宗鏡錄 24.7.8

24.7.8

The Buddha conferred upon Māra's daughters the prophecy of buddhahood. Later, when Māra heard that the daughters had received the prophecy of becoming buddhas, he came and said to the Buddha: "Now, over my own retinue, I have no mastery." At that time, the devīs manifested an appearance of timid weakness, yet proclaimed the wondrous principle, speaking again to Māra, saying: "Do not grieve and worry. We at present do not depart from your realm. Why is this? The tathatā of the realm of Māra and the tathatā of the realm of the Buddha are non-dual and not different. We do not depart from such a realm of Māra, because the realm of Māra is itself the realm of the Buddha. In the realm of Māra there is no determinate phenomenon that can be shown, and in the realm of the Buddha there is likewise no determinate phenomenon that can be shown. All phenomena lack a determinate nature. Because they lack a determinate nature, there is neither a retinue nor a non-retinue." If one can understand this single-boundary Dharma gate, one may be said to step in the traces of the Buddha right on the traces of Māra, and to drift upon the stream of the Dharma while dwelling within the mundane stream. Merely understand one's own mind, and all subtleties universally assemble; hence it is called the "wondrous Dharma." It is also compared to a lotus flower: when the flower opens, the stamens, pistils, and pod all appear together. This is an analogy for the opening of the mind of sentient beings, wherein compassion, wisdom, practice, and vow also open. This wondrous Dharma is constantly abiding: the one mind is itself the seed of the fruit of buddhahood. Therefore, when the Tathāgata attains this one Dharma, he is endowed with all dharmas. For this reason, in a single fine dust mote or a single pore of skin, which are completely equal to immeasurable dust motes and pores, the Tathāgata expounds all dharmas therein; the principles of Dharma are layered upon layer, inexhaustible. Because it is layered upon layer with subtlety, he pities sentient beings who do not know the subtlety of the mind and merely chase after the coarse and superficial. If they awaken, without the interval of a kṣaṇa they instantly attain the fruit of buddhahood. Therefore the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "In the snap of a finger one transcends the stage of no-more-learning." Like a jewel in a dark room, as soon as an orchid-candle is lit, it all appears at once. Hence it is said: "The mind opens and the intent is resolved; one attains the purity of the Dharma eye." It is also said: "The mind's eye opens to brightness." Because one sees the substance of the dharmadhātu, and inside or outside the mind there is not the slightest characteristic of a speck of dust, one attains the bright purity of the Dharma eye. If one sees existence or non-existence, these all become obstructing cataracts. Thus we know that not only is the mind the gate of Buddha-activities, it is even the root of the myriad practices and myriad virtues numerous as the sands of the Ganges. As the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra says: "If someone asks, 'What does a bodhisattva take as root?' one should determinately answer, 'Great compassion is taken as root.'" The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: "If someone asks, 'What is the root of all goods?' one should say it is loving-kindness. By this meaning, it is truly not false. Good sons, being able to do good is called true contemplation; true contemplation is precisely called loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is the Tathāgata; loving-kindness is the Great Vehicle." Now, that which is called "true contemplation" is nothing other than the true and real mind. If one enters into the mirror of the source, it is like dwelling in a sandalwood chamber: purely one without mixture, serene and blended. In thought after thought one fully realizes the Dharma gate; at step after step one visits good spiritual friends. As in the Avataṃsakasūtra: sometimes by voice, sometimes by manifesting wondrous form, sometimes by extraordinary fragrance, sometimes by supreme taste, sometimes by wondrous touch, sometimes by the Dharma mirror, or by the inner six sense faculties, or the four deportments, or disciples and figures, or all that is done, or following the correct Dharma, or inversely applying heterodox ways—wherever there is seeing or hearing, all can gather beings. Therefore the "Chapter on Entering the Dharmadhātu" says: "From a single pore of skin, the wondrous Dharma voices of all buddhas issue forth." And a verse says: "The various jeweled nets strike against each other, proclaiming the voice of the Buddha without end." Also, a verse in the "Chapter on Samantabhadra's Conduct" says: "The Buddha speaks, the bodhisattvas speak, the lands speak, sentient beings speak; all throughout the three times speak." Furthermore, in the Ghanavyūhasūtra, Bodhisattva Vajragarbha emits sound from the pores of his entire body to expound the Dharma. Therefore, horizontally encompassing all places in the ten directions, and vertically penetrating all times in the three boundaries, the wheel of the Dharma is constantly turned without interruption and without end. Hence a verse in the "Chapter on Asamkhyeyas" says: "Each and every one of those tathāgatas emits ineffable brahma-sounds; within each and every one of those brahma-sounds, they turn the ineffable pure wheel of the Dharma; within each and every one of those wheels of the Dharma, they rain down ineffable sūtras; within each and every one of those sūtras, they discriminate ineffable dharmas; within each and every one of those dharmas, they further speak ineffable dharmas, and so forth." Thus we know that if one accords with the intent and unites in secret with the source, though no Dharma is spoken, touching objects one constantly hears the wondrous voice. But if conditions are contrary and obstacles are deep, even if dwelling in the assembly of the Buddha, when it is spoken one will not hear a single character. Just as when the secret teaching is expounded, those sharing the same mat hear differently; just as when the Huayan source is discussed, the two vehicles do not see it. It can be called profound and unfathomable—except only for those who have planted the good roots of the marks of the Tathāgata—supremely wondrous and hard to conceive, not entering into the hands of any other sentient beings. Again, the Zahuayan shi lun says: "The reason sentient beings transmigrate in birth and death and do not attain the true Way is truly because they do not recognize the source of the mind. If they recognize the source of the mind, they are able to abandon heterodox attachments and return to the correct Way." It further says: "The mind and consciousness of all sentient beings reach universally to the ten directions in a single kṣaṇa, swift and without delusion, passing directly through stone walls, fearless wherever they reach, like a lion." As a sūtra says: "Dwelling within the chest of a lion." Thus we know that the one mind is the dharmadhātu, and the dharmadhātu is the one mind, covering the ten directions without exposing a single thread of hair. How could it be that only the mind is endowed with it? The body also universally contains it. Moreover, among the ten bodies, there are the land body and the space body; how could it not be endowed with them? As the Dhyānapāramitā says: "The inner world of the bodies of sentient beings and the outer lands are intimately connected in meaning. When a practitioner, by the power of samādhi, wisdom, vows, and knowledge, attentively contemplates the body, he immediately knows that this body fully emulates all mundane and supramundane matters of heaven and earth. Why is this? As for the marks of such a body, the round head resembles heaven; the square feet emulate earth. Inside there is the element of space, which is itself empty space. The abdomen is warm, emulating spring and summer; the back is rigid and firm, emulating autumn and winter. The four limbs embody the four seasons. The twelve major joints emulate the twelve months; the three hundred and sixty minor joints emulate the three hundred and sixty days. The breath coming out of the nose and mouth emulates the winds of mountains, marshes, ravines, and valleys. The eyes emulate the sun and moon; the opening and closing of the eyes emulates day and night. The hair emulates the stars; the eyebrows are the Northern Dipper; the blood vessels are the rivers; the bones are jade and stone."