[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt) › 30 # 宗鏡錄 30 English (machine translation) 30 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [30.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.3) — 4 parts ### [30.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.1) Compiled by the host of Huiri Yongming Temple, Dhyāna Master Zhijue, Yanshou ### [30.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.2) Now, bodhisattvas who wish to repay the Buddha's kindness must all not spare body or life in protecting and upholding the Tathāgata's true Dharma. Why does recounting only the one mind enable one to repay his compassionate transformation? ### [30.3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.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.” ### [30.3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.3.2) …\[the mind\] will end up forming grudges in the future. If one can inquire into and contemplate the citta, \[people\] will harmonize like milk and water; all are cubs of the lion, all are a grove of sandalwood. For this cause and condition, one must compose the Treatise on Contemplating the Citta. With declining years, my body is beset with illness; my eyes are dim, and my ears grow deaf; my citta is confused, with much forgetfulness and negligence; each year is worse than the last. The king of death, the garuḍa, will before long swallow the life-faculty. Once the rope of karma snaps, when breath is cut off, how could one speak? For this cause and condition, one must compose the Treatise on Contemplating the Citta. I bow my head to the buddhas of the ten directions, who out of profound loving-kindness contemplate the citta: urge \[others\] to skillfully and truly examine it, to generate the wondrous bliss of correct awakening. I bow my head to the Dharma of the ten directions, which out of profound compassion contemplates the citta: skillfully urge \[others\] to truly examine it, that they may attain truth and be freed from all suffering. I bow my head to the Saṅgha of the ten directions, the ocean of harmony of the great assembly: if one can skillfully examine it, the joyful citta is boundless. I bow my head to Master Nāgārjuna: may \[you\] cause us swiftly to gain awakening, and also to abandon the three minds. Now relying on the power of the Three Jewels, I raise thirty-six questions. The detailed inquiries among them are difficult to count against matters. If, contemplating the citta of a single thought-moment, one can answer these questions, one should know that one's mind-eye is opened, and one has gained entry into the cool pool. If one cannot answer these questions, alas, how blind and dark! Failing to see even slight meaning, how could one walk the Great Way? How mournful that in the age of the Final Dharma, there are no longer people who practice the Path! Even if there were three or several, how could they distinguish these questions? Therefore, conceiving a citta of pity, I take refuge in and pay homage to the Three Jewels, composing this Treatise of Inquiring into the Citta, to cause the encouraged to become luminous and clear. May all who see and hear this not generate a citta of doubt or slander; faithfully accepting and diligently cultivating it, they will surely obtain the great benefit of the Dharma. Up to the verse questions, which state: I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why are there the four unexplainables, free from conceptual proliferation, grasping, and contention, the citta pure as empty space? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why are there the actions of Māra, bound by karma and kleśas, burning in the burning house of the three realms? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why are there the non-Buddhists, with the karma of various views and kleśas, transmigrating in the six paths? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why are there the three vehicles, which by clumsy salvation cut off \[the delusions of\] view and thought, and emerge from the burning house of the three realms? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why is there skillful salvation, wherein the three vehicles do not sever bonds, yet enter the two nirvāṇas? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why is there the Distinct Teaching, seeking the eternal fruit of the Great Vehicle, wherein bodhisattvas sever distinct delusions? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why is there the Perfect Teaching vehicle, which does not disrupt the dharmadhātu, and abides in the nirvāṇa of the three virtues? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why is there nirvāṇa, cultivating the four kinds of samādhi, attaining the true anutpattikadharmakṣānti? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one skillfully accomplish the twenty-five expedients, tuning the citta to enter the correct path? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know one's own citta generates the ten kinds of objects, accomplishing the three wisdoms in one mind? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know the ten objects each accomplish the ten vehicles of the Dharma, joyfully roaming in the four directions? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why, by the non-abiding dharma, does one enter the stage of the initial arousal of the mind and the forty-two stages? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why are the six pāramitās accomplished, able to attain the various samādhis and the various dhāraṇīs? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one attain the six supernormal powers, using the four means of embracing to conduct transformation, with the four unobstructed analytical knowledges without hindrance? