宗鏡錄 17.21

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.'