宗鏡錄 45

English (machine translation) 45

Language: English

45.2 — 4 parts

45.1

Compiled by Yanshou, Dhyāna Master Zhijue, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Monastery

Now, the above cited the Tiantai teachings to explain settling the mind through the two dharmas of concentration and wisdom. Next, [this is] explained in accordance with the Huayan school. The *Avataṃsaka-sūtra* says:
“Entering correct concentration in the eye faculty,
One emerges from concentration in visible forms,
Displaying the inconceivable nature of forms,
Which none among gods and humans can comprehend.
Entering correct concentration in visible forms,
One rises from concentration in the eye without a disturbed mind,
Stating that the eye is unborn and does not arise,
Its nature being empty, extinguished, and free from activity.”
The commentary explains: “Although concentrations and wisdoms are manifold, they do not exceed two kinds: first, phenomenal; second, noumenal. When one confines [the mind] to a single point, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished—this is the gate of phenomenal concentration. Being able to contemplate the citta-nature, matching the noumenon without wavering—this is the gate of noumenal concentration. Clearly comprehending the characteristics of phenomena is phenomenal contemplation. Skillfully understanding the unarisen is noumenal contemplation. In the various sūtras and treatises, sometimes phenomenal concentration alone is taught, or sometimes only noumenal concentration is clarified. The two contemplations are also like this. Or, with phenomenon and noumenon each standing as an opposing entity, śamatha and vipaśyanā face one another. Or, phenomenal contemplation is paired with noumenal concentration; as the *Awakening of Faith* says, ‘calming all characteristics, up to the mind being unobtainable, is śamatha, while contemplating arising and ceasing through causes and conditions is vipaśyanā.’ Or, noumenal contemplation is paired with phenomenal concentration; as this sūtra says, ‘with the one mind unmoving, entering the various dhyānas, while comprehending that objects are unarisen is called prajñā.’ Or, both pervade the two; as this sūtra says, ‘dhyāna-concentration holds the mind constantly to a single object, while wisdom comprehends that objects are identical to samādhi.’ Or, both are eradicated together, being neither concentrated nor distracted. Or, concentration is identical to contemplation, but is simply named concentration; as contemplating the citta-nature is called the supreme concentration. Or, contemplation is identical to concentration, but is simply named contemplation; as contemplating with non-conceptual wisdom is called prajñā. Or, the dual functioning is explained, which refers to illumination that is identical to quiescence. Therefore, those of narrow view, following whichever single passage they look upon, mutually negate each other; while those who practice one-sidedly, whichever single gate they enter, all achieve realization, yet it is not perfectly unobstructed. Now, this sūtra text skillfully reveals non-obstruction, briefly divided into five pairs.
First pair: non-obstruction of faculty and object. That is, contemplating the faculty to enter concentration, one ought to emerge from the faculty, yet one emerges from the object. This is to reveal that faculty and object are solely the one mind; dependent origination is non-dual, and the noumenal nature is thoroughly interpenetrating. Therefore, one enters in the faculty and emerges in the object. Entering in the object and emerging in the faculty is also like this.
Second pair: non-obstruction of the two concentrations of phenomenon and noumenon. That is, to distinguish phenomenal characteristics, one ought to enter phenomenal concentration, yet one enters noumenal concentration; wishing to contemplate emptiness of nature, one ought to enter noumenal concentration, yet one enters phenomenal concentration. Because matching the noumenon that is identical to phenomena is unmoving, entering the noumenon is precisely entering phenomena. Because holding the mind on a phenomenon that is identical to noumenon is a single object, entering phenomena is precisely entering the noumenon. Yet the sūtra text merely says ‘enters correct concentration,’ without speaking of phenomenon or noumenon. And when emerging into contemplation, within the object it immediately speaks of distinguishing the characteristics of form—this is phenomenal contemplation. Within the faculty it immediately speaks of the nature being empty and quiescent—this is noumenal contemplation. One should also pair the phenomenon of the faculty with the noumenon of the object to discern non-obstruction.
