宗鏡錄 21.3

21.3

Answer: Only when one grasps the root does one understand the branches; grasping the branches violates the source. If one does not contemplate the mind, dharmas have no place whence they come. If one merely cultivates conditioned practices of phenomena without penetrating the unconditioned nature of one's own mind, one becomes confused about phenomena and loses the source, and one's fruit reverts to birth and cessation. If one embodies the principle and practices phenomena, both are illuminated without mutual conflict. One only fears cultivating one-sidedly, whereby both principle and phenomena are lost. As the Mahāratnakūṭa-sūtra says: 'Even if one were to build jeweled stupas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, it would not equal contemplating this sūtra for a single kṣaṇa.' Moreover, it is simply because the one mind is the source of the myriad practices that, based on this, one can arouse compassion of identical substance and transformation free of conditions. As the Awakening of Faith Commentary says: 'If one believes solely in the principle of emptiness of a single flavor, delight and revulsion are completely cut off. If one believes solely in phenomenal marks, the noble and the ordinary are vastly separated. Neither of these can arouse practice or cultivate progress. Now, by causing one to believe that the one mind is the source of both ordinary beings and sages, and that differences exist only due to delusion and awakening, one will certainly be able to arouse practice and cultivate progress toward the fruit of Buddhahood.' From this we know that the true mind does not maintain its self-nature, but ascends and descends in accordance with conditions, its fruits and retributions being distinct and clear. Furthermore, in following conditions it does not lose its self-nature: conditions are unreal and lack actuality, so object and wisdom are darkly tranquil. Therefore the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith says: 'What is called: although one contemplates that the self-nature of all dharmas is unborn, one simultaneously contemplates that through the combination of causes and conditions, good and evil karma and retributions such as suffering and pleasure are neither lost nor destroyed; and although one contemplates the karmic retributions of good and evil causes and conditions, one simultaneously contemplates that their nature is ungraspable.' If one says that karmic retribution is not lost, one must completely cultivate the myriad practices. If one says that the nature is ungraspable, one should know that there is only the one mind. Furthermore, at the beginning of the myriad practices, none precedes the five precepts. If practiced according to phenomenal marks, the retribution is among humans and gods. The Tripiṭaka Teaching only realizes impermanence; the Shared Teaching understands emptiness and lack of self-nature; the Distinct Teaching is sequential, so cause and effect are not interfused; only the Perfect Teaching contemplates the mind as endowed with the dharmadhātu. Therefore the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: 'Although one believes in distinct marks, if one does not believe in the one substance free of distinct marks, this is called incomplete faith. Because faith is incomplete, all one's moral precepts are also incomplete. Therefore, all one's extensive learning is also incomplete. What is meant by incomplete faith? If one has not understood that a single dharma is all dharmas, how could faith be complete? What is meant by incomplete precepts? If one does not yet know that the nature of the precepts is like empty space, how could the precepts be complete? What is meant by incomplete learning? If one has not heard that the Tathāgata constantly never preaches the Dharma, yet considers this complete extensive learning, how could learning be complete?' If one enters the mirror of the source, how could it cover merely precepts and goodness? Extending all the way to the fruitional virtues of all Buddhas and the myriad practices of bodhisattvas, there is not a single dharma that is not embraced. Thus in every thought-moment one understands clearly, and every dharma is consummate. Now, taking the five precepts as an example: the precepts arise from the mind, and the mind is established through the precepts. If the mind does not arise, it is the foundation of the four virtues and myriad practices. If the mind falsely arises, it becomes the root of the six destinies and three paths. Thus there is no goodness it does not gather, and no evil it does not take in. Therefore the Tiantai teaching says: 'These five precepts are also a Mahāyāna Dharma door. Condensing these five precepts into the three vehicles corresponds to the three non-lapses, the three non-protections, the three wheels of inconceivable transformation, the three mysteries, the three tracks, the three bodies, the three Buddha-natures, the three prajñās, the three nirvāṇas, the three wisdoms, the three virtues, and so forth—immeasurable threefold Dharma doors, horizontally and vertically boundless, equal to empty space and the dharmadhātu; it is also the inexhaustible treasury of Dharma doors, and also the samādhi of immeasurable meanings. To state the essence, it is all Buddha-dharmas.' The Tiantai Commentary on the Golden Light Sūtra says: 'The five precepts are the great taboos of heaven and earth. Above, they correspond to the five stars; below, they match the five sacred peaks; within, they constitute the five internal organs. Those who violate them offend heaven and clash with earth, destroying their own bodies.' First, regarding