宗鏡錄 40.11

40.11

[He] replied: "To be utterly free from provisional names: this is the characteristic of sentient beings. Such a characteristic is without variation. And just as empty space is without the characteristic of variation, all dharmas are likewise without the characteristic of variation. Why is it without variation? Because it is non-dual. Nor is there non-duality—only then is true wisdom accomplished. One merely says there is no duality, not that there is non-duality. As a verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says:
'Always regarding all dharmas, one does not make duality,
Nor does one make non-duality.
One departs from both duality and non-duality,
Knowing that they are all the path of words.'
Thus one knows that all words and speech arise from vitarka and vicāra. As soon as there are vitarka and vicāra, patterns and designs take form: sprouts burgeon upon the objective realm, and omens arise within the citta. When citta and realm oppose each other, obstruction ensues. If one enters the mirror of the source, speech and thought naturally cease; the wondrous purport is subtly penetrated, and completely nothing is attained.

Furthermore, for all people cultivating practice who aspire toward the Buddha-vehicle, only after first attaining the purport can they use the Buddha's vision and knowledge to cure their residual habituations, use the water of right concentration to polish and purify the factors of dhyāna, and use the wisdom of broad learning to aid the arising of the power of contemplation, even to reciting, training, and perfuming practice, adorning the myriad practices. If one has not yet entered the mirror of the source and does not understand one's own citta, even with much learning and recitation, none of it will succeed. It is like Sunakṣatra, who upheld, read, and recited the twelve divisions of scriptures and attained the four dhyānas, yet, failing to understand non-arising, fell back into hell. Or like Ānanda, who had broad learning but did not clearly understand the true mark, was bound by the courtesan's mat, and was rebuked by Mañjuśrī. One must first enter the correct source and afterwards cultivate merit and wisdom, like lapis lazuli containing the precious moon, or a mani-jewel placed on a high banner. Only then does one achieve clear, flawless translucence and the ability to rain down manifold treasures, benefiting both oneself and others. How could this be an empty contrivance?

Moreover, this non-relative, unconditioned true citta is not an annihilating emptiness or mere emptiness. If all deluded cittas of sentient beings and all illusory dharmas of the mundane world cannot be reached by the discrimination of emotional consciousness, they are therefore designated as 'empty.' As the verse by Venerable Dongshan says:
'The mundane dust-affairs are as tangled as hair;
If not directed to the empty gate, where can they be dissolved?
If one waits until realms and conditions are swept completely away,
How could the ancients have used the plantain as a metaphor?'
Layman Pang's verse says:
'Consciousness-delight is sentient beings' delight:
Bound by conditions' rope, they run about in vain.
Wisdom-delight is bodhisattvas' delight:
There is no rope and no bond.
If there are those who bring forth the mind [for bodhi],
They must directly learn the unconditioned.
Do not say you fear falling into emptiness;
To attain emptiness is not bad either.
Seeing the ore, one does not recognize the gold;
Only upon entering the furnace does one know one's mistake.'
Venerable Huangbo said: 'No one dares enter this gate, fearing that they will fall into emptiness; they all look at the precipice and retreat.' The Song of Enlightenment says:
'Alas! In the degenerate age, the evil era,
Sentient beings have little merit and are hard to tame.
Far from the sages, their wrong views are deep;
Demons are strong, the Dharma is weak, and many are the harms and grievances.
Hearing spoken the Tathāgata's sudden teaching gate,
They hate that they cannot obliterate it, smashing it like tiles.
What is made in the mind brings calamity to the body;
There is no need to complain or blame others.
If you wish not to incur the karma of the Avīci [hell],
Do not slander the Tathāgata's wheel of the true Dharma.'"