty and quiescent, devoid of nature, extinguishing all vitarka and vicāra—this is called mindfully contemplating the Buddha. Śāriputra, if a person accomplishes such mindfulness, should they wish to overturn the earth of the four continents, they can overturn it at will, and they can also subdue hundreds of thousands of koṭis of māras, how much more so the wretched avidyā that arises from false and deceptive conditions and has no determined characteristic! This dharma is thus: free from thought and free from conceptual proliferation, free from arising and ceasing, inexpressible, indiscernible, free from darkness and free from light, unable to be fathomed by Māra or the hosts of Māra. It is only by means of conventional speech that there is any teaching and transformation, saying: "When you mindfully contemplate the Buddha, do not grasp at small thoughts, do not produce conceptual proliferation, and do not have discrimination. Why is this? These dharmas are all empty and have no substance or nature. One cannot be mindful of a single characteristic; that is to say, signlessness. This is called truly mindfully contemplating the Buddha."' A verse in the Huayan jing says: 'Just as the sun and moon abide in empty space / And their reflections appear in all waters, / Abiding in the dharmadhātu without moving, / Appearing as reflections in accord with the citta is likewise.' Another verse says: 'Just as an indranīla gem / Illuminates objects so they all share the same colour, / When sentient beings see the Buddha, / They share the colour of the Buddha's bodhi.' An explanation says: The colour of all buddhas' bodhi is the very light of the citta-nature of sentient beings. Because the citta is signless, bodhi is also likewise. Therefore, Mañjuśrī's verse says: 'Devoid of colour and devoid of visible signs, / Devoid of root and devoid of an abiding place, / Because it neither arises nor ceases, / I pay homage without anything contemplated.' Another verse says: 'Empty space has neither middle nor boundary; / The citta of all buddhas is also like this. / Because the citta is identical to empty space, / I pay homage without anything contemplated.' In the Chapter on Entering the Dharmadhātu of the Huayan [jing], the monk Deyun entered the realm of recollecting all buddhas, the light of wisdom, the Dharma gate of universal seeing, and so forth, down to abiding in the gate of mindfully contemplating the Buddha in all worlds, because in accord with the desires and joys of his own citta, he universally saw all tathāgatas of the three times. A verse in the Chapter on Entering the Inconceivable Realm of Liberation says: 'The citta can universally amass boundless karma, / Adorning all the worlds. / Comprehending that all dharmas are just the citta, / It manifests bodies equal in number to those sentient beings.' A gāthā in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'The bodies of buddhas and śrāvakas, / Bodies of pratyekabuddhas, and so forth, / And furthermore the various physical bodies— / These are spoken of as only the internal citta.' The Dafangguang rulai mimi zang jing says: 'The Tathāgata's secret treasury of Dharma is called the all-knowing citta... down to: this citta is the pillar, not timid and not weak, not frail and not broken, without laziness, neither turning away nor abandoning; turning in accord toward this citta, one becomes enlightened to and comprehends it.' The Huashou jing says: 'All dharmas are clear and pure like the sun; in accord with whatever is correctly contemplated, all enter the limitlessness.' The explanation says: All dharmas are the light of the citta, without flaw or obstruction, hence it is said to be 'clear and pure like the sun'. In accord with whatever dharma there is, if one can make this contemplation, there is none that does not enter the limitless limit of one's own citta. Furthermore, the Zhiguan explains: As for the gate of the samādhi of mindfully contemplating the Buddha, how should one be mindful? Should one think: 'Shall I attain the Buddha from the citta, or attain the Buddha from the body?' The Buddha is not attained by means of the citta, nor attained by means of the body. One does not attain the Buddha's form by means of the citta, nor attain the Buddha's citta by means of form. Why is this? As for citta, the Buddha is without citta; as for form, the Buddha is without form. One does not attain sambodhi by means of form or citta. The Buddha's form is already exhausted, up to consciousness is already exhausted. That which the Buddha spoke of as exhausted is not known by foolish persons, but is understood by the wise. One does not attain the Buddha by means of body or speech; one does not attain