not killing: taking life is called phenomenal killing; not taking life is called phenomenal non-killing. In the interpretation of the Dharma door: analyzing dharmas is called killing in principle; embodying dharmas is called non-killing in principle. If one guards them with deliberate intent, like a horse fitted with a bridle or a cowherd holding a staff, the retribution is in the human realm for one hundred and twenty years, obtaining only the fleshy eye. If it is accomplished spontaneously by nature, like a river flowing into the sea, the retribution is in the six heavens, lasting at most 926,700,000,000 years, obtaining only the divine eye. If one further cultivates meditative precepts and the wisdom of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, the retribution is in transformation, with a lifespan of seven hundred asaṃkhyeyas, obtaining only the wisdom eye. If one further cultivates the wisdom of permanence, impermanence, and so forth, the retribution is in the Lotus Treasury Ocean, receiving a dharmatā body, partially obtaining the five eyes, and partially obtaining eternal life; compared to a Buddha, one's faculties are still incomplete and one's lifespan reduced. If a person of the Perfect Teaching upholds the precept of phenomenal non-killing and also upholds the precept of non-killing in principle, without destroying the causes of the body, they constantly follow the single mark; without cutting off delusion and desire, they give rise to illumination and liberation; embodying the aggregates, realms, and sense fields, nothing is injured or destroyed; cause or fruit, they are neither born nor extinguished; perfecting wisdom, dwelling in the Land of Tranquil Radiance, their eternal lifespan is serene and clear, the five eyes are complete, and they attain mastery over the faculties and mastery over life, freely lengthening or shortening it as they will. This is called the ultimate upholding of the precepts, with all faculties complete and lifespan unreduced. How could a person of the Perfect Teaching merely uphold these precepts? There is only killing and only compassion; they also perform phenomenal killing, and also perform killing in principle. As when King Puṇyarāja killed five hundred brahmins, bestowing upon them the eyes to see the Buddha and a lifespan of ten kalpas. Furthermore, performing killing in the Dharma door means analyzing and purging defilements, purifying all kleśas, like a tree spirit breaking branches so as not to harbor hostile birds, or like the kalpa fire burning wood so that both ashes and charcoal vanish. Therefore the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'Kill the father of avidyā, slay the mother of craving and desire, sever the enemy of anuśayas, destroy the harmony of the aggregates, and cut off the body of the seven consciousnesses. If someone does this, they presently realize the dharmakāya.' This rebellion is itself obedience. Aṅgulimāla said: 'I vow to sever the aggregates, realms, and sense fields; I cannot uphold the precept of not killing. All afflictions are the seed of the Tathāgata; only when this seed is exhausted is one called a Buddha.' Perfecting the adamantine, wondrous dharmakāya, serenely responding to all, casting forms in the nine destinies, showing long or short lifespans as appropriate, employing deficient or complete faculties according to what beings perceive, they transform and deliver them. Second, regarding not stealing: taking what is not given is called phenomenal stealing; taking what is given is called phenomenal non-stealing. As for the Dharma door: as the Buddha said, 'Do not take other things'—this is called non-stealing in the Dharma door. When there is no one who gives bodhi, yet one takes bodhi, this is called stealing in the Dharma door. If one upholds precepts and creates karma seeking a desirable fruit, that fruit is impermanent and swiftly decays, and all is another's property; it is foul as dung fruit and harmful as poisoned food. A wise person should not seek it. Why earnestly drink bitterness and eat poison, injuring and destroying oneself? Can swirling suffering exceed the flow of existence? Hindered by the three obstacles, one is abandoned by the heaven of supreme truth. This is stealing, not non-stealing. Moreover, the two vehicles, using the wisdom of the four truths, contemplate the body, feelings, mind, and dharmas, feeling revulsion toward saṃsāra and joyfully seeking nirvāṇa; when the mind seeking nirvāṇa arises, that is taking another's property, taking realization at the wrong time, not waiting for the causes that have been taught; burnt seeds do not sprout; seeing suffering, cutting off origination, cultivating the path, and attaining cessation—this is not seeking the Dharma. Positing that there is nirvāṇa, they form a view of nirvāṇa. If one clings to emptiness, the Buddhas cannot save one. With a body three hundred yojanas tall but lacking both wings, one falls into the pit of the three unconditioned states, starved, emaciated, one's body breaking out in sores and ringworm—is this not poverty and distress? Furthermore, not seeing the Buddha, not hearing the Dharma, not entering the assembly—is this not being far removed from the heaven of supreme truth? This is still called stealing, not non-stealing. If a person of the Distinct Teaching advances from shallow to deep, abandoning one and taking another, coming and then coming again, going and then going again, all are disgraced by the marks of coming and going; this is also taking without being given. Taking and then abandoning is also poverty. Abandoning and then taking again, repeatedly