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one attain the major and minor marks, accomplishing the two bodies of truth and response, facing conditions like reflections in a mirror? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why is one endowed with the ten powers and the four fearlessnesses, inner and outer illumination and function perfected? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why, in contemplating the citta, can one attain the eighteen kinds of dharmas unshared with the world? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one attain great loving-kindness, great compassion, and the three applications of mindfulness, pitying sentient beings without differing notions? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one, by skillful means, bring sentient beings to accomplishment and adorn and purify all lands? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one, in this citta, adorn the bodhi tree and establish a pure place of enlightenment? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one subdue the hordes of Māra, able to restrain all non-Buddhists, causing the multitude all to take refuge and pay respect? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one sit in the place of enlightenment, manifesting four kinds of attaining buddhahood, meeting capacities without difference? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one turn the four teachings' pure, wondrous wheel of the Dharma, so that all attain the ambrosia? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one manifest four buddhas with four kinds of nirvāṇa characteristics, ultimately extinguished without remainder? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know that as for circumstantial and direct reward, across the four lands, the celestial vessels are identical, yet the color of the rice differs? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why, in this citta, is it all faculties and conditions, penetrating through without hindrance? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know the siddhāntas, formless with nothing expounded, yet manifesting forms to broadly expound the Dharma? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know the gradual, sudden, secret, and indeterminate teachings, with a single sound expounding these four? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know the four teachings each open into four gates, and all Dharma gates? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why, regarding the four teachings' four gates, the sixteen gates, does one compose treatises to penetrate the various sūtras? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one abide in the cessation attainment, pervasively entering the ten dharmadhātus, broadly benefiting all sentient beings? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know that in the four lands, the application of teachings has increase and decrease, pervasively benefiting all sentient beings? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know this citta is endowed with all buddha-dharmas, with not a single dharma existing outside the citta? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know this citta is the equal dharmadhātu, wherein the Buddha does not deliver sentient beings? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why does one know this citta is the dharmadhātu like empty space, ultimately with nothing thought of? I ask, contemplating the self-arising citta: Why are there no letters, all speech cut off, solitary and silent without verbal expression? Now, in terms of contemplating the self-arising citta of a single thought-moment, I have briefly raised thirty-six questions. For practitioners who contemplate the citta from outside, as well as lifelong companions, retinues, and those who practice the four kinds of samādhi—if that contemplator of the citta can thoroughly penetrate each and every one, one should generate toward them a thought of the citta as equal to the Buddha, drawing close to them and practicing their teachings as one would the four reliances. As for disciples and retinue, if they are unhindered in this... ### [30.3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.3.3) \[such a person\] is a true fellow-practitioner, a true scion of the Dharma King, continuing the lineage of the Three Jewels and keeping it from interruption. If one cannot contemplate the mind born of itself in a single thought and answer these questions one by one, one is a retinue member of heavenly Māras and non-Buddhists, driven by them, precisely situated in the prison of the three realms without any prospect of escape. If in one's citta one is not content and seeks to be pulled out, one will inevitably fall into the pit of the two vehicles and the three evil destinies, severing for oneself the dharmakāya and the life of wisdom, and exterminating the retinue of bodhi. Such a person ruins the house of the Great Vehicle in the Buddha's Dharma-realm. How lamentable, how lamentable! What can be done? If contemplating the mind born of itself involves such gain and loss, contemplating the mind born of other, born of both, or born without cause is likewise so. Explanation: These thirty-six questions on contemplating the mind ascend to match the compassionate mind of all Buddhas of the ten directions, leaving no kindness unrequited, and descend to meet the sorrowful supplications of the multitude of living beings in the dharmadhātu, responding to every resonance. Up to the wondrous gate of practice, the protocols for delivering beings, the mutual containment of teaching and contemplation, and the complete interpenetration of principle and phenomena: it reaches to the fruit and embraces the cause, benefiting