the Buddha by means of wisdom. Why? Searching for wisdom, it cannot be attained; searching for myself, I am utterly unattainable, nor is there anything seen. All dharmas are originally nonexistent; destroying the root and cutting off the root. It is also like dreaming of seeing the seven treasures and rejoicing with relatives; upon waking, one pursues the thought, not knowing where they are. Mindfully contemplate the Buddha in this way. Furthermore, it is like when the Buddha was in the world, there were three men who were brothers. They heard that in the country of Vaiśālī there was a courtesan named Āmrapālī; in the country of Śrāvastī there was a courtesan named Sumanā; and in the city of Rājagṛha there was a courtesan named Utpalavarṇā. The three men each heard others praise the three women as incomparably upright and beautiful. Day and night they focused their mindfulness, their minds clinging without letting go. Thereupon in their dreams, they dreamed of engaging in affairs with them. Upon waking, they reflected in their minds: 'Those women did not come, nor did I go, yet the affair of lust was accomplished. Awakening because of this, are all dharmas like this?' Thereupon they went to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and asked about this matter. Bhadrapāla answered, saying: 'All dharmas are truly thus; they all arise from thought.' In various ways such as this, he skillfully explained the emptiness of all dharmas for these three men. At that time, the three men immediately attained avaivartika. From this it is known that though persons do not come or go, the pleasant affair is clearly apparent; one should mindfully contemplate the Buddha in this way. Furthermore, it is like a person travelling in a great marsh, who being hungry and thirsty dreams of obtaining delicious food; upon waking his belly is empty, and he thinks to himself: 'All existing dharmas are like a dream.' One should mindfully contemplate the Buddha in this way, repeatedly mindful without resting. Using this mindfulness, one will be born in the land of Amitābha; this is called mindfulness in accord with characteristics. The Dafangdeng daji jing says: 'The Buddha told Bhadrapāla: "I recall that in the past there was a Buddha, a World-Honoured One named Supari. At that time there was a man who, while travelling, encountered a wilderness, distressed by hunger and thirst. He then fell asleep and in a dream completely obtained various kinds of superior and wondrous delicious food; having eaten his fill, he was no longer hungry or empty. Having awoken from this, he was hungry and thirsty again. Because of this, the man then reflected to himself: 'All such dharmas are empty and without reality, like what is seen in a dream, fundamentally unreal.' When contemplating in this way, he awakened to anutpattikadharmakṣānti and attained non-retrogression in anuttarasamyaksambodhi."' Furthermore, it is like a person leaning a jewel against vaiḍūrya, so that its reflection appears within it; it is also like a monk contemplating bones, producing various kinds of light. Here, there is no one who brings them, nor are there these bones; it is merely made by the mind. As the Dafangdeng daji jing says: 'Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, it is just as when a monk cultivates the contemplation of impurity and sees a newly dead corpse, its shape and colour just beginning to change, being blue, or yellow, or black, or red, up to contemplating the bones scattering apart; yet those scattered bones have nowhere from which they come and nowhere to which they go; they are solely made by the citta, and one turns back to see one's own citta. It is also like an image in a mirror, which does not come from outside nor arise from within; because the mirror is clean, one sees one's own form. When the practitioner's form is pure, that which is seen is pure. If one wishes to see the Buddha, one immediately sees the Buddha. Seeing [him], one asks; asking, he responds. Hearing the sūtras, one greatly rejoices and reflects to oneself: 'Where does the Buddha come from? I also go nowhere. What I am mindful of, I immediately see. The citta makes the Buddha; the citta itself sees. The citta sees the Buddha. The citta is the Buddha. The citta is myself. The citta does not know the citta itself; the citta does not see the citta itself. When the citta has thoughts, it is folly; when the citta is free from thoughts, it is nirvāṇa.' These dharmas have nothing that can be demonstrated; they are entirely produced by thought. Even if there is that thought, it is also completely nonexistent, merely empty. This is called the Buddha's seal: without rāga, without clinging, without