宗鏡錄 33.3

33.3

Answer: Those "students of the Three Baskets" rebuked in the sūtra refer to the precepts, concentration, and wisdom of the Lesser Vehicle. Their precepts merely maintain [control of] body and speech, severing the sprouting shoots of the afflictions of the four dwellings. Their concentration leaves the body like dry wood, cutting off the wondrous functioning of outward deportment. Their wisdom merely realizes biased emptiness, losing the consummate principle of the non-empty Middle Way. Therefore they are called "the dharma relished by the impoverished," falling into the inferior vehicle, reprimanded by Vimalakīrti, and constitute the dharma of foolish people. Now, the concentration and wisdom of this consummate school are not even the same as the emptiness of signlessness in the initial teaching of the Great Vehicle, nor the principle of the biased and consummate in the separate teaching of the Great Vehicle—how could they be discussed alongside the ash-extinction concentration and wisdom of the Three Baskets? In this Record of the Mirror of the Source, the precepts, concentration, and wisdom—down to every single event and every single practice—each and every one enters the dharmadhātu and is endowed with boundless virtues. This is the inexhaustible source and purport, the teaching gate of the origination of the nature, unobstructed, consummate, and truly inconceivable. As the Tiantai teaching says: “Just as a mirror has reflections, but shards and gravel do not appear in it, within it all signs are present, yet in being merely empty it is non-existent. The wondrous, pure dharmakāya is endowed with the thirty-two marks.” Preceptor Guanding said: “Ordinary and sage interpenetrate; right within the ordinary mind one sees the Buddha's mind. Principle and phenomena are cultivated together; relying on fundamental wisdom, one seeks the Buddha's wisdom.” Ancient worthies explained this by saying: “Those in the Chan lineage who miss the mark cling to principle and are confused about phenomena, saying: 'The nature is fundamentally complete in itself; why rely on cultivation and seeking? One need only extinguish emotional thoughts, and the true Buddha will appear of Himself.' Those studying texts cling to phenomena and are confused about principle, [asking]: 'Why must one diligently cultivate the teaching of principle?' Bringing them together, both are perfected; separating them, both are harmed. Cultivating both principle and practice manifests consummate wonder. Putting the mind to rest and cutting off thoughts is called the practice of principle. Performing deeds and engaging in the existent is called the practice of phenomena. 'Relying on fundamental wisdom' refers to the wisdom of fundamental awakening. This is causal wisdom; this empty, luminous, and unobscured [awareness] is called wisdom. It completes the aforementioned practice of principle, extinguishing feelings and revealing principle. 'Seeking the Buddha's wisdom' refers to the unhindered wisdom of liberation. This is fruition wisdom; wisdom characterized by consummate clarity and decisive certainty. It completes the aforementioned practice of phenomena, generating practice and achieving fruition. Thus, because the substance and nature are identical, one relies on it; because the characteristics and functions differ, one seeks it. One seeks only the characteristics and functions, not the substance and nature. The former practice of principle that extinguishes feelings is the elimination of the defiled dependent origination to reveal the substance and nature; the active practice of phenomena that performs deeds is the generation of pure dependent origination to accomplish the characteristics and functions.” The Signless School says: “As stated above, characteristics and functions may be so, but if one merely relies on fundamental wisdom, then when feelings are extinguished the characteristics and functions will manifest of themselves. Since they are fundamentally inherent, why must one specially generate the practice of phenomena?” The Consummate School says: “The nature fundamentally possesses them, but when feelings are extinguished, one only eliminates the defiled aspects of characteristics and functions, and the true substance manifests of itself; without the practice of phenomena, there is no cause for those pure aspects of characteristics and functions to be generated. For example, although many vessels exist [potentially] in gold, eliminating the ore can only reveal the gold. If one does not apply work to fashion them, there is no cause for the vessels to be completed. How could it be that, once gold has left the ore, without fashioning or making, it naturally completes the vessels? If extinguishing feelings rendered phenomenal practice unnecessary, then when the Buddha enjoined complete cultivation, would he not have toiled students in vain? Therefore, although at the eighth stage one is already able to be free from thought, the Buddha exhorted [the bodhisattvas] only then to generate phenomenal practice, knowing that through mere freedom from thought they were not yet complete. Thus the sūtra verse says: 'The dharma-nature is truly permanent, free from mind and thought; / the two vehicles can also attain this. / Not by