Third pair: non-obstruction of the two contemplations of phenomenon and noumenon. That is, wishing to distinguish phenomenal characteristics, one ought to arise from phenomenal contemplation, yet conversely arises from noumenal contemplation. Because the object contemplated has both the conventional and ultimate fused together and the dharmadhātu is non-dual, the wisdom distinguishing phenomena is precisely the wisdom of the unarisen, and the two contemplations are solely the one mind. One should also pair the phenomenon and noumenon of the object with the phenomenon and noumenon of the faculty to discern non-obstruction.
Fourth [pair]: non-obstruction of emerging and entering. Because rising from concentration is precisely entering concentration, one rises from concentration and the mind is not disturbed. If phenomenon and noumenon are considered in relation to one another, they should form four propositions: entering in phenomena and rising in phenomena; entering in phenomena and rising in noumenon; entering in noumenon and rising in noumenon; entering in noumenon and rising in phenomena. If faculty and object are considered in relation to one another, they also form four propositions: entering in the phenomenon of the faculty and rising in the phenomenon of the object, and so forth. If one considers each one, all have their reasons. Moreover, sometimes noumenal contemplation is paired with phenomenal calming, meaning that matching the noumenon, delusion ceases. Or, phenomenal contemplation is paired with noumenal quiescence, meaning that without thought one knows the object. Or, phenomenal contemplation is paired with phenomenal quiescence, meaning that contemplating a single object, the mind does not waver. Or, noumenal contemplation is paired with noumenal quiescence, meaning forgetting the mind and illuminating the ultimate. As the *Sea of Meanings of the Hundred Gates* says: ‘Explaining the emergence from and entering into concentration: seeing that the nature of a dust-mote is empty, the true and real noumenon of all the ten directions, is called entering concentration. However, when this emptiness of the natureless and empty noumenon of the seen dust-mote is empty, it is then the emptiness of the ten directions. Why? Because by means of the mind of the ten directions, one sees a single dust-mote. Therefore, the ten directions in their entirety constitute the dust-mote. Concentration also does not obstruct phenomenal characteristics from appearing clearly. Therefore, rising is simultaneous with concentration, equal to the realm of empty space. Merely through the fusion of the one and the many, identity and difference are unobstructed. Therefore, one enters in one and rises in many; enters in many and rises in one; enters in distinction and rises in the single limit; enters in the single limit and rises in distinction. All are simultaneously established at a single limit, without being distinct. One should know that concentration is precisely rising, and rising is precisely concentration; the one and the all are simultaneously established, and entering and emerging are unobstructed.’
Fifth pair: non-obstruction of the substance and function of the two benefits. That is, rising in the deep faculty, the concentrated mind is not disturbed—this is the substance and one’s own benefit. Yet not obstructing the noumenon, extending into broad objects—this is the function. That humans and gods cannot know it—this is benefiting others. Truly, because substance and function are non-dual, benefiting oneself is precisely benefiting others. These ten meanings above together form a single assemblage of the dependent origination of the dharmadhātu, mutually identical and unimpeded. Bodhisattvas skillfully comprehend them, their functions being unobstructed.
Furthermore, the sūtra provisionally relates faculty and object to each other; one should also relate object to object, meaning entering correct reception in visible forms and rising in the samādhi of sound or fragrance. One should further relate faculty to faculty, meaning entering correct reception in the eye faculty and rising in the samādhi of the ear faculty, and so forth. That it says ‘the nature of form is difficult to conceive’ and so forth refers to the dhāraṇī of form and so on—this is the Form Dhāraṇī-Sovereign Buddha, and so on. One should also say: ‘Distinguishing that the nature of the eye is difficult to conceive, there is the Eye Dhāraṇī-Sovereign Buddha,’ and so on. Furthermore, in the eye it says ‘its nature is empty and extinguished,’ which is precisely the gate of transcendence of the eye; the eye and so on are fundamentally pure. One should also say: ‘the gates of transcendence of form and so on; form and so on are fundamentally pure.’ It is not merely that grasping characteristics is defilement and having no mind is purity. Furthermore, summarizing them by means of the three contemplations of the *[Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa] Śāstra*: distinguishing the characteristics of forms and so forth is the contemplation of provisional designation.”