seeking, without thought, with all existence exhausted, all desires exhausted, with nowhere from which it arises, nowhere that can be extinguished, and nothing that is destroyed; it is the essential of the Path, the root of the Path. This seal cannot be destroyed by the two vehicles, how much less by Māra!" The *Vibhāṣā-śāstra clarifies: 'A newly resolved bodhisattva first mindfully contemplates the Buddha's physical marks, the substance of the marks, the karma of the marks, the fruit of the marks, and the function of the marks, obtaining inferior power. Next, they mindfully contemplate the Buddha's forty unshared dharmas, their mind obtaining middling power. Next, they mindfully contemplate the Buddha of real characteristic, obtaining superior power, and not clinging to the two bodies of form and Dharma.' A gāthā says: 'Not greedily clinging to the physical body, / Nor clinging to the dharmakāya, / Skillfully knowing that all dharmas / Are eternally quiescent like empty space.' Exhorting practitioners: 'If a person wishes to obtain wisdom like the great ocean, so that none can serve as my teacher, and while seated here without exercising supernatural powers, completely see all buddhas, completely hear what they expound, and be completely able to uphold it, they should constantly practise this samādhi; among all merits, it is the foremost. This samādhi is the mother of all buddhas, the eye of buddhas, the father of buddhas; non-arising is the great compassionate mother—all tathāgatas are born from these two dharmas. If one were to crush the great thousandfold earth, its grasses and trees into dust, with each speck of dust being a buddha-kṣetra, and filling those worlds with jewels, give them in generosity, that merit would be exceedingly great; yet it does not equal hearing of this samādhi without fear and without dread, how much less faithfully receiving, upholding, reading, reciting, and explaining it to others, how much less cultivating it with a concentrated mind for the duration of milking a cow, how much less being able to accomplish this samādhi! Therefore it is immeasurable and boundless.' Furthermore, the *Vibhāṣā-śāstra says: 'For kalpa-fire, officials, bandits, enemies, poisonous dragons, beasts, and the multitude of illnesses to invade this person—there is no such possibility. This person is constantly protected, kept in mind, and praised together by the devas, dragons, the eight classes of beings, and all buddhas, who all together wish to see them and come to their dwelling. If one hears of this samādhi and rejoices in accord with the four turns of merit as above, all buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times will also rejoice in accord, further surpassing the four turns of merit above.' If one does not cultivate such a dharma, one loses immeasurable heavy treasures, and humans and devas grieve and lament for them. It is like a person without a sense of smell holding sandalwood without smelling it; it is like a peasant's son trading a maṇi jewel for a single ox. Therefore it is known that for those who do not recognize that their own citta is the Buddha, and instead seek other dharmas, their fault in cultivating the Path while turning their backs to the Path is like this. That is, ordinary persons who do not penetrate the citta-treasure drink poison and eat [foulness] among humans and devas; the two vehicles leave their family treasures far behind and seek the wages of a hired dung-remover. Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says: 'If those with wisdom hear it, they can faithfully understand; those without wisdom, doubting and regretting, will lose it forever.'
17.12
Question: Regarding the gate of attaining buddhahood, if one discusses cultivated goodness, then there is earlier and later. If it is natural goodness, it is originally equal in the one mind. Since all buddhas possess natural evil, and icchantikas also possess natural goodness, since they share the same single nature, they both ought to become buddhas. Why do icchantikas not become buddhas?
17.13
Answer: If one speaks of the nature-Buddha, what person is not equal? If based on cultivated attainment, the icchantika has not yet fulfilled it. The Tiantai teaching [says]:
17.14
Question: What kind of good and evil do an icchantika and a buddha sever?
17.15
Answer: The icchantika severs cultivated goodness completely, but natural goodness remains; the Buddha severs cultivated evil completely, but natural evil remains.
17.16
Question: Since the icchantika does not sever natural goodness, can they still cause cultivated goodness to arise? Since the Buddha does not sever natural evil, does he still cause cultivated evil to arise?