this is one the World-Honored One, / but only by profound, unimpeded wisdom.' These exhortations are all for phenomenal practice. Therefore, know that the fruition Buddha must be complete in both nature and characteristics, and causal practice must cultivate both phenomena and principle. Relying on fundamental wisdom is like obtaining gold; cultivating the practice of principle is like removing the ore; cultivating phenomenal practice is like fashioning the vessel; and seeking the Buddha's wisdom is like completing the vessel.” Furthermore, the Huayan Commentary says: “If one clings to Chan, one relies on the fundamental wisdom-nature—there is neither making nor cultivation, the mirror is inherently bright of itself, neither wiped nor polished. If one clings to the teaching, one must generate phenomenal practice, seeking superior conditions that depend on others to accomplish one's own virtue. Both are one-sided attachments; hence the simultaneous practice of both is clarified. 'Relying on fundamental wisdom' is in terms of principle, because the nature of undefiled wisdom is fundamentally complete. 'Seeking the Buddha's wisdom' is in terms of phenomena: within that where there is nothing to seek, I purposefully seek it. The mind-mirror is fundamentally pure, but long covered by the defilements of toil; the nature-virtues [as many as] the sands of the Ganges are entirely buried beneath dust-and-sand afflictions. Therefore, one must accord with the dharma-nature, free from stinginess and greed, and cultivate the six pāramitās such as dāna, because all Buddhas have already realized it while I have not yet realized it. Furthermore, principle does not obstruct phenomena, so seeking is not impeded; phenomena do not obstruct principle, so seeking is non-seeking. Cultivating in this way, cultivation is non-cultivation, which is true cultivation.” The instruction given above leaves out neither root nor branch; principle is complete and practice is thorough, the cause is consummate and the fruit is fulfilled. One can truly say that the carriage is high and broad, attended and guarded by many servants; only then can one enter this Ekayāna and return to the Mirror of the Source. Once beginners have entered, they must merge secretly with true emptiness. It lies solely in mental practice, not in oral recitation. One must directly exert effort at every step, in accord with every thought, like a thoroughly dead person, forever cutting off all remaining thoughts. If one lacks sincere determination, how could one be called a great hero? Mere empty words will ultimately end in self-deception. As Tiantai Shide's praise says: “The sea water of Dongyang is clear; / the water is clear, and one can see to the bottom. / The numinous source flows with dharma springs; / cutting the water with a knife leaves no trace. / I see stubborn and foolish persons: / using a lamp wick to prop up Sumeru, / using an inch of firewood to boil the great ocean, / rubbing their feet against the stones of the great earth. / Does steaming sand make rice? / Grinding a brick thinking it will become a mirror! / Speaking of food will never satisfy hunger; / one must directly exert effort in practice. / An expansive, great hero, / an imposing six-foot man, / dying in vain to be buried under a grave mound— / what a pity for such a solitary, outstanding soul!” Layman Pang's poem says: “Reading the sūtras, one must understand their meaning; / understanding their meaning is itself cultivation. / If one learns according to the definitive meaning, / one enters the city of nirvāṇa. / If one does not understand their meaning, / seeing much is worse than being blind. / Scanning the text widely to claim much ground, / the ox of the mind is unwilling to plow. / Field after field is covered with weeds; / whence will the rice ever grow?” Therefore, know that it must reside in mental practice and the fulfillment of the power of forbearance. There are two kinds of forbearance: first, the forbearance of sentient beings; second, the forbearance of dharmas. If one rests in the forbearance of dharmas, contemplative practice is easily accomplished, because by realizing that all is mind-only, the internal and external are equal. As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: “Forbearance of dharmas means not clinging to the six internal sense faculties and not receiving the six external dusts, being able to make no discrimination between these two. Why? The internal characteristics are like the external, and the external characteristics are like the internal, because both characteristics are ungraspable; because they have a single characteristic; because causes and conditions come together; because their reality is empty; because the characteristics of all dharmas are constantly pure.” Why are the characteristics of all dharmas said to be constantly pure? Because they jointly follow the One Way. Therefore the Huayan Commentary says: “'The profound One Way' is also named the One Vehicle. All Buddhas are identical in having one true Way. That which all Buddhas ride upon is the common contemplation of the mind-nature and the simultaneous cultivation of the myriad practices; from beginning to end, there is no other path, and therefore it is called the One Way.”