宗鏡錄 4.21

4.21

Answer: The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says that there are two kinds of paths: first, the path of ultimate emptiness; second, the path of distinguishing good and bad. If it is the path of ultimate emptiness, even 'one' cannot be apprehended, let alone speaking of many. If it is the path of distinguishing good and bad, principles diverge according to conceptual senses, and concrete phenomena are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Now, taking up the one mind, ancient commentaries distinguish four kinds:
First, hṛdaya, which is translated here as the physical heart of flesh, the heart among the five viscera of the body, as explained in the Huangting jing.
Second, the mind of cognitive consideration: these are the eight consciousnesses, because they all cognitively consider their own respective spheres of objects. Form is the object-sphere of the eye-consciousness; the sense faculties with the physical body, the seeds, and the receptacle world are the object-spheres of the ālayavijñāna. Each perceives its own portion, hence they are called 'their own respective spheres.'
Third, citta, which is translated here as the accumulative and generative mind: only the eighth consciousness accumulates seeds and produces their active manifestations.
Fourth, hṛdaya, which is translated here as the firm and real mind, also called the steadfast and real mind: this is the true mind.
However, the eighth consciousness has no separate substance of its own; it is simply the true mind which, due to non-enlightenment, has the aspects of being conjoined and non-conjoined with the various deluded thoughts. As conjoined, it can contain both defilement and purity, and is designated the ālayavijñāna. As non-conjoined, its substance is constantly unchanging, and is designated tathatā. Both are nothing other than the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'That which is quiescent and ceased is called the one mind; the one mind is the tathāgatagarbha.' The tathāgatagarbha is also the dharmakāya enveloped in defilements. The sūtra says: 'Hidden, it is the tathāgatagarbha; manifest, it is the dharmakāya.' Therefore we know that the four kinds of mind are fundamentally of one identical substance, and are divided into many only according to delusion and awakening.
A sūtra gāthā says:
'The Buddha spoke of the tathāgatagarbha / As being the ālaya; / Those of inferior understanding cannot comprehend / That the garbha is precisely the ālaya consciousness.'
'The Buddha spoke of the tathāgatagarbha' refers to the name of the dharmakāya when enveloped in defilements. 'As being the ālaya' refers to the storehouse consciousness. 'Those of inferior understanding cannot comprehend / That the garbha is precisely the ālaya consciousness': those who cling to the view that tathatā and the ālaya are distinct in substance have inferior understanding.
Yet although the four minds share the same substance, the senses of true and false differ, and root and branch are also distinct. The former three are characteristics; the latter one is nature. Nature and characteristics are without obstruction, and all are the one mind. It is precisely the fourth, the true mind, that is taken as the essential tenet.
Furthermore, ancient masters of virtue broadly explained the one mind as follows: with respect to the one mind of the tathāgatagarbha, it encompasses two aspects. First, the aspect of substance transcending characteristics, which is the gate of tathatā. That is, it is neither defiled nor pure, neither arising nor ceasing, unmoving and unturning, impartial and of a single flavor, without distinction in its nature. Sentient beings are themselves nirvāṇa, without waiting for cessation; ordinary beings and Maitreya belong to the same boundary. Second, the aspect of arising and ceasing in accord with conditions, which is the gate of arising and ceasing. That is, turning and moving in accord with perfuming, it produces defilement and purity. Although defilement and purity are produced, the nature is constantly unmoving. It is solely because it is unmoving that it can produce defilement and purity; therefore, being unmoving is also present within the gate of movement. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'The tathāgatagarbha is named the ālayavijñāna, and together with ignorance and the seven consciousnesses it is present, like the waves of the great ocean, constantly unbroken.' It also says: 'The tathāgatagarbha, perfumed by beginningless false and evil habit-energies, is named the consciousness-store.'
If one traces the branches back to the root of this one mind, it means that when one realizes the supreme meaning, one attains liberation. The supreme meaning is the nature of conditioned arising. If one sees the nature of conditions, one is liberated from the bondage of conditions. The Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'All are made by the one mind.' The treatise says: 'As for being only the one mind, it is because all of the three realms are transformations of mind alone.' The various teachings together cite this to substantiate mind-only.