17.17
Answer: The icchantika does not comprehend the good of the nature. Because he does not comprehend it, he is still tainted by good; cultivated good is able to arise, broadly remedying various evils. Although the Buddha does not sever the evil of the nature, he is able to comprehend evil. Because he comprehends evil, he attains sovereignty regarding evil; hence he is not tainted by evil. Cultivated evil cannot arise; therefore, the Buddha is forever free from evil again. Because of this sovereignty, he broadly employs the Dharma-gates of various evils to transform and deliver sentient beings. Throughout the entire day he employs them, and throughout the entire day he is untainted. Being untainted, [evil] does not arise. How could one use the icchantika as an analogy? If an icchantika were able to comprehend this good and evil, he would no longer be called an icchantika. If we follow the explanation of others, the icchantika severs good completely, and, being perfumed by the ālayavijñāna, is able again to give rise to good. The ālaya is indeterminate avidyā, the support for good and evil, serving as all seeds. Because the icchantika does not sever indeterminate avidyā, he gives birth to good again. The Buddha severs indeterminate avidyā completely, having nothing that can be perfumed; hence evil does not arise again. If [the Buddha] wishes to transform beings through evil, he merely performs supernormal transformations to deliver sentient beings.
17.18
Question: If at the Buddha stage evil is severed completely, and he performs supernormal powers using evil to transform beings, this intentionality would only then be able to give rise to evil. This is like a person painting various forms and images, not functioning spontaneously—as when a bright mirror does not move and images naturally take form. Could it be that the inconceivable principle is able to respond with evil? If it involves intentionality, how would it differ from non-Buddhists?
17.19
Answer: We now clarify that the icchantika does not sever the good of inherent virtue; meeting conditions, good is activated. The Buddha likewise does not sever the evil of the nature; stimulated by conditions of capacity and perfumed by the power of compassion, he enters Avīci and shares in all evil matters to transform sentient beings. Because inherent evil exists, it is called unsevered; because cultivated evil is no more, it is called impermanent. If both cultivated and inherent were exhausted, that would be severed, and could not be called neither severed nor permanent. The icchantika is also like this: the good of the nature is unsevered, so he gives birth to good roots again; the Tathāgata's evil of the nature is unsevered, so he is still able to raise evil, yet with an understanding citta that is untainted, thoroughly realizing that the boundary of evil is precisely the limit of reality. He is able through the characteristics of the five heinous deeds to attain liberation, yet is neither bound nor liberated; practicing what is not the Path, he penetrates the Buddha-Path. The icchantika is tainted and does not comprehend; herein lies the difference. What does it mean not to comprehend? It is because he does not understand the absence of nature. Therefore, all good and evil phenomena take the absence of nature as their nature. This nature is precisely the Buddha-nature, precisely the unlocated root, precisely because it is the dharmatā. This nature of good and evil cannot be severed. Inquiring right now into the nature of one's own citta, it is unattainable; that is, having no abode, it can pervade all places—this is the nature of good and evil. The nature has neither good nor evil, yet can generate good and evil. Good and evil can be severed; the nature cannot be severed. Good and evil alike take the nature of citta as their nature. If one severs the evil of the nature, one severs the nature of citta. The nature cannot be severed; therefore, the icchantika does not sever the good of the nature. Even if falling into the three destinies, the good of the nature does not decrease, and the evil of the nature does not increase; straight through to Buddhahood, the good of the nature does not increase, and the evil of the nature does not decrease. This nature is precisely the dharmakāya. It is like a bright mirror: originally lacking all beautiful and ugly images, it can manifest all beautiful and ugly images. Images have increase and decrease, but the bright and pure luminous substance neither increases nor decreases. Because the mirror originally has no images, it can manifest images; Buddha-nature has neither good nor evil, so it can manifest good and evil. Sentient beings do not attain the nature; they only attain good and evil, and being constrained by good and evil, they cannot attain sovereignty. Because the good of the nature is not destroyed, from hell the good of the Buddha-realm is activated; because the evil of the nature is not destroyed, the Buddha can manifest the evil of the six destinies. Furthermore, 'nature' is the nature of all phenomena such as good and evil, pervading sentient beings, lands, and all places throughout the ten directions and the three times, without alteration, neither increasing nor decreasing, able to manifest cause and effect, defilement and purity, ordinary beings and sages, good and evil, and so forth. Arising from the nature, they are called the good of the nature and the evil of the nature. As for good, evil, and so on, they have no fixed characteristics, but are formed through habits following conditions—like images in a mirror, no substance can be found in them. If encountering pure conditions, they are good; if due to defiled conditions, they are evil. Obtained through cultivation, they are called cultivated good and cultivated evil. If we speak of the good of the nature, it is not exclusive to the icchantika; if we speak of the evil of the nature, it is not exclusive to the Buddhas. Because it is the nature of all phenomena of good and evil, all sentient beings possess it completely, equally in a single limit. If one awakens to and comprehends this nature, one immediately becomes a Buddha; therefore, one can manifest the sage or show the ordinary being with unimpeded sovereignty. If we speak of cultivated good and cultivated evil, among superior, middling, and inferior faculties, they are not fixed: according to the thickness or thinness of cultivated attainment, depending on the shallowness or depth of one's power, one obtains worldly retribution and rises or sinks in the six destinies, or accomplishes supramundane fruits, varying among the four sages. Because of not understanding the nature of good and evil, one is constrained by good and evil karma, without sovereignty. If one sees the nature and realizes the Way, what Way would not be accomplished? Then phenomenon after phenomenon marks the source, and dust mote after dust mote accords with the purport. How could one attain sovereignty only in the two phenomena of good and evil?