both oneself and others; the ten bodies respond everywhere, and the four lands are encompassed. Merely contemplating one's own one mind, nothing is not fully provided. As the verses of the treatise say: 'If one does not cast food to the black crows, / how could one repay the kindness of the white crow? / Not only is the field poor, / but there is no seed of equanimity. / If the rain of Dharma does not fall, / the Dharma-seeds will surely wither. / Each will lack provisions for future lives; / forfeiting the three benefits leads to suffering.' The commentary explains: This verse clarifies that failing to cultivate the contemplation of the stations of mindfulness means lacking the seed of equanimity; failing to abide in reliance on the prātimokṣa means not having a fertile field. Why so? Now, contemplating the stations of mindfulness of the Great Vehicle means contemplating the body of the five aggregates of birth-and-death as neither withered nor luxuriant, which is itself the great quiescent absorption. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Form is liberation, nirvāṇa,' and so forth up to 'consciousness is liberation, nirvāṇa.' If one cultivates this contemplation of the stations of mindfulness, this is contemplating all living beings of the six destinies as being themselves the great nirvāṇa of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, fully endowed with the knowledge and vision of the Buddha, like Sadāparibhūta's consummation of complete faith. A sūtra says: 'Giving to the lowliest beggar in the city is equal to \[giving to\] the Tathāgata Duḥprasaha.' If so, how could one distinguish between what is a field and what is not a field, what may be given to and what may not be given to? Therefore, the contemplation of the stations of mindfulness is itself the seed of equanimity. If one does not cultivate it, one sees a difference between birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, and a disparity between ordinary beings and sages. Taking sages as the field of reverence, one reveres them and gives; taking ordinary beings as the field of compassion, one loathes them as lowly and does not renounce \[wealth for them\]. Hence it is said: 'there is no seed of equanimity.' Now, taking a king as an analogy is an analogy for lacking the seed of equanimity. Long ago there was a king; \[the story\] merely borrows the white crow to symbolize the sage and the black crows to symbolize ordinary beings. The king symbolizes living beings who do not cultivate the stations of mindfulness—persons who do not cultivate the seed of equanimity of the stations of mindfulness. Thus he discriminates between the two fields of compassion and reverence. However, when internally one lacks the way of the round contemplation of the seed of equanimity, externally one cannot broadly propagate and convert \[beings to\] the Great Vehicle. How could one repay the Buddha's kindness? Furthermore, breaking the Tathāgata's prohibitive precepts leaves one without a fertile field. Therefore the verse says: 'If the rain of Dharma does not fall, / the Dharma-seeds will surely wither.' These two lines clarify that when the four assemblies lack the capacity for precepts and wisdom, the sages do not respond. Why so? The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says that Cunda himself said: 'In my body now there is a fertile field, free from all weeds and waste. I hope only for the Tathāgata's rain of nectar-Dharma to water my bodily field and cause the sprouts of Dharma to grow.' Yet now the four assemblies do not cultivate the way in reliance on the stations of mindfulness, so they lack the seed of wisdom; they do not abide in reliance on the prātimokṣa, so they lack a fertile field. Since there is no seed, living beings have no capacity to move the sages; how could they attract the response of the sages' rain of Dharma? How could the sprout of living beings' Buddha-nature not wither? Thus, internally lacking good capacity and externally lacking the sages' response, the sprouts of the Dharma-seeds wither as well. This forfeits the bliss of the three benefits of nirvāṇa in the present and the future, instead further inviting the suffering of the three paths. Again, the verse says: 'Being able to repay the kindness of the white crow, / one universally casts food to the black crows.' The commentary explains: This verse clarifies that having the seed of equanimity and also having a fertile field, one can cast food to the black crows and can repay the kindness of the white crow. Why so? The Buddha and the sages can awaken living beings so that they are not harmed by the snake poison of the three poisons and various kleśas; this is the sages' kindness toward living beings, just as the white crow awakened the king so that he was not harmed by poisonous snakes. A sūtra says: 'Practicing in accordance with the teaching is called repaying the Buddha's kindness.' Now practitioners, relying on the contemplative wisdom of the stations of mindfulness and abiding in reliance on the prātimokṣa, are practicing in accordance with the teaching, which is called repaying the Buddha's kindness. Furthermore, being able to guide and transform all living beings through their own practice is universally casting food to all the black crows, being able to repay the kindness of the white crow. Again, the verse says: 'Guarding the corner of the nose in ānāpāna, / and cultivating the contemplation of the impure: / by ānāpāna one attains the four dhyānas, / yet does not escape the suffering of naraka. / Through the impure \[contemplation\] one claims to be an aśaikṣa; / inverting one's bowl, one accepts food from a woman. / Even if one is reborn according to one's dhyāna, / one falls into the difficulty of the long-lived devas. / For such causes and conditions, / one must compose the Treatise on Contemplating the Mind.' The commentary explains: This clarifies the inversions of cultivating dhyāna in phenomenal characteristics. The line 'Guarding the corner of the nose in ānāpāna' indicates the chapter topic on cultivating the four dhyānas with outflow. The line 'and cultivating the contemplation of the impure' indicates the chapter topic on cultivating phenomenal dhyāna without outflow. 