宗鏡錄 78.27

78.27

I reply: The verse says:
‘If by the karma of sentient beings
The four great elements transform like this,
Why not by karma
Does the citta transform like this?’
You said earlier that the external four great elements and so forth transform like this through the karma of those sinners. Why do you not say that through the power of those sentient beings' sinful karma, their own inner mind-consciousness transforms like this? Furthermore, the verse says:
‘Karma perfuses a different dharma;
How could the fruit be in a different place?
Good and bad perfuse the mind;
Why speak of it apart from the mind?’
Therefore, regarding what the verse says—‘Karma perfuses a different dharma; / How could the fruit be in a different place?’—what does this mean? All the sinful karma of those suffering sentient beings in hell was done relying on their original mind, remains within the mind, and is not separated from the mind. For this reason, evil karma perfuses the mind, and within the mind one should conversely experience the fruit and retribution of suffering. Why is that? Because good and evil karma perfuse the mind-consciousness, but do not perfuse those external four great elements and so forth, as there is no phenomenon of being perfused within the four great elements. Why do you falsely conceptualize and claim that the four great elements transform, and that one receives the retribution of suffering within the four great elements? Therefore, the verse says:
‘Good and bad perfuse the mind;
Why speak of it apart from the mind?’
As the *Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra* says: ‘The vigor cultivated by a bodhisattva is always concordant with body, speech, and mind. Although there is vigor of body and speech, it all stems from the mind, with the mind being predominant. What is the bodhisattva's vigor of mind? It is called mind at the beginning and mind at the end. What is the mind at the beginning? It is the initial resolve of the mind. What is the mind at the end? It is the quiescent extinction of the bodhicitta.’ Thus we know that both arising and ending are the mind, and beginning and end are both alike. This is not only true of pure karma; the myriad matters are all like this. They do not depart from the one mind, perfecting the path of awakening. Furthermore, just as when the oil is exhausted the lamp goes out, when karma is extinguished suffering ceases. If there were definitively an external object to be perceived that is not evoked from within, one would only suffer continuously without any time of liberation. Since there is a time of cessation, one should know it has no real existence. This can verify that when the mind arises, dharmas arise; when the mind ceases, dharmas cease. Thus, all sentient beings from beginningless time have created false causes and received false fruits, which all stem from emotional bonds and arise purely following conceptions. Therefore, the *Śūraṅgamasūtra* says: ‘Thereupon Ānanda and the great assembly […] addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honoured One, if this wondrous, luminous, truly pure, wondrous mind is originally all-pervading and perfect, up to and including the great earth, grasses and trees, wriggling and crawling living beings, which are fundamentally tathatā, being the true substance of the Tathāgata's attainment of buddhahood; and if the Buddha-substance is real, why then are there the destinies of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, humans, and gods? World-Honoured One, do these destinies exist fundamentally of themselves, or do they arise from sentient beings' false habits? World-Honoured One, for example, the bhikṣuṇī Precious Lotus Fragrance (Baolianxiang), while holding the bodhisattva precepts, secretly engaged in carnal lust, falsely claiming that lust was neither killing nor stealing and had no karmic retribution. Having spoken these words, a great raging fire first arose in her female organ, and subsequently burned through each of her joints until she fell into the Relentless Hell. King Virūḍhaka and the bhikṣu Sunakṣatra—Virūḍhaka for exterminating the Gotama clan, and Sunakṣatra for falsely claiming that all dharmas are empty—fell alive into the Avīci Hell. Do these hells have a fixed location, or are they spontaneous? Does each generate karma and each privately receive [its fruit]? We only ask that you extend great compassion to open the minds of the ignorant, so that all precept-holding sentient beings, hearing the definitive meaning, will joyfully receive it on the crown of their heads, and remain pure without transgression.” The Buddha told Ānanda: “Splendid is this question, which prevents sentient beings from entering wrong views! Listen attentively now, and I will explain it for you. Ānanda, all sentient beings are fundamentally and truly pure. Because of false views, false habits arise. From this, they are divided into an internal portion and an external portion. Ānanda, the internal portion is within the share of sentient beings. Due to various cravings and attachments, false feelings are aroused. When feelings accumulate without ceasing, they can generate the water of craving. Therefore, when sentient beings recall delicacies in their minds, water flows from their mouths. When their minds recall someone from before, whether with fondness or hatred, tears fill their eyes. When they covet wealth and treasures, love-saliva arises in their minds and their entire bodies become lustrous. When their minds are fixated on engaging in lust, the male and female organs naturally discharge fluid. Ānanda, although cravings differ, their flowing and binding are identical. Moisture does not ascend; naturally it sinks. This is called the internal portion. Ānanda, the external portion is outside the share of sentient beings. Due to various longings, empty thoughts become manifest. When thoughts accumulate without ceasing, they can produce superior energy. Therefore, when sentient beings uphold the prohibitive precepts in their minds, their entire bodies feel light and clear. When their minds hold dhāraṇīs and mudrās, their gazes become bold and resolute. When their minds wish to be born in heaven, their dreams soar aloft. When their minds dwell on the Buddha-land, sacred realms secretly manifest. In serving good friends, they hold their own bodies and lives lightly. Ānanda, although thoughts differ, their lightness and soaring are identical. Flying movement does not sink; naturally it transcends. This is called the external portion.”’ Therefore we know that stagnation caused by emotion can produce the water of craving, which, soaking continuously, naturally leads to falling. Because the realm of emotion is dark and concealed, it is called the internal portion. Because raising a thought conditions external dust and grasping characteristics is called thought, moving and scattering, it is called the external portion. No realm arises except through thought. Therefore a sūtra says: ‘If one knows that all lands are sustained solely by thought, that is called a bodhisattva of the initial resolve.’ Furthermore, a verse in the *Avataṃsakasūtra* says:
‘The valiant sons of the Buddha
Follow and enter the wondrous Dharma;
Skillfully contemplating all thoughts
That entangle the world like a net.