How does the one mind produce the three realms? There are three explanations. First, the two vehicles: they hold that external objects exist, failing to realize mind-only; even when they hear of the 'one mind,' they take it merely to be the oneness of the ultimate truth, or think that things are transformed by the mind, but are not all themselves the mind. Second, the ripening ālaya is named the one mind: it is spoken of as one mind to preclude external objects. Third, the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, the pure one mind: since in principle there are no two substances, it is called the one mind. Thus we know that whether the two phenomena of ordinary and noble or the two gates of defiled and pure, none is other than the one mind.
Furthermore, regarding this one mind, in terms of nature and characteristic, substance and function, root and branch, mutual identification and mutual penetration, there are ten additional gates:
1. The provisionally explained one mind: that is, people of the two vehicles, who hold that external dharmas truly exist, and that it is merely through the mind's transformation and movement that it is called the one mind. The nine gates below are all truly the one mind alone.
2. The one mind spoken of because characteristics and seeing both persist: this applies across the eight consciousnesses, the various mental factors, and the nimittabhāgas transformed by them, fully possessing both root-objects and reflection-images. Due to the perfuming force of the limbs of existence and so forth, they transform and manifest the direct and indirect retributions of the three realms.
3. The one mind spoken of by subsuming characteristics into seeing: this also applies across both primary consciousnesses and mental factors, but the nimittabhāgas transformed by them do not arise from separate seeds; when the cognitive consciousness capable of seeing arises, it brings forth those reflections along with it.
4. The one mind spoken of by subsuming mental factors into primary consciousnesses: this applies only to the eight consciousnesses, because those mental factors depend on the primary consciousness and have no independent substance, being also transformations of mind.
The commentary explains: regarding subsuming characteristics into seeing, a verse in the Vijñaptimātratā says:
'There is only consciousness, without objective spheres; / Because there are no dust-particles, false seeing arises, / Just like a person whose eyes have cataracts / Sees hairs, moons, and the like.'
In composing a treatise there are generally three elements: first, establishing the thesis, which is the first line; second, adducing proof, which is the second line; third, providing an analogy, which is the lower two lines.
The Ālambanaparīkṣā says: 'Internal consciousness appears like an external object, serving as the objective condition (ālambanapratyaya) for consciousness; because that image is admitted to be within consciousness and capable of producing consciousness.' The meaning is: internal consciousness appears like external objects and acts as the objective condition, because the eye-consciousness and others are admitted to arise bearing that image and consciousness is produced from it. It concludes: 'The various consciousnesses have only internal objects, whose characteristics serve as their objective conditions; this principle is definitively established.' Thus it is not that characteristics are entirely non-existent, but rather that characteristics belong entirely to consciousness; hence it is called 'subsuming into seeing.'
Regarding subsuming mental factors into primary consciousnesses, as a verse in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra says:
'From one's own sphere and the two illuminations, / Arising together with delusion and the various afflictions: / Such various conceptual discriminations, / The two realities, should be abandoned.'
The commentary says: 'One's own sphere' refers to the seeds of one's own ālayavijñāna. 'The two illuminations' refers to the illumination of that which grasps and the illumination of that which is grasped. These discriminations, by combining with ignorance and the other afflictions, are thereby able to arise. 'Such various conceptual discriminations, / The two realities, should be abandoned': 'the two realities' refers to the reality of the grasped and the reality of the grasper. Such defilements of the two realities should be sought to be abandoned. Therefore a verse of the treatise says:
'The grasper and the grasped: / These two are only illuminations of the mind. / The illumination of greed and the illumination of faith: / The two illuminations possess no two dharmas.'
The commentary says: one who seeks vijñaptimātratā should know that the grasper and the grasped, these two, are only illuminations of the mind.
5. The one mind spoken of by returning the branches to the root: that is, the seven transforming consciousnesses are all differentiated functions of the root consciousness, possessing no distinct substance. A sūtra gāthā says:
'Just as the waves of the great ocean / Do not have varied characteristics, / The minds of the various consciousnesses are also like this: / Difference cannot be found.'
