宗鏡錄 79.29

79.29

Answer: When one realizes that objects are the citta, how could the myriad dharmas exist? Because they arise dependent on the citta, they have no fixed substance; they are all like illusions and apparitions, ultimately quiescent. The Ratnakūṭasūtra says: 'At that time, the World-Honoured One told the illusionist: "All sentient beings and their requisites of life are illusions and apparitions—that is, because they are illusory creations of karma. The assemblies of bhikṣus are also illusions and apparitions—that is, because they are illusory creations of dharmas. My own body is also an illusion, because it is an illusory creation of wisdom. The entire great trichiliocosm is also an illusion, because it is an illusory creation shared by all sentient beings. Whatever dharmas there are, none are not illusions, because they are illusory creations of the confluence of causes and conditions."' Furthermore, the teaching generally explains ten metaphors: like an illusion, like an apparition, like a dream, like a shadow, and so forth. These are the esoteric intent of the buddhas, to shatter sentient beings' grasping of worldly characteristics as real, which gives rise to eternalism. People in the world all know that dharmas such as illusions and dreams are empty, but they do not believe that persons, dharmas, citta, and objects are also empty like illusions and dreams. Therefore, using the unreality in which they already believe, he shatters the reality in which they believe, making the reality in which they believe identical to the unreality in which they believe. Thereafter, one suddenly awakens to the true source pervading all places: inside the citta and outside the citta, there is definitely no establishment of any real dharma. The Mahālaṃkāraśāstra says: 'I once heard that in the past there was an illusionist who had faith and joy. He went to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa to arrange a feast for the saṅgha. After the offerings were finished, he conjured a woman from citra wood who was upright and extraordinary. In front of the great assembly, he embraced this woman, kissed her, and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. At that time, when the bhikṣus saw this matter, all were disgusted and enraged, saying: "This shameless man has done something filthy and obscene! Had we known he was like this, we would not have accepted his offering." Then, after performing the sexual act, the illusionist heard the bhikṣus ridiculing and rebuking him. He immediately took a knife, hacked and stabbed this woman, dismembered her limbs, gouged out her eyes, cut off her nose, and killed this woman with all kinds of cruel pain. When the bhikṣus saw this matter again, they became doubly disgusted and enraged: "If we had known you were like this, we would rather have drunk poison than accept your offering!" Thereupon, the illusionist immediately grasped the citra wood, showed it to the saṅgha, and said with palms joined: "What I made earlier was just this wood! Within that wood, what sexual desire or killing could there be? Wishing to make the saṅgha's bodies comfortable, I set out this food and drink; wishing to make the saṅgha's minds peaceful, I therefore created this illusion. May the bhikṣus listen to what I say! How could you not have heard that in the sūtras the Buddha said all dharmas are like illusions and apparitions? Now, wishing to confirm those words, I created this illusion. An illusory body such as this has neither lifespan nor life; the illusionist of consciousness turns its mechanisms, making it look and blink, bend down and look up, gaze around, walk, advance, and halt, speak or laugh. Because of this matter, one deeply knows that this body is truly without self."' A verse in the Avataṃsakasūtra says: / 'All the various dharmas of the world / Are completely like an illusion. / If one can know this in this way, / One's mind will not be moved. / All karmas arise from the mind; / Therefore it is said that the mind is like an illusion. / If one is free from this discrimination, / One universally extinguishes all destinies of existence. / Just as a skilled illusionist / Universally manifests all forms, / Merely causing the multitude to covet and delight in them, / Yet ultimately nothing is obtained; / The world is also like this: / All is completely like an illusion, / Without nature and without origination, / Manifesting in various ways. / Deliver all sentient beings, / Making them know that dharmas are like illusions. / Sentient beings are not different from illusions; / Understanding illusions, there are no sentient beings. / Sentient beings and lands, / Whatever dharmas there are in the three times— / All these without remainder / Are completely like an illusion. / Illusions create the forms of men and women, / As well as elephants, horses, oxen, and sheep, / Houses, pools, and springs, / Gardens, flowers, and fruits, and the like. / Illusory objects have no awareness, / Nor do they have any abiding place. / Their characteristic is ultimate quiescence; / They merely