宗鏡錄 2.21

2.21

Answer: The substance itself of the true mind is beyond verbal expression: serene as boundless empty space, pure as a round, luminous mirror. Slander and praise cannot reach it; discursive reasoning can hardly penetrate it, because the two gates of merit and fault transcend duality. Now, relying on previous masters, when discriminating citta in terms of characteristics, there are roughly five meanings: first, being far removed from the differentiated characteristics of the grasped; second, liberation from the discriminative grasping of the grasper; third, pervading the three periods of time with nothing not equal; fourth, being equal to empty space with nowhere not pervaded; fifth, not falling into extremes such as existence and nonexistence, or identity and difference, surpassing the domain of mental activity and transcending the path of words. Moreover, this non-abiding mind simultaneously obliterates the two truths; therefore there is no distinction between emerging from the conventional and entering the ultimate. Since there is neither entering nor emerging, it is situated neither in emptiness nor in existence. Therefore a sūtra says: "The locus of the mind has no abiding place." The place of no abiding is only the one mind. The substance of the one mind is inherently tranquil and extinguished: one cannot fathom its subtle traces through existence, nonexistence, or place; one cannot discuss its wondrous substance through discursive knowledge or cognitive appraisal. Only those who have entered it know it in their minds alone. It is like pounding ten thousand varieties of incense into an incense pill: burning a single speck fully contains all fragrances. It is like entering the water of the great ocean to bathe: scooping up a tiny drop already uses the hundred rivers. Grasping gravel, it all turns into true gold; gathering grasses, none are not wondrous medicine. Empty vessels are all filled with the flavor of amṛta; a full room smells only of campaka fragrance. All meanings share a common return, like the great void encompassing all forms; a thousand paths vie in entering, like myriad reflections without obstruction in a clear pool. If one discusses the merits of the nature-origination of the one mind, they are endless and boundless. How could one praise the merit of the unconditioned with a finite mind? Even exhausting supernatural powers, one could not describe a single hair's breadth. For those who enter through faith, all realize it in the present; whether ordinary beings or sages, sympathetic resonance is not empty. When faith is firm and unwavering, empty voices speaking of the emptiness of dharmas naturally cease. When clear sincerity can be verified, the wild fires of Lingrun suddenly stop. How could one rely on supernatural powers? The mental Māras are abruptly severed. Without relying on other arts, the fire of consciousness naturally subsides. Except for unworthy people, who could fail to understand this import? As the ancients said: "Relying on wisdom and not on consciousness" means that when consciousness is active, it discriminates according to sensory objects—eyes to forms and ears to sounds—indulging in delusion without awakening. The Great Sage demonstrated his teaching: the objective realm is one's own mind. The lowest fools rigidly grasp [the view that] sensory objects are outside consciousness. People today recite its emptiness with their mouths, but their minds have not forgotten existence; they cannot soar into empty space, and entering fire is even more difficult. All this is solely because they are trapped and deluded by mental characteristics. Once they achieve thorough penetration later on and adapt their functions according to citta, how would it differ from birds flying through empty space, which is naturally always like this, or asbestos cloth washed in fire, which is not at all surprising? It is only that the consciousness-natures of sentient beings are not identical, causing the Great Sage to preach differently according to their dispositions. Yet based on the ultimate Way, it is nothing but one's own mind. Therefore a sūtra says: "Above and below in the three realms, all phenomena and meanings are only citta." This clarifies citta in terms of the circumstantial retribution (adhipati-phala) of the worlds. It also says: "Suchness and the true limit, nirvāṇa and the dharmadhātu, and the various mind-made bodies (manomayakāya)—these I declare to be mere citta (cittamātra)." This clarifies citta based on the substance of supramundane phenomena. Ultimately exhausting the highest reality, one completely reaches this source; following the flow to induce fruition, one returns to the source of definitive meaning.