6. The one mind spoken of by subsuming characteristics into nature: that is, these eight consciousnesses all have no self-substance; only the tathāgatagarbha manifests equanimously. All other characteristics are entirely exhausted, and all sentient beings are the characteristic of nirvāṇa itself. A sūtra says: 'There are eight whose characteristics are undestroyed; characterlessness is also devoid of characteristics.'
7. The one mind spoken of through the mutual fusion of nature and characteristics: that is, the tathāgatagarbha, in its entirety of substance, accords with conditions to accomplish all things, while its self-nature fundamentally neither arises nor ceases. These principles and phenomena are seamlessly fused without obstruction; therefore, the two truths of the one mind are completely free of hindrance.
8. The one mind spoken of through the fusion of phenomena into mutual penetration: that is, because the nature of the mind is perfectly fused and unimpeded, when phenomena are constituted by nature, phenomena are likewise melted and fused, not obstructing one another. The one enters into all, and within each and every dust-particle one sees the dharmadhātu; devas, humans, and asuras are not separate from a single dust-particle.
9. The one mind spoken of through the complete mutual identification of phenomena: that is, phenomena relying on nature have no separate phenomena. Since the nature of mind has no distinction between this and that, phenomena are also all identified with the one, the one is identified with the many, the many is identified with the one, and so on.
10. The one mind spoken of through the unimpeded Indra's Net: that is, within the one there are all, and within that all there are again all, layer upon layer without end. All are completely fused and inexhaustible through the nature of the mind-consciousness as the tathāgatagarbha. Because the nature of tathatā is ultimately inexhaustible, when observing all dharmas, they are precisely tathatā; therefore all times and places are Indra's Net.
As the Gāthā on the Whirlpool says:
'If one wishes to know the principle of true emptiness: / The tathatā within the body also pervades the exterior. / Sentient and insentient share a single substance; / Everywhere is identical to the true dharmadhātu. / Without departing from illusory form, one sees emptiness; / This is precisely tathatā containing everything. / A single thought-moment shines into many kalpas; / Each thought-moment and kalpa gathers everything in. / Within a single realm is all knowledge; / Within a single knowledge are all realms. / Merely using one thought-moment to observe all realms, / All realms are simultaneously joined. / Time and place manifest Indra's Net in layers; / All-knowledge penetrates without obstruction.'
A 'whirlpool' refers to a place where water swirls and eddies. First, because it is extremely deep; second, because it turns around and around; third, because it is difficult to cross. The whirlpool in the ocean of Dharma is also like this: first, only a Buddha can fathom it; second, truth and falsehood follow each other in cycles, making it difficult to exhaust their beginning and end; third, hearing of emptiness one clings to emptiness, hearing of existence one clings to existence, thereby sinking into the whirlpool. If one does not comprehend this source, it is difficult to transcend the ocean of existence; drifting upon the waves of good and evil, cast upon the shores of suffering and pleasure, without encountering the compassionate boat, how could one ascend to the shore of awakening?
As a verse says:
'The pure dharmadhātu of tathatā, / Once obliterated, has never persisted; / According with conditions of defilement and purity, / It thereupon forms the ten dharmadhātus.'
According with defiled conditions, it forms the six ordinary dharmadhātus; according with pure conditions, it forms the four noble dharmadhātus. The six ordinary dharmadhātus are: first, the deva dharmadhātu; second, the human dharmadhātu; third, the asura dharmadhātu; fourth, the hell dharmadhātu; fifth, the hungry ghost dharmadhātu; sixth, the animal dharmadhātu. The four noble dharmadhātus are: first, the śrāvaka dharmadhātu; second, the pratyekabuddha dharmadhātu; third, the bodhisattva dharmadhātu; fourth, the Buddha dharmadhātu.
Sentient beings, upon the true nature, differentiate themselves through emotional thoughts, thereby rising and sinking within the six destinies; the various sages, within unconditioned dharmas, are distinguished through wisdom and practice, thereby forming the higher and lower grades of the four noble states. However, although the traces of ordinary beings and sages ascend and descend, and bondage and liberation seem distinct, within the one true dharmadhātu there has never been any movement from the start.
