宗鏡錄 30.3.1

30.3.1

Answer: The King of Awakening, in his final compassionate instruction, only commanded cultivating the real in the stations of mindfulness (smṛtyupasthāna). What the First Patriarch originally transmitted was merely pointing directly to human citta as buddha. If one can faithfully accept this, that is true requital of kindness. Showing it to others does not fail their capacity; investigating it oneself definitively accomplishes the great matter. As the verses in Master Zhiyi's *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind* state:

“When the Great Master was about to enter nirvāṇa,
The Compassionate Father left his testament:
‘Cultivate the path in the four stations of mindfulness;
You should abide relying on the prātimokṣa.’
We are not sons of the Buddha:
We do not keep this testament in mind.
Slack in the vehicle, inwardly there is no path;
Slack in the precepts, one falls into the three miserable destinies.
Because one does not ask about contemplating the mind,
One causes others' faith gradually to diminish.
If one does not feed the black crows,
How can one requite the kindness of the white crow?
Not only is the field infertile,
There is no seed of impartiality.
If the rain of Dharma does not fall,
The seed of Dharma will surely wither and scorch.
Each lacks provisions for the future life,
Losing the three benefits and incurring suffering.
The Great Dharma is on the verge of ruin—
How lamentable to witness this matter!
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
The impartial, true dharmadhātu
Has neither practice nor arrival.
If one can ask about contemplating the mind,
One can practice and can arrive.
This is itself the four stations of mindfulness,
Being able to abide relying on the prātimokṣa.
Zealous in the vehicle, inwardly there is the path;
Zealous in the precepts, one is born among humans and devas.
This is a true son of the Buddha,
Not going against the Compassionate Father's behest.
Devas and nāgas all rejoice;
How could all beings not be delighted?
One can requite the kindness of the white crow,
And universally give food to the black crows.
Since there is a good and fertile field,
There are seeds of impartiality.
The rain of Dharma falls in due season,
And the seeds of Dharma all grow.
Each has provisions for the future,
Together obtaining the joy of the three benefits.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Wishing to hear the unsurpassed path,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
The wisdom arisen from hearing never unfolds.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Wishing to reflect upon the unsurpassed path,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
The wisdom arisen from reflection never arises.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Wishing to cultivate the unsurpassed path,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
The wisdom arisen from cultivation is never perfected.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Diligently cultivating the four samādhis,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
Worn out in distress, they achieve nothing.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Hearing much and gaining verbal fluency,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
They have not yet attained true joy.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Cultivating samādhi and attaining concentration,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
In blind dhyāna they see nothing.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Wishing to repent their many sins,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
Their sins in the end are difficult to be freed from.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Wishing in their minds to be free from kleśas,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
The kleśas are never extinguished in the end.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Originally wishing to benefit others,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
Falling back, they cause others to slander.
All those who come seeking the Dharma,
Wishing to promote and manifest the Buddha-Dharma,
Do not know to ask about contemplating the mind:
Falling back, they greatly soil and harm it.
Such manifold gains and losses
Cannot be fully conveyed in verse.
Though there are these various gains and losses,
No one awakens to them.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Cultivating the contemplation of mind in the final age,
Attaining corrupt concentration and producing views,
Their eloquence is inexhaustible,
And they consider themselves treasures among men.
Smelling with the snout of one devoid of wisdom,
The wild fox's stench strikes the eyes;
Raising their tails, they retreat together,
Falling one after another into the pit to perish.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Guarding the tip of the nose in ānāpāna,
And cultivating the contemplation of the impure:
Attaining the four dhyānas through ānāpāna,
One does not escape the suffering of niraya;
Deeming the impure to be the state of no-more-learning,
Inverting the bowl and receiving food from women,
Even if born following dhyāna,
One falls into the disaster of the heavens of long life.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Relying on phenomenal methods to apply the mind,
Lacking wisdom, ghost concentration arises;
Manifesting abnormalities to agitate people's minds,
When the matter comes to light, it destroys the Buddha-Dharma.
When life ends, one is born in the ghost realm
As one of the ninety-six retinues.
The seminal period of the semblance Dharma clearly reveals
Three masters who ruin the Buddha-Dharma.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
The inner mind is not for the sake of the path;
Deviously and flatteringly thinking of fame and gain,
Falsely displaying the appearance of sitting in dhyāna,
One gains fame, gain, and a retinue.
When the matter comes to light, it destroys others' faith,
Damaging the correct path of the Buddha:
This is a śāṇḍila;
Upon dying, one falls into the Avīci hell.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
By expounding the Dharma, one attains liberation;
For the assembly hearing the Dharma it is also thus.
Not knowing to ask about contemplating the mind,
It is like a poor person counting others' treasures.
If the speaker asks about contemplating the mind,
There is neither expounding nor indicating;
If the listener asks about contemplating the mind,
There is neither hearing nor attaining.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
The precepts are for reining the horse of the mind;
Though keeping the Vinaya of the five divisions,
If one does not know to ask about contemplating the mind,
The horse of the mind will never be tamed in the end.
The Vinaya maintains the Buddha-Dharma;
Understanding the external without understanding the internal,
Vimalakīrti rebuked the foremost disciple:
Only that is named truly upholding the Vinaya.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Reciting sūtras, one attains liberation;
It is not for worldly wealth and gain.
If one can ask about contemplating the mind,
From within a single dust mote
Issue the sūtra scrolls of the great trichiliocosm.
Those who uphold, read, and recite them,
Hear and retain them without forgetting,
Their minds opening, attain liberation.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Exhorting and transforming to cultivate offerings,
Promoting and displaying them to establish practitioners,
With secret intentions for personal gain,
Relying upon it to support oneself,
Ruining others' wholesome giving of joy,
One must repay people as camels and donkeys.
If one can ask about contemplating the mind,
It is just like the steed of camels.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
The various paths each have their methods,
Yet they completely fail to investigate them themselves;
Suddenly prying into the Śākya teachings,
It quickly takes ten or several tens of years.
Not only are their doctrines clumsy,
They also harbor minds scheming destruction:
This is Kapila;
How could sages and immortals listen to their explanation?
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Wealthy and noble yet lacking the path,
They mostly increase arrogance and indulgence.
If one can ask about contemplating the mind,
One attains the wealth and nobility of the true Dharma:
Though high, one is not in danger;
Though full, one does not overflow;
Unattached to worldly wealth and nobility,
The mind constantly abides in the Dharma of the path.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
Poor and lowly, they are mostly deceitful and flattering;
Spying around, they commit manifold evils,
Presently punished by the king's law,
At death falling into the three bad destinies.
If one can ask about contemplating the mind,
One is at peace with poverty and nurtures the path.
Possessing the path, one is true and real;
Unconditioned, one is wealthy and joyful.
It is for this reason
That I must compose the *Treatise on Contemplating the Mind*.
The four assemblies are all sons of the Buddha;
None are not Dharma relatives.
Yet clinging to wholesome dharmas, they dispute.”