The various thoughts are like a mirage,
Causing sentient beings to form inverted understandings.
The bodhisattva skillfully knows thoughts
And abandons all inversions.
Sentient beings are distinct from one another,
Their physical forms and types not being of one kind;
Understanding that all are thoughts,
Nothing is real.
All sentient beings in the ten directions
Are covered by thoughts;
If they abandon inverted views,
They extinguish worldly thoughts.
The world is like a mirage,
Having distinctions due to thoughts;
Knowing that the world abides in thoughts,
One departs far from the three inversions.
Just as with a mirage in hot weather,
Worldly perception considers it to be water;
Water truly does not exist,
So the wise should not seek it.
Sentient beings are also like this;
The worldly destinies do not exist at all,
Abiding in thoughts like a mirage,
The realm of an unobstructed mind.
If one departs from all thoughts,
One also departs from all conceptual proliferation;
Those foolishly attached to thoughts
Are all brought to liberation.
Departing far from the mind of pride,
Extinguishing worldly thoughts,
Abiding in the place where exhaustion is exhausted—
This is the bodhisattva’s skillful means.’
It also says: ‘For example, when a person is on the verge of death, they see the characteristics of the retribution they are to receive according to their karma. Those who performed evil karma see all the realms of myriad sufferings in hell, the animal realm, and among hungry ghosts; or they see hell wardens holding weapons in their hands, raging or cursing, seizing them and dragging them away, and they also hear the sounds of wailing and grief-stricken lamentation; or they see the river of ash, or the boiling caldron, or the mountain of knives, or the forest of swords, being constrained in various ways and suffering diverse pains and distress. Those who performed good karma immediately see the palaces of all the heavens, immeasurable heavenly assemblies, heavenly maidens, and various garments, fully adorned, with palaces and parks that are all exquisite. Although their bodies have not yet died, through the power of karma they see such things.’ The *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* says: ‘Like the city of the Gandharvas, which is not a city, but the thoughts of human minds make it a city; ordinary people are also like this: they think of what is not a body as a body, and think of what is not a mind as a mind.’ Therefore we know that hell and heaven fundamentally have no fixed locations; before the body has even gone there, they have already appeared in one's own mind. The objects do not appear externally; it is only the mind's false perception. It can be verified that the realms of suffering and pleasure fundamentally do not originate from anywhere; good and evil matters are only summoned by oneself. Emptiness is emptily right and emptily wrong; there is false birth and false death. As Master Bodhidharma said: ‘Because of one's own view, one does not attain the Way. "One's own" means the self. If there is no self, when encountering things there is neither right nor wrong. "Right" is what I myself deem right, yet things are not right; "wrong" is what I myself deem wrong, yet things are not wrong.’ If one enters the mirror of the source, both self and dharmas are empty, mind and objects perish of themselves, right and wrong are entirely quiescent, the spiritual nature stands independently, and there is nowhere for dualities to originate. These are all attained through awakening to the fundamental source, not obtained through study. As a past virtuous master said: ‘Objects are empty of themselves, there is no need to fear; shining all day long, originally there is no counterpart. Even if one sustains this floating, illusory body, spontaneously there is no tongue, body, or mind.’ A verse by an ancient also says: ‘Serenely pacifying the spirit to extinguish right and wrong, the present body is the Land of Peace and Bliss.’ Therefore the treatise says: ‘When wisdom and objects are expansive and clear, it is called the Buddha-land.’