宗鏡錄 30.7

30.7

Answer: When Sumeru enters a mustard seed, the small does not obstruct the large, and the large does not identify with the small; hence it is called inconceivable. Now, the existence of the affliction of defilement does not obstruct wisdom and nirvāṇa; wisdom and nirvāṇa do not impede the binding afflictions and defilements. This is precisely what is termed inconceivable. Moreover, [this is explained] in terms of possessing substance, lacking substance, being without form, and being without citta, to elucidate that liberation has no substance. If one takes the inconceivable contemplation, form and citta are precisely the form and citta of the dharmatā. Completely possessing form and citta that are unarisen and unceasing, one attains liberation. Therefore, one knows that true, good, and wonderful form is the substance of the wonderful citta. Furthermore, wonderful form is serene and eternally abides. Moreover, form is liberation and nirvāṇa; if there were no form, it would be like a dead person, so how could there be liberation? Even a wasp making honey or a spider spinning a web are all inconceivable; they all possess the liberation of the cittasrota [mental factor] dharmas. Thus one knows that by directly understanding this citta, there is no practice that is deficient, because the one mind is fully endowed with the myriad practices, and there is not a single practice that is not citta. For instance, regarding what is called giving: when great bodhisattvas practice giving and the like, they are able to contemplate that it is consciousness-only and know that the objective realm is citta. That is, outside citta there are no dharmas; the substance of the three wheels is empty—this is called true giving. Regarding upholding precepts: it means realizing citta-only, being free from thoughts and eternally pure; when the defilement of avidyā is exhausted, that is the accomplishment of the Buddha's precepts. It is just that within the Buddha-citta all virtues are fully present; from the perspective of being free from faults, it is named 'precepts'. Regarding patience: one contemplates sentient beings as erroneous views of vijñaptimātra, knowing that outside the fundamental citta there are no dharmas toward which to be angry. Regarding vigor: the vigor of the Tathāgata, in terms of his own practice, constantly contemplates vijñaptimātra; hence the Saṃgraha says that because the Tathāgata never departs from contemplation, it is quiescent. Regarding dhyāna meditation: the meditation of great bodhisattvas means that when contemplating vijñaptimātra they do not see any objective realm, and the citta has no conditioned thoughts—this is true meditation. Regarding wisdom: great bodhisattvas all contemplate their own citta, taking mental verbal conceptualizations to be the objective realm; from the initial aspiration up to the attainment of Buddhahood, they all perform this contemplation. How could this be limited to the four immeasurables and the six pāramitās, becoming Buddhas and transforming births, or wanting to entrust one's form to a lotus pedestal, casting away the womb forever, and being born in Sukhāvatī and other Buddha lands, sporting in supernormal powers? All are able to fully comprehend their own citta, and there is nowhere they do not manifest in going. Furthermore, how could it be limited to merely one practice or one vow? Whatever desires and aspirations there may be, all are fulfilled in accord with intention. Therefore the Tathāgatācintyaviṣayasaṃgrahasūtra says: 'All the Buddhas of the three periods of time are completely non-existent; they rely solely on one's own citta. If a bodhisattva can understand and know that all Buddhas and all dharmas are only the measure of citta, they attain the conformable patience (anulomikī kṣānti), or enter the first ground, and abandoning the body, are quickly born in the Abhirati world, or are born in the pure Buddha land of Sukhāvatī.' A verse in the Vajraprajñāpāramitā-śāstra says: 'When wisdom trains in the mastery of vijñaptimātra, / One thus takes the pure land.' The Awakening of Faith says: 'For those persons who first develop faith in the Mahāyāna citta, all Buddhas gather them in and cause them to be born in pure lands.' The Sarvadharmāpravṛttinirdeśasūtra says: 'If one could teach and transform sentient beings in a great trichiliocosm, causing them to practice the ten virtues, it would not equal a bodhisattva entering the Dharma-gate of the single characteristic for the duration of a single meal in a quiet place with one mind.' The Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra says: 'The Buddha told Subhūti: You should know that the profound prajñāpāramitā is the gateway toward which all wholesome dharmas tend. It is like the great ocean, which is the gateway toward which all waters tend.' A verse in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'Among all pāramitās, / The Buddha-citta is foremost.' Therefore, among all yānas, this yāna is the ultimate. The Tiantai teaching says: 'That the liberation of all Buddhas is sought within the mental activities of sentient beings means: if one contemplates the mental activities of sentient beings, enters the intrinsically pure wisdom, and plumbs the source of sentient beings' citta, this reveals the fruit of the liberation of all