宗鏡錄 61.23

61.23

Answer: Whenever the Buddhas lay out the traces of teaching, they do not speak for those who already know; when the ancestral masters directly point to the human mind, they speak only for those who are not yet clear. What is recorded here merely instructs beginners, causing them to suddenly awaken to the perfect source and not take detours on lesser paths. If one does not obtain the broad illumination of the Mirror of the Source, by what means could one perceive the subtle depths of one's own nature? Were it not for the light of wisdom, how could one destroy the darkness of ignorance? Like facing an ancient mirror, beauty and ugliness are naturally distinguished; if one encounters this source, the true and the false can be discerned. How could the sun rise without shining, or a lamp be lit without giving light? Therefore, the Huayan Commentary describes ten kinds of illumination of dharmas: 'dharmas' refers to the objective realm, and 'illumination' refers to the mind. Illuminating the dharmas of the two truths with the illumination of wisdom is called 'illumination of dharmas'. Although in dharmas there is no establishing and no destroying—which pertains to the gate of the ultimate truth—the teaching itself has opening and restricting; how could it be without skillful means? As the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says in the chapter on Bodhisattva Noble Demeanour King: because Bodhisattva Vaiḍūryaprabha was about to come and emit light, the Buddha questioned Mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī at first entered the ultimate truth and answered: 'World-Honoured One, such light is called wisdom. Wisdom is an eternally abiding dharma. An eternally abiding dharma has no causes or conditions. Why did the Buddha ask by what causes and conditions there is this light?' Having broadly explained the absence of causes and conditions, at the very end he said: 'World-Honoured One, there are also causes and conditions. Because ignorance is extinguished, the lamp of anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi is ablaze.' From this we know that clarifying the source by means of teaching is not without reason. Entering the Way through conditions is never in vain; the gate of skillful means must not be abandoned even for a moment. Furthermore, in the Mirror of the Source, as soon as a single word is spoken, it is already discussing the source, with no before or after. Because there is a difference in the time of speaking, the principle remains without discrepancy. As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'First discriminate all dharmas, and later speak of ultimate emptiness.' However, it is only the expounding that has before and after; the dharmas are simultaneous. The text is not written all at once, but emptiness is not gradual.