'Guarding the corner of the nose' means settling the citta on the nose. 'Ānāpāna' means counting breaths. Because of counting breaths, one can attain the four dhyānas and eight concentrations. Long ago there was a monk who attained the four dhyānas and considered himself an arhat; facing death, he slandered the Buddha and fell into hell. Long ago there was a monk who studied the contemplation of the impure; for a short while he subdued his citta and thoughts of desire did not arise, so he regarded himself as a sage. Later he went out to a village to beg for food; seeing a woman offering food, lustful thoughts immediately arose, and his emotions became confused and his citta intoxicated: inverting his bowl, he accepted food from the woman. Now, attaining dhyāna through counting breaths, even if one does not give rise to slander and does not fall into hell, one is reborn according to one's dhyāna and falls into the difficulty of the long-lived devas. Therefore we know that if one cultivates the way in the four stations of mindfulness of the one mind, not forgetting the compassionate father's instruction, one is a truly filial descendant; merely entering the mirror of the source, there is no kindness that is not repaid. Therefore, if the citta is correct, the ten thousand dharmas are all correct; if the citta is deviant, the ten thousand dharmas are also deviant. If, apart from one's own citta, ### [30.3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.3.4) one wishes to destroy the deviance of others, then one establishes oneself and establishes others, and sees deviance and sees correctness. This is like taking off one's armor to enter the battle line, or abandoning fire when burning a slash-and-burn field: to wish to defeat the enemy or sow the seeds is impossible. Merely being able to guard and protect one's own citta is itself protecting and maintaining the true Dharma, and is also universally being mindful of all Tathāgatas of the ten directions. Since protecting the Dharma through one's own citta is like this, transforming other minds is likewise so. Then outside of the correct there is no deviance: how could one speak of destroying it? Outside of the deviant there is no correctness: how could one speak of maintaining it? Thoroughly illuminating it in this way is truly protecting the true Dharma, up to perfectly fulfilling all Dharma gates. Therefore a verse in the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: 'I offer this deep citta to the dust-mote lands; / this is called repaying the Buddha's kindness.' The Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: 'Visual consciousness with regard to form is called non-Dharma; if one can stay far away from it, this is called protecting the Dharma.' Thus we know that those who skillfully restrain the sense faculties and are not invaded by the six dusts can be called true protectors of the Dharma. The Dharmasaṃgītisūtra says: 'Bodhisattvas do not need to guard and protect all dharmas. World-Honoured One, if a bodhisattva can only skillfully protect his own citta, because this bodhisattva skillfully protects his own citta, he can accomplish the wondrous dharmas of all Buddhas, up to seeing his own citta as like an illusion. Thus seeing all dharmas as like an illusion, citta is neither internal nor external, nor can it be found between the two. Seeing all dharmas in this way, seeing is just like citta: without form or characteristic, it cannot be shown, cannot be seen, has no physical obstruction, cannot be grasped, neither illuminates nor abides. Seeing all dharmas, their characteristics are like this. If one can see in this way, this bodhisattva can attain the mind of equanimity. Because of attaining the mind of equanimity, such a bodhisattva no longer attains dharmas, because outside of equanimity there are no differentiated dharmas, realizing that differentiated dharmas are themselves equanimity.' If one enters this Dharma gate of equanimity, one knows that all dharmas are entirely empty of nature and does not give rise to affectionate attachment. This is nothing other than the place where one abandons body and life; it is also the place where one realizes the way, the place where one turns the wheel of Dharma, the place where one delivers beings, the place where one enters cessation, the place where one ultimately repays kindness, the place where one fulfills the great vows, and the place where the ten thousand practices are fully provided. Why so? As it is said, 'The ten thousand things arise by obtaining the earth, and the ten thousand practices are accomplished by obtaining principle'—principle is citta. Whether one practices filial devotion or renders loyalty and courage, is there anything that does not stem from citta? For example, during the reign of Zetian, Meng Jingxiu observed mourning for his mother, grieving and emaciating himself almost to the point of perishing. He had a younger brother, Jingwei, who was an infant in swaddling clothes; Jingxiu suckled him himself, and his milk overflowed. Again, Bi Gou, who served as Minister of Personnel, initially observed mourning for his stepmother, Lady Xiao. Two younger sisters by the Lu family were both in swaddling clothes; Gou personally suckled them until they grew up. These are resonances brought about by filial conduct: milk came forth from citta; it is not fixed to the physical body of male or female. ### [30.