45.2.2

Nature is empty and tranquil—this is the contemplation of emptiness. These two are non-dual, and the nature of form is inconceivable—this is the contemplation of the Middle Way. The three have no before or after; they are all the one mind. The unobstructed nature [explained] above is profound, wondrous, and difficult to conceive; how can beginners enter into it? Now I shall summarize: if only one can know that phenomena and principle are unobstructed, and that the sense faculties and sense objects are unified as suchness, then thoughts will not arise, and one will naturally enter into it. Therefore, principle is present right within phenomena—how could there ever be any obstruction? Outside the mind there are no objects, so thoughts naturally do not arise. In this way, one enters into the one mind of the mirror of the source and achieves the dual practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā; only then can one consummate the adornment of concentration and wisdom, benefit oneself and benefit others, and complete inexhaustible practice. Moreover, if a person whose mind is not at peace remains within the triple realm, having not entered the gate of śamatha and vipaśyanā and not being one who trains and studies, their passions are pulled by the myriad objects and their mind gives rise to hundreds of thoughts. Flung into the firebrand wheel of the five desires, they never have a moment's leisure; sunken into the dungeon of the five turbidities, when have they ever briefly escaped? The dust-nets are thousandfold, densely and constantly cloaking the ground of the mind; the ropes of craving have ten thousand knots, strand upon strand binding the field of emotion completely. They rear high mounds upon the mountain of pride, horizontally blocking the dharmadhātu; they churn huge waves in the ocean of greed, swallowing whole the currents of desire. Like ants gathering and bees swarming, they toil incessantly in conditioning; like rats pilfering and dogs thieving, they scurry about plotting. The flames of the eight sufferings burn ceaselessly; they are ever submerged in the river of the two kinds of death. Transmigrating in birth and death, entangled in suffering and distress—all of this is simply because they cannot calm their own minds. Now, for the solitary awakened person amid the long night of birth and death, the defilements of ignorance, and the great dream of the triple realm, who wishes to cut open the net of craving, penetrate the origin of suffering, and seek the great tranquil bliss of the Tathāgata: directly accord with the gates of pacifying the mind as described above, without prioritizing concentration or wisdom. Concentration is the substance of one's own mind; wisdom is the function of one's own mind. Because concentration is wisdom, substance is not separate from function. Because wisdom is concentration, function is not separate from substance. When both are blocked, both disappear; when both illuminate, both are preserved. Substance and function mutually accomplish each other; blocking and illuminating are unobstructed. These two dharmas of concentration and wisdom are the essentials of cultivation, the great purport of the patriarchs and buddhas, equally expounded by the sūtras and treatises. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra says: 'By the power of dhyāna-concentration and wisdom, one attains the realm of the Dharma.' It also says: 'Adorned with the power of concentration and wisdom, by this one delivers sentient beings.' A verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'Deluded views of sentient beings always follow and bind them; the beginningless dense forest has not been cut away. Arising together with volition and born alongside the mind, they constantly shackle each other without interruption. They are merely false thoughts and not real things; not separate from the mind, they have no location. Displaced by the realm of dhyāna-concentration, they still regress; only when extinguished by the adamantine path are they destroyed once and for all.' The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: 'Practicing concentration and wisdom equally, one clearly sees the Buddha-nature.' It also says: 'First, shake them with concentration; later, pull them out with wisdom.' The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'Dhyāna-concentration is the father, and wisdom is the mother; they can give birth to all guides.' It also says: 'Through the power of karma one enters birth and death; through the power of concentration one transcends birth and death.' Therefore it is said: without wisdom, dhyāna has no way to exhaust its tranquility; without dhyāna, wisdom has no way to unfold its illumination. Why is this? Dhyāna without wisdom is merely phenomenal concentration; if one attains wisdom and contemplates the nature of the mind, it becomes supreme concentration. If wisdom does not attain dhyāna, it is merely scattered, wholesome discrimination; if wisdom possesses concentration, it is like a lamp in a windless chamber, tranquil yet capable of illuminating, free from fluctuating discrimination, thereby constituting true wisdom. If concentration and wisdom are practiced together, with movement and tranquility harmoniously merged, then thought after thought one enters the gate of samādhi, and with profound tranquility one exercises boundless illumination. As with the various teachings and various proofs above, harmonized and analyzed in this manner, trimming the verbose to keep the essential, discarding the false to preserve the true, through countless myriads of expedient gates, all sentient beings are led to enter entirely into this mirror of the source. It is like having a jewel in a pouch: if one does not reach in and display it, who would know of it? It is like a gold treasury in a room: without meeting a wise person, how could it be excavated? If a pearl is concealed in an inner garment and not pointed out by a close friend, how could one attain wealth? Like the family treasure of the poor son, without the guidance of the elder, how could he inherit it? Even if one clearly understands, believes, and enters without doubt, it still depends on the individual to overcome oneself and accomplish it, to smelt and polish residual habits, and directly achieve correspondence. At all times, one must never forget to illuminate. Weighing for oneself what is raw and what is cooked, one should adapt to each situation: this is the time to cultivate concentration; this is the time to cultivate wisdom. If the mind is restless and scattered, one must practice samādhi; if the mind is dull and sunken, one should open the gate of wisdom. If one resides in the stages of seeing and cultivating [the path], this is the time for practice, not the time for realization. If one abides within the stage of ultimate identity, this is the time for realization, not the time for practice. One must not hurriedly grasp realization like those of the two vehicles, sinking into the ocean of the reality limit and drowning in the pit of liberation. Nor should one emulate the unlearned monk who falsely claimed the unconditioned and sought ascent only to fall, like an ascetic non-Buddhist who merely casts himself into the net of views, expecting awakening yet meeting delusion. This gate of concentration and wisdom is the path of true cultivation: the bright sun illuminating the gate of the source, the swift vessel sailing the ocean of awakening, the two wheels carrying the great white-ox cart, the two wings soaring to the sky of the supreme meaning. Through equal training, one clearly sees the Buddha-nature; adorned [with them], one can deliver sentient beings. Becoming the king of the Dharma realm relies on these two powers; emerging from the depths of the ocean of birth and death completely depends on dual cultivation. Dispersing delusions and chaos like the wind blowing clouds, destroying ignorance and darkness like the sun illuminating the world, it shakes the deep thorns of wrong views and uproots the thick roots of ignorance. It serves as the yin and yang of the great ocean of awakening, and acts as the father and mother of the King of Precious Flowers. It provides the foundation of the One Vehicle and strengthens the ramparts of the myriad practices. In accord with this, one can enter the mirror of the source. Previously, drawing upon the Tiantai teaching, five hundred gates of pacifying the mind were explained, all to adapt to capacities and apply medicine according to the disease. Now, according to the teachings of the patriarchs, there is one more gate that is the most concise and essential: that of 'no-mind'. Why is this? If one has a mind, there is unease; if one has no mind, there is natural bliss. Thus a verse by an ancient worthy says: 'Do not make a companion of the mind; with no-mind, the mind is naturally at peace. If you take the mind as a companion, as soon as you stir you are deceived by the mind.' The Lotus Sūtra says: 'The Dharma King who destroys existence.'