17.20
Question: If the Three Jewels have the characteristic of space, beyond the reach of seeing and hearing, why is it spoken of in the teachings as 'seeing the Way' and also termed 'seeing the Buddha'?
17.21
Answer: In terms of the illumination of fundamental wisdom, it is nominally called 'seeing'; it is not seen by the eye, but known only through realization. Only being free from both seeing and non-seeing is truly called seeing. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Bodhisattvas truly have nothing seen. That which is nothing seen is having nothing at all. That which is having nothing at all is all phenomena.' Therefore, as dharmatā has nothing at all, bodhisattvas have nothing seen. Meeting with the principle of phenomena is nominally called seeing; truly, it is not seeing. The true nature is tranquil and clear; it is not a phenomenon that is seen. A sūtra says: 'Not practicing the phenomenon of seeing, the Buddhas quickly confer prediction upon them.' This is being free from the two extremes of annihilation and permanence, immediately seeing one's own body as pure. Seeing the body as pure is precisely seeing the Buddha as pure, up to seeing all phenomena as entirely pure; there is nothing that is not the Buddha, nothing that is not Dharma. Because the nature of one's own citta is unarisen, it accords with things and pervades all places. If a single dust mote were not the Buddha, it would become an obstruction and veil, failing to enter the gate of the universal eye and merely falling into the view of subject and object. The Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: 'Brahmā asked Bodhisattva Sāgaramati, saying: "Good son, do you now clearly see the Buddha-Dharma?" Brahmā said: "The Buddha-Dharma is not form; it cannot be seen. How can you say you clearly see the Buddha-Dharma? All phenomena cannot be seen at all. That which is clear is precisely the Buddha-Dharma, without two characteristics."' Therefore, coming is like the moon in the water, dispersing like an illusory cloud; seeing is like a shape in a dream, hearing is like an echo in a valley. Where there is awakening, it is immediately manifested, not coming from any direction; where there is delusion, it naturally does not exist, not departing from here. As the Sūtra of Complete Enlightenment says: 'Complete enlightenment illuminates everywhere, quiescent and non-dual. Within it, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of ineffable asaṃkhyeyas of Ganges sands of Buddha-worlds are like flowers in the sky, rising and ceasing in disorder.' A verse in the Prajñā-nāma-śāstra says: 'The Tathāgata takes Dharma as his body; one should only contemplate dharmatā. Dharmatā is not what is seen, nor can it be known.' Dharmatā is what is called empty nature and unarisen nature; this is precisely the supreme-meaning body of all Buddhas. If one sees this, it is called seeing the Buddha. A sūtra says: 'By seeing the empty nature, it is called seeing the Tathāgata.' Furthermore, in dharmatā, there is not a single thing that can be called an object of knowledge; hence that wisdom also cannot know it. Also, a sūtra says: 'Great King, all dharmatā is like space, equally serving as the support for all things, yet its substance and nature is neither an existent thing nor a non-existent thing. Being able to know that within this there is tranquil unknowing is called thorough knowing; calling it "one who knows" conforms to conventional speech.' The merit of having faith and understanding in the unarisen is greater than the giving of treasures. As a verse says: 'If a person maintains the correct Dharma and gives rise to the bodhicitta, it is not equal to one sixteenth of understanding emptiness.' Therefore, only when one understands supreme-meaning emptiness does prajñā become complete; only when one sees the unarisen self-nature does one comprehend the complete source. Because true emptiness does not destroy karma and fruit, the exalted and humble are distinct—unlike mere emptiness which does not encompass all existents. As the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: 'There is karma and there is retribution, yet an agent cannot be seen. Such empty Dharma is called supreme-meaning emptiness.' Therefore, at the time of seeing the