going and taking, is distress itself. Not according with the heaven of supreme truth, one is far removed. This is still called stealing, not non-stealing. A person of the Perfect Teaching contemplates the true mark of dharmas: receiving is also not receiving; not receiving is also not receiving; both receiving and not receiving is also not receiving; neither receiving nor not receiving is also not receiving. Non-taking is bodhi, because it obstructs all taking. This dharma is equal, without high or low; because it is not high, there is no taking; because it is not low, there is no abandoning. One who contemplates thus contemplates the tathāgatagarbha, complete and without deficiency; it is the wish-fulfilling jewel, producing treasures at will; it is the asura lute, producing sounds at will; it is great wealth. Because of great wealth, there is no taking; this is the heaven of supreme truth, so one is not far removed. This is called the ultimate upholding of the precept of not stealing. A person of the Perfect Teaching also has stealing in the Dharma door: when there is no one who gives bodhi, yet one takes bodhi, like the ocean swallowing streams without blocking the myriad tributaries, like the earth bearing the four heavy burdens. All sentient beings are delivered, all kleśas are severed, all Dharma doors are known, and the Buddha path is completely accomplished. Third, regarding not engaging in sexual misconduct: physical union of male and female is called phenomenal sexual misconduct. In the interpretation of the Dharma door: if the mind is tainted by dharmas, that is lust. If one shuts and checks the seven branches, like an ape bound in chains, or like carrying a bowl of oil through a great crowd, severing and relinquishing pleasant touch, seeking future purity regarding the five desires—like trading in a market, or like exchanging copper coins for gold coins—this merely increases the matters of desire; it is not non-desire. If one severs the coarse, vile desires of the desire realm but craves the bliss of the dhyānas of the form and formless realms, like a frozen fish or a hibernating insect, falling into the long-life heavens, this is one of the difficulties; craving the taste of dhyāna is called the great fetter; this is being tainted by the dharma of desire, not non-desire. If one detests saṃsāra and loves nirvāṇa, abandoning it and going straight ahead, traversing the road without turning back, unaffected and unsubdued by any visible forms or sounds, like Mount Sumeru unshaken by the eight winds, yet upon hearing the superior, wondrous merits of a bodhisattva or the sound of the Kiṃnara's lute, Kāśyapa begins to dance, unable to contain himself, and when the vairambha wind arrives, he is broken like rotten grass—this is being tainted by desire, not being untainted by desire. If a bodhisattva hates saṃsāra like excrement, hates nirvāṇa like a hostile bird, abandons the two extremes, and fixes the mind on the Middle Way, giving rise to love for the dharma in accord with the path, this is called 'falling from the peak'; it is a bodhisattva caṇḍāla. Lacking skillful means, this wisdom is bound, unable to overcome enemies, and what one cultivates becomes devoid of the sharp blade of wisdom; this is being tainted by the dharma of desire, not non-desire. A person of the Perfect Teaching contemplates the three truths in one mind: as identical to emptiness, what could be defiled? As identical to the provisional, what could be purified? As identical to the middle, what could be an extreme? As identical to both emptiness and the provisional, what could be the middle? Because it is identical to emptiness, there is no love for self, person, the sixteen views, or the dependent and primary [retributions]. Because it is identical to the provisional, there is no love for emptiness, signlessness, or wishlessness. Because it is identical to the middle, there is no love for the Buddha, bodhi, turning the wheel of the Dharma, or delivering sentient beings. The three truths being pure is called ultimate purity. Only the Buddha alone possesses the pure precepts; all others are called defilers of the precepts. A person of the Perfect Teaching also has a Dharma door of tainted love: as with the woman Vasumitrā, humans saw a human woman, gods saw a goddess; those who saw her immediately attained the samādhi of seeing the Buddha; those who held her hand attained the samādhi of reaching the Buddha; those who kissed her attained the samādhi of supreme love; those who embraced her attained the samādhi of dark accord. It is also like the bodhisattva who walked in the realm of Māra without defilement, transforming into immeasurable bodies to engage with immeasurable devīs, causing them all to generate the bodhimind; and furthermore, first drawing them in with desire, and later causing them to enter the Buddha's wisdom. This is desire that is non-desire, using desire to stop desire, like using a wedge to drive out a wedge, or using sound to stop sound. Fourth, regarding not lying: as for the Dharma door, it is claiming to have attained what one has not attained. Foolish ordinary beings, amidst inferior suffering, randomly give rise to notions of pleasure, erect the banner of arrogance, beat the drum of self-aggrandizement, cling to existence and dispute with non-existence, cling to non-existence and dispute with existence, give rise to the sixty-two views, destroy the wisdom eye, do not see the real, fully possess the four verbal faults, and regarding the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, like yellow leaves in saṃsāra, consider them true gold; regarding their own