45.2.3

appear in the world. The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa states: 'He removed everything, leaving only a single bed.' This signifies removing the existence of the deluded mind; external objects are fundamentally empty. Because when citta exists dharmas exist, and when citta is empty objects are empty, the Awakening of Faith says: 'Therefore, one should know that all characteristic marks of realms in the world are established relying on sentient beings' avidyā and deluded thoughts. Like reflections in a mirror, they have no obtain-able substance; they transform solely from the falsely conceptualising citta. Because when citta arises, various dharmas arise; when citta ceases, various dharmas cease.' Therefore, if one only attains no-citta, objects will naturally not appear. Since there is no duality, how could adversity or favourability arise? Due to adverse conditions, dveṣa and vexations arise like powerful thieves invading the bosom; due to favourable conditions, arrows of attachment and desire shoot into the body. These can agitate the citta, which is why it is called 'unsettled.' Now if there is no-citta, being untroubled and free of concerns, the myriad activities will instantly arrive without disturbing one's spirit, and a thousand difficulties will confront one without intruding upon one's thoughts. Thus Ānanda grasped at existence without basis, ending in bewilderment in the seven places; the Second Patriarch realised non-existence and was naturally at peace, attaining the Way at a single word. If one does not directly comprehend the purport of no-citta, then although one applies antidotes and subdues [the mind], the characteristics of being unsettled will constantly appear before one. If one comprehends no-citta, one is unobstructed wherever one goes: eliminating even a single speck of dust to stand as an opposite, what need is there for the effort of casting away and clearing out? Not a single thought generating emotional attachment, there is no reliance on the power of forgetting conditions. Furthermore, in terms of teaching, no-citta has two aspects: first, settling into clarity to render it non-existent; second, being fundamentally non-existent in its very substance. 'Settling into clarity to render it non-existent' means restraining thoughts and resting in dhyāna, eliminating vitarka and vicāra, emptying the bosom and quieting thoughts, gradually arriving at the subtle. 'Being fundamentally non-existent in its very substance' means directly comprehending non-arising, because the point where a single thought arises cannot be found. A sūtra says: 'When a single thought first arises, it has no initial characteristic—this is true mindful protection.' The Baocang lun states: 'Now, one who is detached has no body; one who is subtle has no citta. Because one has no body, one has a great body; because one has no citta, one has a great citta. Because of the great citta, wisdom encompasses the myriad things; because of the great body, responsive manifestations are boundlessly complete. Therefore, those who grasp the body as a body lose its great responsiveness; those who grasp the citta as citta lose its great wisdom. Hence across the thousands of sūtras and ten thousand treatises, none fail to speak of detaching from body and citta and breaking attachments, only then entering the real. For example, a goldsmith smelts the ore to extract the gold, only then fashioning it into vessels. If one has a body, there are bodily obstructions; because there are bodily obstructions, the dharmakāya is hidden within the physical husk. If one has a citta, there are mental obstructions; because there are mental obstructions, true wisdom is hidden within thoughts and reflections. Thus the Great Way is blocked, the wondrous principle sinks into concealment, the six spirits are internally disordered, and the six external objects are conditioned, causing anxiety day and night without cessation. Now, those who do not observe their citta do not see its subtlety; those who do not observe their body do not see its detachment. If one does not see their detachment and subtlety, one loses the essentials of the Way. Therefore a sūtra says: "The Buddha taught that no body is called the great body"; the citta is also like this.' This is called breaking the provisional to return to the real, converging the artificial to return to the true. Just as a goldsmith smelts the ore to extract gold before it becomes a vessel, destroying characteristics and blending them together to enter the great furnace—the 'great furnace' refers to the Great Way. Within this furnace of the Great Way, transformation is inexhaustible, pouring forth the myriad sources; whether forming or decaying, its substance neither increases nor decreases. Hence a sūtra says: 'Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the nature and characteristics permanently abide.' What is called 'blending characteristics' is only for ordinary fools who cling to characteristics and fear the unconditioned. The reason characteristics are taught is for those non-Buddhists who cling to the absence of characteristics and fear existence. The reason the Middle Way is taught is to make existence of characteristics and absence of characteristics non-dual. These all break attachments and remove doubts; the words do not exhaust the principle. If there is a person who comprehends that characteristics and the absence of characteristics are equal and non-dual, without grasping or discarding, without that or this, and without an intermediate, then without relying on the words of sages, the principle naturally penetrates. As described above, having a citta forms an obstruction. If one is without citta, one naturally accords with the Way—that is, leaving behind the deluded mind, the true citta remains unmoving. As the Shi moheyan lun states: 'Regarding "detaching from the characteristics of mental conditioning": the measures of citta are ten. First, the eye-consciousness citta; second, the ear-consciousness citta; third, the nose-consciousness citta; fourth, the tongue-consciousness citta; fifth, the body-consciousness citta; sixth, the manovijñāna citta; seventh, the manas citta; eighth, the ālayavijñāna citta; ninth, the multiple-and-one-consciousness citta; tenth, the each-and-every-consciousness citta. Among these ten, the first nine kinds of citta do not condition the true principle; the latter one citta is able to condition the true principle and take it as its sphere. Now, based on the first nine, it is stated thus: "detaching from the characteristics of mental conditioning." In original sūtras it is stated thus: "The profound true substance is not the sphere of anything else; it takes only what it relies upon and conditions as its sphere."' The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: 'What is not a measure of citta, I call a measure of citta.' This means that by using 'non-measure of citta,' one dispels the measure of citta. If one takes 'non-measure of citta' to be correct, this itself is a measure of citta. Now, saying that 'non-measure of citta is itself the inconceivable measure of citta' is because it does not obstruct the measure of citta. As the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'The bodhisattva abides in this inconceivable'—this is the non-measure of citta; 'in it, conceivability cannot be exhausted'—this is the measure of citta. Because the two characteristics mutually identify and cancel each other out, conceiving and non-conceiving are both quiescent. It also says: 'Showing the arising of citta where there is no citta.' Many people misunderstand this, taking the sentient to be insentient, and the insentient to be sentient. If one clings to 'showing the arising of citta where there is no citta' as meaning the insentient becomes sentient, since it says 'showing arising,' it is not that what is truly insentient becomes sentient. The Mahāratnakūṭasūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "Mañjuśrī, do you enter the inconceivable samādhi?" Mañjuśrī said: "No, World-Honoured One. I am myself inconceivable, and I do not see any citta capable of conceiving; how could one say that I enter the inconceivable samādhi? When I first generated the mind, I wished to enter this concentration, but now as I reflect, there is truly no characteristic of citta that enters samādhi. Like a person learning archery: with long practice, he becomes skilled.