Furthermore, relying on the Huayan school, the one mind establishes four kinds of dharmadhātu according to principle and phenomena:
First, the dharmadhātu of principle (li): 'dhātu' has the sense of nature, because inexhaustible phenomenal dharmas share the same nature.
Second, the dharmadhātu of phenomena (shi): 'dhātu' has the sense of parts, because each distinct phenomenon has its delimited boundaries.
Third, the dharmadhātu of the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena: possessing both the senses of nature and parts, they are perfectly fused without obstruction.
Fourth, the dharmadhātu of the non-obstruction of phenomena and phenomena: all delimited phenomenal dharmas, each and every one being like nature, are interfused, layer upon layer without end.
Because these ten dharmadhātus, through the four dharmadhātus of principle and phenomena, nature and characteristics, mutual identification and penetration, fuse the absolute and conventional, they unfold inexhaustibly, forming the inexhaustible dharmadhātu layer upon layer. Yet this is the dharmadhātu of the whole of the one mind, and the one mind of the whole of the dharmadhātu. According to power and lack of power, one and many are established; through mutual support and mutual subsumption, they are either hidden or manifest. Like the single space pervading the dense array of material forms, like the single body of water gathering ten thousand folding waves, entering into the mirror of the source, they are revealed with vast clarity.
Furthermore, there are two kinds of dharmadhātu: that which is entered and that which is capable of entering. As the Qingliang commentary says: First, to explain that which is entered: overall it is solely the one true unimpeded dharmadhātu. Speaking of its nature and characteristics, it does not go beyond phenomena and principle. In accordance with its distinct senses, there are briefly five gates:
1. The conditioned dharmadhātu;
2. The unconditioned dharmadhātu;
3. Both conditioned and unconditioned;
4. Neither conditioned nor unconditioned;
5. The unimpeded dharmadhātu.
Yet each of the five has two gates.
First, the two gates of the conditioned:
1. The root consciousness can hold the seeds of all dharmas, which is called the dharmadhātu, as a treatise says: 'The realm from beginningless time,' and so forth. This is spoken in terms of the sense of cause, and the substance of its realm is not explained in terms of the dharmakāya.
2. The differentiated boundaries of the dharmas of the three times are called the dharmadhātu. The 'Inconceivable Chapter' says: 'All Buddhas know all the dharmadhātus of the past without remainder,' and so forth. This is the sense of delimited boundaries.
Second, the two gates of the unconditioned dharmadhātu:
1. The gate of inherent purity: in the position of an ordinary being, the nature is constantly pure, because true emptiness is of a single flavor and dharmas are without differentiation.
2. The gate of freedom from defilement: that is, because purity is made manifest only through antidotes, ten kinds are distinguished according to the depth or shallowness of practice.
Third, the two gates of the dharmadhātu that is both conditioned and unconditioned:
1. The gate of according with characteristics: that is, the aggregates of sensation, perception, and conditioning formations, five kinds of form, along with the eight unconditioned dharmas—these sixteen dharmas, which are known only by the mind-faculty, are called the dharmadhātu among the eighteen dhātus.
2. The gate of non-obstruction: that is, the one-mind dharmadhātu fully contains two gates: first, the gate of the mind as tathatā; second, the gate of the mind as arising and ceasing. Although these two gates each completely subsume all dharmas, their two states are never confounded with one another. It is like the wave that subsumes water not being calm, and the water that subsumes waves not being in motion. Therefore the 'Dedication Chapter' says: 'In the conditioned realm manifesting unconditioned dharmas without destroying the characteristics of the conditioned; in the unconditioned realm manifesting conditioned dharmas without differentiating the nature of the unconditioned.' This clarifies the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena.
Fourth, the two gates of the dharmadhātu that is neither conditioned nor unconditioned:
1. The gate of mutual elimination: that is, because there are no conditions that are not principle, it is not conditioned; because there is no principle that is not conditions, it is not unconditioned. The substance of dharmas is impartial, and mutual elimination wipes away both. The Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra says: 'Subhūti said to the Buddha: "Is this dharma's equality conditioned or unconditioned?" The Buddha said: "It is not a conditioned dharma, nor is it an unconditioned dharma. Why is this? Apart from conditioned dharmas, unconditioned dharmas cannot be apprehended; apart from unconditioned dharmas, conditioned dharmas cannot be apprehended. Subhūti, this conditioned nature and unconditioned nature—these two dharmas neither combine nor disperse."' This is what it refers to.