Buddhas. If one sees that the citta of sentient beings is empty, one sees that the Buddha lands are empty; this is seeking and obtaining the three kinds of liberation within mental activities: the citta-nature of sentient beings is itself the true nature liberation; delusion and attachment are themselves the real wisdom liberation; all unwholesome actions are themselves the expedient liberation.' Thus we know that this one-mind true nature liberation can empty the bonds of defilements, the nine fetters, the ten emissaries, and so forth. It is like a single sandalwood tree that changes an eraṇḍa forest of forty yojanas so that all is fragrant, because it is able to make defilement identical to bodhi. Furthermore, if one severs delusion and repents sins, compared to other gradual teachings, it is like a thousand pounds of cotton blossoms not equaling an ounce of genuine gold. Therefore it is said: 'If one wishes to repent, / Sit upright and contemplate the true mark.' Then one directly understands the unarisen citta, and right there is liberation. A commentary on the Suvarṇaprabhāsasūtra says: 'Vairocana pervades all places. Whether walking or staying, whether in light or in darkness, in all cases one is never apart from seeing the Buddha, the World-Honoured One. What the six faculties encounter is nothing that is not the Buddha-dharma. When Jīvaka gathered grass, there was none that was not medicine, which could universally heal diseases. All the gravel held by Mahānāman turned into jewels. Aniruddha's empty vessel was entirely filled with amṛta. If one can be like this, the sin contemplated is no longer sin: sin is itself the true mark. The merit contemplated: merit is itself non-merit: merit is itself the true mark. It is purely the true mark: this is called the great repentance.' The Sūtra on the Practice of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra says: 'Contemplate citta as without citta; it arises from inverted thoughts. Such a thinking citta arises from false conceptualization, like wind in the empty sky, without any place of reliance. Such characteristics of dharmas neither arise nor perish. What is sin? What is merit? My citta is naturally empty; sin and merit have no master. All dharmas are also like this: without abiding and without destruction. Such is repentance.' Moreover, having sin that can be exposed is not true repentance; having good that can be seen is not true rejoicing; having a dharma toward which one can tend is not true dedication; having an affair that can be sought is not true raising of a vow. If one enters the Mirror of the Source and clearly understands one's own citta, then there is no place and no direction: everything is pure. As the Profound Mahāpariṇāmanāsūtra says: 'The Buddha said: There are three kinds of dedication. What are the three? Namely, the past is empty, the future is empty, and the present is empty. There is no one who dedicates, nor is there any dharma dedicated, nor is there any place dedicated to. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should make this dedication. When making this dedication, the three places are all pure. With this pure merit, together with all sentient beings, one dedicates it toward anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. For one who makes this dedication, there are no ordinary beings nor dharmas of ordinary beings, up to there being no Buddha nor anyone heading toward Buddhahood. Why is this? The dharmatā is without conditions, unarisen and unceasing, and without any abiding.' The Dharmasaṃgītisūtra says: 'Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas do not seek an ultimate place in any dharmas. Why is this? Because for this bodhisattva, in all dharmas there is nothing that is not ultimate. This bodhisattva does not seek liberation: the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is quiescent, and there is nothing that is not liberation. This bodhisattva takes delight in no dharma, nor is he repulsed by any dharma. For this bodhisattva, with respect to all Buddha-dharmas, they are not his own dharmas, nor are they the dharmas of others; he grasps no dharma, and discards no dharma.' The Lotus Sūtra says: 'At that time the Buddha told Viśiṣṭacāritra and the other great assembly of bodhisattvas: The divine powers of all Buddhas are thus immeasurable, boundless, and inconceivable. If I, with these divine powers, were to speak of the merits of this sūtra throughout immeasurable, boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of asaṃkhyeya kalpas for the sake of entrusting it, I still could not exhaust them. In brief: all the dharmas possessed by the Tathāgata, all the sovereign divine powers of the Tathāgata, all the secret essential treasuries of the Tathāgata, and all the profound matters of the Tathāgata are all proclaimed, revealed, and explicitly stated in this sūtra.' Therefore we know that for the Kings of Enlightenment of the three periods of time and the Great Beings of the ten directions, all the Buddha-dharmas possessed, all the gateways of supernormal powers for gathering and transforming, all the secret essential treasuries of the source tenets, and all the profound matters of cause and effect are completely fulfilled in this citta. Hence it says that throughout immeasurable, boundless asaṃkhyeya kalpas