45.2.4

"Later, although he has no deliberate mind, due to long practice, every arrow he shoots hits the mark. I am also like this: when first training in the inconceivable samādhi, I tied my citta to a single condition; when accomplished through long practice, there is no further mental ideation, and I am constantly united with concentration." A former worthy also said: 'The moment a single thought of deluded mind stirs, all worldly sufferings are complete. Like a person in a forest of brambles: if he does not move, the thorns will not harm him; when the deluded mind does not arise, one constantly dwells in the bliss of quiescent cessation. The moment a single thought of deluded mind stirs, one is pierced and wounded by the thorns of all states of existence.' Therefore a sūtra says: 'Wherever there is citta, there is suffering; when there is no citta, there is bliss.' One should know that when the deluded mind does not arise, only then does one accord with the bliss of the quiescent cessation of the dharmakāya.

45.3

Question: Since fundamentally there is no citta, on what does delusion arise?

45.4

Answer: Not comprehending that fundamentally there is no citta is called delusion. If one knows that fundamentally there is no citta, then delusion has nowhere to arise, and the real has nothing to be attained.

45.5

Question: Why is it that when there is citta there is delusion, and when there is no citta there is no delusion?

45.6

Answer: Because the nature of the dharmadhātu is empty and quiescent, without a ruler. If there is a citta, then there is a ruler; if there is a ruler, then there are limits. If there is no citta, then there is no ruler; if there is no ruler, then there are no limits. If there are no limits, then there is no saṃsāra.

45.7

Question: Regarding no-citta, is it that separating from citta is no-citta, or that identical with citta one attains no-citta?

45.8

Answer: Identical with citta one attains no-citta.

45.9

Question: That which is identical with citta is having a citta; how can one attain no-citta?

45.10

Answer: Without destroying the characteristics of citta, there is no discrimination.

45.11

Question: Is there not discerning knowledge?

45.12

Answer: Discerning knowledge itself being free of subject and object is no-citta. How could it be that only being completely devoid of function is no-citta? For example, when a clear mirror reflects objects, does it have a citta? One should know that all sentient beings are constantly, naturally without citta. The substance of citta is originally always quiescent; being quiescent, it is constantly in function, and being in function, it is constantly quiescent. Reflecting and discerning in accord with objects is all the intrinsic nature acting naturally by itself; it is not that having a citta only then initiates function. It is merely that sentient beings, failing to comprehend that their own citta is constantly quiescent, falsely imagine that there is a citta, and citta then becomes an object. Because being identical with citta it is without citta, citta is constantly principle. Because being identical with principle it is without principle, principle is constantly citta. Because principle is constantly citta, it does not stir the characteristics of citta. Because citta is constantly principle, the characteristics of citta cannot be found. Because the characteristics of citta cannot be found, sentient beings do not arise. Because it does not stir the characteristics of citta, Buddhas also do not arise. Because both sentient beings and Buddhas do not arise, ordinary beings and sages are constantly the nature of the equal dharmadhātu. It is purely the single Way of purity, without any other dharma. One should know that wherever there is conceptual discrimination of the citta making interpretations, all are false, just as in a dream. If one has not fully awakened, even the slightest thing seen is still a matter within a dream. If one only attains no-citta, one is identical to having awakened, cutting off all realms of objects. As long as there is a single atom where one can construct an inconceivable understanding of practice and realization, none of it departs from what is seen within the dream of the three realms. A sūtra says: 'Because there is not the slightest dharma to be attained, the Buddha bestowed the prophecy.' The Meaning of Non-Arising says: 'The non-retrogressing deva said: "This Buddha-land has never thought or discriminated about whether it sees me or does not see me; I also do not think about whether the Buddha-land sees or does not see."' Therefore we know that all views arise from having a citta. Because the Buddha-land has no citta, it does not see the deva; the deva has a citta but does not generate thoughts, hence he says he does not see the Buddha-land—they then become non-different. Therefore we know that having a citta and having no citta are both empty. Master Rong said: 'Reflections in a mirror fundamentally have no citta. Speaking of the mirror reflection having no citta is speaking of no-citta from within no-citta. People say there is a citta; speaking of a person having no citta is speaking of no-citta from within having a citta. Speaking of no-citta from within having a citta is the derivative contemplation; speaking of no-citta from within no-citta is the fundamental contemplation. Sentient beings imagine they have a body and citta; we speak of mirror reflections to dismantle body and citta. Sentient beings cling to mirror reflections; we speak of ultimate emptiness to dismantle mirror reflections. If one knows that mirror reflections are ultimately empty, then body and citta are ultimately empty. "Ultimately empty" is a provisional name; there is also no ultimate emptiness. If body and citta are fundamentally non-existent, the Buddha Way is also fundamentally non-existent, and all dharmas are also fundamentally non-existent; fundamental non-existence is also fundamentally non-existent. If one knows that fundamental non-existence is also a provisional name, it is provisionally named the Buddha Way. The Buddha Way is not born from heaven, nor does it emerge from the earth; it is simply the empty nature of citta, illuminating the world like the sun.'

45.13

The Dazhidulun asks: 'If one knows that the citta cannot be seen, why did the Buddha say that one truly knows the invisible citta?'