nature, the nature is originally free from thought—it is not that there are thoughts that can be eradicated; when contemplating things, things are originally formless—it is not that there are things that can be expelled. Thus it is said that wisdom free from thought is equal to the realm of space. As the Mahāyāna Thousand-Bowl Great Teaching King Sūtra says: 'At that time, Bodhisattva Samantaprabha realized and entered the adamantine Dharma-treasury samādhi and samāpatti of Vairocana Tathāgata, causing all bodhisattvas and all sentient beings to vow together to cultivate, maintain, and enter this contemplation of the true reality of the samādhi of the naturally pure tathatā Dharma-treasury. How should one cultivate and enter this contemplation? The bodhisattva should contemplate and illuminate the ground of citta, being aware of using the wisdom of citta to solely illuminate the nature of citta, contemplating and being aware very subtly, being aware of and illuminating the substance of citta, seeing that the nature is motionless. Realizing and being aware of the motionless, one can then constantly function; functioning to contemplate the wisdom of the substance, one sees that the nature is pure. The nature is naturally free from thought; free from thought, there are no things; the citta is equal to space, immediately realizing noble wisdom. The noble nature of tathatā is both clear and quiescent; emptiness is identical with having no substance, and the substance of the nature is empty and tranquil. This is called the bodhisattva realizing and entering the seal of the nature of the tathatā dharmadhātu, the contemplation gate of the true reality of the Dharma-treasury.' Thus we know that the nature of the dharmadhātu is precisely the nature of sentient beings' citta; the nature of sentient beings' citta is precisely the nature of space. Therefore the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'Furthermore, Śāriputra, if a bodhisattva mahāsattva wishes to abide in internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal-and-external emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, supreme-meaning emptiness, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, ultimate emptiness, beginningless emptiness, scattered emptiness, nature emptiness, emptiness of all phenomena of self-characteristic and nature, unattainable emptiness, non-phenomenal emptiness, phenomenal emptiness, and non-phenomenal-and-phenomenal emptiness, he should learn the prajñāpāramitā.' The commentary explains: 'Internal emptiness is internal phenomena, namely the six internal sense-bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The eye is empty, devoid of self and what belongs to self, etc. External emptiness is external phenomena, namely the six external sense-bases: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and phenomena. Form is empty, devoid of self and what belongs to self, etc. Internal-and-external emptiness is the internal and external twelve sense-bases; within the twelve sense-bases, there is no self and what belongs to self, etc. Emptiness of emptiness: using emptiness to break internal emptiness, external emptiness, and internal-and-external emptiness; breaking these three emptinesses, it is therefore called emptiness of emptiness. Great emptiness is the emptiness of the ten directions. The eastern direction is boundless, so it is called great; also, being present everywhere, it is called great. Supreme-meaning emptiness: supreme meaning is the true mark of all phenomena; because it is unbroken and indestructible, this true mark of all phenomena is also empty. Why? Because it is without acceptance and without attachment. If the true mark of all phenomena existed, it should be accepted and attached to; because it has no reality, it is neither accepted nor attached to; if accepted or attached to, it is deceptive. Conditioned emptiness and unconditioned emptiness: conditioned phenomena are called born of the combination of causes and conditions, namely the five aggregates, twelve sense-bases, eighteen realms, and so forth. Unconditioned phenomena are called having no causes and conditions, constantly unarisen and unceasing, like space.'
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- 宗鏡錄 — Classical Chinese