sphere of non-conceptualization, they mistakenly calculate it to be nirvāṇa. If this is not lying, what is lying? The two vehicles compete in clinging to rubble, carrying it out with joy, giving rise to the notion of extinction. When birth has not truly been exhausted, how could they attain extinction? Giving rise to the notion of peace and bliss, when what was to be done is not yet accomplished, how could they attain tranquility? In truth, they have not yet attained all liberation; claiming to have attained what they have not attained, is this not lying? For persons of the Distinct Teaching, the Buddha taught the true mark through four gates; clinging to the single existence, they are obstructed from the other three gates, and even clinging to neither existence nor non-existence, they fail to interfuse existence and non-existence. Now, regarding the true mark: the path of words is cut off, the place of mental activity is extinguished. How can one use words to name the wordless? How can one use numbers to count the countless? Is this not lying? A person of the Perfect Teaching contemplates in accord with reality and speaks in accord with reality. Contemplating in accord with reality means not contemplating internally, up to not contemplating apart from inside and outside, nor contemplating with non-existence; they attain this wisdom. Speaking in accord with reality means all is real, up to neither real nor not real, and so forth; all such are called the reality of dharmas. The sūtra says: 'All Buddhas speak real words'—that is, using the sound of the Buddha path to cause all to hear. A person of the Perfect Teaching also has a Dharma door of lying: speaking of a cart where there is no cart to entice playful children, or speaking of joy where there is no joy to stop a crying baby. If there are sentient beings who gain benefit through false words, the Buddha also speaks falsely. Furthermore, saying 'I am lustful Śrī,' or 'I am a god, I am a human,' when in truth he is neither god nor human, is using falsehood to draw out falsehood, causing them to attain non-falsehood. Fifth, regarding not drinking alcohol: in the interpretation of the Dharma door, delusion and inverted views are called alcohol. Now, alcohol is unwholesome, the root of all evils. Drinking alcohol invites madness; non-Buddhists and the like are examples of this; this is worldly drunkenness. The Great Sūtra says: 'From the past until now, beings have constantly been intoxicated by sounds and sights, transmigrating through birth and death.' Humans and gods of the three realms all share this drunkenness. The alcohol of avidyā has not yet been vomited out by the two vehicles; they are like people suffering from intermittent fever. The Great Sūtra cites their drunken return: in the world there is no permanence or bliss, yet they speak of self and purity; the Tathāgata is truly self and purity, yet they speak of impermanence and [suffering]. Like that drunkard who sees the sun and moon spinning, this is the drunkenness of the two vehicles. Bodhisattvas have not yet exhausted avidyā and do not see clearly, like viewing a painted image at night; like a drunkard who dimly sees the road. Kāśyapa said: 'From this time backward, all of us were called people of wrong views.' This is the drunkenness of bodhisattvas. A person of the Perfect Teaching practices the practice of the Tathāgata, is endowed with the nature of kleśas, and is able to know the Tathāgata's secret treasury; although possessing a fleshy eye, it is called the Buddha eye; what is seen is never seen again. Thus the active defilements and residual habit-energies of the five abodes are simultaneously eliminated without remainder. Since the dharma of alcohol has been removed, what could there be to be drunk on? A person of the Perfect Teaching also has a Dharma door of drinking alcohol: Aṅgulimāla said, 'Holding the flask of true emptiness, filled with the wine of the true mark, transforming through the five destinies, proclaiming and roaring.' Prasenajit being drunk turned into greater kindness; Queen Mallikā drinking was declared by the Buddha to be upholding the precepts. Entering a tavern, one establishes one's own resolve and also establishes the resolve of others. One who finds its gate acts properly whether moving with or against the grain; one who loses its handle cuts their hand while wielding the knife. From this we know that those who can take dust-like defilements and kleśas as Buddha-work have seen all dharmas as the true mark. In the true mark of the one mind, seeing no worldly faults, troubles, or obstructive dharmas, what is there to abandon? Seeing also no supramundane superior, noble, or wondrous dharmas, what is there to grasp? Merely for the sake of those who have not entered the gate of the true mark, who see various distinctions between ordinary beings and sages and give rise to delight and revulsion, one complies with their capacities, accords with their actions, and guides them with skillful means, causing them all to enter this single boundary of equality, free of dispute and loss, the Dharma door of self-realization, ultimate, eternal bliss. Such instructions do not fail previous capacities. Understanding the prescription behind the elbow is like reaching into one's pouch for a jewel. This is truly the supreme exposition, completely encompassing beginning and end; opening the gate of great giving, who comes before or after? Attaining the marrow of one's own dharmakāya, reaching the source of the wisdom ocean of the one mind: the initial 'A' already gathers the boundless, and beyond 'Kṣa' there are no words that can be spoken.