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.4) Question: There are eighty-four thousand Dharma gates, and every gate is liberation. Why do you exclusively take the gate of the one mind to be the true destination? ### [30.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.5) Answer: This gate of the one mind is liberation of the true nature. The compassionate command of the ancient Buddhas regarding the liberation of all Buddhas directs us only to seek it within the citta and conduct of living beings, not in any other place. Why is this? It is simply because living beings' citta is the Buddhas' citta, and the Buddhas' liberation is living beings' liberation. Transforming in accordance with conditions, it is nominally called 'living beings'; the nature of conditions is ever empty, and the true Buddha is motionless. It is like ice being originally frozen water: if one wishes to seek water, one should go to the ice. Although ice and water differ, the wet nature is not destroyed; although seasons differ, the substance and nature suffer no deficiency. Believing and entering in this way is called true liberation. As for the remaining Dharma gates, they are not without progress toward the goal, but compared with this source, the difference between sudden and gradual is like that between heaven and earth. It only illuminates the Buddha's wisdom and receives only those of superior capacity. Therefore, in the Lotus assembly, the World-Honoured One personally entrusted all the great bodhisattvas: if one preaches this sūtra, directly entering the Buddha's wisdom, and is able to broadly reveal and explain it, this is truly repaying the Buddha's kindness. For those who do not believe and accept it, one should demonstrate, teach, benefit, and gladden them among the other deep dharmas—that is, expounding the other Dharma gates of liberation. Now, within the mirror of the source, we discuss only the inconceivable liberation. ### [30.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.6) As the Tiantai teaching asks: Why is entering nirvāṇa without severing kleśas the truly inconceivable liberation? ### [30.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.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.' ### [30.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.8) Question: If one takes the liberation of the one mind alone, and takes all the rest not to be \[so\], then the one would not include the all, and the meaning of the dharmadhātu would not be complete, contradicting this broad vehicle and losing its universal principle. ### [30.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30.9) Answer: If it is the capacity for complete cultivation and sudden awakening, then to bring forward the one covers all, without any further need for expedients. It is only for those who do not enter that expedients are opened into the three \[vehicles\] and up to the eighty-thousand. Although the three are opened, they originally illuminate the one path. Therefore the Vajrasamādhisūtra says: 'The principle of tathatā is complete with all dharmas. Good son, one who abides in the principle of tathatā crosses the ocean of the three sufferings.' Moreover, a verse in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'Existence and nonexistence are the two extremes, taken as the mind's cognitive objects; free from all object-dharmas, the equal mind is serene.' The Xianjie dingyi jing says: 'If, furthermore, one relinquishes all possessions, being in the midst of possessions yet having nothing possessed, this is called the one mind.' The Dharmapada says: 'A person living a hundred years, whose mind delights in negligence, is not equal to a single day of returning the mind to empty serenity.' Master Fu's verse says: 'The Buddhas do not permit seeking names externally; penetrating the original, true mind is precisely the correct \[way\].' Hence we know that when the ten thousand dharmas return to the mind, the Dao is complete. As the chapter 'The Completion of the Dao' in Gengsangzi says: 'The Duke of Lu questioned him in humble words. Gengsangzi said: "I can listen and see without using ears and eyes; it is not that I have changed the hardship of ears and eyes so as to surpass them." The Duke said: "Who can be like this? I am increasingly astonished. What is this way like? I wish to hear it soon." Gengsangzi said: "My body is joined to the mind; the mind is joined to qi; qi is joined to spirit; spirit is joined to nonbeing. If there is the slightest existence, the faintest sound—though as distant as beyond the eight frontiers, or as close as within the eyebrows and eyelashes—whatever comes to me, I must know it entirely. Yet I do not know whether this is the perception of my seven orifices and four limbs, or the knowledge of the thoughts of my five viscera and six bowels: it is merely self-knowing from itself."' He Can's commentary says: 'Mind and bodily form vanish into union, spirit and qi subtly tally, clear and open to the point of utter oblivion, sharing the same substance with nonbeing. Thereafter, the quieter the mind, the farther the wisdom; the more silent the spirit, the more manifest the illumination. When principle reaches its utmost, it penetrates of itself; without thinking, it gazes profoundly into the mysteries. If not for the supremely spiritual and supremely sage, who could participate in this? This is the crucial pivot of spiritual truth, the subtle Dao of twofold mystery.' Therefore, the orientations of both internal and external \[teachings\] must subtly tally with the substance of