manifest following discrimination. / A bodhisattva can in this way / Universally see all worlds: / All dharmas, whether existing or non-existing, / He thoroughly comprehends as entirely like an illusion. / Sentient beings and lands / Are created by various karmas; / Entering into the limit of the illusion-like, / He has no reliance on or attachment to them. / Thus obtaining skillfulness, / Quiescent and without proliferations, / Abiding on the unhindered ground, / He universally displays great power.' Furthermore, in the "Entry into the Dharmadhātu" chapter, a boy and a girl said to Sudhana: 'Good son, we have attained the bodhisattva liberation named "abiding in illusion". Having attained this liberation, we see all worlds as abiding in illusion, because they are born of causes and conditions; all sentient beings as abiding in illusion, because they arise from karma and kleśas; all worlds as abiding in illusion, because they are conditionally produced through the mutual conditioning of avidyā, existence-craving, and so forth; all dharmas as abiding in illusion, because they are born of various illusory conditions such as the view of self; all three times as abiding in illusion, because they are born of inverted cognition such as the view of self; all sentient beings' birth, cessation, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and distress as abiding in illusion, because they are born of false discrimination; all lands as abiding in illusion, because they are manifested by inversion of thought, inversion of mind, inversion of views, and avidyā; all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas as abiding in illusion, because they are formed by discriminations of wisdom and eradication; all bodhisattvas as abiding in illusion, because they are formed by the dharmas of all practices and vows that can tame oneself and transform sentient beings; all assemblies of bodhisattvas, transformations, taming, and all activities as abiding in illusion, because they are formed by the illusions of vows and wisdom. Good son, the intrinsic nature of the illusory sphere is inconceivable.' A verse in the Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: / 'The Tathāgata's dharmadhātu has no distinction; / For those of dull faculties, he speaks of distinctions. / Proclaiming one dharma to be immeasurable, / Like a great illusionist, he shows it to sentient beings.' The commentary by Qingliang explains: 'As for the forbearance of the illusion-like, it is like conjuring an elephant from a single piece of cloth. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "Wisdom does not apprehend existence or non-existence, yet gives rise to the mind of great compassion." Because one realizes that the substance is empty, one does not destroy the distinctions of illusory characteristics. Thus, just as the elephant is born, it is the elephant dying. These two counterparts should form a fourfold proposition (catuṣkoṭi): because these two are not two, they are not different; because they are not non-two, they are not one; not one is just not different, therefore it is "neither not-one"; not different is just not one, therefore it is "nor not-different"; it also cuts off dual illumination, therefore it is "not both one and different". If one matches the two meanings on the cloth against the two meanings on the elephant to discern non-oneness and non-difference, there are briefly ten propositions. First, matching the meaning of forming an elephant on the cloth with the meaning of distinction on the elephant, they unite into one limit, called "non-different". This is taking the root to follow the branch, explaining non-difference in terms of the branch. The sūtra says: "The dharmakāya transmigrates through the five destinies, called sentient beings; the tathāgatagarbha undergoes suffering and pleasure together with causes, whether arising or ceasing," and so forth. Second, matching the meaning of abiding in its own state on the cloth with the meaning of substantial emptiness on the elephant, they unite into one limit, called "non-different". This is taking the branch to return to the root, explaining non-difference in terms of the root. The sūtra says: "All sentient beings are just suchness, never again to be extinguished," and so forth. Third, taking the root to which the gathered branch returns and the branch from which the gathered root proceeds, these two doubly fuse, unobstructedly non-different. This is non-difference through the equality of root and branch, because the passages of the former two sūtras are not separated. Fourth, taking the branch gathered back to the root and also the root gathered following the branch, these two mutually displace, and are therefore called "non-different". This is explaining non-difference through the mutual vanishing of root and branch, because true and false are equal, and difference cannot be found. Next, the four gates below explain "non-one". Fifth, taking the meaning of the cloth abiding in its own state and the meaning of distinction on the elephant, these two, root and