45.14

Answer: Some meditators, conceptually constructing through recollection and discrimination, see this citta as like a thread inside a pure pearl; or, when contemplating white bones, they see the citta arising in continuous succession; or at times they see the citta in the body, or see it in the cognitive object; as in the sphere of infinite consciousness, they merely see consciousness as immeasurable and boundless. To destroy such falsehoods, the Buddha said: 'One knows the citta of sentient beings as it truly is.' The intrinsic characteristic of the citta of sentient beings is empty; therefore it has the characteristic of being signless. Furthermore, when the Buddha contemplates this citta with the five eyes, it is unobtainable. The fleshly eye and the divine eye take form as their object; therefore they do not see it. The wisdom eye takes nirvāṇa as its object; therefore it does not see it. The dharma eye of a beginner discriminates and knows whether phenomena are wholesome or unwholesome, with outflows or without outflows, and so forth; when this dharma eye enters into the real mark, it has no discrimination whatsoever, as was said before: 'Of all phenomena, there is none who knows and none who sees'; therefore it ought not to see it. The Buddha eye contemplates the characteristic of quiescence and cessation; therefore it ought not to see it. Still less does he see it through the recollection, conceptualization, and discrimination of ordinary persons! Furthermore, the five eyes are born from the concourse of causes and conditions; they are all fabricated characteristics, deceptive and unreal. The Buddha does not trust or use them; therefore it is said that he does not see with the five eyes. He asks again: 'Śāriputra knows that the characteristic of the citta is constantly pure; why does he ask?' Answer: 'Because when a bodhisattva produces the thought of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, they enter deeply and become deeply attached; therefore, although they hear that the citta is ultimately empty and constantly pure, they still recollect, conceptualize, and discriminate, grasping at this characteristic of having no citta. For this reason, he asks whether this citta with the characteristic of having no citta exists or does not exist. If it exists, why is it said to have the characteristic of having no citta? If it does not exist, why praise this unequalled citta that will attain the Buddha path?' Subhūti answered: 'In this characteristic of having no citta, it is ultimately pure; existence and non-existence are unobtainable. You should not object.' Śāriputra asked again: 'What is the characteristic of having no citta?' Subhūti answered: 'Being ultimately empty, without discrimination regarding all phenomena—this is named the characteristic of having no citta.' This characteristic of having no citta is that the immediate citta is without citta; it does not await annihilation. As a sūtra says: 'If there are sentient beings who can contemplate all deluded thoughts as signless, they thereby realize and attain the tathāgata's wisdom.' Moreover, regarding 'no citta', one must not form an understanding based on emotional views of existence and non-existence. If one treats the citta as non-existent, this immediately becomes existence. If there is no citta in all places, like earth, wood, tiles, and gravel, this becomes annihilation. Both belong to the clinging cognition of the mental faculty, the domain of false consciousness. Therefore, it is called the 'inconceivable samādhi' because it cannot be reached by emotional views of existence and non-existence. Furthermore, serenity is phenomenon (shi); the substance itself is principle (li). Phenomena have the efficacy of revealing principle, and also have the meaning of obscuring principle. Principle has the power of accomplishing phenomena, and also has the capacity of annulling phenomena. Grasping either one damages both; contemplating both, both are correct. What is meant by 'revealing principle'? If the wondrous nature has not yet emerged, one must rely on phenomenal practices to assist in revealing and adorning it, just as when water is clear, fish and stones naturally appear. What is meant by 'accomplishing phenomena'? If meritorious practice is not yet complete, one must rely on contemplation of principle to elicit and guide it. What is meant by 'obscuring principle'? If one clings exclusively to phenomena and sits in meditation, one conversely blinds one's own eyes; failing to recognize the profound purport, one's striving for quietude of thought is in vain. What is meant by 'annulling phenomena'? If the natural reality is suddenly radiant, like the sun melting ice, what need is there to regulate the citta, rein it in, and subdue it? Therefore a sūtra verse says: 'If one studies the various samādhis, this is movement and is not dhyāna; when the citta flows along with cognitive realms, how can it be called absorption?' Therefore, one must not cling to the one or cling to the other, definitively affirming or denying. One merely accords with function as occasions arise; when perfectly integrated, one attains efficacy and naturally knows depth and shallowness. If one returns to the source and accords with the purport, then principle and phenomena are both dissolved, citta and objects are both forgotten, and concentration and wisdom are equally extinguished. As the Yongjia ji says: 'By means of śamatha, although quiescent, it constantly illuminates. By means of vipaśyanā, although illuminating, it is constantly quiescent. By means of upekṣā, it is neither illuminating nor quiescent. Because it is illuminating yet constantly quiescent, speaking of the conventional is immediately the ultimate. Because it is quiescent yet constantly illuminates, speaking of the ultimate is immediately the conventional. Because it is neither quiescent nor illuminating, one keeps one's mouth closed at Vaiśālī.' This is not only that the path of language is cut off, but also that the place of mental activity is extinguished. Therefore the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment says: 'Thought involving contrivance, arising from a mind that exists, is entirely the defiled energy of false conceptualization from the six dusts; it is not the real substance of citta, being already like sky-flowers. Using this thinking to deliberate upon the realm of the Buddha is like sky-flowers bearing sky-fruit: an ever-spinning false conceptualization, completely without validity.'

45.15

Question: Since one must not form an understanding of existence or non-existence, what is the correct understanding of no citta?

45.16

Answer: Stone tigers fight before the mountain; reed flowers sink beneath the water.

45.17

Question: Earlier, in setting forth the source, you did not speak of the characteristics of dharmas. Why do you below further employ extensive explanations of the distinctions in principle of seeds and actualizations of the various consciousnesses, perfuming, Yogācāra, Consciousness-Only, and the phenomenal dharma gates of the hundred dharmas and five categories?

