宗鏡錄 26.9

26.9

Answer: Although these matters exist, they are like events within a dream; even if these names exist, none of them are names that obtain actual entities. Thus we know that both dream and waking are empty, and both name and substance are tranquil. As the Private Notes on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa says: "Characteristics of phenomena being as such, how could they be spoken of? If spoken of, then it is said that there is a dharma that can be attained; retaining dharmas and forming interpretations is still the karma of birth and death. Now it is only intended that sentient beings eliminate all views. In this, 'view' has no other meaning, nor is there any ingenious explanation. Just as when a person dreams at night of all kinds of things seen, by the time they awake, there is not a single thing at all. It is the same now: within the false dream, it is said that the ten thousand dharmas exist; if one awakens to their nature, ultimately not a single thing can be attained. In this, there is also neither one who can speak and show, nor one who can hear and attain." For this reason, ordinary beings do not fall onto the stage of ordinary beings—the place of delusion is entirely empty; the Buddhas do not realize the gate of tathatā—at the time of awakening there is nothing attained. Thus one does not see a single dharma that can be severed, and there is no gate from which birth and death are exited; one does not see a single dharma that can be accomplished, and there is no road on which bodhi can be entered. The Viśeṣacintabrahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra says: "The Buddhas appear in the world not to cause sentient beings to exit birth and death and enter nirvāṇa, but merely to deliver them from the two views of birth and death and nirvāṇa." The Ratnakaraṇḍaka-sūtra says: "Mañjuśrī said: 'Venerable Kāśyapa, just as when a person has a fever, this person speaks all kinds of false utterances: is there any heavenly demon or ghost possessing them?' 'There is a great, clear physician who gives that person ghee to drink, and the fever is cured, and they cease to speak falsely: does any heavenly demon or ghost depart from them?' Kāśyapa replied: 'No.' '...and so forth, up to: In this way, the fever of worldly inversions has the notion of a self where there is no self; having abided in the notion of self, one transmigrates in birth and death. Therefore the Tathāgata appears in the world, and in accordance with their forms and colors and the Dharma gates they should understand, knowing and understanding the notion of self, severing inversions, expounds the Dharma for those sentient beings. Having heard the Dharma, they eliminate all notions and have no clinging; having known and understood notions, they cross over the currents and arrive at the other shore, which is called nirvāṇa. In this, is there any self, sentient being, life, nourished one, person, or human being that can be brought to nirvāṇa?' Kāśyapa replied: 'No.' Mañjuśrī said: 'For this benefit, the Tathāgata appears in the world only to reveal the characteristic of equality, not for arising, not for ceasing, but only for knowing and understanding that kleśas are not real.'" Explanation: As for the Tathāgata appearing in the world only to reveal the characteristic of equality: grasping at false suffering and seeking to be free from it, looking up to the measure of the sage and wishing to cultivate it—these are all the actions of a false self and the discriminations of emotional consciousness. Therefore, the Great Hero leaves his traces only to point to the correct source, breaking the false self to reveal the gate of the true self, and censuring emotional consciousness to return to the path of pure consciousness. The true self and pure consciousness are the very characteristic of equality. Because pure consciousness cuts off discrimination, the true self has no grasping sentiment. Because discrimination is cut off, distinctions naturally vanish; because there is no grasping sentiment, equality naturally manifests. The Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "Due to the wild confusion of your mind-nature from beginningless time, knowledge and views falsely arise; this arising of falsity does not cease, and fatigued seeing gives rise to defilements—just as when the eyeballs are fatigued, there appear illusory flowers, which arise confusedly from the pure, clear essence without a cause. All the world's mountains, rivers, and great earth, birth and death, and nirvāṇa, are all nothing but the inverted floral characteristics of wild fatigue." The Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: "The Buddha said: 'Subhūti, all dharmas have non-arising and non-action as their destination. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas cannot surpass such a destination. Why? Because within non-arising and non-action, destination and non-destination cannot be obtained.'" The Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: "The Buddha said: 'If there is a bodhisattva who accomplishes natural wisdom and skillful means and seeks bodhi, within these five aggregates, for the sake of truly awakening, they seek bodhi. This bodhisattva knows that form is impermanent and practices giving, and so forth up to feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Knowing that consciousness is impermanent, one should practice giving; knowing consciousness is suffering, knowing consciousness is non-self, knowing consciousness is dull, knowing consciousness is without wisdom, knowing consciousness is like an illusion, knowing consciousness is like a mirage, knowing consciousness is like the moon in the water, knowing consciousness is like a dream, knowing consciousness is like a shadow, knowing consciousness is like an echo, knowing consciousness is like a whirling firebrand, knowing consciousness is without self, knowing consciousness is without sentient beings, knowing consciousness is without life, knowing consciousness is without a person, knowing consciousness is without a master, knowing consciousness is without a nourished one, knowing consciousness is like space, knowing consciousness is without characteristics, knowing consciousness is without wish, knowing consciousness is without action, knowing consciousness is without birth, knowing consciousness is without arising, knowing consciousness is without departure, knowing consciousness is without form, knowing consciousness is quiescent, knowing consciousness is detached, knowing consciousness is without end, knowing consciousness is without accomplishment, knowing consciousness is equal to empty space, and so forth up to knowing consciousness is like the nature of nirvāṇa, one practices giving. When the bodhisattva practices giving in this way, because giving is detached, they know consciousness is also detached. Because consciousness is detached, they know giving is also detached. Because consciousness and giving are detached, they know vows are also detached. Because vows are detached, they know consciousness, giving, and vows are also detached. Because consciousness, giving, and vows are detached, they know bodhi is also detached. Because bodhi is detached, knowing consciousness, giving, and vows are detached, they know that all dharmas share the nature of bodhi. Good son, this is the bodhisattva's supramundane dānapāramitā.'" It is because consciousness is empty that all the ten thousand dharmas of the ordinary and sage are empty. By understanding this emptiness, one is only then able to practice unsurpassed bodhi and fully equip the ten pāramitās; then compassion and wisdom are perfected, and the two benefits are without defect. Being equipped with this compassion and wisdom, what is accomplished? Because the Buddha-seed is not severed. When the Buddha-seed is not severed, what are its characteristics? It refers to accomplishing the three virtues: rescuing and protecting sentient beings accomplishes the virtue of grace; eternally severing kleśas accomplishes the virtue of abandonment; and fully knowing all formations accomplishes the virtue of wisdom. For this reason, entering this Mirror of the Source, movement and rest are citta alone; there is not a single dharma that can be destroyed. As the Ākāśagarbhabodhisattvapṛcchā-sūtra says: "For example, it is like sentient beings moving through the sky, and that sky is not destroyed; in this way, all sentient beings move within tathatā, and that tathatā is not broken or destroyed. The bodhisattva is like this: through wisdom, with regard to form and phenomena, they seal them with tathatā, not causing interruption or destruction within tathatā. This is the bodhisattva using the Tathāgata's seal to seal tathatā, due to uninterrupted skillful wisdom."