branch, are mutually contrary and opposing, and are therefore called "non-one". The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "The tathāgatagarbha is not within the ālaya; therefore the seven consciousnesses have arising and ceasing, while the tathāgatagarbha does not arise or cease"—this is what is meant. Sixth, the meaning of forming an elephant on the cloth and the meaning of substantial emptiness on the elephant, these two, root and branch, are mutually contrary and mutually harmful, and are therefore "non-one". The Śrīmālādevīsūtra says: "The seven consciousnesses do not transmigrate, do not undergo suffering and pleasure, and are not the cause of nirvāṇa; only the tathāgatagarbha undergoes suffering and pleasure," and so forth. Seventh, taking the initial mutual opposition and the subsequent mutual harm, these two meanings are distinct, and are therefore called "non-one". That is, mutual opposition means turning away and abandoning each other, far removed from each other; mutual harm means confronting each other and directly preying upon and harming each other. Therefore, far and near are non-one, because the passages of the former sūtras are not conflated. Eighth, by the utmost mutual harm, both vanishing yet not vanishing, and by the utmost mutual opposition, both remaining yet not remaining: not remaining and not vanishing, their meaning is "non-one". This is non-one in terms of formation and destruction, because the seven consciousnesses are empty yet existent, and tathatā is hidden yet manifest. Ninth, the above four non-ones and four non-differences are also non-one, because their meanings are not conflated. Furthermore, mutual contrary is remaining, and mutual harm is vanishing; yet on remaining there is the meaning of non-remaining, and on vanishing there is the meaning of non-vanishing. If there were only vanishing without non-vanishing, then form and emptiness would both perish, with nothing to be identical to each other. Because it does not completely vanish, although they are mutually identical, form and emptiness remain distinct. If there were only remaining without non-remaining, then form and emptiness would each have a fixed nature, unable to be identical to each other. Because there is non-remaining, although distinct they can be mutually identical, because the substance is insubstantial. Tenth, yet they are also not different, because the principle is universally pervasive and dharmas are not two. If grasped by the gate of non-difference, all gates are supremely harmonized; if grasped by the gate of non-oneness, all gates are supremely contradictory and harmful. That which is supremely contradictory yet supremely conformable is the unobstructed dharma.' He also explains: 'Separately elucidating the doctrinal principles, within this there are two: first establishing existence and non-existence, and second establishing the fourfold proposition. Regarding existence and non-existence: because within the three natures each has two meanings, all have existence and non-existence. The two of the consummate nature: first, nature-existence; second, characteristic-non-existence. The two of the dependent nature: first, condition-existence; second, characteristic-non-existence. The two of the imagined nature: first, emotion-existence; second, principle-non-existence. Now, first, in the cloth there are the two meanings of the consummate nature. The magic technique and the horse are both the two meanings of the dependent nature; the technique is the cause capable of bringing it about, arising dependent on the real, so it has function and lacks substance: having function is just condition-existence, and lacking substance is just nature-non-existence. Third, the horse is the result brought about, so it has characteristic and lacks reality: having characteristic is just condition-existence, and lacking reality is just nature-non-existence. Fourth, explaining that the dependent and the consummate are not separated, phenomena are identical to the real. Arising is a metaphor for phenomena; dying is a metaphor for the real. Phenomena vanish and principle becomes manifest, so arising is absent and dying is present. Because of unobstructedness, this brings out its cause, which is the unobstructedness of phenomenon and principle. In the fifth, from the standpoint of emotion it exists, because false views are distinct; from the standpoint of principle it does not exist, because as false conceptualization, it definitely cannot exist. Therefore, why the metaphor of illusion extensively speaks of existence and non-existence is because, when confined by deluded emotion, both existence and non-existence are lost; when the principle is free from deluded conceptualization, both existence and non-existence are true. From this we know that all dharmas in the metaphor of illusion are neither real nor unreal, neither empty nor existent. If there were no existence, non-existence could not be established; if there were no non-existence, existence could not be established. Existence and non-existence penetrate each other, and the myriad transformations harmonize together. Furthermore, within the five, each is fully endowed with the fourfold proposition to make it manifest. As for the fourfold proposition, within it there are two: first, a single tier of fourfold propositions; second, multiple tiers of fourfold propositions. In the first there are also two: first, directly demonstrating; second, eliminating faults. This is the first. First, the four of nature-existence and characteristic-non-existence: 1. Existent, because the true nature exists. 