45.18

Answer: The grand purport of the patriarchs and Buddhas speaks only of the two emptinesses, realizing and meeting the original nature of the one mind's tathatā. Therefore the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas says: 'As the World-Honoured One said: "All phenomena are without self." What are all phenomena? They are what are called the mental dharmas. What are the two non-selves? They are the so-called non-self of persons and non-self of phenomena.' If all sentient beings merely attain the emptiness of both persons and phenomena and know that all phenomena are the intrinsic nature of the citta itself, what other different phenomena would there be to expound? Take the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra: it was expounded by Maitreya at the request of Bodhisattva Asaṅga. The treatise says: 'Bodhisattva Asaṅga ascended to the first bhūmi, realized the concentration of the light of the Dharma, obtained great supernormal powers, served the Great Compassionate Honoured One, and requested him to speak this treatise. There is no principle it does not exhaust, no phenomenon it does not fully detail, no passage it does not explain, no meaning it does not interpret, no doubt it does not dispel, no attachment it does not shatter, no practice it does not cultivate, and no fruit it does not realize. It is precisely for bodhisattvas, to cause them to be skillful regarding the objects, practices, and fruits of the various yānas, diligently cultivate great practice, realize great bodhi, and constantly teach sentient beings without inversion.' It even says that in the practice and contemplation of yoga, there is not the slightest phenomenon; it wishes to cause them to realize and attain it, and wishes for direct contemplation, or says that the ultimately pure tathatā is named the supreme culmination among the principles of yoga, because all merits correspond together with it.

45.19

Therefore Great Master Zhizhe asked in his Commentary on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: 'Now, relying on the teachings of Nāgārjuna, for what reason do you employ the meanings of Vasubandhu?'

45.20

Answer: 'Did not Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu enter the non-dual Dharma gate together? Now, originally for the sake of the Buddha's teachings, according to the meanings, where there is an opening, it is used for explanation; how could there be a fixed grasp of accepting and rejecting? If discriminating the bound defilements and birth-and-death beyond the triple realm, as well as the names and meanings of the various practices, one should closely investigate what Vasubandhu composed. If it is the contemplation gate of dispelling and emptying, pacifying the citta to enter the Way, what surpasses Nāgārjuna? If one does not take the Daśabhūmivyākhyāna and Mahāyānasaṃgraha to reflect and correlate with each other, others might say that regarding non-principles, one forcefully speaks in various manners.' Therefore we know that the compositions of the bodhisattvas, every single one of them, are connected with the sacred scriptures; they did not emerge from their own minds. Extensively citing them as evidence is to give rise to the wisdom derived from hearing. The grand purpose of compiling the Mirror of the Source is also the same. If one does not first illuminate the treatises on consciousness by Vasubandhu, Dharmapāla, and others, dissecting the subtle birth-and-death of faculties and dusts, how could one rely on Nāgārjuna's contemplation gate to dispel and empty them? If there were no distinction, there would be nothing to harmonize. If one does not first take the pulse and examine the root of the illness, how can one prescribe the wondrous medicine according to the formula? Just take Vimalakīrti: his position approached equal enlightenment, yet he still had the illness of the real cause of uneliminated primal avidyā, and the illness of the real fruit of experiencing a future existence of birth-and-death still remained.

45.21

Thus the Commentary on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa asks: 'In the land of true reward without obstruction, how can there still be the causal illness of the four divisions of kleśas?'