2. The gate of having no locus: that is, because this dharmadhātu is free from characteristics and free from nature, it is neither of these two. Furthermore, it is not the two truths, nor can it be reached by the two conventional designations; therefore it is detached from both. The Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra says: 'All dharmas are briefly of two kinds: namely, conditioned and unconditioned. Therein, the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned; the unconditioned is neither unconditioned nor conditioned,' and so forth.
Fifth, the two gates of the unimpeded dharmadhātu:
1. The gate of universal subsumption: that is, within the above four gates, any single one subsumes all the others. For this reason, whether Sudhana beholds mountains and seas or sees halls and pavilions, all are called entering the dharmadhātu.
2. The gate of perfect fusion: that is, because principle fuses phenomena, it causes phenomena to have no delimited boundaries. A fine dust-mote is not small, being able to contain ten Buddha-lands; an ocean of lands is not large, secretly entering into a single dust-mote. Because phenomena reveal principle, it causes principle to not be without division. That is, the one and the many are unobstructed; it is called either one dharmadhātu or many dharmadhātus. Yet because the one is not one, it is identical to the many; because the many are not many, they are identical to the one, and so on, layer upon layer without end. Therefore, when Sudhana held hands for a brief moment, many kalpas passed; as soon as he entered the pavilion, he universally saw the boundless. All are of this sort.
The above five gates and ten senses broadly explain the dharmadhātu that is entered; they should be fused through the six characteristics.
Second, explaining that which is capable of entering, there are also five gates: first, pure faith; second, correct understanding; third, cultivation and practice; fourth, realization and attainment; fifth, complete fulfillment. Regarding the dharmadhātu that is entered explained above, these five have two gates: first, any single one that is capable of entering penetrates the five that are entered, and any single one that is entered pervades the five that are capable of entering. Second, these five that are capable of entering enter each of the gates in their respective order. The above ten gates of the two senses of mind and sphere, roundly fused through the six characteristics, entirely form a single gathering, the unimpeded dharmadhātu.
The Baimen yihai says: regarding entering the dharmadhātu, the conditioned arising of dust is 'dharma'; when dharmas are revealed in accord with wisdom, their functions having differences is 'dhātu.' Because this dharma has no nature, it has no delimited boundaries; fused without duality of characteristics, it is identical to the true reality, equal to empty space, pervading all things, manifesting everywhere, and nothing is not clear. Yet this single dust-mote and all dharmas do not see each other, nor do they know each other. Why is this? Because each and every one is completely the perfect dharmadhātu, universally subsuming everything, with no separate dharma that could be known or seen. A sūtra says: 'Precisely the dharmadhātu is without a dharmadhātu; the dharmadhātu does not know the dharmadhātu.' If so, and there is no separate dharma to be known or seen, why speak of entering? Because the place of awakened comprehension is called 'entering.' Furthermore, although one enters, there is nowhere entered; if there were something entered, one would lose the meaning of the empty nature of all dharmas. Because the principle of naturelessness is identical, everywhere is entering the dharmadhātu.
Previously, in terms of what is seen by emotional intellect, ordinary beings, and the small vehicle, according with defiled and pure conditions to form the ten dharmadhātus was an error. Now, relying on the Huayan doctrine of nature-origination, all are the true dharmadhātu. Whether formed or destroyed, whether defiled or pure, all completely constitute the dharmadhātu. As a sūtra says: 'Distinguishing the immeasurable destroyed characteristics of forms is called superior wisdom.' An ancient commentary says: 'The forms of the six destinies destroy good and destroy concentration; the forms of the two vehicles destroy cause and destroy fruit; the forms of bodhisattvas destroy existence and destroy non-existence. The forms of the Buddha destroy the above destructions: destroying them into the dharmadhātu, they are neither destroyed nor undestroyed, and all are the dharmadhātu.'