宗鏡錄 2.9

2.9

Answer: People of the highest capacity hear once and awaken to a thousand [truths]; nature and characteristics are both discerned, principle and phenomena are both completely realized. But for those of intermediate and lower [capacity], one must rely on unfolding and expounding. The path of ornamentation and the gateway of praise and embellishment—estimating their merit, no analogy can suffice. Therefore a verse in the Lotus Sūtra says: / 'Just like the udumbara flower, / which everyone loves and delights in, / a rarity among gods and humans, / appearing only once in a great while; / if one hears the Dharma and rejoices in praise, / even to the point of uttering a single word, / one has already made offerings / to all buddhas of the three times. / Such a person is exceedingly rare, / surpassing even the udumbara flower.' / A Prajñā verse says: / 'Prajñā has no perishable characteristics; / it surpasses all words. / Having precisely nowhere to rely upon, / who could praise its virtues? / Though prajñā cannot be praised, / I am now able to praise it. / Though not yet freed from the realm of death, / one has already come forth from it.' / Furthermore, an ancient sage said: 'When a bodhisattva composes a treatise, it is called ornamenting the sūtras. Just as when a lotus flower has not yet opened, seeing it brings joy, but this is not like when it has already opened and its fragrance is pervasive; and just as when gold has not yet been used, seeing it brings joy, but this is not like using it to make ornaments.' Thus we know that a single thought of goodness in propagating the teaching can repay the kindness of all the buddhas of the ten directions. In terms of rarity, it is like the flower renowned by the name udumbara; in terms of radiant exaltation, it is like gold made into ornaments. Therefore, when bodhisattvas explain the secret import of the Great Vehicle, [sentient beings] hear what they have never heard, are able to sever deep doubts, and accomplish perfect faith. How could the benefit of the Dharma ever end? Its merits are boundless. As the Great Prajñā Sūtra says: 'Furthermore, Kauśika, setting aside all the sentient beings of Jambudvīpa, if all the sentient beings of the four great continents, if all the sentient beings of a small thousandfold world system, if all the sentient beings of a medium thousandfold world system, if all the sentient beings of a great thousandfold world system, and if furthermore all the sentient beings of world systems as numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā in each of the ten directions, all attained non-retrogression toward unsurpassable, complete, and perfect bodhi, and together made this utterance: "We now delight in quickly realizing unsurpassable, complete, and perfect bodhi, rescuing sentient beings from the multiple sufferings of birth and death, and causing them to attain sublime, ultimate peace and happiness"; and suppose there were good men and good women who, in order to accomplish that purpose, wrote down the profound Prajñāpāramitā, ornamented it with various jewels, made offerings to it, respected it, honored it, and praised it, and gave it universally to them so that they might receive, uphold, read, and recite it, causing them to master it thoroughly and contemplate it in accord with principle—what do you think? Would these good men and good women obtain much merit through this cause and condition?' Śakra, Devānām-Indra, said: 'Very much, World-Honoured One; very much, Sugata.' Then the Buddha told Śakra, Devānām-Indra: 'If there were good men and good women who wrote down the profound Prajñāpāramitā, ornamented it with various jewels, made offerings to it, respected it, honored it, and praised it, and bestowed it upon even a single person among that multitude, causing that person to receive, uphold, read, and recite it, master it thoroughly, and contemplate it in accord with principle, and with immeasurable approaches and skillful words and meanings extensively explained it for that person, analyzed its import, caused that person to comprehend it, and gave instruction and admonition causing that person to cultivate and study diligently—the accumulation of merit obtained by these good men and good women would be far greater than the former, immeasurable, boundless, and incalculable.' The Great Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "Good sons, except for icchantikas, when all other sentient beings have heard this sūtra, they are all able to make it a cause and condition for bodhi. If the sound of the Dharma and its radiance enters their pores, they will definitely attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Why is this? If a person has been able to make offerings and show respect to immeasurable buddhas, only then does that person get to hear the Great Nirvāṇa Sūtra. A person of meager merit does not get to hear it."' Thus we know that to be able to hear the permanently abiding teaching of the true characteristic of the one mind recorded in the Mirror of the Source is entirely due to having formed deep causes in the past and having personally attended the assemblies of buddhas; it is a matter of great consequence and not of minor circumstance. If one had not previously been perfumed by hearing it, how could one encounter it? Furthermore, the Great Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'The Buddha told Bodhisattva Kāśyapa: "Good sons and good daughters, you should always fix your minds on cultivating these two words: 'Buddha is permanently abiding.' Kāśyapa, if there are good sons and good daughters who cultivate these two words, you should know that these persons follow where I have walked and arrive where I have arrived."' Therefore, a person who has faith in this Dharma is simultaneously ordinary and holy; cultivating, upholding, and tallying with it, they abide within where the Buddha abides, and their comportment and demeanor follow the footsteps of where the Buddha has walked. The Commentary on the Mahāyāna says: 'First, the gate of manifesting the merits of faith and entry free from doubt: that is, if there are sentient beings who, having heard this extremely profound, exceedingly sublime, and vast Dharma gate of Mahāyāna, do not doubt or fear in their minds, are not timid or weak, do not disparage or belittle it, and do not slander it, but produce a resolute mind, produce an adamantine mind, produce a reverent mind, and produce a loving and faithful mind, you should know that these persons are genuine children of the Buddha, never severing the lineage of the Dharma, never severing the lineage of the Saṅgha, and never severing the lineage of the Buddha, continuously perpetuating and increasingly developing it through the end of the future; they are also personally conferred prophecies by all the buddhas and protected in thought by all immeasurable bodhisattvas. Therefore, as the treatise says: "If a person, having heard this Dharma, does not give rise to cowardice or weakness, you should know that this person will certainly inherit the lineage of the Buddha and