45.22

Answer: Unfolding the conditioned collection of the bodhisattva's own substance as the dharmadhātu, there are precisely four parts. Why is this so? Grasping the one real truth of one's own substance is rāga. Abandoning the saṃsāra of the two extremes is the cessation of dveṣa. Being deluded about the one real truth, because avidyā is not yet exhausted, there is still moha. Grasping the three parts equally is the equal part. These are the three fundamental poisons. Therefore the Qing Guanyin jing says: 'Purifying the roots of the three poisons, one accomplishes the Buddha path without doubt.' How much more so for ordinary persons bound by karma, afflicted by the disease of portion-and-segment saṃsāra? Yet people nowadays mostly do not examine themselves closely or broadly open the sacred scriptures. They are darkened in both teaching and contemplation, and entirely deficient in principle and practice. They merely prize following words and relying on superficial understanding, sweeping everything away at once. Wiping away traces, the traces are not obliterated; returning to emptiness, emptiness is not extinguished. Because they do not transcend dharmas as cognitive objects, everything is mere shadow-play. They fail utterly to recognise the king of citta and the caitasikas, seeds and actualisations, roots and auxiliaries, subtle sense-bases and objects, and the arising place of production and cessation. Mind-moment after mind-moment flows along; thought-moment after thought-moment actualises. They are like drunkards, fools, ignorant and oblivious. Since the lamp of wisdom is already dark and the water of samādhi is completely parched, I do not know by what gate they could ever attain purity. They merely learn lofty, fabricated phrases, displaying their names before the multitude of sages, while having no gate of right-mindfulness practice at all, their steps falling behind the multitude of heretics. Now I cause them universally to know the disease and recognise the medicine, so that they may take it and practice it, purify the roots of the three poisons, and see the nature of the one mind. Take, for instance, Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna: both were ancestral masters in India who transmitted the Buddha's citta-seal. Aśvaghoṣa composed the Mahāyāna-śraddhotpāda-śāstra, extensively explaining the three subtle consciousnesses and six coarse characteristics of the ālayavijñāna and so forth, as well as the two gates of tathatā and production-and-cessation within the one mind. Nāgārjuna composed the Moheyan lun, citing one hundred Mahāyāna sūtras to corroborate and explain the eight consciousness kings of citta and the subtle meanings of nature and characteristics. Why do later students fail to succeed earlier sages? One might say their rope is too short to reach deep springs, their wings too weak to soar high. Furthermore, if one does not first discuss the manifestations of phenomenal phenomena, how can one discern the origin of their substantial nature? As in worldly matters, if one has not seen the ocean, how can one recognise its waves? If one has not seen the mountain, how can one be familiar with its soil? Now I intend to discern both the general and the particular, setting forth both principle and phenomena in full. If one does not penetrate phenomena, principle is not round; if one does not understand principle, how can phenomena stand? Therefore it is said: principle manifests in accordance with phenomena, and the dependent origination of the one and the many is boundless; phenomena are integrated by principle, and the thousands of differences interpenetrate without obstruction. Furthermore, the particular emerges from the general, and the general is completed through the particular. Without the particular, how could the general be completed? Without the general, how could it be called particular? Thus principle and phenomena, general and particular, are on a single plane without differentiation. It is only because people nowadays grasp solely at the general and remain stuck in principle that their views are not round: the Dharma-eye is about to brighten but does not brighten, and doubts are about to be severed but are not severed. This is all because principle and phenomena form obstructions, and the general and particular do not flow freely. Therefore the Four Universal Vows state: 'The Dharma gates are measureless, I vow to learn them; the Buddha path is supreme, I vow to accomplish it.' Why then waste the fleeting moments and abruptly violate one's original vow, clinging to ignorance, sitting in vain, and betraying the four obligations? Like foolish people who cannot distinguish beans from wheat, or like the eyes of cattle and sheep that cannot tell cardinal directions, even now, confronting objects, they are still not round and clear; when facing conditions at the end of life, how could they discriminate? One must directly penetrate phenomena and comprehend principle, thoroughly investigate fruit and exhaust causes, so that not a single dharma is unclarified and not a single dust-mote is unilluminated. Then seeing and hearing cannot deceive, and objective realms cannot bind. Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says: 'The foremost rare and difficult-to-understand dharma accomplished by the Buddhas can be fully fathomed only by a Buddha and a Buddha: the real mark of all dharmas, namely, all dharmas being such in characteristics, such in nature, such in substance, such in power, such in function, such in cause, such in condition, such in fruit, such in retribution, and such in ultimate equality from beginning to end.' Thus we know that the real mark of the one mind is entirely all dharmas. What is produced by all dharmas all comes from the perfuming of present good and evil, with the seeds contained in the eighth consciousness as cause, and giving rise to the fruits of defiled and pure differentiated retributions. If one does not dissect this with subtlety and resolve doubts through questions and answers, by what means could one reach the origin of the generality and particularity of the one mind, and penetrate the limit of the nature and characteristics of the eight consciousnesses? The ancients said: 'Lifting the head-rope aims at spreading the net; one cannot discard the net and keep the head-rope. Raising the collar aims at putting on the garment; one cannot throw away the garment and take the collar.' If one merely gathers without narrating, it is like a net without a head-rope; if one merely narrates without gathering, it is like a head-rope without a net. Thus we know that when principle and phenomena are both illuminated, only then does one penetrate the round intent; when teaching and contemplation are exercised together, only then does one reach the Ekayāna. Consider how an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva, about to bring the wondrous fruit to perfection, enters instead the gate of the net of illusion, training backwards in the affairs of ordinary persons, practicing worldly samādhis, and mastering technical skills and supernormal powers. What is taken as source here first clarifies the great intent; one must first establish and then demolish, so as to wash away emotional dust. Yet demolishing and establishing are simultaneous, and there is nothing demolished. This is unlike the provisional teachings that rigidly cling to the gate of existence among doctrinal marks, and how could it compare to the Hīnayāna, which only realizes the principle of emptiness by analyzing dharmas? Here we use the particular to complete the general, and bring forward the biased to manifest the round. The particular completing the general, they are on a single plane without differentiation; the biased manifesting the round, the ten thousand dharmas share a single intent. Opening and closing freely, hidden and manifest without fixed location. If one clings to it, it becomes a wart on the ten thousand existences; if one fixes upon it, it serves as the root-stalk of the four māras. As for these hundred dharmas of the clarifying gate, Mahāyāna bodhisattvas only fully understand them on the first bhūmi; up to the Buddhas of the ten directions, both their fundamental and subsequent wisdoms realise them and take them as objects. If one does not realise the nature of vijñaptimātra, one cannot accomplish fundamental wisdom, and there will be no time of accomplishing Buddhahood. If one does not understand the characteristics of vijñaptimātra, the hundred dharmas of the clarifying gate, one cannot accomplish subsequent wisdom, and one lacks the practices for transforming others. These hundred dharmas of vijñaptimātra are indeed the fundamental nature and characteristics of all conditioned and unconditioned, conventional and ultimate dharmas. Therefore the sūtra says: 'If one does not realise tathatā, how can one understand all active conditioned states?' If one does not realise the nature of the tathatā of vijñaptimātra, how can one understand the practicing characteristics of the hundred dharmas of vijñaptimātra? Therefore it is said: fundamental wisdom realises the nature of the hundred dharmas, and subsequent wisdom takes the characteristics of the hundred dharmas as objects. The Mahāyāna-śraddhotpāda-śāstra states: 'The arousal of citta upon the completion of faith is briefly explained as threefold: first, arousing the straightforward citta, because of rightly contemplating the dharma of tathatā in accordance with principle; second, arousing the profound citta, because of delighting in gathering all good practices; third, arousing the great compassionate citta, because of wishing to pull out the suffering of all sentient beings.'

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宗鏡錄 — Classical Chinese