2. Empty, because it lacks all characteristics. 3. Both existent and empty, because the doctrinal gates are different. 4. Neither existent nor empty, because they mutually fuse and displace. Second, the four of function-existence and substance-non-existence: 1. Existent, because deluded regarding the real, there is function. 2. Empty, because relying on the real, there is no substance. 3. Both existent and empty, because substance and function are not destroyed. 4. Neither existent nor empty, because as the function without substance it is not existent, and as the substance identical to function it is not empty. Third, the four of characteristic-existence and reality-non-existence: 1. Existent, because phenomenal characteristics appear. 2. Empty, because formed by conditions it lacks reality. 3. Both preserved, because lack of nature does not obstruct conditional formation, and conditional formation does not obstruct lack of nature. 4. Both negated, because conditional formation is just lack of nature, hence not existent; lack of nature is just conditional formation, hence not empty. Fourth, the four of arising being non-existence and dying being existence: 1. Because the true nature is manifest. 2. Because the dependent nature is just lack of nature. 3. Because nature and characteristic are both preserved. 4. Because nature and characteristic mutually displace. Fifth, the four of emotion-existence and principle-non-existence: 1. Because the imagined false emotion can give rise to birth and death. 2. Because seeking it in terms of principle, it cannot be found. 3. Because only due to the non-existence of principle can it be identical to emotion-existence; without emotion-existence, the non-existence of principle would not be revealed. 4. Because emotion-existence is just principle-non-existence, and principle-non-existence is just emotion-existence. The above fourfold propositions are all endowed with virtue because they accord with the real. They are not like emotional conceptualization and rigid clinging, where the fourfold proposition constitutes defamation. Only the emptiness that is identical to existence is emptiness endowed with virtue; only the existence that is identical to emptiness is existence endowed with virtue. Furthermore, the emptiness that exhausts existence and the existence that exhausts emptiness are endowed with virtue. Furthermore, the four propositions illuminated simultaneously form the sphere of understanding; the four propositions vanishing simultaneously form the sphere of practice; only when words are dead and thoughts extinguished are they endowed with virtue. Therefore an ancient said: 'On the terrace of Mount Wu, one relies on clouds and rain to come and go; beside the waters of Shugu, one lodges in the spring torrent to return and depart.' Thus we know that the body of gathered foam does not exist, and the illusion-like citta is fundamentally empty. How could there be sexual emotions that accomplish real matters? It is also like Zhuang Zhou, who comprehended that the substance is insubstantial like an illusion, seeing his own body as a butterfly, and in a dream seeing his own body roaming to the ends of heaven. Therefore, ordinary worldlings, blind and lacking the eye of prajñā, falsely grasp the external sense data of men, women, and other characteristics. Like illusory transformations, they merely deceive the mind and eye; there is no real matter at all. All are the movement of the karmic-consciousness mind, giving rise to views and manifesting characteristics; the manovijñāna discriminates, forcibly establishing self and other, the distinction between self and others. If one can recognize the illusion, only then will one awaken to former errors and never again engage in fabrications regarding emptiness. Furthermore, this dharma of illusion is misunderstood by many: clinging to all dharmas being like illusions and apparitions, they then adopt the view of emptiness and non-existence, like the Fangguang non-Buddhists who establish emptiness and non-existence as their source, not knowing the true meaning. Therefore the Huayan lun says: 'Understanding the dharma of illusion is the meaning of solidity. That which is called solidity is just the meaning of eternal abiding; how could one interpret it as emptiness and non-existence?' Hence we know that this illusion is just the real; the illusion cannot be apprehended. The illusion of non-illusion is called the dharma of illusion; the seeing that cuts off views is truly called seeing the illusion.