entrusting this Dharma and praising this citta's non-fabricated function and incomparable virtue, one still could not exhaust them. How could one carelessly formulate words about it in a mere instant? This Record of the Mirror of the Source is what great wisdom practices, and what those of superior capacity can receive. It eliminates the foolish and mad view of throwing oneself off cliffs, and abandons the base mind of the straw hut. It is not something that a limited mind can casually hope for. How can one ladle the ocean with a conch shell? How can one measure heaven by breaking a stalk of grass? If one encounters a great capacity, one also must not walk on a small path; one must rely on the Mirror of the Source to directly reveal the original citta. As the sūtra says: 'Do not put foul food into a precious vessel; do not put the great ocean into a cow's hoofprint.' Thus we know that those who give rise to faith in this are extremely rare. Why is this? Believing in the fruit-Buddha is easy, as in the Buddhas of the ten directions; believing in the causal Buddha is difficult, as in current sentient beings. Hence the Commentary on the Awakening of Faith says: 'Believing that the past Śākya, the future Maitreya, and so forth are Buddhas is easy. Now believing that the tathatā in the citta of sentient beings is that upon which both ordinary people and sages commonly rely—if one is deluded about it, the six destinies are endless; if one awakens to it, the Three Jewels are uninterrupted—this is rare. It is like believing in the royal womb of an empress is easy, but believing in the holy pregnancy of a poor woman is difficult.' Therefore defiled dharmas and pure dharmas are both the sprout of citta; springing forth from the fundamental ground, there is no other womb. As Bodhisattva Asaṅga's verse in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra says: 'One's own dhātu and the two lights, / Delusion arises together with the defilements; / Such conceptualizations, / One should distance from the two realities.' The commentary says: 'One's own dhātu refers to one's own seeds of the ālayavijñāna division. The two lights refer to the light of the grāhaka (grasping) and the light of the grāhya (grasped). These conceptualizations arise due to shared avidyā and other remaining defilements. Such conceptualizations should be distanced from the two realities. The two realities refer to the reality of the grasped and the reality of the grasping. One should seek to distance oneself from the defilement and purity of these two realities.' The commentary says: 'This is also the meaning of gathering the branches back to the root.' The treatise says: 'One who seeks vijñaptimātra says: grasping and grasped, these two are only the light of citta; the light of rāga and the light of faith, the two lights have no two dharmas.' The commentary says: 'One who seeks vijñaptimātra should know that grasping and grasped, these two kinds, are only the light of citta. Thus the light of defilements such as rāga, and the light of wholesome dharmas such as faith—these two lights also lack the two dharmas of defilement and purity. Why is this? Because not apart from the light of citta, there are no separate defiled or pure dharmas of rāga, faith, etc. The two lights are also without characteristics.' The verse says: 'Various citta-lights arise, / Such are the various characteristics; / Because the substance of the light is not a substance, / One does not obtain the reality of that dharma.' The commentary says: 'The various citta-lights are precisely the various phenomenal characteristics. Those that arise at different times refer to the light of rāga, the light of dveṣa, etc.; those that arise simultaneously refer to the light of faith, the light of vigor, etc. That the substance of the light is [not a substance] is thus. The mental factors of the defiled state and the mental factors of the pure state only have the characteristics of light but lack the substance of light. For this reason, the World-Honoured One did not speak of them as real dharmas.' Thus we know that the substance of the myriad dharmas does not depart from the citta-source of Vairocana, and the gateways of the myriad goods do not exceed Samantabhadra's ocean of practices. How does it not depart from the citta-source of Vairocana? As the verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'As many as the dust motes of Buddha lands, / Such lands, / In a single thought-moment, / Are able to appear in each single dust mote.' How does it not exceed Samantabhadra's ocean of practices? As the verse in the Asaṃkhyeya Chapter says: 'At the tip of a single minute hair, / There are ineffable Samantabhādras; / As at one hair-tip, so it is in all, / Thus extending throughout the dharmadhātu.' This Vairocana citta is precisely the bodhicitta; this Samantabhadra practice is precisely the bodhi practice. As the verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'If one wishes to see all Buddhas of the ten directions, / If one wishes to bestow an inexhaustible treasury of virtues, / If one wishes to extinguish all the afflictions and suffering of sentient beings, / One should quickly generate the bodhicitta.' The ancients said: 'The bodhicitta is the root of the myriad practices; this very generation of citta is named practice.'