the mind, and then there is comprehensive illumination without remainder. Then one can harmonise the light with all existences, and in substance encompass the ten directions. Now, when speaking of 'harmonising', it is not that there are two dharmas, grasping and grasped, which accord with each other that is called 'harmony'. As the ancient virtuous one said: 'If ordinary and noble are kept distinct, it cannot be called harmony. When the substance of the mind is free from thought, the characteristic of sentient beings is not obtained; when the dharmadhātu is precisely oneself, and oneself is precisely the dharmadhātu, it is called harmony.' The Śūraṅgamasūtra says: 'Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara addressed the Buddha, saying: "World-Honoured One, through hearing, contemplation, and cultivation, I entered samādhi. Initially, in the midst of hearing, I entered the flow and forgot the object. The entered having become quiescent, the two characteristics of motion and stillness were clearly not produced. Increasing thus gradually, the heard and the hearing were exhausted; not abiding in the exhaustion of hearing, awareness and the aware were emptied; the awareness of emptiness having become exceedingly complete, emptiness and the emptied were extinguished. Arising and ceasing having been extinguished, quiescent extinction manifested before me. Suddenly I transcended the worldly and the supramundane; throughout the ten directions all was round and luminous, and I attained two extraordinary \[qualities\]: first, above, I united with the original, subtle, awakened mind of the Buddhas of the ten directions, sharing the same compassionate power with the Buddha Tathāgatas; second, below, I united with all sentient beings of the six paths in the ten directions, sharing the same sorrowful yearning with all sentient beings."' This is precisely where traces of grasper and grasped vanish, and the true and conventional subtly unite; it is not by engagement in practices that what was different becomes identical. Simply through understanding that the mind has no self or other, the ten thousand dharmas are naturally of one substance. Secular texts also say: 'When the mind is harmonious, words are harmonious; when words are harmonious, words fill the world without verbal fault. Because body and mind are harmonious, actions fill the world without resentment or enmity.' Once one is harmonious in substance with all dharmas, one does not contend with things. As the Huashou jing says: 'The Buddha told Śāriputra: "Therefore, when a bodhisattva generates the bodhicitta, he should observe the empty characteristic of this mind. Śāriputra, what is this mind? What is its empty characteristic? Śāriputra, the mind is called the manovijñāna; it is precisely the consciousness aggregate, the sense base of mind, the realm of mind. As for the empty characteristic of the mind, the mind has no characteristic of mind, nor is there an agent. Why? If there were an agent, then another would act and this person would experience it. If the mind acts by itself, then it acts by itself and experiences by itself. Śāriputra, the characteristic of this mind is empty; there is no agent, nor anyone who causes an agent to act. If there is no agent, then there is no characteristic of action. If someone engages in conceptual proliferation regarding this characteristic of the mind, then they contend with unobstructed emptiness and marklessness. If they contend with unobstructed emptiness and marklessness, this person contends with the Tathāgata. If one contends with the Tathāgata, you should know that this person will fall into a deep pit."' From this we know that if one enters into the ocean of the Mirror of the Source, all other Dharma gates are already encompassed, just as by ascending the mountain of the nature of dharmas, one sees all boundless realms completely. As the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: 'For example, if a person bathes in the great ocean, you should know that this person has already used the water of all rivers, springs, and pools. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is also like this: by cultivating this vajrasamādhi, you should know that he has already cultivated all other samādhis.' It also says: 'For example, if someone ascends a high mountain and looks afar in all directions, all is completely clear. The mountain of vajra-concentration is also like this: when a bodhisattva ascends it and looks afar at all dharmas, there is none that is not clear.' Therefore we know that regarding one's own mind, nothing can surpass it. Hence in the teaching it is also named the profound Dharma and also named the supreme vehicle. Thus, with one dharma pointing the way, the myriad paths return and accord; there are only differences in names, but ultimately no separate substance is set forth. As a verse says: 'When the various forms and minds appear, they are like embossings in gold and silver; in different places of gold, names arise, having neither before nor after with respect to the gold.' Furthermore, like the shapes of merits embossed in gold and silver, there are only different names, while the substance of the gold remains unmoved; by analogy, it is like the one mind appearing as the paths of ordinary and noble: although separate appellations are established, the mind-nature is unborn. Understanding that these names are empty and seeing dharmas like a mirror, thoughts naturally cease, and one subtly unites with the true source. _First 12 of 16 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30)_ ## Linked texts (1) - [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.30.1) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.30) · Pramāṇa