宗鏡錄 61.27

61.27

He replied: 'Abiding in the limit of the self, I received the prophecy; abiding in the limit of sentient beings, the limit of lifespan, and the limit of a person, I received the prophecy.' He asked further: 'Where should the limit of the self be sought?' He replied: 'It should be sought in the Tathāgata's limit of liberation.' He asked further: 'Where, again, should the Tathāgata's limit of liberation be sought?' He replied: 'It should be sought in the limit of ignorance and craving for existence.' He asked further: 'Where should ignorance and craving for existence be sought?' He replied: 'They should be sought in the limit of ultimate non-arising.' He asked further: 'Where should the limit of ultimate non-arising be sought?' He replied: 'It should be sought in the limit of unknowing.' He asked further: 'Is unknowing the absence of knowing? How can it be sought in this limit?' He replied: 'If there were something known, seeking could not be accomplished. Because of unknowing, it is sought in this limit.' He asked further: 'This limit is wordless; how can it be sought?' He replied: 'Because words are cut off, it can therefore be sought.' He asked further: 'How are words cut off?' He replied: 'All dharmas rely on meaning, not on words.' He asked further: 'How does one rely on meaning?' He replied: 'By not perceiving the characteristic of meaning.' He asked further: 'How does one not perceive it?' He replied: 'By not generating discrimination. Meaning is that which is relied upon; the self is that which relies. Where these two do not exist, it is named penetration.' He asked further: 'If one does not perceive meaning, what is sought here?' He replied: 'Not perceiving and not grasping is therefore named seeking.' He asked further: 'If a dharma can be sought, that is having seeking.' He replied: 'It is not so. One who seeks the Dharma is one who has nothing to seek. Why? If it could be sought, it would be non-Dharma.' He asked further: 'What is the Dharma?' He replied: 'The Dharma has no letters and is also free from words.' He asked further: 'Amid being free from words and letters, what is the Dharma?' He replied: 'The nature of words and letters is transcendence; the paths of mental activity are extinguished: this is named the Dharma. All dharmas are ineffable, and their being ineffable is also ineffable. Good son, if there is something spoken, it is false; within it there is no real dharma.' He asked further: 'The Buddhas and bodhisattvas constantly have discourses; are these all false?' He replied: 'The Buddhas and bodhisattvas, from beginning to end, do not speak a single word. How could it be false?' He asked further: 'If there is something spoken, what fault is there?' He replied: 'It is called the fault of words.' He asked further: 'What fault do words have?' He replied: 'It is called the fault of deliberation.' He asked further: 'What dharma has no fault?' He replied: 'Non-speaking and speaking, without perceiving the two characteristics—this is faultless.' He asked further: 'What is the root of fault?' He replied: 'Grasping is the root.' He asked further: 'What is the root of grasping?' He replied: 'The mind of attachment is the root.' He asked further: 'What is the root of attachment?' He replied: 'False discrimination.' He asked further: 'What is the root of false discrimination?' He replied: 'Cognitive conditioning is the root.' He asked further: 'What does it condition?' He replied: 'It conditions forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and dharmas.' He asked further: 'How does one not condition them?' He replied: 'If one is free from craving and grasping, there is nothing conditioned. For this reason, the Tathāgata constantly says that all dharmas are equal.' Thus, because dharmas are equal, there is no difference in what is taught. The preaching of the Dharma in this land is likewise in the ten Buddha-fields; that is, because one place pervades all places, they simultaneously testify and simultaneously expound, mutually acting as principal and companion. As asked in the Huayan zhigui: 'When the ten abodes are expounded in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, since this pervades empty space, is the teaching of the ten abodes also expounded in places such as the Yāma Heaven? If it were, what error would there be? Both options have errors: if it is not expounded there, the places of preaching would not be all-pervading; if it is also expounded there, why does the sūtra only say that Trāyastriṃśa expounds the teaching of the ten abodes, and Yāma expounds the ten practices, and so on?' Answer: 'This preaching of the ten abodes in the realm of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven completely pervades all realms of dust in the ten directions. Therefore, places such as Yāma all contain Trāyastriṃśa. Precisely in such realms of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven that pervade Yāma and the rest, the teaching of the ten abodes is expounded. Therefore, Trāyastriṃśa is everywhere all-pervading, yet it is still not Yāma. When places such as Yāma expound the ten practices and so on, they also entirely pervade Trāyastriṃśa and other realms, yet they are still not Trāyastriṃśa. One should know that the remaining stages are also like this. In terms of the mutual subsumption of the stages of the ten abodes and the ten practices, they are mutually non-existent to each other, each pervading the dharmadhātu. In terms of the stages mutually assisting each other, they are mutually existent with each other, jointly pervading the dharmadhātu.'