will definitely be conferred a prophecy by all the buddhas." Second, the gate of illustrating superiority through comparative antidotes: that is, if there were a person who could skillfully gather and convert all sentient beings filling a three-thousand-great-thousandfold world system without exception, causing them to practice the ten good deeds; and if there were another sentient being who, for the duration of a single meal, observed and contemplated this profound Dharma—if one calculates and compares the merits of these two persons, the merit obtained by that first person would be exceedingly minute, like a mustard seed broken into a hundred parts, whereas the merit obtained by this second person would be exceedingly vast, like the number of dust particles from smashing the world systems of the ten directions. Therefore, as the treatise says: "Even if a person could transform sentient beings filling a three-thousand-great-thousandfold world system, causing them to practice the ten good deeds, this would not equal a person who, for the duration of a single meal, correctly contemplates this Dharma; its surpassing of the former merit cannot be described by any analogy." Third, the gate of extolling by citing the merit of upholding: that is, if there is a person who upholds this treatise and contemplates its principles for a day or a night, the merit obtained in that interval is immeasurable, boundless, inexpressible, and inconceivable. Even if all the buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, and all the bodhisattvas of the ten directions and the three times, with tongues as numerous as the dust particles of the world systems of the ten directions, were each to praise all the merits of that person for inexpressible kalpas measured by the dust particles of the world systems of the ten directions, they could never finish. Why is this? Because the merit of the dharmakāya and tathatā is equal to empty space and is boundless; how much less could ordinary beings and people of the two vehicles fully praise it! For a person who upholds it during no more than a single day and night, the merit obtained is already inconceivable; how much more so if one upholds, reads, recites, contemplates, and observes it for two days, three days, four days, or even a hundred days—it is inconceivable, the inexpressible within the inexpressible. Therefore, as the treatise says: "Furthermore, if a person upholds this treatise and contemplates and practices it for a day and a night, all the merits are immeasurable, boundless, and inexpressible. Even if the buddhas of the ten directions, each for immeasurable and boundless asaṃkhyeya kalpas, were to praise that person's merits, they could not finish. Why is this? Because the merit of the dharmatā has no end; this person's merit is also like this, without boundary."' Therefore, we know that having faith in this citta-source and accomplishing Mahāyāna is identical to what the buddhas of the three times have realized—how could its principles ever be exhausted? It is equal to what the bodhisattvas of the ten directions ride upon—its merit is endless. Encountering this profound transformation, one's rejoicing is exceedingly deep. To accord with the Buddha's intent and repay the Buddha's kindness, nothing takes precedence over propagating the Dharma; to illuminate the Buddha-sun and open the Buddha-eye depends entirely on clarifying the mind. In this Mirror of the Source, if a single phrase enters one's spirit, it becomes a seed across kalpas; how much more so when the correct words are profound and mysterious, summarizing the multitude of sūtras! This 'one' is the one within the immeasurable; if one is imbued with this Dharma, it is the seed of the perfect and sudden. It can be called amṛta entering the crown of the head and ghee pouring into the mind; it radiates the lamp of non-dual wisdom to shatter the dark delusions of emotional faculties; it pours the wisdom-water of a single taste to cleanse the defiled dust of the mental ground. It can cause thick hindrances and deep obstructions to be rolled up like fragile leaves in a violent wind; it causes manifold doubts and accumulated blockages to melt away like thin ice under a blazing sun. It is just like the gold-wheel-turning king among kings, the morning dawn among illuminations, the mani jewel among treasures, the blue lotus among flowers, the gate of true emptiness among truths, and the abode of nirvāṇa among dharmas. Therefore, a verse in the Vajrasamādhi Sūtra says: / 'The Dharma-seal of a single taste, / accomplished by the One Vehicle, / is able to be, among all sentient beings, / the foremost and the teacher, the illumination and the guide.' / As the Suvikrāntavikrāmi-paripṛcchā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: 'Among all dharmas, the citta is the foremost.' The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'The buddhas of the three times all take the true characteristic of dharmas as their teacher.' The ancestral teacher said: 'Among all illuminations, the illumination of the mind is supreme.' A verse in the Lotus Sūtra says: / 'The foremost guide / has attained this unsurpassable Dharma.' / Furthermore, if one has not entered the Mirror of the Source, not only can one not see the path, but in truth cultivation is completely cut off from principle. When the root is established, the path is born; only by returning to the root does one reach the ultimate. It is like observing the original form and knowing that a painted likeness is not real; if one understands the nature of the storehouse, one sees that the dust-realms are false. Therefore, a sūtra verse says: / 'Without realizing tathatā, / one cannot comprehend all conditioned phenomena / to be just like magical illusions, / seeming to exist but not real.' / Therefore, if one grasps the root, one grasps the branches. Hence in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the bodhisattvas of the ocean-like assembly take the dust particles of the dharmadhātu as their samādhi. Furthermore, the 'Manifestation Chapter' says: 'This Dharma gate is called the secret place of the Tathāgata […] up to, it is called the expounding of the fundamental true nature of the Tathāgata, the inconceivable ultimate Dharma.' Therefore, a past worthy said: 'Unfolding the sūtra scroll within a single dust particle, in thought after thought the fruit is accomplished; exhausting the gateway of vows for sentient beings, in particle after particle the practice is fulfilled.' If one has not awakened to the Mirror of the Source, how could one believe these words? But if one has faith in it even for a moment, the merits and powers are entirely equal. Without changing what one practices, all Dharma gates are fully present; immediately obstructed, immediately penetrating; immediately heterodox, immediately orthodox. Therefore, the ancients said: 'Those who encounter this teaching ought to rejoice in themselves; it is like being shipwrecked in a vast ocean and encountering a fragrant boat, or falling from the high sky and mounting an auspicious crane.'